Driving to Siesta Key Beach from Disney resort

[opl]

Hi!

We are thinking of taking a day off from the WDW parks and rent a car to go to Siesta Key Beach.

What is your opinion - is it a good idea? We have 13 and 4 y.o. kids and it's our first time in Florida.

Is it a long drive? What about traffic - is it better to go on the weekday, or weekend?

And how to get to a public beach - I would guess a lot of hotels have their own private beaches...

Thanks a lot for any feedback!

 

[Bob P]

Hi,

Do you mean Siesta Key Beach near Sarasota? If so, it's about a 2.5 hour drive from Disney. You'll generally hit a lot of traffic on I-4, especially during Monday-Friday rush hours.

You'll find a lot more information here:

http://www.siestakeychamber.com/beaches.htm

 

[opl]

Yes, this is the one I was asking about.
Do you think it's worth the drive? I've read it's a nice place...
So I understand it's better to go there on the weekend to avoid traffic, right?

Thanks for your reply.

 

[NotUrsula]

You haven't said WHEN you want to go to Siesta Key. If it is during the summer or on a warm holiday weekend, the public beaches will be very crowded on Sat-Sun.

There are 3 public beaches on SK: Siesta Key Beach, Crescent Beach and Turtle Beach. There is no public parking for Crescent Beach; you would have to either walk or swim in. Turtle Beach is likely to be the least crowded at any given time, though it is more primitive than the others and can sometimes have some pretty wicked surf with a strong longshore current (and there are no lifeguards.) The only one with concessions is the North Beach, Siesta Key Beach. There are 800 spaces in that lot, but during the season they fill up fast. On summer weekends they are usually gone by 9 am at the latest.

 

[opl]

Thanks NotUrsula!
We are going to Disney on Nov.25-Dec.4. So during this period is it better to choose a weekday (more traffic on a highway), or a weekend (more crowded beach) to go to the beach?

 

[Bob P]

I wouldn't worry too much--most Floridians don't hit the beach in the winter months.

 

[riu girl]

While on vacation, I would watch the weather channel for Sarasota/Siesta Key. Or if you have access to a computer, check www.weather.com and enter the zip code 34242.

Choose a day that looks nice and warm. IMHO, Siesta Key public beach is the beach you want to go to. That time of the year you should have no problem finding a parking spot. There is a concession stand there. We found it didn't offer much in the way of healthy food and was very pricey. You might want to pack some food/drinks to bring. There is a huge playground area for kids. The beach is the widest I have been to and also very long.

For dinner you might want to drive into Siesta Key village (just down the road) and eat there. There are a lot of nice restaurants and souvie shopping if you are interested.
I would say that the drive from Disney would be about two hours depending on traffic.

If you happen to go to Siesta Key public beach on a Sunday, you may want to consider staying for the evening drum circle. I think it starts at around 5 pm. It is a family friendly event and is free. I think it takes place around lifeguard area #4. You will see people setting up for it prior to 5 pm.

 

[bleeps]

I DO hope you decide to visit Siesta Key and to visit the beach -- heaven on earth, in my family's opinion! My dad, who passed away several years ago, very happily lived out his last years in Siesta Key and we visited him there constantly. The nice thing is that once you park and access the beach, you have access to a HUGE amount of soft, sandy beach -- you can talk a long, long beautiful walk, or just lie on the beach and bask in the sunlight. It is lovely. And indeed, there are lots of great little restaurants just up the road in the Village area. I wouldn't expect traffic going to parking once you get there to be ANY issue at this time of year. Have fun!

 

[NotUrsula]

At that time of year, the beach should be pretty quiet any day of the week, except for fishermen and serious athletes, and perhaps some folks flying kites.

Floridians tend to think that it is too cold for family beach outings unless the water temp. is in the 80's. At that time of year the water temp. at Siesta Key hovers between the high 60's to low 70's.

There is a live beachcam, it is not on the main public beach, but a little bit south of it on the northern end of Crescent Beach: http://www.sarasota-surf.com/accommodations/webcam.cfm I don't see a soul out there right now, but the swells are a bit rough today, so it's pretty windy.

 

[opl]

Thank you all so much for the info! Now we'll definitely go there!