globalmom

In June we're going to take our three kids (13, 15, 16) on their first trip to Florida, starting and ending in Orlando. We arrive on a Friday mid-day and leave on a Sunday early morning. I'd love to get your ideas on planning a route that includes two days at Disney and a round-trip of sorts down to the Keys. We're trying to include something for everyone in our family: animals and nature (manatees, dolphins), swimming/ snorkeling and one outlet mall with Nike shoes

So far I have the following trip ideas but don't know if it's too much driving/ backtracking?
Any suggestions for hotels for family of 5, discounted tickets etc. I'll greatly appreciate!

Friday: Arrival in hotel, Orlando (what could we do for 4-5 hours? Boat tour down St. John's River or Blue Springs in Orange City or Premium Outlet International Drive to get it done and over with?)

Saturday: Seaworld and one other park- overnight in Orlando

Sunday: Drive to Tampa, Busch Gardens (is this doable in a day?) - overnight in Tampa

Monday: Drive to Naples, visit Sanibel Island, JN Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge- overnight Naples

Tuesday: Corkscrew Swamp Tour and Fakahatchee strand- route 41 to Homestead via Everglades Pkwy- overnight in Naples

Wednesday: drive to Keys- overnight in?

Thursday: Anhinga Trail, drive to Kendall (Dolphin Research Center)- overnight in Fort Lauderdale

Friday: drive through West Palm Beach, Kennedy Space Center- overnight in Orlando?

Saturday: one more Disney park- overnight near airport, Orlando

Sunday: departure from Orlando 7:30 AM

flpab

http://aquaticabyseaworld.com/en/orl...Booking_Widget

Those are the combine tickets for SeaWorld and their waterpark.
The first day you don't say what time you arrive but if you stay close to Sea World be careful that you pick a decent place on that end of I-drive. You could do the outlets or go to downtown Disney and walk around. That is free at least.
No problem driving to Tampa if you get yourself going early in the morning.

Your one nighter in the Keys will be the problem in June. Maybe you can get a room in Key Largo but you'd better start looking for Key West now.
About 200 miles from Palm Beach to Kennedy Space Center and then 50 miles due west to Orlando airport.
For your Disney park go early Saturday. You know they raised prices to 99.00 a person and 19.00 to park. Get your full days worth. You could at least stay in a hotel at the airport for both nights so you won't have to pack up twice. Great choice of hotels there. I would even turn the rental car in Saturday night and take the shuttle to the airport. It is still a bit of a ride to the park from the airport.

DebitNM

It's a long drive down [and back] to Key West for just an overnight. And honestly, I can't imagine 3 teens enjoying the drive or even Key West for that matter. Better things to do elsewhere. My 2 cents.

janisj

Naples > Key West > Ft Lauderdale is 9 hours 'behind the wheel' time if you don't hit traffic anywhere. That is a LOT of car time for one overnight. If my parents did that to me I wouldn't be very happy about it.

Ackislander

This is a very rushed trip but will work if you don't go back to Naples after Homestead. Keep driving into the Keys, spend the night somewhere there and go on to Key West next day. islamorad and Marathon make sense.

You've seen one swamp, you've seen 'em all. Ding Darling, Corkscrew Swamp, Fakahatchee Strand, and the Everglades National Park are more than you need. I would go to Ding Darling because they have flamingos. Everything else you need to see will be along 41, especially if you stop at Turner River, which is covered with alligators.

Give the kids some beach time in Naples. They are great, and there is zero else for kids in Naples, though it is gorgeous. Take drive down Gordon Drive and show them how the top 1/10 of 1% live. It will motivate them to work hard in school.

Which of the theme parks do they want to see? You are planning on four. That's a lot. Give them descriptions of each of them and let them vote on two or three. You will save a bundle. Ft Lauderdale?

vincenzo32951

Wow. Lots of traveling. A few ideas:

I like Key West, but you may want to skip it. That's a long, boring drive for one night.

If you plan to go the KSC, I would combine that with beach time for the kids and everyone else. You can go to the Cocoa Beach area, let the kids walk around Ron-Jon's Surf shop and spend some time in the ocean. I won't get into the debate about which beaches are better on which coast, but this combination just makes sense if you're going to KSC (which I recommend you do).

You're going to do the Orlando theme parks and then drive to Tampa to do Busch Gardens? It wouldn't be my itinerary of choice, but I guess it makes sense to you.

Orlando_Vic

"Friday: Arrival in hotel, Orlando (what could we do for 4-5 hours?"

Gatorland http://www.gatorland.com/
or an airboat ride http://www.bcairboats.com/

_____________________________________________
Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

garyt22

I think you are way too overbooked for an 8 day trip... this itinerary makes much more sense...

