Florida Family Getaways - 2008 - (Page 7) family getaways Left, Gatorland, Orlando. Yearly passes are sometimes a deal if you want to go to a theme park for more than one day. GO FOR THE BIG RESORT: Don’t write off the big resorts which sometimes are a bit more per night. Our children pestered us about the Nickelodeon Family Suites for months after seeing the ads. We took advantage of a special, and it turned out to be more affordable than we thought because we never left the hotel and went to theme parks another day. The Nick had pool areas resembling water parks, free live shows and poolside entertainment. A mini-mall area with an arcade and budget-friendly restaurants such as Pizza Hut and McDonald’s helped. No vehicle is necessary as the hotel offers free transportation to the parks. At the Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort and Hotel in Panama City, not only do they have themed pool areas, but special deals and rates include beach chairs and full, family breakfasts. BONDING TIME: Another affordable option is to hold a mini family reunion or catch up with friends. You can do this by renting a suite or house that sleeps many and splitting the costs. Some rentals can accommodate as many as 12 to 15 guests. Weekly rentals in The Beaches of South Walton area include 3-bedroom houses on the beach with a heated pool. You can share cooking duties, play board games at night, take turns babysitting and really unwind. Start your vacation this week; invite friends over for dinner and pick out your cottage online. For instance, Pristine Properties Vacation Rentals of Port St. Joe not only has cottage listings online but also has slide shows and pricing by week. THINK ABOUT NEXT YEAR: It pays to ask about your next vacation while on vacation. In some hotels, returning guests get 25 percent off. PLAN, SHARE: Vacationing in Florida on a careful budget can be done if you do your research. Plan far ahead before the least-expensive options are sold out, check with individual properties for special deals and share your trip (both the fun and the expenses) with family and friends. mini-bars that tempt kids with those expensive M&Ms and sodas. Instead, hotels have found that one of the top requests for guests is an empty refrigerator. Suite hotels like the Staybridge Suites Lake Buena Vista have actual kitchens and larger refrigerators, but non-suite hotels are following the trend, encouraging guests to have a place to bring drinks and snacks. In addition, some hotels have gone further. At Orlando’s Gaylord Palms, guests who buy special travel upgrades are given bottled water. Beaches of South Walton TIME YOUR TRIP: Carefully timing your trip can also lead to impressive savings, possibly cutting hundreds of dollars off your hotel bill. For a family staying at the Holiday Inn in St. Augustine’s historic district, a room was about $25 less in July than Walt Disney in March, when many schools have World’s Magic spring break. It’s not a giant differKingdom ence, but on a week’s vacation, it adds up. The best rates at Disney resorts are January 1-February 14, August 5October 3 and November 25-December 19. Disney hotels offer extended theme park hours for resort guests at no extra charge and a meal package which enables you to save at more than 100 restaurants. Some resorts also offer 10 percent off if you pay in advance of your stay. The theme parks also periodically offer deals to guests in uniform including police, fire military and EMT. If You Go: Beaches of South Walton www.beachesofsouthwalton.com Holiday Inn St. Augustine Historic District, www.staugustinehi.com Holiday Inn Sun Spree Panama City Beach, www.hipcbeach.com Nickelodeon Family Suites, 800-972-2590, www.nickhotel.com Walt Disney World Resorts, 407-939-6244, www.disneyworld.com Lowry Park Zoo, 813-935-8552, www.lowryparkzoo.com Pristine Properties, www.visitfloridabeaches.com G.Wiz, 941-309-4949, www.gwiz.org Gatorland, www.gatorland.com, 800-393-5297 Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center, gaylordhotels.com/gaylordpalms Marie Selby Botanical Gardens 941-366-5731, www.selby.org Family Getaways 7 http://www.beachesofsouthwalton.com http://www.staugustinehi.com http://www.hipcbeach.com http://www.nickhotel.com http://www.disneyworld.com http://www.lowryparkzoo.com http://www.visitfloridabeaches.com http://www.gwiz.org http://www.gatorland.com http://gaylordhotels.com/gaylordpalms http://www.selby.org
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