Florida help!!!! please
 

We were traveling to New Orleans and the Southern States on the 30th of September from the U.K but have now changed our plans and are still going to the U.S.A but to Florida. We had a great plan after lots of reading up and hope to do that trip as soon as possible. But we are now a bit lost. The outline plan is to fly in to West Palm Beach pick up the car and then head for the Kennedy Space Center and on to Orlando for 4 nights. I think we want to go Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Islands of Adventure for sure. Where else should we go and WHAT tickets should we get Where should we stay???? I have read good reveiws about the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress.
We then plan to go to Tampa/St.Petes area for a night, Naples area for a night or two. The Keys for three nights, Miami for three nights and then back to West Palm beach for the return flight. Any sugestions for places/hotels things to do and see along the way would be great!!!!!
By the way we are a thirty something couple who like good food some thrills and relaxing by the beach. Florida seems to fit the bill.

I would stay away from the Tampa/St.Pete/Sarasota area completely. They have Red Tide there now and there is stinky water, dead fish and health concerns....not fun in my book. You don't say how long your trip is in total - but it sounds like you are trying to cover WAY too much territory!

I love the Palm Beach area and suggest you spend a couple of days there.

Hike the Palm Beach Trail. It is a public walking/running/biking trail that runs behind the mansions on Palm Beach in front of Lake Worth.

Snorkel at Peanut Island in Lake Worth (the body of water between the mainland of West Palm and the barrier island of Palm Beach)

Consignment shop at The Church Mouse. It is where all the Palm Beach moneyed set donates their clothes.

Dine at Sailfish Marina on Singer Island. Watch all the big boats come and go.

Take a $5 water taxi ride for a cheap tour of Palm Beach and the mansions.

Tour Rybovich Spencer and see the largest mega yacht builder in the US.

Watch the manatees at the power plant.

Eat at Taboo on Worth Avenue.

Be sure to check the hurricane weather reports for the Keys, etc. For Orlando, Grand Cypress and the other resort Hyatt are very nice; I also suggest a condo or suite hotel with kitchen, centrally located, e.g., Parc Corniche, if you plan on staying a few days. We had no problem getting to Universal (Islands is the best park in Orlando, in our opinion)or Disney (only two good rides, horrible lines, we don't think we'll go there again, except perhaps to the Disney animal theme park). Buying tickets early through an agent or other trustworthy broker can save time in line and money. Go to the mousesavers website for the latest in Disney packages and deals.
I agree that Tampa is pretty iffy right now; but do a little research before you decide to plunge into the water at a beach that looks great (the Atlantic temperature in places can be pretty cold--think farther south).

I live in Orlando and think you're coming at the perfect time of year to enjoy the theme parks. It is one of the quietest times of the year in regards to lines and weatherwise is not too hot. This is when residents visit the parks to avoid all the crowds.

I can't comment on any hotels in Naples, FL but can say that this will be the perfect area for you to relax after hitting the theme parks in Orlando. The water temp of the Gulf when I was there in Aug was incredibly warm - it felt like bath water. By the end of Sept, it should be quite comfortable in the mid-80's. There are many great restaurants and shops on 5th Ave. If you like to shop, I would recommend going to the Miromar Outlets in Bonita Springs (about 15 miles north of downtown Naples, right off of I-75). There is a Coach outlet, Cole Haan, Saks etc. etc. I would also visit the Corksrew Swamp bird sanctuary off of Immokalee Rd. It is around 15 miles east of I-75, but is well worth the detour. Here is the link:

http://www.audubon.org/local/sanctuary/corkscrew/

I live in South FL and am a native. For Orlando, if you want to go the parks, I would stay on Disney property or Universal property because you get benefits by staying there. I prefer Disney, and there are tons of hotels on property. With Disney, on some days you get in an hour later and some days you can stay 3 hours later. Plus, Epcot has Food and Wine Festival then and it's great. For hotel selections, check Disneyworld's website, www.allearsnet.com (lots of info), www.mousesavers.com (ways to save money) and www.disboards.com (talk about Disney). There are tons of ticket options so check out the sites to read what would fit you best. Also, there is good outlet shopping close to Disney. Good restaurants IMO at Disney are Le Cellier and Bistro de Paris in Epcot, Artist Point in the Wilderness Lodge, Narcoossee's in Grand Floridian, and Boma in Animal Kingdom Lodge. My favorite deluxe resorts are Boardwalk Inn and Animal Kingdom Lodge; my favorite moderates are Port Orleans Riverside and French Quarter. You can't go wrong with the resorts - it's just what theme you like.

