Going beyond Orlando
 

Sep-Oct we will be in Orlando for 3-week stay (4 elders and 5 kids) and will have a SUV at our disposal. Seeking your guidance on what and where we can go beyond the theme parks? Beyond Orlando city. We can afford overnight stay.

Please note our base will remain in Orlando with flexibility for an overnight stay elsewhere.

Head east and go to Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. Go to the beach. Go to St. Augustine. Head west and visit the gulf coast, do an overnight and go to Ringling museum etc.

I would second a trip to the gulf coast. The beaches from Clearwater to St Pete are my favorites.

Definitely St. Augustine.

A few links:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/trave.../st-augustine/
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/trave...2.photogallery
http://www.staugustine.com/visit/
http://www.visitflorida.com/St_Augustine
http://www.getaway4florida.com/

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

St. Augustine is an interesting spot for an overnight stay. Lots of history. You can get tix for the open trolley and hop on/hop off, plus get a narrated tour of the historic district. Eat at the Columbia restaurant in the historic district. Great food and sangria, if you like it -- they mix it at the table.

Yes to the Kennedy Space Center. You can combine that with a beach trip to Cocoa Beach (take the kids to Ron-Jon's), or go farther south where the beaches are a little quieter.

You probably would want to combine the two in one trip, since they're both on the east coast and only a few hours apart. Drive northeast to St. A, and then south to the KSC area and Cocoa Beach. From there, it's an easy return drive to Orlando.

St. Augustine. Castillo de San Marcos (the old fort) is low key and fun for all ages. Wandering around town is enjoyable. The Columbia has great Spanish food and there's a gelato shop who's name escapes me that has amazing gelato...and I've eaten gelato around the world, including Italy :) We always stop in St. Augustine for an overnight on our way from Virginia to Ocala to visit family. My family in Ocala also likes to go to Daytona for the beach but I've never been so don't have any suggestions there. Consider the Gulf Coast. I need to make it out there myself. Enjoy!

Oh, and St. Pete has a really cool Salvador Dalí museum.

Dear all, thanks a lot for input from all of you, seems to be very practical and doable. Thanks and appreciate.

I guess if you want to spend only one night away, I'd pick the beach since you're in Florida, either Clearwater or Cocoa Beach (I like the Gulf beaches better, so I'd probably choose Clearwater). Perhaps check out the Giraffe Ranch in Dade City. That's closer to Orlando than Tampa and could be a day-trip. None of the places mentioned here is more than a 3-hour drive from Orlando, so all could be done as long daytrips.

Are you seriously spending 3 full weeks in Orlando? If you can at all do it, I'd recommend getting away from Orlando for the majority of your time. Perhaps spend no more than a week there, but then visit other places in Florida. Prices drop so much in the off-season and there are so many vacation rentals available, I think you could find similarly priced accommodations almost anywhere in the state or transfer your points if you are using a time-share. You could, for instance, spend a week at the beach in the Panhandle and a week in another destination. Or you could go down to the Keys or to Fort Lauderdale. I'd still go to St. Augustine or Cape Canaveral or Tampa/Clearwater or St. Petersburg as well.

Try Mt Dora (Victorian), Ocala (horse country), Homossassa Springs.

Like Doug, can't imagine being in Orlando itself for three weeks, but there you go. At least try to get to little Vietnam or some of the other ethnic neighborhoods, and you can't go to Florida without seeing some citrus groves., though there won't be any fruit. And where will yo see alligators? Manatees in the wild? Oh, dear. You will need another three weeks away from Orlando!

Dear all, thanks for your suggestions. The idea of moving away from Orlando makes lots of sense and we agree to spend about 10 days in Orlando – you know the kids. So will this change or add to your given suggestions? Since transportation is not an issue, can we opt for any mountainous areas – scenic weather change?
Cape Canaveral and Tampa are already in our plans.
Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Are you coming from the US or abroad?

If the latter, I have some suggestions further afield.

You should buy trip insurance since late September and early October are hurricane season. Your chances of it affecting you are small but could you afford to eat the cost if forced to cancel?

For "mountainous areas" you'll have to drive a long distance and out of Florida, which is flat as a pancake. I don't have a lot of experience in this area, but I believe the mountains of north Georgia would be the closest spot. Too far for you, it seems, but that's your decision. Similar advice for "scenic weather change."

P.S. Don't be fooled by the name "Mount Dora."

Kennedy Space Center and Canaveral National Seashore

What about an airboat ride? We did that with Boggy Creek Airboats in Kissimmee and had a great time. We say all sorts of birds, a 12 foot gator, and several deer.

Haven't been in years, but I always enjoyed going here for a pancake breakfast and then exploring.

http://www.planetdeland.com/sugarmill/

And you could try skydiving! https://www.skydivedeland.com/

Dear Ackislander - thanks.
We are coming from outside USA. Yes, once in Orlando, with wife only had to vacate luckily got two seats of DC. But this time its a full family and kids.
Can we take insurance from local US company? Do you have any recommendations - and covering what?

There are international companies that offer trip insurance. Travelguard is one. There are others. Just Google "trip insurance." They cover prepaid costs of a trip. In the case of a hurricane, they would pay only in case of a cancellation of a flight because of the hurricane or the costs of your accommodation if, for instance, your hotel suffered damage and couldn't provide you with a room.

Ask yourself these questions: Wouldn't the airline provide a refund if your flight was canceled? Wouldn't the hotel do the same if it had to close because of a hurricane? And wouldn't that make trip insurance redundant? And trip insurance only covers actual losses resulting from an actual hurricane. In other words, you can't cancel because of the threat of a hurricane and expect to get reimbursed.

All of Vincenzo's questions are best answered by "It depends on the circumstances."

In every case I know of ( cancellations due to health,weather, civil disaster, air evacuation) the policies available to UK (and perhaps Oz, NZ, SA) residents have been more comprehensive and cheaper than Americans can buy.

Circumstances? Huh? So a hotel that's closed because of hurricane damage wouldn't provide a refund under some circumstances? An airline that cancels all flights to a destination wouldn't provide a refund under some circumstances?

And, AFAIK, it's pretty universal that the insurance kicks in only in case of an actual event that causes those cancellations, and not just because you suspect there will be a problem.

But maybe I'm misunderstanding the comment.