Beach days for DisneyWorld stays

[mom2monkiesx3]

Or point me to the right threads, I did a search with no luck.

Here is the deal. We are AVID DisneyWorld travelers going every year since my youngest was not even 2. We usually stay 10 days onsite without renting a car once or twice a year. Yes, we spend every waking moment at Disneyworld

This year my kids want to visit the actual beach (they are now 13,10,7) and I can no longer pawn the disney beaches off as real Darn the luck! They are NM desert rats and have never been to the ocean!

When I first started I was pointed towards Cocoa Beach. But since then I have been pointed to Clearwater.

I cannot decide whether we should stay onsite and rent a car to travel to the beach in the middle of our stay OR rent a car the last day and actually transfer over to a BEACH hotel/resort and stay at the actual beach. I know that its at the least an hour drive to the beach. I think my main concern is that we KNOW we love our disney resorts but are not at all familiar with the hotels/resorts off-site....

I would love to hear what other families do to get some beach time in on their trip. If you change to a beachfront resort which ones are good? We are NOT picky with hotels/resorts our must haves list is only SAFETY. We are a young family and have to feel safe. Other than that I would rather have a resort/hotel that offers a private beach than not. And it must be beachfront. I don't want to drive to the beach UNLESS we are driving in from a disney resort.


C'mon kiddos I thought that booking WL,Poly or Floridian...would work!!! We have been to Fl. many times but have also never driven in traffic ourselves, we've always used cabs!

 

[momof2minnies]

Clearwater without a doubt- awesome place.

 

[cbg1027]

I'd spend 2 nights at the beach. It's a quintessential Florida experience to stay at the beach...it was coming sooner or later.

I don't know what your price range is, but check out the Don Cesar in St Pete Beach. http://www.loewshotels.com/en/Don-CeSar-Beach-Resort

St Pete Beach is beautiful. I have some good family friends that live down the street from the hotel and the neighborhood is fantastic. We like to walk up to the ice cream parlour in the hotel with their grandchild and then go eat on the beach. The beach is public, but it's a safe area.

There are lots of other gulf front options in St Pete Beach as well.

 

[pixarmom]

Definitely Clearwater!

My husband attended a 2-day conference there before one of our Disney trips last year and we tagged along. We stayed at the Sandpearl resort and really loved it - it's a great spot for two nights: http://www.sandpearl.com/ The pool is wonderful with a zero depth entry and a view of the water - it's right on the beach. We were with our kids, so most meals were at the grill right at the Sandpearl or at Frenchy's (there is one on the beach and another - the Original Cafe) down the street.

I've been to several beaches on both coasts and Clearwater is one of my favorites for a short stay.

Happy Planning!

 

[mamamary]

We actually stayed in between Clearwater and St. Pete. It's called North Redington Beach. We stayed at the Doubletree Beach Resort - it's right on the beach. At the time my kids were about 9 and 11. We really enjoyed it. Took day trips to St. Pete and Clearwater and they were both really nice.

 

[Philleigh]

I vote for a stay in Clearwater Beach area. Ditto the recommendation of Frenchy's - great grouper sandwiches as I recall. Clearwater is the Gulf and the waves are not as big as on east coast in Cocoa, which may be better (safer) if your kids have never been swimming in the ocean. (Even though I'm now unfortunately a Las Vegas "desert rat", I grew up swimming in ocean in NJ and have spent time at some FL beaches.)

 

[Amy&Dan]

I also vote for a few days staying at the beach. Its a nice way to relax after a WDW vacation!

Now if you decide you just don't want to move resorts, you can absolutely take a day trip over to Cocoa or Daytona quite easily. We have done that as well. We had a rental car already, I know the Swan has a rental car counter and also a few of the hotels in DTD (and probably some others as well onsite). But the drive over to Cocoa Beach was not bad, we found a nice beach and enjoyed the day. A few days later (this was a 17 night trip at WDW so we had lots of days to enjoy) we did the same thing but tried out Daytona.

I will say the complication of not staying at a beach hotel is that you will likely need to buy some chairs. Its not that comfy to sit on the sandy ground all day. You will also need some beach towels and when we went to Cocoa Beach the area we visited didn't have any restaurants/take out places right there. Luckily I had brought some stuff from our resort food court just in case. At Daytona there was more in the way of services, we bought some inexpensive things like hot dogs, cokes and nachos just right where we were at and there were also chairs to rent. I am sure Cocoa has some of that, it just didn't in the area we were in. At a beach resort hotel, they'll likely have chairs (usually two per room with most beach resorts I have stayed at and you can "rent" extras for your kids) there for you to use as well as umbrellas and towels. And most beach hotels have restaurants and pool bars.

We enjoyed our two days at the beach but dh and I agreed, next time we will just take a few days to go actually stay at the beach. To me day trips to the beach are sort of like staying offsite at WDW: perfectly fine way to see the ocean but not the same experience as staying right there!

I love the Atlantic side for the waves but have to say the Gulf side is wonderful. Clear water, white sand and its heaven. We have had some nice waves on the Gulf side but usually it is calmer. We love Marco Island but that is much further from WDW. Clearwater is much closer and that will be our next beach area to try!