Day 1 Orlando Go to Mall and get settled
Day 2 Seaworld
Day 3 Disney
Day 4 Tampa Busch Gardens drive to Sanibel
Day 5 Ding Darling Sanibel/Captiva
Day 6 Ferry from Ft Myers to Key West for Day...drive to Orlando
Day 7 Universal Studios (best for Teens)

This eliminates hundreds of miles of driving and hours in the car... with teens
Day 8 flight home

Ackislander

What garyt22 said.

I have a hard time understanding how anyone could think the drive to Key West is boring -- it's the ocean, for Pete's sake but without having to get a norovirus on a a cruise ship! But then I live on an island. I like to look at the ocean.

On second thought, globalmom, maybe Key West is just too far. Maybe garyt's itinerary this trip, southern Florida (Naples, The Everglades, Miami, and the Keys) next time.

You have two things against you that nobody has even mentioned: getting three teenagers up and on the road early in the morning and the fact that you are probably going to lose an hour of sightseeing every day to the Afternoon Thunderstorm. Even driving, when you can't see the end of the hood, is tough.

vincenzo32951

>>I have a hard time understanding how anyone could think the drive to Key West is boring -- it's the ocean, for Pete's sake

globalmom

Thank you all for your very thoughtful responses! After pretty much 5 1/2 months straight of winter and perpetual snow(we live in Vermont) we all can't wait to go to Florida, seems like everyone else who lives here does, too!

Any other suggestions you have, please send them my way.

globalmom

At the going rate of theme park tickets we might just do two, although we do have a friend who works in one of the parks and could perhaps get us a discount of sorts?

And yes, maybe a separate trip to just the Keys next time.. We have neighbors who "summer" up here in Vermont who live in the Keys. They should be coming back up by the end of May so will definitely ask them for advice, too.

Love the idea of taking the ferry!

flpab

You are looking at a very expensive rt ferry ride for one day. I think the prices are very high. It is a nice way to get there but expensive for a big family. I don't think the ride is boring at all. there are some great stops along the way and the view from seven mile bridge is beautiful. Rent true lies and you will see some of it. You can still see some of the Flagler rail bridge.
The kids would love Cocoa Beach, I like the end towards the cape better, less crowds and there is parking and easy access to the beach with bathrooms. Port Canaveral has some great places to eat and look at the cruise ships coming and going. You have a lot of options.

gmoney

Global,

You will be spending the majority of your trip in the car!. If it were me I would pick just 2 or 3 destinations and work around them. Just an FYI Orlando to Key West is an 8-9 hour drive (longer if you have traffic problems).

flpab

We do the trip in seven hours with two pit stops from central Fl. We get an early morning start and we are there for check in a 3pm. It sometimes bottlenecks in Key Largo but get off A1A and take a few side streets and merge back in. It is because of a couple of red lights. I still think your problem with be rooms but maybe not. It is a beautiful historic city and I love it there.

pantanal

I have to agree with nixing the drive to the keys and saving it for later. I love your plan to include the swamps though:

Monday: Drive to Naples, visit Sanibel Island, JN Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge- overnight Naples

Tuesday: Corkscrew Swamp Tour and Fakahatchee strand- route 41 to Homestead via Everglades Pkwy- overnight in Naples

Corkscrew and Fakahatchee are pretty great. You might want to add something active on the water to keep those teenagers busy, like kayaking out of Everglades City through the mangroves. I 'd add a day in this area and skip the keys, personally.
Also, if you can afford to stay in Sanibel, I suggest staying right on the beach for a couple nights so you can really enjoy the island, rather than staying in Naples.

dwdvagamundo

I like pantanal's plan.

If you're coming back to Orlando, do your shopping at the end of the trip. Otherwise, you'll just have more stuff to carry around and weigh down the car.

globalmom

We've decided to postpone going to the Keys for a future trip and instead spend more time in the Naples/ Sanibel area in the same hotel for 3-4 nights.

Would it make more sense to stay in Naples or in Fort Meyer and take day trips from there?

Any place you can recommend where our kids (13,15,16) can swim with dolphins that's reasonable?

Our boys might want to try surfing, any recommended places for that?

Any other fun (low budget) Florida type ideas for teens in that area?

Thank you!

emalloy

You wonk't have much surf on the west coast of FL.

Your kids might find it fun looking for fossil shark teeth on Venice beach (near the fishing pier, past the little airport), about an hour north of the Fort Myers/Sanibel area. They wash up in the sand by the hundreds.

Dukey1

In June not as many crowd worries (except at places like Disney) because all the snowbirds will have gone back north; a lot of them have already left Fort Lauderdale where I live. As to surf...you can forget the gulf side on that score.