All Disney or Disney/Beach combo trip?

[flamingogirl]

I have made a 6 night reservation for AKL (now less than 2 weeks away). We have 7 day park hopper tickets and the dining plan. I decided it would be nice to go to Daytona Beach and stay at the Hilton for a night or two? I would have to change our current reservations and pay a $50 fee if I understand correctly. Have any of you ever split your trip up? I will be traveling with my husband and 3 year old son. What do you recommend? Should I go on and make it a full blown Disney trip or add the beach? We live about 7-10 hours from any beaches. I appreciate any suggestions?

 

[spiceycat]

Disney will easily consumed your entire trip.... IT is a big place....

so no - especially if you live close enough to drive over for a weekend stay closer to home.

 

[Snoopymom]

We always try to see the beach when we go, but dh gets "disneyed" out as he says and seeing ds play in the sand and waves is worth it to me.

Plus, you're only an hour or two away and when you compare the expense of adding a day or two to a whole separate trip, it makes sense.

(The Oceanwalk next to the Hilton has washers and dryers even in the studios which makes staying on the beach tolerable to me.)

If you go, don't forget to take a Mickey kite!

 

[scoolover]

We usually get a few beach days. More relaxing and it does not hurt that my dad lives in Daytona but it really depends on what you like. You can't really go wrong either way.

 

[3darlings]

We returned from a combo trip a couple of weeks ago and I thought it was great. We have never done that before and I would highly recommend it. We went to the Nick Hotel first and then Disney followed by 5 days to Clearwater. I thought it was a great combination of busy at the beginning and relaxing at the end. We saved the rest of our hoppper tickets for the next time. Anyway, I think from now on we will take this approach. It makes for a much more relaxing trip and we meet everyone's needs in our family this way. So I am a yes vote!

 

[MNmom2]

For the past 2 yrs we have just driven to Cocoa Beach (abt 1.5 hrs away), spent the day and then headed back to our hotel. Would you consider just a day trip as an option? Our kids love it - it's a nice relaxing day, yet we can still head back for more Disney!!

 

[DeanCosper]

Six days of WDW can wear you down so I would plan a visit to the beach.
My choice would be Playalinda Beach at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, only just over an hour away. No need to change your reservation just go for the day. Beware though this is 20 plus miles of undeveloped beach owned by the government so there are no amenities except bathrooms at parking areas.
Bring an umbrella and picnic. No crowds, very relaxing.
Do the beach and then drive back, no problem.
Google Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge for more info.

 

[flamingogirl]

Thank you all for your opinions and suggestions. I think we may just go and see how we feel when we get there.

 

[ChristusG]

Hmm, I think I would say no. Disney is HUGE, always something to do.....if you have never been before, then six days will not even be enough to see everything htey hae. However, if you dont mind that, then off to the beach!

 

[DebbieinWA]

We returned from a combo trip a couple of weeks ago and I thought it was great. We have never done that before and I would highly recommend it. We went to the Nick Hotel first and then Disney followed by 5 days to Clearwater. I thought it was a great combination of busy at the beginning and relaxing at the end. We saved the rest of our hoppper tickets for the next time. Anyway, I think from now on we will take this approach. It makes for a much more relaxing trip and we meet everyone's needs in our family this way. So I am a yes vote!

We are interested in doing a combo trip such as you mentioned for our upcoming trip in December. Do you recommend any specific accomodations in the Clearwater Beach area? How many days total was your trip? Thanks!

 

[Dopey420]

We always go to Disney's Vero Beach resort. It is 1 hour and 50 minutes from WDW. It is beautiful and still has the Disney magic.

 

[3darlings]

We are interested in doing a combo trip such as you mentioned for our upcoming trip in December. Do you recommend any specific accomodations in the Clearwater Beach area? How many days total was your trip? Thanks!

