Xmas in Florida
 

We are planning a trip to Florida arriving Dec 18th - to Jan 12th 07. At this stage not too sure where we want to go - we will have two children with us ages 11 and 15 and are keen to see as much as possible. At this point of the plan I am trying to work out where we should be for 24th - 26th Dec so we can still enjoy Christmas as a family. Any suggestions will be very welcome. Also should we include the panhandle in our trip?
Thanks in advance

Capetown: Which city are you flying into? The Panhandle is a long drive from most FL cities. The most obvious recommendation with children in tow is Disney World if you are flying into Orlando.

ttt
I have the same question.
Location : Miami. Any suggestions?

Hi, thanks for replying so qiuckly. We will probably fly invia London to orlando and do the whole Disney thing. Its just that we are in Florida for about a month and there must be so much to see. Not sure how best to structure the trip, but i do think i should sort out Xmas and probably New Year - fairly quickly.
I was also thinking of one of your wonderful cruises for a week at the beginning of January

I don't wish to be negative - but to come to the US for amonth and spend the entire time in FL seems an awful waste. Even with kids it's hard to spend more than 6/7 days in Orlando. Are you going to spend the rest of the time at the beach?

I would reco seriously looking at some other things to do - perhaps New Orleans or Savannah/Charleston - something with a little more interest - rather than somuch sameness. (I can understand you might not want to go too far north to avoid winter - but there are plenty of other things to see/do in the south.)

A month is a lot in Florida. I am from Miami and the 25th is pretty dead. I would say that you should start your trip in Miami and go up to the Pan Handle. Don't waste your time in the Keys; the beaches are nothing special.
Great places to go are: Miami, Naples, Tampa, Orlando, St. Augustine, and Seaside or Amelia Island. You could do the cruise for Christmas and/or New Year's week. I think that is a great idea. Like that you would only have 2.5 weeks in Florida which is enough to see all of these cities. Have a wonderful time.

I agree if you are spending a month in the US that you may want to visit some different places. Christmas in Savannah, Georgia might really be nice ..then drive down to Amelia Island and visit Ft. Clinch..go on down the east coast to St. Augustine and then on to Cape Canaveral. From there you could drive to Disney..and while you are there see Sea World as well as Disney World. That would take care of two weeks..You could leave Orlando and drive to the west coast. There are two great museums in St. Petersburg. The Dali Museum is really worth the trip. Then drive on down to Sarasota and go to the Ringling Museum..and out to the beaches. From there you could drive on down to Ft. Myers and visit Thomas Edison's home (very interesting) and by then you will be ready to go back to Orlando for a few days and rest up for the long plane ride home. Last time I flew to Capetown from Atlanta..it was about 14 hours!!

Hi, Capetownfolk! I disagree w/ the others about a month being too long for Florida! I love Florida (Especially the East coast....West Palm Beach, Ft. Lauderdale). I wld have no trouble spending a month there from Dec 18 to Jan 12! We usually go for a week around Christmas/New Years & always hate to leave @ the end of the week. However, a word about Florida weather: You have probably done enough research to know that the weather @ that time of year is very unpredictable in Florida. Obviously, the southern part of Florida will be warmer than the northern part so you may want to keep that in mind when planning your beach days! But, even in South Florida around West Palm it can get very chilly @ Christmas/New Years. Just to give you an example: When we were there form Jan 1 to Jan 7, 2006, the first few days were gorgeous...sunny, warm, with daytime temperatures in the high 70's, low 80's. But then a "cold front" covered the area & temperatures dropped waaaay down into the low 40's at night. We were weraing down filled vests! In the daytime it was chilly & windy....not beach or pool weather! If you do a cruise you will probably go somewhere farther south so it shd be nice & warm for your cruise....maybe the Caribbean?

sorry about all of my typos!

