Do You Ever Take a Little Jaunt Halfway Thru Your Trip??

[DISNEYMOMx5]

I posted a similar question on another board, but thought I might be able to get some input from my DVC family. We are going down in June to the BCV while my DD marches at the MK w/ her dance team This is really neat, but I started getting the blues a bit b/c we won't get to see her, so we've decided to extend the vacation for some "whole family time". My dilemma is that on this trip I think we're going to bypass staying DVC for the weekend b/c that's the only way we can stretch it out a bit the next week for a few nights at SSR. (Please don't flame me for this...we don't typically bypass the weekends)

Anyways, I was just wondering if anyone else has ever had occasion to go do something else for the weekends that's not too far away. We will need to have either 2 hotel rooms or a 2 BR for accomodations & we will have a car. I would really appreciate hearing any ideas you might have!! TIA

 

[PamOKW]

I think you'll find a lot of people on this board stretch points by spending weekends elsewhere. I haven't really done it but some thoughts that come to mind --

Pick another WDW resort you miss or would like to try.

Maybe you'd like to try one of the resorts at Universal.

How about some of the new resorts offsite -- if you could get a deal, you might want to try the Ritz Carlton, the Hyatt Grand Cypress (not new but nice), Celebration Hotel, the Grand Ole Opry resort that has another name that I can't recall.

You might want to head to the beach for a weekend. You could go to the West Coast or even try Disney's Vero Beach resort.

 

[mikesmom]

We used to run down to Cocoa Beach for a couple of days. This was before our DVC days, but nonetheless was a lot of fun. There are some fairly reasonably priced hotels along the beachfront. It's not DVC and lots of it is kind of "tourist trap" but we always had a lot of fun. There's the beach, of course, nice seafood restaurants, Ron Jons to stare at or shop in, surfing lessons are available (DS really enjoyed that) or you can just relax on the beach.

It's about 45 minutes to an hour from Orlando. Cape Canaveral is on the way and another possibility for something to see.

 

[anniet]

St. Pete's Beach!!!

There is an awesome aquarium in Tampa and of course Busch Gardens- The Salvador Dali museum in St. Petersburg....lots of things to do down there....

 

[wdwstar]

i second st. pete beach its only about an 1hr away and the trade winds, sandpiper and i believe they own another hotel all together, nice places right on the beach,

if you had more time we love to drive down to marco island, its about 3-4 hours on the gulf, love it there alond with dvc.


this trip we are going to vero beach first, what about vero beach?

 

[DISNEYMOMx5]

Thanks for the replies! Just realized there were replies already...my email notification doesn't seem to be working anymore

mikesmom--we were actually thinking about Cocoa Beach. I checked availability at the new Ron Jon resort, but only one night available. What are the beaches like there? I haven't been there for 15 yrs, & my only recollection is a chilly, overcast day that we only stopped briefly to look at the ocean. I can't remember what the beach was like. is the sand nice?

I think I'll also do a search on st pete area. DH used to teach in that vicinity so maybe he'd be interested in that. I'm trying to convince him it will be ok to leave Disney property for a couple of days! You tend to get a bit spoiled!

 

[dianeschlicht]

TAmpa and Busch Gardens is a great place, as is Sarasota and the Circus World. We have done the Space coast as well. There are great things to do all over central Florida that are not too far from Orlando.

 

[mikesmom]

Depends on how fussy you are about the beach. It is white sand, nicer beach than Vero if width and sand is important. I've heard that there are prettier beaches in Florida (everyone seems to like St Pete's!) but we liked it. It was kind of crowded, but lots of sand, lifeguards handy, etc.

Be aware, though, that we are from landlocked Oklahoma and this was our first experience with a beach, I am sure we are not connesseurs. The sky was blue, the water was wide, the crowds had plenty of pretty girls (DS was a teenager!), we had a great time.

 

[ErinC]

DisneyMom,
In general the gulf coast beaches have much cleaner (white in color) sand. St. Pete/ Tampa area would offer many things to do, and the drive is not bad. We did stay in Cocoa Beach before our cruise, it was okay, but I grew up in Bradenton, so I'm partial to the gulf coast side.

 

[AZKathy]

We have done this twice. First time, we headed over and visited Vero Beach for the weekend and went north and did Kennedy Space Center for a day and enjoyed the beach the other day. The second time, we went over and got a hotel in Kissimmee and ran around checking out the area to aquaint ourselves more to central Florida. We looked at homes and prices, visited Celebration, etc. Both were great breaks halfway through the trip.