I am starting to plan a trip for the beginning of this Nov. We have been to Fort De Soto Park,St. Pete's Beach, Clearwater Beach (+ pirate ship cruise), Busch Gardens, Pinellas Trail, Magic Kingdom, Lowry Par Zoo, Seaworld, Legoland, and Animal Kingdom. I am looking for advice on attractions in this area which would be suitable for a 10 and 11 year old. It would also be useful to know how much time to allocate. I am thinking of visiting Kennedy Space Center, Epcot Center, Magic Kingdom (1 day) and Universal Studios. I don't know if we will have time to stop by Columbia Restaurant in Tampa. We loved the sandwiches there. Are the airboat tours any good?

We will have 2 travel days and 5 full days in Florida. Any advice would be appreciated. Lodging recommendations would also be good. Do we need 2 or 3 days at Universal Studios? I see that there are 2 different areas in Universal Studios. We are taking the kids out of school to do this trip to avoid long lines.

IMHO you are trying to fit an awful lot into so little time. Magic Kingdom and EPCOT each will take a full day (although you should review the latter, great for adults and I think kids that age but you know yours best) and I would also take the kids to Disney Animal Kingdom.

Have never been to Universal so don't know how much there is good for kids.

For Disney I would look at the disboard and mousesavers for a lot more info.

Is this over Thanksgiving? HIGH season for Disney, for sure

You seem to be pretty fixed on amusement parks. Have you considered "history", like St. Augustine, or going to Charleston and Savannah. Other places than Florida?

I am planning the trip for the first week of Nov. I don't want to go too near Thanksgiving because I know that it will be extremely crowded at that time. The reason why we are trying to go to the Orlando area is because there are a lot of kid friendly attractions. Note: my ideal trip is to go hiking at Olympic National Park, but the kids are not interested in doing a lot of hiking right now.

If your children are into Harry Potter they will LOVE the Universal Parks. If you stay at one of the three on site resorts at Universal that offer express access it will make things a lot easier. The Royal Pacific Resort, Hard Rock Hotel, and the Portofino Bay Hotel all offer the express access.

Has anyone gone on the airboat tours?

Yes, many times. If you have never gone on one, do it. It is a quintessential Florida experience.

On the way to the Kennedy Space Center, I recommend this one: http://www.twisterairboatrides.com/
It's on State Road 520 where the road crosses the St. Johns River.

In the Orlando (i.e. Kissimmee) area, this is a pretty good guide: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...e_Florida.html

" I don't know if we will have time to stop by Columbia Restaurant in Tampa." There is a Columbia restaurant in Celebration, quite close to the Disney parks.

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

because there are a lot of kid friendly attractions

No doubt about it--amusement parks are the bomb with kids. Sometimes it is good to introduce things that stretch them a bit--aquariums (NOT SeaWorld, although I love it--you've been), museums, historic districts. The Space Center is certainly good.

"The Space Center is certainly good."

Yeah, but I always remind people that it is not a theme park and that very young children could get bored.

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

<Yeah, but I always remind people that it is not a theme park and that very young children could get bored.>

Exactly right. It's a bunch of static displays--really good ones, and we learned a lot and enjoyed it--and a very cool gift shop. Excellent, but not a theme park.

Kennedy space center is not a theme park and since there are no shuttle flights sort of boring right now. I would stick to Orlando.
A beach day is different. A little bit cool or could be warm to see the ocean. Water temp is cold in Nov though.
http://bcairboats.com/

I would stay on Disney property to get in earlier and stay later.

I don't ride on roller coasters. I would also be interested in attractions which don't involve roller coasters. Thanks for all of the useful advice. I think that it might not be beach weather since we are visiting the Orlando area in Nov.

I'm going to make one more try. Your children are growing up. Do they require an amusement park experience every trip?
Kid friendly can also mean historic or animal or other things--not thrilling rides. If not this year--surely NEXT? Non?

You may want to reconsider the beach. Average highs on the central eastern coast of FL are in the high 70s F. in early Nov. There's a good chance you could get a few 80-degree days.

Agree that kids that age are certainly old enough for more educational/informative cultural/learning activities. When people bring kids to NYC I always head them towards some of the museums as part of the itinerary.

BUT, Orlando is really theme park central. If spending so much to get there I think it makes sense to do the theme parks. As long as that's not the only place they ever take kids (there have been people posting who go to Disney almost every year - IMHO close to madness).

People go to theme parks with kids because that is what they like to do. Maybe I will try to go back to Legoland. We have not been to the old Cypress Gardens.