The Family Vacation: Disney World, St Pete's Beach
Jun 6th, 2011, 05:05 AM
#1
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The Family Vacation: Disney World, St Pete's Beach
I just spent 4 jam packed days at Disney World, and then 3 days as a slug on the beach at St Pete's Beach. The family in this case was me, my dear DIL, granddaughter age 12 (but thinks she's 16), grandson 10, grandson 5. My son just changed jobs and couldn't come. He said he was fine (hates crowds) but I was sad for him. I had a great time with his family.
We planned the trip around cheap airfare, kid's school schedules, and Disney park rates. We squeaked through before the summer rates kicked in. We tried to be organized looking at websites, reading guide books, and listening to lots and lots of other people's stories. Disney is overwhelming. We were on overload which is how a lot of people feel. This was my 3rd time there, but it has been 15 years since the last time. This was the kid's first time.
Some random thoughts and memories:
We stayed on site. We picked Port Orleans Riverside, a moderate priced resort. It was a great choice. There was a trundle bed so we could have 5 in the room, but it did not feel crowded. It was a beautiful wooded setting, and there were buses every few minutes to the parks.
We bought a cheap umbrella stroller for the 5 year old. He looked at in with contempt ("i'm not a baby!") but was soon happily crawling in it. There is stroller rental on site, but is pricey. This cost $15 at Walmart.
We studied web sites devoted to all things Disney. These people know their stuff and could direct us to the right days to visit the parks when the crowds were less. They told us what attractions were most popular and when we should get fast passes. They were right on with all their advice. It felt so good to get in the fast pass lane and bypass the waiting, We never lost a lot of time waiting in lines.
We figured out early we would wear ourselves out trying to get to everything. We did a park a day, what we saw we were happy with and had no regrets if we missed stuff. A few days, we went back to the resort to swim in the afternoon and went back to the park at night.
I wore a pedometer and averaged 7-8 miles a day. We started out carrying backpacks and large purses, and everyday saw the wisdom of lightening the load. The last day, I was only carrying money, my park pass and sunscreen.
We did not get the Disney meal plan. I know it works great for a lot of people. We just knew these kids are not big eaters and I did not want all the desserts that came with this. If I get dessert I would eat it, and then regret it. We had rented a mini-van since we flew into a smaller airport (Sanford) and were able to stop at a grocery store before Disney. I had gotten a cheap price on the van through Priceline so didn't feel bad having it for the 4 Disney days. We always ate breakfast in the room, and had snacks. We only had one reservation prior to arrival, and that was The Biergarten in Germany World Showcase in Epcot. It was a great buffet, and there was dancing. (OK, the polka but it was fun) Food was expensive, but we knew that going in.
The kids wanted a lot of trinkets and tschotskes.. The boys were happy with the pressed penny machines in most of the gift shops. For 51 cents you can choose which penny design you want and turn the crank. Maybe a rip off, but it satisfied them.
Disney exceeded our expectations. The attractions had lots of attention to detail, the parks were beautifully clean, and the workers were friendly. My favorite ride was Toy Story Mania. It was the first ride we went on, and the kids faces said it all, they were having a ball.
So after being Disneyed out, we headed for the white sandy beach of St Pete's Beach. These Illinois kids were enthralled with the ocean. The water was like bathwater, pure heaven!! We found a favorite gelato shop (I think it was Larry's) with the type of creamy gelato I had only previously had in Italy. We ate one meal at Crabby Bill's which was great seafood. Mainly we laid around on the beach and built sand castles. We had SPF 50 and 80 sunblock so no burns on these blonde kids. It was very hot down there, but oh so pretty. Our resort was just OK, I think Disney raised the bar for me.
There are people who live to vacation at Disney, I will not be one of them since there are too many places to go in this big old world. But as the Disney advertisements promise, we did make good memories. Of course with three kids you get the kid fights, some whining, and one pee the pants moment (literally, the 5 year old!), but these are part and parcel. My DIL and I still like each other, so this trip was a great success, well worth the money spent.
We planned the trip around cheap airfare, kid's school schedules, and Disney park rates. We squeaked through before the summer rates kicked in. We tried to be organized looking at websites, reading guide books, and listening to lots and lots of other people's stories. Disney is overwhelming. We were on overload which is how a lot of people feel. This was my 3rd time there, but it has been 15 years since the last time. This was the kid's first time.
