Beach near WDW?

[nkereina]

We are traveling with my sister in law and her family next summer, and they want to go to a beach for a few days after our WDW vacation. We'll be leaving WDW on a Thursday morning and they'll be staying at a hotel near a beach until Sunday morning, at which time they'll leave to drive back to NY.

They have two kids, a girl age 5 and a boy age 3, and this will be over Labor Day weekend. Any beach and/or hotel recommendations? This will be their first family vacation but I'm lost on recommending anything outside of WDW for them.

Thanks!

 

[Woodview]

They will have 3 nights stay before they have the long drive back to New York

So drive towards the Atlantic Coast Via Daytona Beach & join the Coast Road Hwy A1A

Drive north towards Ormond Beach & on to Palm Coast.

( Others will say go on to St. Augustine .. BUT you have young Children .)

There are a lot of good Hotels /Motels along this coast road. ( A 1 A )

Then on the Sunday Join the Hwy 95 North to Jacksonville & On

This will give the family some seaside time & shorten the drive home.

......................

Other people might say go to Clearwater or Tampa area BUT THAT is way further South

And a LONGER drive back to NY.

 

[Sue M]

We have stayed at the Hampton Inn Cocoa Beach. It is a tad north of the pier and a bit quieter. Breakfast Buffett incl and happy hour snacks, wings, meatballs etc. Rooms were large.
We had another stay at the Best Western, close to pier, wouldn't recommend it. Tiny rooms, although breakfast was included in our deal. One night we returned after dinner on the pier to police arresting someone at the hotel.
Also you can go to the Space Centre.

We've also stayed at St Pete Beach. Love the gulf coast. It's about a 90 min drive from Wdw. Although it is a further drive for returning to NY, the Gulf Coast is ideal for young children. The water is very calm and the sand is like powdered sugar. We had several stays at Sirata Beach resort.

 

[southerngrce]

One of the best family beach resorts is Tradewinds Resort. https://www.tradewindsresort.com

It is a couple hotels over from Sirata Beach Resort mentioned above. The great thing about Tradewinds is you can buy passes for their inflatables (slide, water island) even if not staying at a resort so if they are booked already, you can stay at a neighboring resort.

If they like historical hotels the Don Cesar is just down the street from Tradewinds as well. This Pink Palace hotel is often featured on the travel channel. https://www.loewshotels.com/don-cesar

 

[NeedMoreMickey]

I like the idea of getting an early start on Thursday and driving up to Myrtle Beach area. I live in Maryland and Labor Day traffic on Sunday will be hit or miss leaning more towards awful in our state. Are they planning on driving all they way to NY in the same day? Fourth July weekend took our usual 9 hour trip to 12 on the way home.