We typically visit Amelia Island over New Years or there-abouts. St. Augustine is just an hour away. Frankly, if I had that kind of time, I would just meander out the Keys.

nytraveller
Your comments are very valid. I did think that perhaps New orleans could be a great idea. We don't want to get too cold so do you have any more suggestions.
We have a 3 weeks to a month which is a great opportunity. Unfortunately it has to be mid Dec to mid Jan as that's how it ties in with our leave in Cape Town

ttt

I don't see anything wrong with spending a month in central Florida. I've spent the last 19+ years here (HaHa).

Seriously, St. Augustine does a great job with the entire Christmas season, beginning with the Grand Illumination, usually the evening of the first Saturday in December. Here is a good place to start <http://www.staugustine.com/visit/> to research it further.

St. Augustine is America's oldest city and is filled with historic sites, good & reasonably priced restaurants, shopping (two outlet malls) and, of course, the beaches. It is only a 2-hour drive, by interstate highways, from Orlando. It would be a shame not to see it if you have the time.

If you are in Orlando over Christmas, try to stay at the Grand Floridian. They have wonderful Christmas extras--hot chocolate and cookies in the lobby, truly lovely and tasteful decorations, Victorian carollers strolling about. It's a very nice hotel and at Christmas it is magical. (And I don't really even <i>like</i> Orlando, but we're there fairly often as one of our children is in college there.)

Thanks kswl
We would have started our wonderful &quot;month in Florida&quot; adventure in Orlando but now we are going ona 7 nt cruise from Ft Lauderdale over Xmas. We will get to Orlando around the 7th jan and my next posting would have been advice on where to stay so I will check out your hotel suggestion

Can't wait to get there -please any other suggestions are welcome

TTT

Hi Capetown, and you're very welcome--just saw your post as some kind fodorite topped it.

If you haven't ever used Priceline before, you should consider it for Orlando. There are hundreds of hotels there in all price ranges, and some of the nicest can be had for very little $$ if you know the bidding strategies. January 7th you should have no problem getting a good hotel at a very decent price because all the Christmas holidays are over in the States and everyone has gone home from Florida.

Try the site www.biddingfortravel.com

It is a little cumbersome, but navigate it thoroughly and see what others are paying for hotels in Orlando. You can go ahead and make reservations somewhere just in case, and then cancel them well in advance of any penalties if you get a good deal on Priceline.

Let us know how your planning is going!

You could to Sarasota, Florida and Long Boat Key right next to Sarasota. Pretty area.

Sounds like plans are well underway and I have nothing really specific to add, except this observation regarding people saying it's too long to stay in one state:
The Europe board here is forever filled with people trying to do several countries in a month or a couple weeks. Invariably everyone keeps telling them they should narrow down the field and stick with just one country. Well Florida is larger and just as diverse as many of those single countries in Europe. I can't imagine why a month would be too long to stay there, although that's kind of a minor point now regarding the change in the overall itinerary and including the cruise.

Hi Neopolitan

We share your thoughts. When I was single i did the whole Europe in a month thing and yes you do get a good overview, but you don't absorb any one culture.

Any holiday with a group ranging from ages 10 to 70 requires quite some planning. Florida has such a diversity of sights and attractions and I wanted to spend as little time as possible at airports, hence 5 weeks in one state. Believe me we will not be bored.

Now the children are older I want to spend blocks of time travelling, but still having plenty of down time for them to make little friendships as in &quot;can I go to the beach with John today again?&quot; rather than just &quot;ok if this is Tuesday, then this must be Sarasota&quot;.

Next year - December 07, we will have another month to travel so I need to think of another area - I love America, so maybe New Orleans, and include Texas and Arizona? But thats a long way off yet.

Did you see our recent posting of the final itinerary as it stands now?
Also our last posting asking about Naples v Clearwater for an extra night?

Thanks so much for all your input.

There is lots to do in orlando for the holidays. Check out christmasinorlando.com for events at all the parks and cool stuff in orlando. west palm east coast is beautiful, lts to do. Dali museum is a great suggestion too. There is tons to do i orlando, u cant get bored.