Ocean

[Tina16]

My DH has never been to the ocean and on our trip in October would like to take a day to go to the ocean just to stick his feet in and get good seafood. Has anyone done this and have any recommendations on beaches relatively close to the Fort? I understand that it will probably be a couple of hour drive but since we live in the Midwest it will be the closest we will be in a long time.

 

[Tri-circle-D]

I will preface my post by stating that I live on the West Coast of Florida, near some of the nicest beaches in the world.

But, I recommend that you head East. If the purpose of the trip is to see "the ocean," then you want to go East and see the Atlantic. I would just go to Cocoa Beach, which is only about an hour from WDW. It isn't the nicest beach in the world, but it is a nice beach, and there are plenty of restaurants and other things to do there. There are also plenty of places to park, and the traffic won't be bad.

Unfortunately, the drive West to the beach is likely to take you twice as long, because of traffic once you hit Tampa. Clearwater Beach is a wonderful place, but the parking and traffic are horrendous.

Honeymoon Island and Caladesi Island State Parks are both very close to where I live, and I would very much recommend them as places to visit, but I wouldn't recommend them as being a convenient drive from WDW.

TCD

 

[ftwildernessrick]

The place we have gone to before was called Jetty Park which is located by Port Canaveral. It has a nice campground and a day use area. It has been several years since we were there, but they even had a small snack/food place there. It is about 65 miles due East from Fort Wilderness.

If you wanted to make a whole day trip out of it, you could leave early in the morning & go to the Kennedy Space Center, stay half a day doing one of the tours, then just drop down to Jetty Park. The port next to Jetty Park used to be where NASA docked all of its tracking ships, now it is where the cruise lines dock.

http://www.jettypark.org/

 

[auntie]

We love the Gulf coast beaches. In particular we have been going to Anna Maria Island(as it was recommended by a member of this forum) It's barrier island on the west coast. It's less than two hours from Disney. There is a beautiful RV resort..if you're planning to bring your camper.
www.holidaycovervresort.com just before the bridge that brings you onto the island. Nice sites..some on the canal.
We live on Long Island and are familiar with east coast beaches, so we were looking for something different.
The beautiful blue/green tourquoise waters of the Gulf of Mexico and white sandy beaches suit us pefectly. That being said, let's hope the oil doesn't reach that part of the Florida coast by the time your trip rolls around.

 

[Solamom]

Cocoa Beach is probably the closest....Daytona Beach isn't too far either....but the gulf beaches (I think) are really nicer (Daytona is a bit to overcommercialized). If you didn't mind a drive, I would go to Siesta Key - I believe you can get there in about 2.5 hours (or sooner) - just time your trip to not get stuck in Tampa traffic or go on the weekend. It is an easy hike from I-4 to I-75 South. I live about 1 hour from Siesta Key (just off I-75) to the south and Disney is exactly 1 hour from our house to the east (and north a bit)...The other really nice spot is Ft. DeSoto Park in Pinellas County. It has some neat biking trails, and old fort to explore, dog parks and a really nice campground! Not hard to get to either, just take I-4 to I-275 and go through Tampa/St. Pete and you'll see the signs for it just before you get to the Sunshine Skyway.

 

[Tina16]

Thanks for all of the great ideas. I knew you guys would know where to go!

 

[stpetedisneydad]

I agree that the beaches on the west coast are nicer, if he must see an ocean you have no choice but to go east not west. West is a gulf not an ocean. The east coast is also closer to WDW. While Daytona is more commercialized it isn't bad and you can drive on the beach which is cool, just don't run over the sunbathers, seriously, it's been done and by lifeguard vehicles too, ouch. I've never been to Cocoa Beach so I can't comment on it.

 

[FloridaDisneyFan]

Go to Cocoa Beach and go to Florida Seafood. Wonderful seafood big portions, little prices.

I have lived in the Tampa area all my life and the Gulf Coast beaches are the best. Hopefully the oil won't mess them up too much.

 

[Tina16]

I am really leaning towards Cocoa Beach and maybe a drive up to Cape Canaveral this time and wait until next time to go to the Gulf. Hopefully by 2012 the oil isn't an issue.