For Naples, not sure about hotels. We liked Trulucks for dinner, but I'm not too familiar with restaurants there. The beach is nice there- soft sand and clear water.

Where in the Keys are you going? The drive from Miami to Key West is beautiful and is about 4 hours. But it can take longer. Be aware that the Keys are not known for their beaches; there just aren't many of them. Key West is great - lots of cute places to stay and good restaurants and lots of nightlife. Islamorada is good; I like the Cheeca Lodge, which has a beach and lots of activities.

I don't like Miami, but the art deco buildings on South Beach are neat and Vizcaya is neat to see. Coral Gables has great buildings and shops and restaurants. Bal Harbour has upscale shops. There is Sawgrass Mills, a huge outlet mall west of Ft. Lauderdale. In Ft. Lauderdale, you walk along Las Olas Blvd. for shops and restaurants.

Hope this helps.

For a 30-something couple I would skip the west coast of Florida, as nonnigrace suggests. It is OK but not great, you will be the youngest people for miles in Naples and what you describe is really two trips. With the amount of time you have best to spend it between Disney, Miami and the Keys. Why not fly into Orlando and out of Miami? You could stay on the Disney property, rent the car when you leave there (I can't imagine that you need it when you stay at Disney), perhaps stay a night in Lauderdale by the Sea (my favorite town) and have dinner on Las Olas in Ft. Lauderdale, stay in Miami, drive down to Key West, turn in the rental car and fly from Key West to Miami where you can meet your UK flight home. (I'm jealous just thinking about it...)

Oops, meant to mention Little Palm Island in the Keys. Might be worth springing for a couple nights there on your way down to Key West.

Way too much driving for the time you have--no time to relax. Skip Tampa area. The beaches on the Keys are very weak. You could skip and not miss much.
The older part of Naples is very charming, with many boutiques, galleries, restaurants, and every street goes to the beach only a couple blocks away. Sanibel Island is quaint, charming, Caribbean in feel, good beaches.

Sea World is another place in the Orlando area where it's worth spending time.

I love Islands of Adventure for adult thrill rides. Fun! Fun! Fun! Emeril's just outside the park (you can walk to it) is a nice place to get out of the park to eat lunch.

Randmcnally.com has a roadtrip planning tool where you put in the start and end and the stops in between and it'll give you maps, directions, mileage and driving times, as well as links for things to do and places to stay. You could use it in conjunction with tips from here.
West Palm to Kennedy Center is 2.5 hours, you could stay in Daytona Beach overnight.
Kennedy to Orlando is 40 minutes; Magic Kingdom, Epcot are a must-see in Disney, and if you have time MGM and Animal Kingdom are good too. Downtown Disney is a good place to go at night for dinner, with restaurants like Planet Hollywood, Rainforest Cafe, (make sure you research the restaurants on the disney boards and call for a priority seating first or you could be in for a 2-3 hour wait). There are lots of shops to browse and Pleasure Island for nightlife. Universal Islands of Adventure is definitely a good bet too, and CityWalk there has many restaurants like Emeril's and the Hard Rock Cafe. If you were going at a busy time of year, I would have suggested too, that you stay on-site for the added extra Magic Hour on-site Disney hotels give you, and the "front of the line" perk that Universal gives you. I would avoid the parks on the weekends and go during the week if at all possible. The disney message boards that ufgator gave you have a wealth of information on everything Disney and Universal, so once you decide what parks and how many days, then you should go to disneyworld.com and universal.com and buy tix directly from their websites.
Orlando to Naples (skipping Tampa as the other poster suggested) would be 4 hours.
Naples to the Key West is 6 hours, so you could maybe sneak in a night somewhere to break that long ride up, like Cheeca Lodge?
Key West has Duval St.,Sloppy Joe's, & Margaritaville.
Key West to Miami is 4 hours.
Miami to West Palm is 1.5 hours.
I'm sure if you did a search for "keys", "key west", "miami",and so forth you'd get lots of threads with valuable suggestions on places to stay, restaurants and things to see and do.
Tripadvisor has great reviews and info. on hotels and a "quickcheck" to search the travel search-engines for the best prices.
In total your talking about 900-950 miles (19 hours) of driving. It's very "doable" in the 2 weeks that you seem to have, and alot to see if you're like me and don't like to sit still for long. Good luck and have fun!