The BIG Florida Comeback - August/September 2018 - UPDATED 05/08/18

[smithlane]

Update 1 - 25/04/18

Update 2 - 05/08/18

Hello and welcome to my latest Pre Trippy for our upcoming holiday this August

This year is to be slightly different to previous years as not only are we going back to Florida with NO Disney but we are spending 5 nights in New York first. To say I’m excited is a slight understatement and is doing the trick in making me feel not too depressed we won't be visiting the Mouse!

After our big blow out 3 week holiday last year we decided that if we wanted to go back to the States we had to curb costs somewhere. As we all know the ticket prices for this year are astronomical and having done Disney twice now we feel it’s time to give it a break for a few years. Doesn’t mean I won’t quietly sob when we drive pass . BUT I am very excited to see what else Florida has to offer.
As this spans two different forums I’ll do the New York and Florida parts separately.
You can read all about our plans for NY HERE

So who are we?
A slight reduction in numbers this year as it will just be the 4 of us! After our first trip in 2015 of being a group of 10 and our second last year being a group of 12, this will be a bit of a shock to the system. It will either be a dream or a complete disaster

First up me! Alicia, 35 years young. Author of this trip report and main planner/itinerary keeper of the holiday. Mobile Beauty Therapist by trade, hobbies include researching upcoming holidays and shopping on said holidays. If there was an Olympic medal to be won I reckon I would be in with a shot

Jim my long suffering partner and wonderful step dad to my 2 children. 39 years young, a Construction Manager by trade and hobbies include golf and um more golf

My daughter Hope who will be 15 on Saturday. Lover of all things American and partial to the odd shopping trip. I wonder who she gets that from... Coming out of the stroppy teenage phase and becoming a wonderful young lady

Last but not least Sam, my 13 year old son. Turning into your typical teenager by the day and would rather be holed away in his room on his iPad than be seen anywhere with me. Hmmm this holiday should be interesting... ! Every so often we see a glimpse of the old happy, smiley Sam which I just love and miss.

Us last year

The plan
Back in December we booked a British Airways Fly Drive going from LHR to EWR on August 15th then MCO to LGW on September 5th as well as a Group W SUV (Ford Edge or similar) from August 20th for 16 nights. Altogether for the 4 of us was £2300.
We then booked our internal flights direct with Delta, $128pp.
So after our 5 night stay in NY we fly down to Tampa from La Guardia on August 20th.
We land at 3pm and after picking up our hire car from Avis we’ll drive straight to Anna Maria Island for a full 7 nights.
If you read my Trip Report from last year you’ll know we spent 3 nights there in the middle of the holiday and fell completely in love with the place. I just knew we had to go back.
Last year we stayed at the Tortuga Inn down the Bradenton Beach end of the island which was perfect for us. I would have no hesitation booking to go there again but as we are staying longer this time I thought it would be nice to have a bit more space and our own pool.
After many, many hours trying to narrow down the endless beautiful properties we finally chose this one.

This was booked through Anna Maria Island Accommodations and cost $2169.40 for the week. Pricey but hopefully worth it
It’s on 80th Street so up towards the North end of the island. It’s about a 5-10 minute walk to the beach so further than last year but it’s only 2 blocks. It is also within walking distance to Ginny and Jane E’s Cafe which I’m ridiculously excited for.

So what are we going to do with ourselves for a whole week on paradise?
We will of course enjoy the beautiful beaches and do some body boarding.

Watch some spectacular sunrises and *hopefully* sunsets

A spot of shopping (of course!) at The Mall at University Town Centre

Manatee spotting at Palma Sola Boulevard

A kayak tour with Happy Paddlers

Another sunset dolphin boat trip with Paradise Boat Tours (let’s hope we see a sunset and a dolphin this year!)

A round of crazy golf at The Fish Hole

A trip to Caspersen Beach in Venice to hunt for sharks teeth - thanks to the Dibber for giving me the heads up on this

We will also take the opportunity to really relax after what I’m sure will be a jam packed 5 days in New York.

After our week comes to an end we won’t be too sad as it’s not Home time yet but 9 nights up in Orlando

This part of the holiday actually gave me the biggest headache to sort out.
We wanted a community with communal facilities as without going to the parks we wanted something else to keep the kids entertained. This sadly ruled out our beloved Formosa Gardens Estate
Originally we were looking at a condo or townhouse in Estates such as Regal Palms, Fantasy World, Windsor Palms and Windsor Hills. We finally settled on Windsor Hills as we are not only very familiar with the location but the facilities look just what we need. The reviews are also excellent.

