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

Tomorrow I'm hauling my family to Orlando for our first ever family vacation. It's the wife and I and 3 kids (8) and 214. We're doing this as a one income family so budget is a consideration, but we probably won't do this again for at least 5 years.

I'm looking at 25 bux a plate for hotel continental chow, so I'd rather put clothes on some mom and pop type restaurant owners. Any advice on hiddegems in the area?

One kid really likes sushi, I hope to try a blue crab and local seafood.....little one is ool with a microwave corn dog...lol.

We're doing at least one day in tampa to see the gulf coast and at least one attraction like universal studios or SeaWorld. At a grand a day I can't pull off more than a couple of those.

If anybody has some tips to help me save some money yet still make a memory for the kids, please help.

I was lucky enough to work 2 months of 7/12's to pull this off.....but we're going to cook through it in a blink, so I want to make the best of it.

I was hoping for SNUBA or something other than water parks as we have those at home.....looking for real Florida type stuff.

Thanks in advance.

Look into getting free discount coupons at a lot of local places like restaurants, hotels and gift shops. Maybe even online? It's been years since we did the Disney/ sea world/ universal studio vacation.

I hope you bring home lots of pictures and wonderful memories. Good luck.

I’m in Orlando with my family now. Spending a day at a beach/beach town is a relatively cheap way to spend time. We spent today at Daytona Beach and spent the last two days at SeaWorld and SeaWorld’s Aquatica. The extra money for a meal pass is well worth it at the Sea World parks. Given that a pop or a cookie is $6-$7 dollars the meal passes easily pay for themselves.

A half day fishing charter out of Port Canaveral and a few hours touring NASA is a fun way to spend a day.

We did Sea Levelers charter last year. I’d recommend them for a charter if that’s something that you’re interested in.

Visiting the Cape and NASA on Merritt Island is a good choice. I can also recommend the Orlando Science Center. We take the grandkids there often. The west coast beaches are nicer (imo) than the east coast beaches.

My advice. Skip Orlando.

Thanks guys. SeaWorld is on the list. What's the crowd like and how much are we looking at after parking, random fees and all that for 5 people to hit it with meals?

Thanks....we leave in 9 hours.

I had to get one of my kids some antibiotics forwarded to Orlando. Hopefully it's not the sign of what's to come.

Orlando sucks like a Dyson vacuum cleaner, and the rest of tourist trap Florida isn't far behind. Rent a car and drive Alligator Alley up through the central part of the state on your way to the west coast, and see some interesting scenery- - - -orange groves, cattle ranches, etc. Rural Floridians are like country people all over the rest of America- - - -good people who won't try to cheat you out of your last dime. Urban Florida is full of transplanted damyankees- - - -scum of the earth. Watch out for the blue haired 90 year old grannies- - - -driving their dead husband's 1980 Cadillac Fleetwood at 25 MPH in the fast lane to the senior citizens' discount buffet- - - -looking through the top of the steeringf wheel!

Okeechobee is nice to visit. I like inland Florida. Cocoa Beach is an OK visit. My daughter and her family live in Palm Bay so we spend a fair amount of time there. A trip down through Melbourne beach and on down to Sabastion is a good way to waste a day. Plenty of Brevard County public beach access. Some good seafood places which won't break the bank. The Brevard County Zoo is a good visit as well. Beach time depends on the weather and wind. The Sabastion Inlet State park is a nice visit with a decent beach. All of this stuff is south of Orlando (by about an hour or so), and we like it because it isn't quite so busy.
Blue Cypress Lake is a good place to fish for bass. Cabins are rustic but not too spendy. This is very different than the heavily congested coast.
We usually drive down and usually drag our trailer. It's nice to have your own home. If I'm honest, having lived most of my life in the rural northwest, I find most of Florida kind of confining, but one can always find something to do. GD
PS. You can even go ice skating in Viera!

I am coming from a town of 600 people. I am not fond of crowds....but this one is for the kids. We're definitely doing at least one day on the gulf side beaches.

Orlando and Disney USED to be good. Local dirt has it figured out.

Been in FL 55 years. So many better places to go.

We're staying in Kissimmee and my efforts are targeted away from metropolitan areas....but my kids have never seen much of a big city. I have done my time in those places. If they can see or swin with a dolphin, eat sushi and visit the zoo....I think its a win.....but universal studios keeps coming up in conversations with them.

I recently took a side trip to Crystal River. Its on the west coast, full of springs and the winter grounds for manatee. You can get a boat trip wiil get to swim with them, rent kayak gear and paddle bay, paddle and swim to mouth of springs, etc. Great little area and cost of a day with both the boat trip and kayaks will be far less than anything Orlando.

Sshh. Don't go telling everybody that. Lol.

If you are going to the Tampa area, Clearwater Beach is nice, but will be crowded, and is tourist oriented. Just a little north is Dunedin. Honeymoon Island is very nice, and not as crowded as Clearwater. There is also a ferry to Caladesi Island, which is even less crowded. You can see Dolphins pretty often from the ferry. In South St. Pete, Ft Desoto Park is a very cool place to visit. Decent Beaches, and the old Fort to explore.

Its on my retirement list and in the very near future

Thanks guys....that's my style.

We naturally spend most of our time on the oceanside and don't visit the gulf coast too often. When it comes to swimming with dolphins and such, that Sabastian Inlet State park is good for a chance to get close to wild dolphins. To swim with dolphins in a restricted setting, the Dolphin Research Center is a good option (Key Largo , if I remember right). The thing to remember is that there really is more to Florida (or most any other state) than meets the eye. There is natural Florida (my preference) and there is man-made Florida (Disney World and Universal). There are also combinations of the two. There are the two coasts and the interior, north and south, and the everglades. In Melbourne, we have canoed up Turkey Creek and had the manatees right next to the canoe. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you can't see it all at once. I think I would get Universal out of the way first (a couple of days should do it), then pick an area to cover. If you want to see South Florida and the Keys, I'd plan on another trip just for that! We spent 2 weeks in Everglades National Park and went back twice more. GD

He has kids, they are going to Orlando like everybody with kids does if they can. At least once anyway. The Orlando bashing isn't doing anyone any good.