Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Help from my Florida folk.............VACATION ADVICE NEEDED

Yeah we vacationed in Clearwater. Very nice at the beach. Surrounding areas can be a little ghetto.

Disney and kids is fun.

There is no beach in orlando. You're almost right slap dab in the middle of the state.


https://i.imgur.com/myh94nG.jpg

Says you.

A lot of people go once in their life and Orlando is the end of it, so it's worth trying to dissuade him and his family from Orlando if possible.

frankly, coming down to Florida is a waste of time and money. Basically it's a scam. Find some place near home and vacation there. The kids do NOT need any further Disney influence in their young lives.

Wonder what they'd think of getting dropped off at the head springs and drift snorkeling Rainbow River and see what a big largemouth bass will do when you yank on its tail..

Well, that's a point.

aye !!!!!

If you spend enough time around Crystal River with a power boat, you will get good at using your foot to push the manatees away from the back of the boat so you can put the motor in gear. 🙂

Wow, is this guy ever in for culture shock! Stand by for crowds and be prepared to spend LOTS of money. If you must, Sea World is way better than Disney. At Disney we had the fun of standing in line 45 minutes to take a five minute ride to see plastic stuff. And everyone buys a fast pass, so that is no help. You will blow your entire budget just getting into the gate at Disney. As long as you are south of there anyway around Kissimmee, Gatorland is great for everyone and cheaper than anything in Orlando. Woodsbys Calf on Orange Blossom Trail is kind of mom & pop and a local hang out. We liked eating at Harbor Side in Winter Haven and the pontoon boat ride from there is great through a bunch of chain of lakes especially for bird watching. Being birders, Meritt Island is great just north of the Space Center and a driving trip gets you into lots of rural Florida, but stop at the ranger station first to get the map and ask if the painted bunting is at their feeder out back. Dixie Crossroads in Titusville right across the bridge is good for lunch, but you will have a waiting line. Yes, plan a day at the Space Center. You will be amazed. Take the train to Winter Park and walk around to see how the high rollers live. Then take the boat tour to see them tearing down 3 million dollar houses in order to build a 5 million dollar one. Cherry Pockets is a unique eating experience south of Poinciana as is Old Harry's. The Saint Johns river boat trip is a good one to see lots of back woods FL.As long as you are around Tampa, I'd keep going to get to Fort DeSoto state park. Lots of nice beaches there and some Florida history.

Not sure where he is coming from, but he is going to kiss the ground when he gets back there. So many people head for Florida for the weather and attractions, but FL. is so slow to improve the infrastructure, that it is gridlock lots of places. Out of towners are like raw meat to the criminal element, so go out after dark at your own risk. Distance down there is measured in time, not distance. We drive 65-75 here in the Midwest and would be in jail for driving the kinds of speed that they go down there. We sold out last year to get out when the getting out was good. The only reason FL. is still on my CF location is to keep that swallow tailed kite on my avatar. No bird that I've ever seen can fly like those can. Be interesting to read his post trip experience.

Traffic is certainly something to learn to deal with. I drive 64 miles to work everyday through zero lights and it takes 70 minutes.

Thanks for the heads up on the fast pass.

So far it sounds like seaworld and animal kingdom are my kids choices.

This is certainly a cash hemorrhage....I hope they love it.

We have a 24' whitewater jet boat and they've all played with 8' sturgeon.

Disney isn’t the Disney of yesteryear. Think Starwars.


I think all the animal/fish stuff is lame. But we see that stuff on a regular basis.

Glad that you are checking in. Florida is a l-o-n-g state and it takes lots of time to get places because the stop lights are 5 minutes long in the city; that is if you even get through the first time they turn green. The wife suggest a jet boat ride. Lots of those kind of places on Lake Tohopekaliga (Lake Toho to everyone down there) which is a huge lake and the head waters to the everglades.

It was pretty funny one time when I was talking to a fisherman that had just come in from fishing Toho. Now that lake is huge and you can't see across it and I asked the guy how deep is it out there? "Oh, must be at least 6 or 8 feet" he said. It was an oh wow to a guy who is use to fishing the Great Lakes. They don't use anchors on a lot of boats because they have mud poles that jam into the bottom.

Another watch out is the traffic rules. There aren't any for lots of them down there. Plenty of folks don't bother with car insurance and if they get into an accident and the car is still drivable, they leave. A real common trick we were seeing the last few years is two cars going through a four way stop together nose to tail.

An airboat tour/ride is on my list of things to do when/if we vacation in FL someday.

Don't understand you wanting a contest, but that's cool.

Not a contest at all.....just saying they've touched some big fish.

Never seen orcas, manatees or gators.

Been there, done that, with my three sons. I live in FL now, it's all expensive at the parks. My advice would be to get some fixin's to eat your breakfast in your lodging, much cheaper that way, and buy as many snack stuffs at local grocery to cut down on meals out where ever you can. I used to feed my sons at Chic Fil A for $7 each, now same meal is over $10 (3x). Fast food for me and the boys was easily $40 per and that's just one meal. We travel a lot now, mostly just me and the Mrs, mostly air bnbs, we eat breakfast at lodging (last thing you want to do is start the day hungry, looking for food), eat lunch out, and then fix some sort of dinner and wine/whisky in the evening, much more relaxing and affordable/better food.

We had dinner at this place. I saw the car and it caused me to do a little investigating. We spent $200 for 2 of us to eat and it was the first time I'd shelled out that much for a meal in my life.....and I feel like it was worth it.

This morning I have to spend 90 minutes letting someone try to sell us a time share, but in reward they are eating $600 off our seaworld tickets and a midevil dinner theater. I'm not tickled about the 90 minutes, but for a guy on an hourly salary treating the whole clan, this is a gift to me.

Incase anyone wonders, $60 in the hands of 3 kids at the arcade is exactly 20 minutes of fun.

This is a very good idea. Close to Tampa. We went there last month but got rained out.