Planning a Florida trip

T

Tilluin

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The wife and I are just starting to plan our holiday for next summer and after debating between Boston / Cape Cod / Maine and Florida we've decided on Florida.

We'll be heading there for between 16 - 21 days (wife wants 16 I want 21!) in July/August and I'd appreciate any tips on great places to visit etc. We've been advised to skip Miami as "it isn't everything you expect" and a bit of a let down.

We'll definitely spend 3 - 5 days at the parks as we want to do Harry Potter World and a few others and we'd like to catch a baseball game (or any other sport that's in season) but apart from that we don't have any strong plans.

It'd be great to hear if we should hit up Daytona, Tampa, Anna Marie island (a friend said its beautiful). Ultimately we'd like to balance our time between soaking in the American atmosphere (we're Brits), doing some cool things and the wife will demand a couple of beach or pool days. For comparison our best holiday ever was a trip to San Fran, Monterey/Carmel and Santa Barbara.

Thanks a lot!
 
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Vaclav

Vaclav

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As a Brevard County resident - I'm quite Brevard biased. But I'd suggest Brevard (Merritt Island, Cocoa Beach, Viera, Northern Melbourne, Cape Canaveral) in a heartbeat. One county east of Orange County (where all the attractions are) and frankly, an amazing area - water everywhere, tons of varied things to do but not remotely crowded. And tons of events including rare stuff like rocket launches, a soon to be complete two headed dragon statue overlooking the rivers (there was an old one, but hurricanes took it in 2004 or so), and biolumiscent kayaking, among other things.

I never cease to be amazed with this area.
 
Agraza

Agraza

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Co-worker of mine just spent a few weeks near (north of?) Tampa and he's been bragging about it. I'll have to find out exactly where he went.

Issue with Florida is a lot of places get popular then become very touristy bullshit. I prefer the places that are less popular and more locally flavored, i.e. fuck Daytona straight up. If you want that area you should go to New Smyrna instead, which is just down the road and feels like Daytona likely did 30 years ago. Same thing with Key West. It's overdone and expensive.

I have heard good things about Anna Marie Island from locals though.

I'm in Volusia County, so I live near Daytona, New Smyrna, etc.
 
Echuta

Echuta

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July/August weather in FL is brutal. If you are planning to do the theme park then pay the extra amount to have the preferred line privileges. The Harry Potter area at Universal is the most popular there and standing in a line for 2 hours in 90+ degree heat with 90% humidity will suck the fun out of anything real quick. If you're going to Disney then make sure to reserve which rides you want to go on. I believe you can do that a month in advance. Go to the water parks if you want to beat the heat.

Take everyone's advice and stay near the beaches. St Augustine and Cocoa beach are good. Stay away from Daytona. Hit Clearwater or Sarasota. I actually enjoy the keys (including KW) but I tend to go places off the beaten touristy path while there. You may want to consider hopping on a 3 night cruise out of Tampa or Port Canaveral during your holiday. That would give you a chance to also see some of the Caribbean or Mexico depending on the cruise.
 
Chanur

Chanur

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Stay out of Florida. It's a hell hole.
 
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Vaclav

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Alex said:
FL in July/August?
Click to expand...

Not all areas are awful in July/August if you keep humidity in mind. I can't stand hot days and as long as I stay in the areas that handle humidity better July and August are a breeze. (pun somewhat intended)
 
Soygen

Soygen

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I love Miami/Ft Lauderdale, but there is Zika here. Don't come.
 
T

Tilluin

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Will the weather be a massive problem? We, perhaps naively, assumed it would be similar to California. I'd hate to go and get rained out! We could always go back to our original plan of Boston / cape cod and Maine if Florida would be a bad idea.
 
Soygen

Soygen

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Aug/Sep/Oct are basically the worst 3 months for rain and the "busiest" part of hurricane season. It's hot, humid and rains a lot. June and July are not as bad.
 
Lendarios

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Tilluin said:
Will the weather be a massive problem? We, perhaps naively, assumed it would be similar to California. I'd hate to go and get rained out! We could always go back to our original plan of Boston / cape cod and Maine if Florida would be a bad idea.
Click to expand...

The high humidity makes stuff inland very hard to deal with in the July/August. I can only recommend attractions that are near water. Come down to the beaches in the east/west coast and you will have a good time. Avoid inland attractions as the humidity can get to you.
If coming to Miami, might want to brush up on some Spanish.
 
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Alex

Alex

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Tilluin said:
Will the weather be a massive problem? We, perhaps naively, assumed it would be similar to California. I'd hate to go and get rained out! We could always go back to our original plan of Boston / cape cod and Maine if Florida would be a bad idea.
Click to expand...

lol

FL in the summer is awful. It's like clockwork with a thunderstorm that lasts 30-45 min around 2:30pm everyday.
 
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Vaclav

Vaclav

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Alex said:
lol

FL in the summer is awful. It's like clockwork with a thunderstorm that lasts 30-45 min around 2:30pm everyday.
Click to expand...

That's late Summer/early Fall - not really Summer proper.

Yard out here was going brown because our sprinklers were on the fritz during the Summer proper!
 
edko

edko

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Come to The Keys. It's not terribly crowded and we love your tourist dollars.

It's also not as hot here as the rest of Florida. Really.
 
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Regime

Regime

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edko said:
Come to The Keys. It's not terribly crowded and we love your tourist dollars.

It's also not as hot here as the rest of Florida. Really.
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yeah we just got back. We however are coming back in Feb. Where in the keys are you Marathon or Key West?
 
Echuta

Echuta

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edko said:
Come to The Keys. It's not terribly crowded and we love your tourist dollars.

It's also not as hot here as the rest of Florida. Really.
Click to expand...

I'll take you up on this if you can accommodate during Fantasy Fest. Already went once but trying to get a place to stay for a reasonable price is damn near impossible.
 
edko

edko

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Echuta said:
I'll take you up on this if you can accommodate during Fantasy Fest. Already went once but trying to get a place to stay for a reasonable price is damn near impossible.
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Getting something in town is really difficult and outside of town the cabs rape you (no uber here). You can try vrbo and look at Stock Island (but I would start at Big Coppitt) up to say Big Pine (MM30) if you don't mind driving. The advantage to being out of town is a quieter atmosphere, access to Bahia Honda, Looe Key Reef snorkeling, etc. Shit tons to do and plenty of watering holes.

Or call Christine Rudy at Action Keys Realty (again, Lower keys only, no KW). 305-923-2163 cell. They do rentals and may have an opening, never know. Stay away from Craigslist, scam central.

Another option, in town, is Key West Vacation Rentals | Nightly, Weekly, Monthly Properties but I can almost guarantee they will be pricey since most of their places are downtown.
 
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