Orlando + where else?

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We went to Orlando for a couple of weeks about 8 years ago when the kids were small and loved it.

Now we are looking at going again next April for about 10-12 nights.

There's me, my wife, daughter aged 17 and daughter 20 with her boyfriend. They will get their own room.

We were thinking we'd spend approx half the holiday in Orlando visiting a few parks etc. But not sure what to do with the rest of the time. I've looked at Anna Maria Island, but it looks expensive and with a very limited choice of hotels (please, no "rentals", it has to be hotels!).

Can anyone recommend somewhere similar - a bit of relaxation and "nature" as a contrast to Orlando?
 
You could try other parts of the Gulf Coast, such as St Petersburg or Clearwater.

There's Miami, Fort Lauderdale, St. Augustine, the Florida Keys, a cruise to the Bahamas or the Caribbean (usually a minimum of 3 nights - have a look at vacationstogo.com for amazing deals).
 
The Keys are fantastic - take a day or 2 to drive down (maybe split the journey with a night in Key Largo). Key Wet, in particular has loads to do, including a fast-cat trip out to Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas.

Alternatively, around the Orlando area, Tampa has loads to do, or for a more "local" and relaxing experience I can recommend the following:

Home Page

Airboat Tours Central Florida, Airboat Rides, Swamp Tours

TreeHoppers Aerial Adventure Park

All of these are local "mom & pop" businesses, around 60-90 minutes from downtown Orlando. You could fit SupWeeki & Treehoppers into a day.
 
Thanks. I will look into all them. I always fancied the Keys, but feel it is just too great a distance!
 
Thanks. I will look into all them. I always fancied the Keys, but feel it is just too great a distance!

If you really don't mind the drive, you can do the drive down to the Keys in approx 6-6.5 hrs. Obviously stopping a couple of times or so along the way.
 
Take a look at sanibel island near fort myers, its a paradise place and hopefully some decent prices available, we stayed at South seas on Captiva which is a connected island, quite pricey but we were lucky enough to have friends who got us a bargain.

The island has the ding darling nature reserve covering a large portion of it, some great unique shops on periwinkle drive and some of my favourite restaurants are on the island too.

Mucky Duck Neighborhood Pub | Captiva Island, Florida | Seafood | Sunsets | Beer

Home | Bubble Room Restaurant

You also have the chance to venture into fort myers itself which has some decent places worth visiting, the edison ford winter estate is there amongst other things

Edison & Ford Winter Estates - Edison & Ford Winter Estates - (239) 334-7419
 
Anna Maria Island was always on our itinerary each time we toured Florida. We stayed at Bradenton several times, which is a short drive away.
 
Travel to Orlando at least 6 times a year (12 weeks) on business but that is different.

Been twice on holiday with the family, both as two-centre holidays.

The first was Orlando + Key Largo

The second was Orlando + Naples

Enjoyed them both. The keys as I remember was quite, not a great deal to do but relax - it is essentially one road from top to bottom and all the restaurants and places to go are described by mile marker so really easy to find stuff. Key West has the most going on and I would recommend it as a stop over or even a day trip if you decide on one of the other keys.

Naples was very nice too. Relaxing but more infrastructure so more things to see and do. Handy for the Everglades and airboat rides to see some real gators - albeit ones that know when and where they will get fed.

We found a week in Orlando exhausting so wanted somewhere peaceful and relaxing (and easier on the wallet - how much you spend in Orlando going to parks every day can be quite shocking) for our second week which is why we avoided Tampa.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
In Orlando currently, first time in 8 years. It's incredibly expensive now, booze in restaurants & food in supermarkets are sky high. Spent a fortune on queue jumping passes too as waiting in line for up to 2 hours in 100F is not my idea of fun. They've been well worth it though.
 

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