Just back. LOTS of non-Disney adventures!

[GEM]

Just got back earlier this week from a huge Florida adventure that spanned over three weeks and most of the state. Left home on Christmas night and drove. Just me and DS11 (homeschooled).

Highlights:
-Atlanta on the Drive Down: Martin Luther King, Jr. Historical Site, Fernbank Children's Museum, Coke World, Walking Dead tour
-St. Augustine: Castillo De San Marcos, Pirate and Treasure Museum, Ghosts and Gravestones Tour, St. Augustine Lighthouse, Fountain of Youth Archeological Park
-State Parks/Recreation Areas: Rainbow Springs, Homossassa Springs (manatees), Weeki Wachee Springs (mermaids), Blue Springs (mantatees and river cruise), Silver Springs (glass bottom boat ride), DeLeon Springs (Old Spanish Sugarmill Pancake House), Ocala National Forest (Juniper Springs, Salt Springs), Cross Creek (home of author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings who wrote The Yearling)
-Clearwater Area: Dali Museum, Tarpon Springs, Clearwater Aquarium to see Winter the "Dolphin Tale" dolphin, rented Segways at Clearwater Beach, Captain Memo's Pirate Cruise, Honeymoon Island/Caladesi Island State Parks
-Legoland
-WDW: 10 park days with waterparks and more option, 4 Magic Kingdom days, 2 Epcot days, 2 Studios days, 2 Animal Kingdom days, Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach, LOTS of Disney Quest visits, Fantasia Gardens, Cape May breakfast, Chef Mickey's breakfast, Crystal Palace breakfast, kids pirate cruise at Caribbean Beach resort, lots of resort hopping and exploring, a million hours of Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, lunch at Sci Fi and Rainforest Cafe, dinner at Boma
-Everglades: tram tour at the Shark Valley Visitor's Center ( a huge highlight...saw about a million huge alligators within two feet of the tram), airboat ride and gator wrestling show at the Miccosukee Indian Village, stopped at the Skunk Ape research center (fun and interesting, bizarre little place)
-Keys: drove the Overseas Highway down to Key West - so incredibly beautiful, stopped at Robbie's and fed the HUGE tarpon, gorgeous Bahia Honda State Park, did the Conch Train tour to get the lay of the land, Hemmingway's house, Tennessee Williams museum, Flagler museum, sunset at Mallory Square
-Space Coast: Kennedy Space Center, Canaveral National Seashore (our fav Florida beach), dinner at Dixie Crossroads (best shrimp anywhere on the planet!)
-Misc Stops: Showcase of Citrus in Clermont (love it....always visit)
-Stops on the Drive Home on MLK Day: Montgomery, AL (Rosa Parks museum, King parsonage and Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, saw the MLK Day parade, Freedom Riders museum at the Greyhound Bus Station), Selma, AL (drove the Freedom Higway between Selma and Montgomery following the path of the Voting Rights March and stopping at the historical markers and interpretive centers, walked across the infamous Edmond Pettus bridge), Birmingham, AL (toured the 17th Street Baptist Church where the four little girls died in the bombing and toured Kelly Ingram park where all the riots took place...lots of statues and historical information)

Some thoughts:
-Loved FP+ and the Magic Bands, no problems in 10 park days (We were dedicated and experienced FP experts but have had no problems adapting to the new system and I like it better...less running around.)
-While in the Disney area, we stayed off-site at the Maingate Resort and Spa. Highly reccomended! Extremely clean, beautiful and comfortable rooms, best bed I've ever had in any hotel, inexpensive, and as close as you can get to the parks without being on property.
-Crowds at Disney were very, very manageable. Our first park day was Jan. 5th, so most of the New Year's crowds had gone home.
-If you're visiting the Clearwater area, here is a plug for the Palm Court Motel. So cute, clean, comfy, and cozy. A totally charming old-Florida type place. LOVED IT!