Some random thoughts and memories:
We stayed on site. We picked Port Orleans Riverside, a moderate priced resort. It was a great choice. There was a trundle bed so we could have 5 in the room, but it did not feel crowded. It was a beautiful wooded setting, and there were buses every few minutes to the parks.
We bought a cheap umbrella stroller for the 5 year old. He looked at in with contempt ("i'm not a baby!") but was soon happily crawling in it. There is stroller rental on site, but is pricey. This cost $15 at Walmart.
We studied web sites devoted to all things Disney. These people know their stuff and could direct us to the right days to visit the parks when the crowds were less. They told us what attractions were most popular and when we should get fast passes. They were right on with all their advice. It felt so good to get in the fast pass lane and bypass the waiting, We never lost a lot of time waiting in lines.
We figured out early we would wear ourselves out trying to get to everything. We did a park a day, what we saw we were happy with and had no regrets if we missed stuff. A few days, we went back to the resort to swim in the afternoon and went back to the park at night.
I wore a pedometer and averaged 7-8 miles a day. We started out carrying backpacks and large purses, and everyday saw the wisdom of lightening the load. The last day, I was only carrying money, my park pass and sunscreen.
We did not get the Disney meal plan. I know it works great for a lot of people. We just knew these kids are not big eaters and I did not want all the desserts that came with this. If I get dessert I would eat it, and then regret it. We had rented a mini-van since we flew into a smaller airport (Sanford) and were able to stop at a grocery store before Disney. I had gotten a cheap price on the van through Priceline so didn't feel bad having it for the 4 Disney days. We always ate breakfast in the room, and had snacks. We only had one reservation prior to arrival, and that was The Biergarten in Germany World Showcase in Epcot. It was a great buffet, and there was dancing. (OK, the polka but it was fun) Food was expensive, but we knew that going in.
The kids wanted a lot of trinkets and tschotskes.. The boys were happy with the pressed penny machines in most of the gift shops. For 51 cents you can choose which penny design you want and turn the crank. Maybe a rip off, but it satisfied them.
Disney exceeded our expectations. The attractions had lots of attention to detail, the parks were beautifully clean, and the workers were friendly. My favorite ride was Toy Story Mania. It was the first ride we went on, and the kids faces said it all, they were having a ball.
So after being Disneyed out, we headed for the white sandy beach of St Pete's Beach. These Illinois kids were enthralled with the ocean. The water was like bathwater, pure heaven!! We found a favorite gelato shop (I think it was Larry's) with the type of creamy gelato I had only previously had in Italy. We ate one meal at Crabby Bill's which was great seafood. Mainly we laid around on the beach and built sand castles. We had SPF 50 and 80 sunblock so no burns on these blonde kids. It was very hot down there, but oh so pretty. Our resort was just OK, I think Disney raised the bar for me.
There are people who live to vacation at Disney, I will not be one of them since there are too many places to go in this big old world. But as the Disney advertisements promise, we did make good memories. Of course with three kids you get the kid fights, some whining, and one pee the pants moment (literally, the 5 year old!), but these are part and parcel. My DIL and I still like each other, so this trip was a great success, well worth the money spent.
Jun 6th, 2011, 06:05 AM
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sounds like a great trip. "the wisdom of lightening the load." love it. i think that's the biggest battle i have when taking a trip. i just seem to over pack all the time. it's really hard for me to do a theme park two days in a row, because after the first day i'm just over all the lines. you seemed to handle it well. glad you made it through and had a good time.
Jun 6th, 2011, 07:34 AM
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Sounds like you had a wonderful trip. Its been a long time since ive been down there and my hubby has never been but something to plan in the future I guess. You did your homework well and planned good I think. Enjoyed your trip report and thanks for writing it for us stuck at home wishing we were there.lol
Jun 6th, 2011, 01:23 PM
#5
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NewbE, thanks for the correction. I feel like such a dork. I have a magnet that says St. Pete Beach. Whatever, it sure was beautiful. We stayed at the Tradewinds Island Grand on Gulf Blvd. It was nice but I would caution anyone going there that there is an older area of rooms and a newly renovated part. We had the older suite the first night and the air conditioning went out during the night. The suite just looked tired, you could tell it needed a face lift. They moved us to the renovated area, and it was quite luxurious, but the first night left kind of a bad taste. We had looked at the Don Cesar online, and once we saw it we sure wished we would have booked there. But we did enjoy St Pete Beach, and would highly recommend the area to anyone. There looked like a lot of really nice oceanfront resorts there.
