Going to Disney with a couple of days to spare to go to the beach---St. Pete/Tampa seems most feasible for our time frame--any insight into nice beach for the kids--swimming and pretty sand............??????

Widest beach, whitest sand, and prettiest water in this area is Clearwater Beach. The roads, restaurants etc are also the most congested (two go hand in hand). You can get away from some of the bustle by going to Sand Key, just a bridge away from Clearwater Beach. Sheraton or Radisson Sand Key are good choices.

The entire stretch from St. Pete up to Clearwater (and beyond to remote Caladesi Island) is all very nice, but Clearwater Beach has a slight edge beach-wise. Depending on where you are coming from in Orlando, we are about 1 1/2 hours west.

we like beaches at ft. Desoto...on mullet key...i think...south of st pete
what about east coast beaches??.... Playlinda bch for example.......

My family and I were in Florida in August. We stayed in Maidera Beach. Our favourite day trip is to the Sarasota area. The best beachs this area in our opinion are Siesta Key Beach and Ana Maria Island. The area is quite beautiful with lots of good restaurants and not too busy.

My personal favorites are Clearwater Beach/Sand Key and then St. Pete Beach.

Check out www.flausa.com. There's lots of info.

Hope this helps.