A beach that is in driving distance to WDW

[CrazySun27]

I'd like to take my family to the beach of course after we hit the theme parks. Have a relaxing beach day.. We are leaving from Houston, TX to Orlando.

What is the best beach for a family? DS-5, DD-7, DD-9


Thanks!!

 

[Boots]

Friends of ours always go on over to the Daytona area. They make a day trip out of it. It has been ages though since I have been to Daytona Beach. I think that St. Petersburg would probably be in driving range too.

 

[CrazySun27]

Thanks for the advice.......!

 

[missydisney]

We have gone to Cocoa Beach. It's a little over an hour drive. Since it stays light til around 9 it's a great way to spend the evening. By the way we are from Dallas.

 

[CrazySun27]

Missdisney, hello fellow Texan!

I see you are almost on your way to Mickey's house..

What is the best source to find a map to plot out our journey?

Should I use an internet site or bookstore...just need something reliable.........

 

[lucky978]

We went to St. Petersburg/Clearwater a few years back. It was great. I think it was a little over an hour, but the water was so warm it was worth it. I used a AAA map to find out way. Mostly highway driving through Tampa.

Have fun!

 

[mother moto]

Hello Texas, We are leaving from Tulsa, Oklahoma. I purchased the Streets and Trips 2002. You can put in any address you want to go to, how many miles to the gallon you get how many gallons your car holds, how often you want to stop and points of intrest you might want to see and it maps it all out for you mile by mile. It tells me what exit to take for fill ups so I won't run out of gas and it tells me what roads are under construction. I love this thing. I bought it at Comp usa. It loads easy and you can go out to the internet an update it. Oh the maps are great also.
Have a safe trip. We will also be going to Cocoa beach.

 

[mom_rules]

How long are the drives?

We were planning on Daytona (DD19 and DS16) since we thought there might be more to do and see there.

 

[wdw_dine_junkie]

I would recommend heading East to the Atlantic coast, either to Daytona or Cocoa Beach. If you head West, you have to go through Tampa and then either south to St. Pete Beach or out to Clearwater Beach. I live 55 miles west of Disney just off of I-4, which is still East of Tampa. It's another 30-1 hour minimum to the Gulf Beaches, depending on traffic. So about an hour and 45 total from Disney. I think it's less of a drive to head East to the Atlantic. Although driving through Orlando can be a nightmare as well if it's rush hour. Hmm, that probably wasn't helfpul at all was it?

 

[mom_rules]

K-are these directions pretty good from Orlando to Daytona?

From Tampa and Orlando:

Take Interstate 4 from Tampa or Orlando
heading east. Take exit number 86 and go
north on Interstate 95. At exit number 87, take
U.S. 92 east to A1A and the beaches.

Daytona Beach
Orlando 54 miles
Tampa 139 miles

 

[mother moto]

Cocoa or Daytona????????


We are going to be staying at one of those beaches for 20or 3 days after Disney to relax Whitch one would you suggest for a few nights and what hotels??????

 

[CrazySun27]

Ok, i'm confused need some help, should we go to Daytona or Cocoa Beach? ...

 

[melissa6631]

This isn't even a toss up for me! Clearwater ALL THE WAY!

I love the beaches, the calm warm water, the friendly non-"spring break" atmosphere. We just got back on Saturday and we did Clearwater before Disney. I'm going to try to include a picture of our sunset there. It's truely a must see and because of that beach, we've decided to book one of our future trips based in that area as opposed to Orlando!

 

[luvabargain]

I asked this question a bit ago also and everybody gave me the advice to go to Clearwater, hands down.

The reasons:
The beach is nice and beautiful
Family friendly (not nude)
The water is warm
You can find nice shells

The drive is a little under two hours

Now, I've never been to Florida, but this is the advice given to me and this is where we'll go.

 

[mom_rules]

How long is the drive?

 

[melissa6631]

I think it's fair to say it depends on how you drive.

I think it's about an hour and 20 minutes for us, but Some have said 1.5 hours and others have said 2 hours. I can't imagine it taking 2 hours but that's just me.

I feel (and again this is personal opinion) that it's worth the drive.

 

[mom_rules]

Any particular area? beach?