If anyone has any questions about Disney or any of the other places we visitied, I'll be glad to provide any information I can!

 

[HopperFan]

Been to many of those places and WOW got to say sounds like an AMAZING trip! Some great tips too!

 

[Judyat]

Great places to visit. You sure saw a lot. We also have been venturing out from SSR and especially enjoyed our visit to Blue springs state park. Lots of manatees and a nice walk from bottom to top. We had been there a few years ago and found lots more manatees on this visit. Lots to see at every lookout spot.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Sounds like a busy vacation. We normally go for up to 3 weeks but don't pack half as much in!

We are back again in July and I wondered which state park you thought would be good to visit? We have been to Blue Springs and Honeymoon Island. As it is summer it will be a lot hotter, what was DeLeon like? My DD is 15, and our nephew 14.

Thanks , and I enjoyed reading about your trip

 

[GEM]

That time of year, I really reccomend the springs. It's perfect swimming weather and the water is so clear and beautiful. The natural springs are probably my favorite places in all of Florda. Blue Springs is gorgeous, but you won't see the manatees that time of year. Beautiful swimming, though. We also love the recration areas in the Ocala National Forest, particular Juniper Springs. So pretty and perfect for a picnic and a swim that time of year. DeLeon springs is quite lovely, but the swimming area isn't that big, so I imagine it might get crowded in the summer. If you get there very early, breakfast at the Old Spanish Sugarmill and Pancake House is so much fun. Make your own pancakes, all you can eat. My son loved it! Two of our other favorite summertime spots (we didn't visit on this trip) are Wekiwa Springs (one of the most beautiful places to swim in all of Florida) and Rock Springs Run at Kelly Park for tubing. So much fun to take a tube ride from the top of boardwalk down the spring run. Love it! Both are less than an hour's drive from the Disney area and make for great day trips. Wekiwa Springs and Kelly Park are not far apart, easy to do both in a day.

Let me know if I can answer any other questions!

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Thanks GEM. It's always good to have personal recommendations

 

[Planogirl]

Your trip sounds amazing. We enjoyed St Augustine and would love to go back.

I'm wondering about the state parks too. Do any particularly stand out to you?

 

[GEM]

We got a Florda state park annual pass so we could visit as many as possible. We had quite a few in mind that we wanted to visit, but then we also just stopped and checked out any that we came across in our travels. Bahia Honda state park in the keys is hands-down the most beautiful state park I've ever seen. Totally breathtaking. Gorgeous beaches and views, also loved the history there with the view of the remains of Flagler's Overseas Railroad bridge. Rainbow Springs was also a highlight for the gorgeous swimming area and the amazing flowers and landscaping. So, so pretty. Honeymoon Island was another beautiful beach. Weeki Wachee springs was fun, too! Used to be an old roadside attraction, but is now run by the state of Florida as a state park. The underwater mermaid show was so much fun. Just a real taste of old, bizarre, unique Florida before the mouse. Same for Silver Springs. The glass-bottom boat ride there was incredible! If you have the time, Blue Springs has a two hour cruise on the St. John's River that is so lovely and relaxing....lots of gators and wildlife to be seen from the boat. Even caught a glimpse of the elusive Florida panther! If you and/or your kids have read "The Yearling", I highly reccomend a visit to Majorie Kinnan Rawling's home at Cross Creek, which is also a state park. You can tour her home and see the porch where she did her writing. My son and I had read the book togetgher earlier in the fall (I'd read it many, many years ago) and we so enjoyed just seeing the place where she lived. You get such a sense of her life and where her stories came from. The guides there loved talking to my son about the book and told him some truly wonderful stories. A really neat experience for him, and they were thrilled to talk to a young person who had actually read the book and wanted to talk about it. lol.

We loved St. Augustine. My new favorite city in Florida. Love the combination of history and charm. Such a nice place to just wander and explore. We could have easily spent a whole week there, but we only had two days.

