Sanibel & WDW Advice

[ladyT]

Hi
Going for a 3 weeks trip to WDW on Saturday. First time to USA. We have a room on I Drive but would like to spend a few days somewhere else. Have found Sanibel on the net, looks great. Has anyone been?
Found Buttonwood cottages & Kona Kai motel. Has anyone been to either?
As 1st timers has anyone tips, moneysaving advice or what not to miss ideas for us. (2 adults/ boys aged 16 & 5)
We're excited but anxious as want to make this a trip never to forget (for all the right reasons)
Please help!!!!!

 

[Disney owl]

sorry never been further than Orlando so can't comment on Sanibel.

Your boys will love the Disney water parks & there's something there for both of them. our 3 prefer Blizzard beach but both are great.

If your eldest is into rides do go to Island of Adventure.

I'm sure your 5 year old doesn't use a buggy much at home but I'd consider it for the parks. you don't realise how far you walk during a day. This combined with the heat is very tiring for little legs. I'd definately think about hiring one , disney do it by the day.

Take water bottles into the parks with you, these can be refilled at the water fountains, saving money. Make sure the boys drink throughout the day as it is so easy to become dehydrated.

 

[vernon]

You don't say if you have your room on I-Drive booked/paid for the whole 3 weeks (or how much if not). Sannibel is I'm told a very nice relaxed place, but you could quite easily take 3 weeks in Orlando and still not do everything there is to do there. This is particularly true if your own hotel has a nice pool facility. If you REALLY want to take a break from Orlando, a reasonable alternative would be 3 or 4 days to Clearwater/St Petersburg just past Tampa. It would also allow you a chance to visit Busch Gardens from there as well as a couple of days on the beach. If you break down the parks you need 2 days at MK, one each at AK, Epcot and MGM and I think the kids will love the Disney waterparks, 3 days for IOA and Universal combined and a couple of days at SW. You've already got 12 days there, I think the 16 yr old would enjoy Disney Quest as well. IF you tap on a couple of days shopping and a couple round your own hotel pool your up to 17 days already :O .

It's really a question of if you want to "cherry pick" Orlando and leave out some of the things to do there so you allow time for a week at the beach, or if you'd prefer to cover pretty much all of Orlando on this trip at a slightly more relaxed pace ( and going in August it's going to be HOT AND STICKY) and leave the beach for another trip (or just a couple of days at Clearwater St Pete's). Personally I'd stick around Orlando and have a couple of extra waterpark days, but then I'm not a massive fan of the beach particularly at this time of year where it can become oppressively hot and humid on the Gulf Coast side.

 

[belinda_r]

I would definitely recommend Sanibel. We stayed a few days there last October and may be visiting again when we travel to Florida this September. We stayed here:
www.tarpontale.com. Even if not staying there, it's a good website for information about Sanibel.
A good place to eat was the Lazy? Flamingo - may have been Pink Flamingo but it definitely had Flamingo in it's name!

Sanibel is really relaxing and the beach near our accomodation was almost deserted (don't know how different it would be in August). The only negative I can remember - wear insect repellent during the day if you are on the beach (maybe combined with sunscreen). This was the first time I had been bitten in a hot country during the day (they normally eat me alive in the evening if I do not use a repellant!). It took me three days to work out that I was being attacked on the beach

While in Sanibel, we also drove to Naples and visited the zoo. It's pretty small, not on the same scale as Busch Gardens or Sea World, but we enjoyed a couple of hours there.



Belinda

 

[suei]

We stayed 4 nights on Sanibel Island after a fortnight in Orlando in 2000. It was wonderful-very quiet and unhurried (especially after Orlando!), lovely beaches, fantastic shelling, lots of birds on the beaches and rays swimming in the sea-we'll definitely go back again in the future. Our favourite place to eat was called The Hungry Heron.
Go if you can!

 

[Hilary]

We haven't stayed on the island, but had a villa on the mainland nearby last October. Sanibel and Captiva are both beautiful, but we preferred Captiva because it was even quieter than Sanibel.

We enjoyed visiting the Ding Darling Nature Reserve, and a meal in The Bubble Room on Captiva is an experience not to be missed!

Check out Kevin's trip reports of his visit to Sanibel for some more ideas of places to go / things to do