Which beach resort - and other things.

[ivorm]

HI ppl,

I'm planning to take my family (wife + 2 kids aged 9 and 7) to Diney World this summer. We are planning to go for three weeks starting from mid-August. The idea is to spend about 2 weeks seeing the theme parks , followed by one week at a beach resort.

Can anyone suggest a good resort not far from Orlando that would be good place to relax and recuperate ?

Also, I appreciate that August is not ideal because of the weather. Has anyone got any tips about how to deal with the heat and humidity- especailly for the kids.

TIA

Regards,

Ivor

 

[vernon]

Hi Ivor, particularly in August you may find the heat and humidity means that a "day at the beach" isn't as attractive a thought as it seems at first. You have to make sure you drink PLENTY of fluids during the day (gatoraid or another salt replacement drink is a good idea). Have you been to Orlando before? If not you will be suprised by quite how much there is to do there. You could easily spend all 3 weeks in Orlando and still not cover everything. I've also found that kids that age prefer a day at the waterparks to a day at the beach. If you feel that beach time is a must maybe cutting it down to 3,4or 5 days would be an option.

IMHO if you do decide to go to the beach I would say a hotel that has direct beach access of it's own is an absolute must, ideally one with a decent pool. I've stayed at Clearwater/St Petes and thought it was a nice enough area and there are a few things to do in the area (Busch Gardens is about a 40 minutes drive as is their waterpark, but if you're goingto go to a waterpark you might as well stay in Orlando). In August you may find the Atlantic coast is cooler, I've stayed at Disney's Vero beach resort and it is a top class hotel that's smack on the beach. It is a little more expensive than St Pete's but it if you want a relaxing break I'd rather spend 3 days at Vero than a week at St Pete's JMHO.

If you go the "villa route" in Orlando you could book your villa for 3 weeks and if towards the end of the holiday you decide you want a couple of days at the beach book a hotel on something like hotwire a couple of days before you want to go ( I reckon you'll pick up a decent hotel for $50 per night at short notice) and spend one or two nights at the beach. It would also mean you don't have to go through the agg of packing everything up and unpacking at the other end.

 

[ivorm]

Hi Vernon,

Thanks for your reply. You've certainly given me food for thought. And thanks for telling me about the Vero resort. I hadn't heard of it before and, from what I can see on the web, it's certainly worth considering

Best regards,

Ivor