 

[beachbum]

Sounds like a great vacation!!! We will be visiting St. Augustine in April of this year. I too have a son that is 11 (and a daughter that is 9). What was your son's favorite things to do in St. Augustine? We will only do a day trip from Orlando and I will have my two parents with me too. We also thought about doing a day trip to some of the springs. Which ones would you and your son most recommend visiting for the day? Thanks for any help!!

 

[HopperFan]

We got a Florda state park annual pass so we could visit as many as possible. We had quite a few in mind that we wanted to visit, but then we also just stopped and checked out any that we came across in our travels. Bahia Honda state park in the keys is hands-down the most beautiful state park I've ever seen. Totally breathtaking. Gorgeous beaches and views, also loved the history there with the view of the remains of Flagler's Overseas Railroad bridge. Rainbow Springs was also a highlight for the gorgeous swimming area and the amazing flowers and landscaping. So, so pretty. Honeymoon Island was another beautiful beach. Weeki Wachee springs was fun, too! Used to be an old roadside attraction, but is now run by the state of Florida as a state park. The underwater mermaid show was so much fun. Just a real taste of old, bizarre, unique Florida before the mouse. Same for Silver Springs. The glass-bottom boat ride there was incredible! If you have the time, Blue Springs has a two hour cruise on the St. John's River that is so lovely and relaxing....lots of gators and wildlife to be seen from the boat. Even caught a glimpse of the elusive Florida panther! If you and/or your kids have read "The Yearling", I highly reccomend a visit to Majorie Kinnan Rawling's home at Cross Creek, which is also a state park. You can tour her home and see the porch where she did her writing. My son and I had read the book togetgher earlier in the fall (I'd read it many, many years ago) and we so enjoyed just seeing the place where she lived. You get such a sense of her life and where her stories came from. The guides there loved talking to my son about the book and told him some truly wonderful stories. A really neat experience for him, and they were thrilled to talk to a young person who had actually read the book and wanted to talk about it. lol.

We loved St. Augustine. My new favorite city in Florida. Love the combination of history and charm. Such a nice place to just wander and explore. We could have easily spent a whole week there, but we only had two days.

Sssshhhhh, don't tell. One of our favorite places and looking at getting a beach place there in next year or so, hoping prices stay doable.

 

[GEM]

Sounds like a great vacation!!! We will be visiting St. Augustine in April of this year. I too have a son that is 11 (and a daughter that is 9). What was your son's favorite things to do in St. Augustine? We will only do a day trip from Orlando and I will have my two parents with me too. We also thought about doing a day trip to some of the springs. Which ones would you and your son most recommend visiting for the day? Thanks for any help!!

His favorites in St. Augustine were the Castillo de San Marcos (lots of great history and just fun to explore), the Pirate and Treasure Museum (very interactive and fun), and the Ghosts and Gravestones nightime haunted tour (he loves all thigns spooky and creepy, so this was a huge hit for him, but I really enjoyed it too - very, very well done with lots of great stories and fun extras...especially cool to go inside the old jail at night)

For day trips from Orlando, Blue Springs is great. Beautiful picnic spots and swimming areas and lots of wildlife. Take the St. Johns River Cruise if you can, really gorgeous scenery and tons of animals. We also love Wekiwa Springs for swimming, Rock Springs Run at Kelly Park for tubing, and the Juniper Springs Recreation Area in the Ocala National Forest. If you or your parents are especially into flowers, Rainbow Springs in BEAUTIFUL. If there are any literature fans in your group, visiting Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings home at Cross Creek (a state park now) is a really incredible experience. My mother taught "The Yearling" in her 8th grade English classes for many, many years. She ranked visiting Cross Creek as the most special experience she had on our trip last year. Hope that helps!

 

[JaxDad]

Wow! Great trip! Most of my fellow Floridians have probably not done half of what you just did!

