Where was your best week away from the parks?

[Kidd McFluff]

With all our holidays for 2020 cancelled we are now planning for a three week blowout in Florida for summer 2021. We are in the early stage at the moment and of course things might change but planning this will give us something to look forward to and as soon as they release free DDP we'll be booking our stay at Disney.


In the past we have stayed onsite at OKW and offsite at Water Song Villas when visiting WDW as well as a week last year at the new Endless Summer resort for Universal. We stayed in Naples for a week in 2017 and loved it. Just the right mix of beach, restaurants and shops etc for us. We also loved that it was close to the everglades and had some great parks and coast to explore.

With three weeks to fill, this time we are planning to stay for a week onsite at the Yacht Club and then a week in Naples. We are hoping to fit in a couple of days at Universal too. We are looking for somewhere to spend a week to complete the holiday of a lifetime.

We love the beach but we also like to get to know an area, visit the local places to eat and check out the museums, galleries etc. We've never stayed near to the bigger cities on the coast like Tampa, Clearwater or Fort Myers and wondered what they have to offer in August for a family with a 13 yr old and an 11 yr old.

Where have you stayed before? Why did you like it? Where would you recommend?

[TheHughesCrew]

Not been yet... but booked for August. Fingers crossed!

How about flying into Miami, then exploring the area around there? We've booked a couple of nights in Homestead. We figure it's good to explore the top end of The Keys, Miami, and also the Everglades.

[DMT]

We had 2 weeks in Orlando then 1 week in Naples when we first went in 2002.

[Juliemack]

We spent a few days, but wished it was longer, in St Augustine. If you like a bit of history and things to see its a great place. It's right on the coast so you could get some beach time as well. We had tickets to do the little get on/off train and we must have done the full circuit at least 4 times.

[Pussycat Doll]

We rarely do much in the way of parks now but we do always spend time in Naples. It’s just so gorgeous there. We do also like Sarasota as well.

[JohnD]

We stayed in Cape Coral last September. It's far removed from the rush of Orlando and has more than enough to do. There's the nature preserves on Pine Island, The Edison Ford Winter estate in Fort Myers, Estero Bay with its dolphins and Boca Grande. Sarasota with its museums and Ca d'Zan with its art and circus museums is within an easy drive as well.

[salmim]

We like the Atlantic coast and did a great road trip a few years ago. Jacksonville, St Augustine, Daytona, Cocoa, Vero, Jupiter and loved it. It was a bit living out of bags but fantastic finding bars for lunch, new places to eat, beach life etc. I prefer east to west.

[Kidd McFluff]

Wow...thanks people. Looks like I have a bit of research to do. Cape Coral sounds nice and so does St Augustine. We want to stay on the Gulf Coast so these fit the bill and sound like they might be interesting.

[cornishfrogboy]

We once flew in to Pensacola (via Atlanta) then drove down through Destin and Tampa to Orlando before flying out of Daytona Beach (via Atlanta).

That’s was undoubtably our best Florida only vacation, beating even the Keys. The Panhandle Coast is the best I have seen in Florida and I have driven all the way round and up as far as Daytona.

[Kidd McFluff]

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

We once flew in to Pensacola (via Atlanta) then drove down through Destin and Tampa to Orlando before flying out of Daytona Beach (via Atlanta).

That’s was undoubtably our best Florida only vacation, beating even the Keys. The Panhandle Coast is the best I have seen in Florida and I have driven all the way round and up as far as Daytona.

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That sounds like quite a trip! We are up for a bit of driving if need be but that looks like a non Disney trip to me. Maybe one for us to do without the kids sometime. I've just spent half an hour looking at the route... it looks like a great journey!