Jun 6th, 2011, 01:48 PM
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Good info, thanks again! I'm always curious about lodging in this area (I live in Tampa), but never get first-hand experience, so your report is very helpful. As for St. Pete(s), please don't feel like a dork, it's a very common mistake, and I didn't mean to make you feel bad! On Chowhound, for example, people sometimes post "I tried to find X restaurant in S. Pete's Beach but it doesn't seem to exist," and so on, so I was just clarifying.
Btw, it used to be St. Petersburg Beach back in the day, always abbreviated to St. Pete Beach, naturally; it was legally changed to St. Pete Beach in the 1990's, by popular vote, but some old timers still dislike the change on principle
Btw, it used to be St. Petersburg Beach back in the day, always abbreviated to St. Pete Beach, naturally; it was legally changed to St. Pete Beach in the 1990's, by popular vote, but some old timers still dislike the change on principle
Jun 10th, 2013, 05:16 AM
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I didn't read your trip report, cuz I don't have time right now. I am anxious to hear any news from this past weekend...will you friend me on FB? I really enjoyed meeting you and visiting with you!
Jun 10th, 2013, 10:32 AM
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Sounds like a great family trip! My family (my husband, almost 2 year old, cousin, cousins husband and 2.5 year old nephew) are doing a very similar trip in 8 days! Chicago natives headed to Maderia Beach (up Gulf blvd. from St. Pete beach) and spending a day at Magic Kingdom.
So glad to hear you liked Crabby Bill's as it was on my list.
How was the weather, you must have just missed the storms?
So glad to hear you liked Crabby Bill's as it was on my list.
How was the weather, you must have just missed the storms?
Jun 10th, 2013, 06:09 PM
#10
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Retired04, not a big deal at all!! It was me. I responded to you and realized I had called you by your real name and didn't think it was cool to do, so I asked for it to be deleted. I just hadn't gotten a new reply written yet.
If you didn't see my other reply though, first thing nothing has happened. I'm not sure what he is waiting for but it is killing me. I keep waiting for my phone to ring.
Then, I really wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed talking to you and your hubby. You both have so much energy and are so interesting with great stories. You helped make my first GTG really fun.
Now, the FB thing. I have had an account for a while, and I will work on getting it going. You will be one of my first friends to accept. And lastly you do not need to read my trip report. It's about taking the grandkids to Disney!!
ComeSailWithMe, Thanks for reading and commenting. I had just been to the Chicago GTG and had met retired 04 and her husband. She found this trip report of mine from 2 years ago to contact me with. But it doesn't matter because you are going to love Madeira Beach and the Magic Kingdom. Crabby Bill's was a good spot to take kids, not fussy at all. I'm from the Chicago area too, that's why I was at the GTG.
If you didn't see my other reply though, first thing nothing has happened. I'm not sure what he is waiting for but it is killing me. I keep waiting for my phone to ring.
Then, I really wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed talking to you and your hubby. You both have so much energy and are so interesting with great stories. You helped make my first GTG really fun.
Now, the FB thing. I have had an account for a while, and I will work on getting it going. You will be one of my first friends to accept. And lastly you do not need to read my trip report. It's about taking the grandkids to Disney!!
ComeSailWithMe, Thanks for reading and commenting. I had just been to the Chicago GTG and had met retired 04 and her husband. She found this trip report of mine from 2 years ago to contact me with. But it doesn't matter because you are going to love Madeira Beach and the Magic Kingdom. Crabby Bill's was a good spot to take kids, not fussy at all. I'm from the Chicago area too, that's why I was at the GTG.
Jun 11th, 2013, 09:09 AM
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Whew! If you do get back on FB, you will see our day of grand parenting today! It actually started with an overnight at their house...it's too far for a morning commute! Going to a late lunch and a Big Bloody Mary!
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