New Years Eve in Fort Lauderdale ?

[Hallo from Sweden]

Hi !

I will be in Fort Lauderdale on newyearseve with my two children 10 and 12. Any nice suggestions on how to celebrate. We´ll be staying on the beach rather close to Las Olas Boulevard.
Thanks for any help. We´re from Sweden and we´ll be spending 3 weeks in Florida beginning in Orlando. It happened to be Fort Lauderdale only because I´ve bought tickets for an icehockeygame on the 29th of december. We can still change our bookings though.
Annika

 

[nativetxn]

I've never been to Ft. Lauderdale, ever, so I can't offer advice. I'll just bump this back to the top of the list for you.

 

[rbuzzotta]

WE will be arriving in Ft. Lauderdale at noon on Jan. 1. My oldest DD has a cheerleading competition at the Convention center that weekend. Maybe I'll run into you on the beach!!

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

I was born in Ft Lauderdale and have lived here all my life..what do you want to do? There is very "touristy" things...like the Jungle Crusie that will take you down the river and give you a history of Florida...
There is Las Olas itself...which is nice to walk down and shop...

 

[Hallo from Sweden]

Thank you all for your help and answers.
I was merely asking about New Years Eve, if there´s some nice celebration also suitable for children or if most people celebrate at home with friends and family. But I´m also interested in other tips from a Fort Lauderdale native. We are going to an icehockeygame to see the Florida Panthers, how about driving to and from the game, any "bad" neighborhood you want to stay away from. Parking and walking, is it safe ? Walking to and from same games here in Sweden isn´t always safe, you´ll have to know which crowds to look out for.
My children would also love to see american football since that´s something we don´t even have here in Sweden. We´d be happy to see any game, it wouldnt have to be the professionel teams.
We also like to go se a rodeo but I havent manage to find any on the net.
That´s all for now.
Annika

 

[CookieGVB]

Check the Ft. Lauderdale Tourism Department

http://www.sunny.org/visitors/index.cfm

I'm sure they can help you out with New Year's Eve plans suitable for the children (there is a "contact us" portion on their site)

Enjoy!

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

Originally posted by Hallo from Sweden
But I´m also interested in other tips from a Fort Lauderdale native. We are going to an icehockeygame to see the Florida Panthers, how about driving to and from the game, any "bad" neighborhood you want to stay away from. Parking and walking, is it safe ? Walking to and from same games here in Sweden isn´t always safe, you´ll have to know which crowds to look out for.

The Office Depot center is in a VERY safe neighborhood...it is right off the I-75/Sawgrass expy...it has it's own exit..there is the Sawgrass Mills mall right across the street and it is a AWESOME outlet mall!!!

My children would also love to see american football since that´s something we don´t even have here in Sweden. We´d be happy to see any game, it wouldnt have to be the professionel teams.

http://www.miamidolphins.com/home/home_index.asp
This area is not the best, but if you take the turnpike to the "Pro Player Stadium" exit...you will be fine!! Especially if it is day game. I have never had a problem!

We also like to go se a rodeo but I havent manage to find any on the net.
That´s all for now.
Annika

http://www.davie-fl.gov/events/rodeo.html

Pretty much ALL of Davie is very safe...it is a very "western" themed town

 

[TigH]

We just spent some time in Ft. Lauderdale recently:

http://www.rossandkaren.org/ftlaud_keys.htm

Las Olas Blvd. is a relatively tame area. It's very pretty and there are lots of nice shops and restaurants around there. Where Las Olas meets A1A is a little more wild. Not too wild, but not an area I'd feel comfortable bringing kids for dinner.

We stayed at the Double Tree resort on A1A right near Las Olas and the water taxi was just about right across the street. We didn't make use of the water taxi on this trip, but the one before we used it and it was very nice, well worth the money for the amount of "tourist" information the driver/attendant provided.

Skip the Las Olas Riverwalk area, it's not a great place for kids. We had lunch at a Mexican restaurant there, but it was happy hour and I'm sure your kids wouldn't enjoy that!

If the weather is nice and the water seems warm enough to you, spend the day at the beach. The water looked beautiful! If it's in your budget, rent some jetskis and explore the waterways along Las Olas and A1A, it seems like there are lots of very expensive homes and boats that are just begging for people to enjoy looking at them.

Enjoy the new year!!!!!!