 

[jm106]

Nice to read the helpful info. We are driving from Orlando to West palm, stopping as we feel along the way. Sadly not enough time to do key West as well this trip.
I made a note of Dixie Crossroads- DH and Ods will love the recommendation(I dont eat shrimp though)
Planning a day at Kennedy- which pkg specifically did you do? Reviews? My boys are 9 and 7 when we go. I will also note the Canaveral National Seashore. Thanks.
We planned to stop maybe near Stuart too but still looking.

 

[GEM]

Wow! Great trip! Most of my fellow Floridians have probably not done half of what you just did!

Thanks! It was incredible! We had been adding so many places to our "want to see" list over the years that we just decided to actually take the time and do it. Really, really wonderful memories and experiences. We truly love your home state!

 

[GEM]

Nice to read the helpful info. We are driving from Orlando to West palm, stopping as we feel along the way. Sadly not enough time to do key West as well this trip.
I made a note of Dixie Crossroads- DH and Ods will love the recommendation(I dont eat shrimp though)
Planning a day at Kennedy- which pkg specifically did you do? Reviews? My boys are 9 and 7 when we go. I will also note the Canaveral National Seashore. Thanks.
We planned to stop maybe near Stuart too but still looking.

We just did the basic ticket at KSC. It includes all the exhibits and the regular bus tour. By far the coolest thing was the space shuttle Atlantis exhibit and building. The build-up to the moment they light up the area behind the theatre to reveal that first look at the real Atlantis is absolutely breathtaking...espcially for people like me who grew up hearing those names on the news...Atlantis, Edeavor, Discovery, Columbia, Challenger, The other major highlight was standing underneath the Saturn V rocket...mind-blowingly huge and awe-inspiring. My son also especially just loved the Rocket Garden. He kept saying, "Wow. These have actually been IN space." The only thing we were both kind of let-down by was the Shuttle Launch Experience. Mission Space is waaaaay better and more intense. Lol.

Definitely check out Dixie Crossroads in you have shrimp lovers. The atmosphere is fun, the food is inexpensive, and the rock shrimp are to die for! They have other stuff too, but the shrimp are the stars.

 

[JaxDad]

I've been fortunate to have jobs that allowed me to spend time at many of the springs, plus the whole Everglades system from Orlando to the Keys. It's all very beautiful and amazing (as are the wonders in other states and nations). I'm so glad you took the time and effort to see so much! You did miss one of my personal favorites though--the Itchetucknee River. Maybe next time...

 

[GEM]

I've been fortunate to have jobs that allowed me to spend time at many of the springs, plus the whole Everglades system from Orlando to the Keys. It's all very beautiful and amazing (as are the wonders in other states and nations). I'm so glad you took the time and effort to see so much! You did miss one of my personal favorites though--the Itchetucknee River. Maybe next time...

 

[jm106]

We just did the basic ticket at KSC. It includes all the exhibits and the regular bus tour. By far the coolest thing was the space shuttle Atlantis exhibit and building. The build-up to the moment they light up the area behind the theatre to reveal that first look at the real Atlantis is absolutely breathtaking...espcially for people like me who grew up hearing those names on the news...Atlantis, Edeavor, Discovery, Columbia, Challenger, The other major highlight was standing underneath the Saturn V rocket...mind-blowingly huge and awe-inspiring. My son also especially just loved the Rocket Garden. He kept saying, "Wow. These have actually been IN space." The only thing we were both kind of let-down by was the Shuttle Launch Experience. Mission Space is waaaaay better and more intense. Lol.

Definitely check out Dixie Crossroads in you have shrimp lovers. The atmosphere is fun, the food is inexpensive, and the rock shrimp are to die for! They have other stuff too, but the shrimp are the stars.

Thanks. I definitely.will I am sure my kids will love the shuttles. DH and I went to Space Center in TX but it was a while back.