 

[BabyRN]

I've only ever visited Daytona so I only have that to talk about. We drove to WDW from NY and stopped to check out Daytona Beach on our way back. It was beautiful. There were plenty of chairs you could rent and food places around. We spent several hours there before we headed home and the kids still didn't want to leave then. My 3 older kids were 9, 7 and 5 at the time. Personally if it were me that flew in and I rented a car, I think I would spend a couple days there. When you factor in the driving time it takes to get to the beach and back to Disney, you'll wish you spent a couple days there. And for us, while we LOVED WDW and it was our first trip there, just hanging out there on the beach was almost our favorite part of the trip and it was so relaxing!

 

[Deb & Bill]

If we combine a WDW trip with the beach, we'll spend a few days to a week down at Marco Island (just north of the Everglades on the Gulf Coast). So we'll either do the beach first or last, depending on where we stay at the beach.

 

[KCmike]

Clearwater = white sand beaches, little to no waves, good hotel options, farther away from WDW

Cocoa Beach = Atlantic Ocean, real waves, closer to WDW, ok hotel options, close to Kennedy Space Center.

We've experienced both and I personally like the real waves. It seemed dirtier to me on the Atlantic side but it was more of an ocean experience for whatever reason. My youngest girl loves Clearwater. The older kids love boogie boarding and catching some waves on the Atlantic.

With that being said my kids most favorite vacation was in San Diego at the Hotel Del Coronado (where Grand Floridian got its idea). I much prefer the Pacific Ocean to either of these. They think that both Clearwater and Cocoa pale in comparison to California.

 

[Geomom]

I'd go for a Gulf Coast beach, and yes spend a couple of nights there! I spent time on both coasts as a kid, and preferred the Gulf. I remember it as having warmer water, lots of shells to collect, and you can watch the sunset over the water. I also think it's prettier than the Atlantic side--the water in the Gulf just has that gorgeous tropical azure shade! The last time we hit a beach in Florida was 6 years ago, Lido Beach in Sarasota. I'm most familiar with the beaches on Longboat Key/Siesta Key in the Sarasota/Bradenton area. Have fun! (My kids, 11 and 7, also seasoned Disney travelers, have not asked to go to the beaches in Florida...I don't think they remember going to the beach there 6 years ago. We do go to a beach every summer near us...but Maine ocean water is a 'bit' different in temperature than Florida water. )

 

[JJsmama]

Yes, stay on the Gulf side, not the atlantic side. We like Naples, but it is a few hours down. Also, most of the places are too far for a day trip. Shorten your WDW trip and go stay at the beach a few days if the kids have never been. They'll love it.

 

[pixarmom]

I much prefer the Pacific Ocean to either of these. They think that both Clearwater and Cocoa pale in comparison to California.

Agreed! Four days ago, my mom and I were on Ft. Myers Beach saying, "This is great. But of course, it's not Newport." OK - back to discussion of Florida beaches. I love the California waves so much that I just give up the idea of waves in Florida - that's why I vote for the gulf coast.

 

[chrismartinique]

good thread...are there specific resorts you can recommend on the gulf side. I wanted doubletree but they are requiring a 4 night stay over holiday week-end. This is crazy to me

 

[goopysolelady]

If time and money are no object, I'd definately spend 1-2 nights at the beach. We usually don't have enough of either so we rent a car and drive over to Cocoa Beach for the afternoon. Your children would probably enjoy spending a little more time though since they've never been to a "real" beach. Just watch for sunburn; bad burn would ruin your entire vacation! The only downside to spending a few hours there is having the "beachy" feeling all the way back to Orlando! We have yet to find a beach park with adequate changing/shower area for the public. A "day trip" gives you a chance to get back to DW for some evening park or downtown time.

DD watching DGD attempt to "jump" the waves:

MUD time!

...and we always end our visit here! Love the coconut shrimp!:

 

[akl-fan]

I would go with Clearwater or St Petes Beach. We went to Vero Beach last year and did not like it.

 

[DSLRuser]

2 years ago, we drove to sarasota from disney. left at 8:00am, with traffic we arrived at 11:00am. Stayed at the beach until about 3:00pm. then drove back and we back at the hotel by 5:00.

Last year, we went to coa coa beach (Shepard park). Left at 8:00am, were on the beach by 9:00am. Stayed until 1:00pm, and were back at the hotel by 2:00pm.

This June, we will do coa coa beach again. Saving on the 4 hours of drive time is worth it. Yes, the gulf water is nicer and the beaches are nicer as well. But my kids 9 and 4 actually liked coa coa beach more.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I would also highly recommend going to Clearwater Beach.

 

[chiamarie]

Something to consider...

if you are going to switch hotels on your last night, keep in mind the drive to the airport.

as a local, whenever I fly, I always check prices at the Tampa airport and MCO.

If you are going to go to the gulf side, the Tampa airport is going to be MUCH more accessible than MCO.

I only say this (being from Orlando) because I knew someone who once tried flying out of Tampa, and she got a flat tire on the way to the airport and ended up missing her flight.

So it might be a bit of a pain to drive from Clearwater to MCO the morning of your flight. With traffic, that could easily be a 2 hour drive.

 

[chrismartinique]

good thread...are there specific resorts you can recommend on the gulf side. I wanted doubletree but they are requiring a 4 night stay over holiday week-end. This is crazy to me

any hotels you can recommend