To & From:
We travelled to Florida over a dozen times between 2004 and 2008, benefitting or perhaps justifying owning a property at Southern Dunes Golf and Country club, a gated community in Haines City roughly a 15 minutes drive South of Kissimmee.
See useful link 1.
Flights to Orlando are many and varied, some direct capacity during the summer months, but mainly you will have to choose the one stop via a transit hub in the US. Chicago is a common route but probably the longest, Atlanta or Newark are better options. Either way its a long flight and transfer time, exacerbated by long delays queuing for car hire, a must in these parts.
Awake Tip : Many sure to book a car from a Hire company that has on-line collection facility, a machine is less challenging that a sales associate, and much quicker.
Woke Tip : Beware the tolls –it may work out cheaper to buy an electronic pass with the car hire if you are planning on some travel in Florida.
Florida is humid with frequent downpours in summer and crowded, so probably the best times to travel are Spring and Autumn, the later also being hurricane season, which actually starts in June and runs until the end of November. Winter is mild, but not really sunbathing weather, however there is much to keep you busy in Florida.
We would often arrive as night descends, so it would be important to get your bearings before committing to the journey from the airport, it is no easy feat finding the way in the dark. The best way we have found is to head North out of the airport onto Highway 528 and go West towards Universal studios theme parks, then at the first major intersection head South on the 441, however our house was best reached by continuing on the 528 until it hit the I-4 just North of Sea World, then heading South past the Disney parks, and Celebration onto Highway 27 which lead to Haines City. We would still make it in time to head over to the A1 Bar & Grill, which now seems to be a Mexican Burritos bar –still be the same coronary assault on the system though, melted cheese refuses no food in America.
The advantage of the house, compared to a hotel in Kissimmee is that you have a great base to travel from and the freedom to enjoy the pool and local shopping in Walmart of Winn- Dixie at your leisure.
Southern Dunes is an award winning 18 hole course, and being resident has member advantages. The club itself has a bar and restaurant so everything you need for a entertaining days golf, away from the crowds in Kissimmee.
Disney theme parks are within a thirty minute drive and much has been written about all of them, the rides are exhilarating and those with water guaranteed to be wet.
You can spend days in all the parks, but they are probably best missed during the summer months long queues spoil the enjoyment.
Having been to all the parks, Animal Kingdom and Universal’s Islands of Adventure stand out, but Downtown Disney is a must for some night time adventure and dinner.
Woke Tip : These parks are not cheap and you should work out which combination works best, plenty of pre-book options, each park will take a day to explore.
Awake Tip : Get in early, and remember which car park you are in !
South of Haines City away from the Disney parks, is a new world of adventure, not seen by many of the 130 Million plus visitors, over 70 Million are domestic, the area is extremely popular for those wishing to escape the harsh NE winters.
Retirement parks built around Golf communities abound as do gardens and parks there is even a Lego land in Winter haven for the kids.
See Useful link 2.
Don’t miss Highlands Hammock State Park in Sebring –an enthusiastic ranger runs you around on a train observing alligators and snakes in their natural environment a distinct pleasure in Florida.
See Useful Link 3.
Further afield is Miami, a good three hour drive via Fort Lauderdale, we have driven down but best to stay in Miami Beach rather than Downtown which has a poor reputation. The Atlantic is surprising refreshing.
Miami beach area is something of a playground for the rich, with plenty dropping in for lunch
Try to avoid the crowds by staying away form the cruise ships which is a huge industry, carrying thousands of passengers.
After a few days in Miami, it is worth exploring the Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach areas further North –It’s Trump Country and his residence juts out into the Atlantic like his fringe.
Back to Haines City, time to relax before two other outings we enjoyed. In between Kissimmee Old Town and Celebration are great locations for shopping, dining and entertainment.
Next road trip can be done in a day, Tampa is about an hours drive West –nothing too exciting but it does have one of the best Theme parks we have ever enjoyed . Busch gardens are fantastic if you enjoy thrill rides, Sheikra is a challenge, and unsurprising they sell bottles of Bud, possibly the two are not that compatible.
The other location worth going to whilst in the Tampa area is out to St Petersburg and Clearwater, apart from the Sunken gardens and Salvador Dali Museum the beaches are superb and the Gulf water’s distinctly warmer, the connecting Howard Frankland Bridge is worth crossing just for the experience, one of four crossing over Tampa Bay.
One other enjoyable days excursion is out to Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy space centre, it’s about a 90 minute drive from Haines City, It can be a bit of a stretch to get to Cocoa Beach the same day as the visitor centre, so best to leave that for a day by itself, but its hard to beat the warmer Gulf waters.
There is more to Florida than Disney, themed parks water slides and golf courses , but it is an exceptionally easy place to lose yourself–we still have the Southern tip to explore, and we do plan that one day.
See Useful Link 5.
Useful Links
- https://www.southerndunes.com/
- https://www.legoland.com/florida/
- https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/highlands-hammock-state-park
- https://buschgardens.com/tampa/
- https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/?utm_source=GoogleMaps&utm_medium=Local&utm_campaign=visitorcomplex