 

[FirstTimeWithMickey]

[

Highlights:

-Clearwater Area: Dali Museum, Tarpon Springs, Clearwater Aquarium to see Winter the "Dolphin Tale" dolphin, rented Segways at Clearwater Beach, Captain Memo's Pirate Cruise, Honeymoon Island/Caladesi Island State Parks
-Legoland
-WDW: 10 park days with waterparks and more option, 4 Magic Kingdom days, 2 Epcot days, 2 Studios days, 2 Animal Kingdom days, Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach, LOTS of Disney Quest visits, Fantasia Gardens, Cape May breakfast, Chef Mickey's breakfast, Crystal Palace breakfast, kids pirate cruise at Caribbean Beach resort, lots of resort hopping and exploring, a million hours of Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, lunch at Sci Fi and Rainforest Cafe, dinner at Boma
-Everglades: tram tour at the Shark Valley Visitor's Center ( a huge highlight...saw about a million huge alligators within two feet of the tram), airboat ride and gator wrestling show at the Miccosukee Indian Village, stopped at the Skunk Ape research center (fun and interesting, bizarre little place)
-Keys: drove the Overseas Highway down to Key West - so incredibly beautiful, stopped at Robbie's and fed the HUGE tarpon, gorgeous Bahia Honda State Park, did the Conch Train tour to get the lay of the land, Hemmingway's house, Tennessee Williams museum, Flagler museum, sunset at Mallory Square
-Space Coast: Kennedy Space Center, Canaveral National Seashore (our fav Florida beach), dinner at Dixie Crossroads (best shrimp anywhere on the planet!)
-Misc Stops: Showcase of Citrus in Clermont (love it....always visit)
-Stops on the Drive Home on MLK Day: Montgomery, AL (Rosa Parks museum, King parsonage and Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, saw the MLK Day parade, Freedom Riders museum at the Greyhound Bus Station), Selma, AL (drove the Freedom Higway between Selma and Montgomery following the path of the Voting Rights March and stopping at the historical markers and interpretive centers, walked across the infamous Edmond Pettus bridge), Birmingham, AL (toured the 17th Street Baptist Church where the four little girls died in the bombing and toured Kelly Ingram park where all the riots took place...lots of statues and historical information)

Some thoughts:
-Loved FP+ and the Magic Bands, no problems in 10 park days (We were dedicated and experienced FP experts but have had no problems adapting to the new system and I like it better...less running around.)


If anyone has any questions about Disney or any of the other places we visitied, I'll be glad to provide any information I can![/QUOTE]

We plan to do the Space coast as well, but will be in July. Our time is much more limited, we would only have one day there as we plan to see Clearwater and Lakeland on the other side of the state. My children will be 10 and 7 then. Is Cape Canaveral part of the tour? Is it just the Kennedy Space Center? I have no idea what is involved yet, but I would like to pick the tour that is most interesting to my kids. I wish we had more time. LOL. We are from the north so we are not in any way familiar. I appreciate your hotel suggestions.

 

[beachbum]

His favorites in St. Augustine were the Castillo de San Marcos (lots of great history and just fun to explore), the Pirate and Treasure Museum (very interactive and fun), and the Ghosts and Gravestones nightime haunted tour (he loves all thigns spooky and creepy, so this was a huge hit for him, but I really enjoyed it too - very, very well done with lots of great stories and fun extras...especially cool to go inside the old jail at night)

For day trips from Orlando, Blue Springs is great. Beautiful picnic spots and swimming areas and lots of wildlife. Take the St. Johns River Cruise if you can, really gorgeous scenery and tons of animals. We also love Wekiwa Springs for swimming, Rock Springs Run at Kelly Park for tubing, and the Juniper Springs Recreation Area in the Ocala National Forest. If you or your parents are especially into flowers, Rainbow Springs in BEAUTIFUL. If there are any literature fans in your group, visiting Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings home at Cross Creek (a state park now) is a really incredible experience. My mother taught "The Yearling" in her 8th grade English classes for many, many years. She ranked visiting Cross Creek as the most special experience she had on our trip last year. Hope that helps!

Thank you for all of your help!!