Hi!

Planning a trip Feb Break to Florida with husband,2 kids 11 & 13, and grandma. We've done the Disney thing before. This time we wanted to include some Universal, Sea World, Kennedy Space Ctr, and a little Disney. Here is the problem: We are taking a discount airline to Sanford which arrives Sat night at 11PM and we are renting a car there. How should I break up the itinerary? Do I need to stay in Sanford for a night and include a trip to Winter Park as I've read about? Do I stay in Orlando the entire 6 nights? (We depart Fri at 4PM). How do I allocate the 5 1/2 days? Do I spend a night or two in Cocoa Beach or Smyrna Beach for Space trip or do it from Orlando? I'd appreciate any advice you all have to give! THANKS!

Feb break is so crowded around the parks, why don't you just stay in Winter Park the whole time? You'd have a short drive from the airport and a short drive to all your attractions.

Sanford is a small airport and the car rental outfits don't stay open all night. Make sure your rental company is aware of your airline and flight number. They may have to stay open later if your flight is delayed at all, and you might want to call them and make sure they're willing to do that for you.

tracy makes a good point about your rental car. Sanford is a tiny place so you will need to get a gurantee on your car pickup. I don't know what you'd do if you didn't have a car, I doubt there's any cabs around there. It is a beautiful spot on the St. John's River and has an interesting museum building downtown that has columns that replicate stalks of celery (Sanford used to be a big celery producer). But nothing will be open then and it's really not worth a stop.

Winter Park is very close to Sanford, on the same side of Orlando, and there are many hotels along the Interstate-4 there if you want to just bed down for the night. I believe Winter Park is the Altamonte Springs exit, but check for sure. There are a few hotels in Winter Park, and my favorite is the Park Plaza Hotel, a refurbished turn-of-the-century place with lush balconies and lots of charm, as well as being up to snuff in the comfort department. If you spend your first night in WP there are some pleasant bars that would most likely be open late.

I think you should include the beach. Especially if you plan a trip to Kennedy Space Ctr. I have a feeling that if you went to Kennedy, then stopped to check out the beach, you'd be sorry you weren't staying at least a night. Sunrise on the Atlantic is a glorious event, as is sunset on the Gulf. I don't know any places at Cocoa myself but maybe others do. Cocoa Beach is Florida's original surfer beach.

If you are going to go to Universal, then you should stay in one of the Universal hotels. Feb will be a busy time and you will want to have the front of the line pass that comes with being a hotel guest.
I can't speak to the Sanford issue but I would suggest you include in your plans two days for Universal and two days at Cocoa Beach (with one day at the Space Center.)

don't stay in Sanford, is not very safe

Thank you all for your feedback! I never considered the rental issue at that hour so thank you so much for bringing that up!!! How long would it take me from Winter Park to the parks in Orlando? Would there be a lot of traffic going to the parks? Should I stay in Cocoa over New Smyrna? Keysmom, I checked the Universal Hotels as you had suggested and only the Hard Rock at a pretty high price wasn't sold out for that week, so I might have to stand in line.....I guess I'd like to know if you all think I'd regret staying in Winter Park area instead of Orlando area or would that actually be an advantage? If I put the Cocoa Beach/New Smyrna (which do you vote for)part at the end of the trip, would it be a long drive back to Sanford airport for 4PM Friday departure? Is that the most logical? THANKS AGAIN!!!

No one has mentioned that it can be quite chilly in central Florida in February. My mom lives in Cocoa and I live in Oakland. We often compare temperatures and her's are frequently colder than mine at this time of year. I don't know where you're coming from but it would be far too cool for me to swim!

As a commuter through Orlando every day, the thought of driving from Sanford to Disney/Sea World/Universal, or Sanford to Cocoa, was enough to make my hair stand on end! The traffic can be horrible and take you up to a couple of hours to get to your destination. Sanford is reasonably close to Daytona Beach, but that is way north of Cocoa. I'd suggest looking for a hotel at the beach for a couple of nights and somewhere near the attractions a few nights -- perhaps along International Drive, that is fairly central. I don't know that Winter Park rates a special visit on its own, I guess it depends on where you live and what else you've seen. No, you probably don't want to stay in Sanford. To make your flight, plan NOT to have to drive through Orlando to get to the airport. You might take 417 up from the Disney area, or catch it coming from Cocoa as it crosses the BeeLine -- but allow plenty of time on a Friday. Until recently, I worked in Altamonte Springs (north of Winter Park, south of Sanford, roughly) and commuted home to Clermont..on a Friday after 3pm that could take me 2 to 2-1/2 hours to go 33 miles.

Hmmm...are you beginning to wish you'd never posted here? Just getting more confused? Well let me add to the confusion.

We stayed in Winter Park at the "Park Inn Orlando" and it was a decent family hotel, continental breakfast, pool etc. The drive to Universal only took about 20-25 minutes but we did not travel during morning rush or 4pm rush of course. It took about an hour to drive to Kennedy. We would stay there again if Kissimmee Orlando was full...glad we didn't hit any of that traffic. We hit the parks from about 10pm to 7:30pm so I guess we got lucky.

Extended Stay.com usually has openings near Universal, it is just a basic efficiency with no pool however. They also have one in Altamonte Springs near Winter Park. Are you looking for one big room for 5 or two rooms or a two-room suite type deal?

Personally I don't care to move once we're settled in to a room...even if it means an hour drive one day to Kennedy and an hour the next day to the beach. (Better than two hours of moving out and in and out and in.) But for New Smyrna you might try
coastalwatersinn.com

Thank you all! You're right...all the options did make my choice a very confusing one, but I think I have come up with a good compromise based on all feedback: Confirm rental car in Sanford for late arrival and drive to Orlando area for hotel for Sat -Tues night. After parks on Wed and dinner, miss rushhour traffic and drive to hotel in Cocoa Beach area where we will stay for Wed and Thurs night. Spend Thurs at Kennedy Space Ctr. On Friday after lunch drive straight to Sanford Airport via route suggested to avoid Disney congestion, return rental car and fly home. Minimize hotel switching to only 2 hotels and get to see Orlando and Florida Coast/Kennedy even if too cold to swim (at least no snow as we are coming from upstate NY in FEB!!!) Does that sound like a good plan?

Yep, good plan....just make sure to secure that first night hotel for late arrival. Confirm and RE-confirm, that's a sold-out time of year!

Be sure to stop at Ron Jon's Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach for some fun nosing around. Their prices are too high, but the shop next door has neat merchandise at much better costs.

That is a really good plan. February can vary quite a bit, so you may find the swimming is really good. Your route to the airport is excellent. Have lots of fun. ccolor's advise is also excellent, there are lots of beach shops with great prices near Ron Jon. What hotels did you settle on?