We spent 2 days at the Nick Hotel and 2 days at a condo when we went to Disney. Then 5 days near Clearwater. We stayed at the Marriott Suites Clearwater Sand Key. It is a mile or so from the main area of Clearwater Beach. It is in a beautiful area that is mostly expensive condos so it was very quite and laidback there (Sand Key). We really liked this hotel. It is right on the waterway leading to what I believe is Tampa Bay. The baloncies overlook this and you often see dolphins, sailboats etc. from the baloncy. This place was totally geared to families and the staff was extremely friendly. The suite was not the largest but it fit our family of 5's needs. The pool is great and there were alot of family activities. There is also a kids club that my kids did one night when we went out to dinner. The beach is arose the way (across the beach road and other side of condos.) There is also Sand Key State Park acros the way that you can drive to or the hotel will take you by golf cart. We didn't like this beach since it was covered by broken shells (worried about kids' cutting feet.) So we drove down a few miles and simply parked along the road and walked over to the beach. There (I think Indian Shores) the beach was beautiful. Another day we went to Fort De Soto Beach which was absolutely beautiful. There is also a public park about a mile or so down the road which had a playground and tennis courts which we used most days. There was a Sheraton across the way (closer to the beach) that looked nice but we were using my husband's Marriott reward points. These are the only 2 hotels in the Sand Key area.

There are several hotels in the main Clearwater Beach area that looked good, especially the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort. The beach there is nice but it was much more crowded. Clearwater Beach is pretty touristy which was fun for us for a day (we took the local tolley from the hotel) but I was glad we stayed in the much quieter and laid back Sand Key area.

Let me know if you have any other questions. I was surprised how much I liked combining Disney with the beach since I am not much of a beach person and I love Disney. (I should mention that we also did Busch Gardens on the last day we were in Clearwater.) But we did come back much more relaxed and my husband (not much of a Disney fan) was much more agreeable!

 

[DebbieinWA]

Great info - thanks! We're definitely planning to do the combo Disney/beach trip. We also want to do Busch Gardens while we are there. Can't wait!! Another question - have you ever ventured to Silver Springs? We are thinking of going there one day as well. Thanks!

 

[3darlings]

Great info - thanks! We're definitely planning to do the combo Disney/beach trip. We also want to do Busch Gardens while we are there. Can't wait!! Another question - have you ever ventured to Silver Springs? We are thinking of going there one day as well. Thanks!

We went to Silver Spring on a Florida trip about 2 years ago. We went in early December and it was a bit cool. Overall it was fun. We wanted our kids to get a flavor for the real Florida and it was good for that. It was not busy at all and it is very laid back. I remember going as a child so that was kind of neat. I think the glass bottom boats are the same ones - they are pretty old. It is a rather long drive from Orlando but we enjoyed it and stopped at a couple of orange places (not touristy ones like around Orlando) and ordered Christmas gifts. In December they decorate all the grounds with a huge Christmas display. Of course, that is only at night and the place got much busier then. Overall we liked it. It is nothing like Disney; much more like an old fashioned Florida resort. But we liked the change of pace.

One suggestion on Busch Gardens. We went on a Sunday (that's what fit in our schedule) and I would not recommend that. It was rather busy and the park seemed to me to be run rather inefficiently (always hard after Disney.) I would think that weekdays would be better. We had fun though (Shreika is scary but great!)

 

[flatline]

Great info - thanks! We're definitely planning to do the combo Disney/beach trip. We also want to do Busch Gardens while we are there. Can't wait!! Another question - have you ever ventured to Silver Springs? We are thinking of going there one day as well. Thanks!

aside from the glass bottom boats, there's nothing at silver springs you can't see much more than visiting one of our local parks. I'd skip it and spend the day at Ft. DeSoto or take the ferry out to Egmont Key.

 

[DebbieinWA]

One suggestion on Busch Gardens. We went on a Sunday (that's what fit in our schedule) and I would not recommend that. It was rather busy and the park seemed to me to be run rather inefficiently (always hard after Disney.) I would think that weekdays would be better. We had fun though (Shreika is scary but great!)

Thanks for the info on Busch Gardens! I had tentatively planned to go there on a Sunday, but I definitely won't now! We'll try for either Friday or Monday instead of hitting the weekend days.

 

[3darlings]

Have fun!