Beach combined with Orlando vacation??

[Mickfarland4]

Hi! My family recently took a fantastic trip to Myrtle Beach. We loved the resort and much of the time didn't leave it until dinner time. I was not expecting my kids to be perfectly happy all day just swimming in the pools or running down to the beach to build sandcastles for a bit. While we didn't spend too much time at the beach during our week, having the ability to walk right onto it was great! It got me thinking that maybe next year I would like to try a beach near Orlando. I don't really think we would do Magic Kingdom due to cost. I'd rather wait until my kids are tall enough to ride any ride they wish (and my 4 yo is not quite brave yet either). But, Epcot has always been my favorite and I am not opposed to going there or Animal Kingdom if I felt the boys would like it. I would LOVE to do SeaWorld and perhaps Gatorland or LEGOLAND but, have never been to either of the latter ones. I am rambling now, sorry...back to the question.

Where can we stay where we can have a resort with lots of pools, kids activities, and a condo or villa? I have looked at Daytona Beach and found that I love Wyndham Ocean Walk but, the reviews are hit or miss and the staff seems terrible, although I would rent vrbo if we did this and likely would have very little need to involve staff. Anyone know of any similar resorts on a beach close to Orlando(in case we feel the need to venture out for more attractions). I'd like to keep it within about an hour. And traveling from NE Ohio so, wouldn't really want to go much further south due to travel time. I love resorts like WBC to give you an idea of what I am looking for. The condo/villa is a must. We had such a great week and all the extra space is needed for that and washer and dryer were constantly running!! Thank you!!

 

[staceyrhood]

We love hammock beach ...
It is 1hr 15 min from us (next to Disney)
Great kids activities and beautiful pools and resort!
It is about 30 min from st Augustine too which is a nice place to see.
About an hour and 45 min from Disney is Disney Vero beach and it is awesome!

 

[ohionola]

My family did this last year and it was amazing. We spent a week at Disney Vero Beach (found a great deal on Ebay) and then a week at Disney World. It was an amazing trip. If we had it to do over again though we would have done Disney World first and then Disney Vero Beach.

We are heading to Daytona Beach Ocean Walk this weekend and I will let you know what we think. I think most of the bad reports are people not realizing it is a timeshare condo and not a hotel. I have stayed at lots of Wyndham resorts and never had an issue. This location I think has timeshare owners, private owners, and a hotel mixed into one. I can only imagine how confusing that gets.

I don't know if you are flying or driving but if driving you are probably 4-5 hours from the gulf coast beaches (Panama City, Destin, etc). They are much nicer than the ones on the east coast of Florida.

 

[JaxDad]

Hammock Beach is very nice. We've been a few times for short stays. It is somewhat remote, which may or may not appeal to you. It can also be expensive. I've never really liked their online reservation system, but it is possible to find packages or deals to make it a better value for you. I would definitely read the TripAdvisor reviews too.

I have lived on both the Gulf coast and the Atlantic coast of Florida, and I woud not say one is nicer than the other. They are just different. The Gulf water is warmer, and there are essentially no waves. Most of the Gulf beaches have shallow water gently sloping pretty far out. If you are into shells, the southwest coast is awesome. The Atlantic water is cooler--only crazy Northeners will be swimming before late Spring and after early Fall. The Atlantic also has waves, which can vary quite a bit in size. A lot of people don't like waves, especially if they get a little bigger. (We love the waves!) There are shells on the Atlantic side, but they tend to be broken/crushed because of the waves. The bottom depth seems to vary more too, and it can drop off more quickly than some people like, especially at low tide when the surf line is farther out. (The tide ranges are bigger on the Atlantic side, especially to the north.) Again, they are both nice, but different, so you can pick what best suits you and your family.

 

[JimMIA]

I have looked at Daytona Beach and found that I love Wyndham Ocean Walk but, the reviews are hit or miss and the staff seems terrible, although I would rent vrbo if we did this and likely would have very little need to involve staff.