Now to choose from the hundreds of different accommodations
I shortlisted about 5 townhouses close to the main clubhouse but I couldn’t help but get a niggling feeling about it not being a villa. I know that sounds ridiculously spoilt of me and a very first world problem to have but we have had 2 amazing villas in Florida and we really love having the space of one with our own pool.
Soooo back to the drawing board! After a lot and I mean A LOT of searching to find the perfect villa that was close to the facilities but didn’t break the bank I found this perfect one.

This was booked through Windsor Hills Official Rentals, total cost of £1278 for the 9 nights. Bargain!
It’s actually the closest villa to the clubhouse which is really handy as if the kids want to go and use the games room or watch a film then I won’t mind them going together as it’s only a 3 minute walk away.

So what will we do with our time?

Shopping
Of course this is top of the agenda! We will visit both of the Premium Outlets, Kissimmee Clearance Outlets, Lake Buena Vista Factory Stores and Mall at Millenia. I fancy trying the Florida Mall too.

A State Park
We will be going back to one of the State Parks as we loved our day at Wekiwa last year. Will really try and get our butts out of bed early enough to get to Kelly Springs before they close to capacity this year!

The Silver Moon Drive In
This is an actual drive in movie theatre located in Lakeland on the way to Tampa. You can’t get much more American than that can you!

An Airboat Ride
Either with Boggy Creek or Wild Florida. We didn’t get around to doing this last year so really want to get there this holiday. It may just be just the kids and I as 6’ 3” Jim has a huge phobia of Alligators so would rather stay safe on dry land than get in close proximity to them

A Deluxe Resort Hopping Day
I’m very excited about this! After reading a thread from ScottishNellie I thought it was a brilliant idea. We visited quite a few of the Deluxe hotels back in 2015 and would love to revisit them. The replies were very helpful so we will park up at Disney Springs, get the bus to Wilderness Lodge, Boat to MK then walk to the Contemporary, monorail over to the Grand Floridian and the Polynesian then the bus back to Disney Springs. If we have time we’ll add on a visit to the Epcot resorts as well. The plan is to wander the public areas of each resort and of course visit each gift shop for a momento! We’ll probably stop for something to eat at the GF.

Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure
We are now thinking of buying a 1 day 2 Park ticket to Universal and busting out both parks in 12 hours. We did it in 2015 and we are up to the challenge again

A Water Park
We may decide to go to Aquatica or the new Volcano Bay whilst we are there. The kids love a water park so it’s a possibility. If we do we’ll probably just pay on the gate.

So I think I’ve bored you enough for one evening so I’ll be back soon with our must visit restaurants old and new, and the all important shopping list

TTFN

[Eccle]

It sounds like a brilliant trip. We've stayed 3 times at Windsor Hills and love it there, I'm sure you will enjoy it

[lovemickey]

Ooh, another trippie! Your plans sound fab. You look like you will have plenty to keep you occupied without Disney! Anna Maria island looks amazing! Will look forward to reading about the New York part as we are hoping to do that in a couple of years for a big birthday we’ll be having.😬

[wensleydale6]

Looking forward to hearing more!

After 5 nights at Universal, we arrive at Ami for 6 nights from the 26th August, so any live tips when your there would be great ;-)

We’ve also gone for a house on the North of the Island

[yellowrose78]

Sounds like a fab trip! Loved your last trippie, so looking forward to this one

[juless77]

Great looking forward to more thanks x

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by Eccle

It sounds like a brilliant trip. We've stayed 3 times at Windsor Hills and love it there, I'm sure you will enjoy it

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Thank you, we are really looking forward to staying there

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by lovemickey

Ooh, another trippie! Your plans sound fab. You look like you will have plenty to keep you occupied without Disney! Anna Maria island looks amazing! Will look forward to reading about the New York part as we are hoping to do that in a couple of years for a big birthday we’ll be having.😬

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Hey, thank you! I really hope so and I don't give in and buy a 1 day ticket to the Magic Kingdom
I can't wait for NY. Its been on the bucket list forever!

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by wensleydale6

Looking forward to hearing more!

After 5 nights at Universal, we arrive at Ami for 6 nights from the 26th August, so any live tips when your there would be great ;-)

We’ve also gone for a house on the North of the Island

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Oh wow your house looks amazing! We went for 3 nights last year so know a little already about the island and have some fab restaurant recommendations. In my trippy below in my Signature you can read all about our time there

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by yellowrose78

Sounds like a fab trip! Loved your last trippie, so looking forward to this one

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Hey again, thank you we really can't wait!