Orlando and ????
 

Greetings,

Myself, my husband and our two daughters, 16 and 20 will be in Orlando December 30 - Jan. 2. We are going on for a company event and staying at a Universal Studios property and attending the Capital One bowl - this portion is paid for by the company and set.

We are interesting in extending our stay Jan 2 - 5 at another location in Florida.

I know weather can be iffy in North Florida during that time, but wanted to see if there is a location within a few hours drive with a good airport that might be nice for us to extend our time in... ?

We would rent a car, drive, spend a few days at a beach location and fly out from there...

Looking for suggestions on that "beach" location - I figured we needed to head south.. maybe Ft. Lauderdale?

Thanks!

Ft. Lauderdale is OK, IMHO. Has the beach/boardwalk thing you're looking for and a shopping-restaurant district. Might be worth a couple of days, but not much more than that.

Of course, there's always South Beach/Miami. I can recommend a B&B there: SoBeYou. It's a couple of blocks, easy walk, to the beach and the action, but is in a quiet spot. Note: It's frequented by gay couples. If that bothers you, stay away. Obviously, we were fine with it.

My two favorite spots in Florida are Siesta Key and Naples. Siesta Key would be about 2-2 1/2 hours away. You could use the airports in Sarasota or Tampa. The beach there is beautiful and you're close to Sarasota and shopping. Naples is farther away and you could use the Ft. Myers airport. Very good shopping and restaurants and not as "beachy" as other Florida cities, but with good public beaches.

Miami? Sanibel or Marco Island? Two very different ideas!
Do you want quiet downtime or shopping and fancy restaurants along with that beach location?

Hey everyone! Thank you! We are from California - live in Dallas now and just want to take advantage of the paid for flights to Florida and enjoy a little beach time - no, not fancy restaurants - not our thing - we will have had an action packed few days in Orlando - quiet downtime sounds amazing! Beach ...beach..and more beach :-)

Momdd - looking into Lauderdale By The Sea. If you just want to plop on a beach and relax, it's a great place. It's a 1/2 mile stretch of low rise hotels on a street one block from the A1A with a little downtown. You park your car and leave it there.

There are little shops, restaurants, a pier. The water is beautiful with lots of waves. Most of the places are mom and pop style with kitchens. On Friday and Saturday nights they shut down the street (El Mar drive - a nice street that runs through town with a landscaped median) and have live music. The beach near Aruba's is great for people watching.

The girls can walk around to shops and restaurants. Everything is low key. When my husband and I have a few days to get away and just want to hang out on a beach, we head there. It's a quick jaunt to the Ft. Lauderdale airport.

We LOVE the High Noon resort. We stayed there a few weeks before Christmas last year.

http://www.highnoonresort.com/

http://lbts.com/chamberwelcome.html

Sanibel and Captiva would work well too.

Since you will be in Orlando I think Cocoa, Daytona, New Smyrna would fit the bill.

I like the idea of Cocoa Beach, which is very close, but Sanibel might be nicer or even Clearwater Beach, which is closer still.

It's hard to know in the winter if you'll have beach weather or not, so it's a good idea to head somewhere you'll find things to do off the beach as well. That's why Clearwater might be a good destination, with all the sights of Tampa close by. But Naples has a lot to offer, though less I think for families than for adults.

I do think you may run into high prices, so that may be a consideration, especially for Fort Lauderdale and Miami. And if you are looking at hotels, you may find holiday minimums that you can't meet. I'd definitely look at specific hotels and dates as soon as possible so you can adjust your plans if need be.

Just be aware that beach weather that time of year could be iffy in Cocoa, Daytona and New Smyrna.

Thanks everyone! Buffalo girl - can you believe I lived in Lauderdale by the sea for a few months when I was a child. :-) I am sure it has changed a ton but it was a sweet little area then too!

I was thinking that I might have a better chance at warm if I was in Ft. Lauderdale then up in Tampa, Clearwater area - I lived in Tampa and St. Pete when I was 17-19.

Wow, Momddtravel2....I'd like to live there right now. It's a small world, after all! (Oh, I hope you didn't endure that ride in Disney)! :-O

As I said above, we were there last December (first week or two - can't remember) and the weather was fantastic! Very warm with low to no humidity. They decorate for Christmas with tons of lights in the palm trees.

I don't know if 2-4 weeks makes a difference (early December to end of the month), but I do know we stopped going to Florida in general in February, as we always ran into cold weather. Coming from Buffalo, well.....we don't like that!

I never met a beach in Florida I didn't like. Good luck with the planning!

Oh - and it probably hasn't changed all that much since you were a little girl. It's still old school Florida, but is definitely modernizing a bit!

Bookmarking - hope you find your perfect spot!

Thank you! Looking today! We are pretty excited. :-) I think we will head south to the Palm Beach/Boca/Ft. Lauderdale area as we have had iffy weather in Orlando - more north.

Buffalo - I sent an inquire to the High Noon - that looks awesome!

It's very nice, Momdd. And it's close to everything. The live music on the street is right outside, but they only play until 9 or 10 so it's not intrusive. There's a grocery store (and liquor store) on A1A. You can stock up your room with snacks and drinks.

I really think your girls will enjoy the area as well!

We decided on Palm Beach - using Marriott Points http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...esort-and-spa/

very excited! (BuffaloGirl that place in Lauderdale by the sea had no availability.)

Well, maybe another time then!

I haven't been, but I hear that Singer Island is very nice. Have a great time!!!

Buffalogirl - I am very excited and counting on nothing coming in the way of our holiday plans!! ((F))