What kind of negatives did you see? Were the complaints about the resort staff, or the timeshare sales weasels? Usually when you hear complaints about Wyndhams, it's about the sales people, who are among the sleaziest in the industry. The resorts themselves, and the resort staff people, usually get high marks.

Just FYI, Ocean Walk is directly ON the beach, right in the heart of everything in Daytona Beach. And the beach there is amazing, even to this Florida native.

As ohionola mentioned, that resort does have mix of timeshare owners and fulltime owners. I know a few years ago there were some nasty pool issues because the fulltime owners (who are the majority) would not pay to fix the pool. But that was resolved several years ago, and I haven't heard any complaints in quite a while.

 

[Momma2PrinceNPrinces]

We leave in 3 weeks. Spending 3 nts in Orlando, then heading to Madeira Beach (near Clearwater) for 4 nts. Google maps shows it about an hour and a half from Disney

 

[Mickfarland4]

My family did this last year and it was amazing. We spent a week at Disney Vero Beach (found a great deal on Ebay) and then a week at Disney World. It was an amazing trip. If we had it to do over again though we would have done Disney World first and then Disney Vero Beach.

We are heading to Daytona Beach Ocean Walk this weekend and I will let you know what we think. I think most of the bad reports are people not realizing it is a timeshare condo and not a hotel. I have stayed at lots of Wyndham resorts and never had an issue. This location I think has timeshare owners, private owners, and a hotel mixed into one. I can only imagine how confusing that gets.

I don't know if you are flying or driving but if driving you are probably 4-5 hours from the gulf coast beaches (Panama City, Destin, etc). They are much nicer than the ones on the east coast of Florida.

Yes, please let me know! We stayed at their Sea Watch in Myrtle Beach and loved it so I can't see how it would be so bad. I did see on their fb page a very rude response from an employee to a bad review. It kinda threw me because it was so unprofessional.

 

[Mickfarland4]

What kind of negatives did you see? Were the complaints about the resort staff, or the timeshare sales weasels? Usually when you hear complaints about Wyndhams, it's about the sales people, who are among the sleaziest in the industry. The resorts themselves, and the resort staff people, usually get high marks.

Just FYI, Ocean Walk is directly ON the beach, right in the heart of everything in Daytona Beach. And the beach there is amazing, even to this Florida native.

As ohionola mentioned, that resort does have mix of timeshare owners and fulltime owners. I know a few years ago there were some nasty pool issues because the fulltime owners (who are the majority) would not pay to fix the pool. But that was resolved several years ago, and I haven't heard any complaints in quite a while.

I was looking at their fb page and an employee made a very unprofessional response to a bad review. Before that, I wasn't concerned because I know it's all a law of averages and people do post "fake" reviews or have much higher expectations than we would. Or even like you said, misunderstand that it's private owners and a timeshare resot. But, we would rent vrbo if we go. We did that for MB and it worked out amazingly well.

 

[ohionola]

So we have been here two days and have been very happy. The check in line was very long but we were in and out in 25 minutes. Some people did have to wait a little longer to get their room but they were handing out water and drinks.

Our room is nice and on par with other Wyndham resorts that are 20 years old. It is very acceptable to us but not as new as bonnet creek. Only two issues we had was that the cover was missing on the wall ac switch and it was fixed in 10 minutes. The other is no internet in the rooms. Kind of a bummer in this day and age but kind of nice not having the kids sitting on iPads.

I do like the beaches in panama and destin better but this one you can walk out a long way without the water getting deep and there is a nice boardwalk to walk up and down on. Literally once you have groceries you probably would never leave the resort again. The whole family loves the place and we will be coming back.

I would not let one employees comments bother you. I bet 200-300 people work here and you will always have a couple bad apples.

Also for renting I would consider eBay or one of the vacation agents that rent out Wyndham points. Way cheaper than vrbo. A one bedroom for 4th of July week for 7 nights was going for 750 including all taxes and feess.

 

[Mickfarland4]

wow! Thanks! Enjoy the rest of your vacation!!