Where should a large family stay? BG and SW Trip

[FreeThinker]

I am having trouble figuring out where to stay. We have done Disney twice, and stayed at Bonnet Creek last year. We really like it, and would prefer something similar, 2/3 BR condo w/ neat pools for the kids. Currently the trip is

Saturday: Arrive
Sunday: Relax/Pool/Get groceries for the week (we do not like eating out everyday)
M-F: BG or SW and one day at the beach w/ a dolphin cruise
Saturday: Head home

Other things we think we may do are the Mid. Knight DInner show, and possibly Circ at DTD. And if time permitted and we could work it out, dinner w/ Cinderella and Prince Charming (or possibly another Disney hotel character dining) for the 3 year old, I just really think she would love it since we are not doing Disney this year. None of those things are definite, just ideas.

We like to just eat one meal out per day, and either grill or cook in our condo for breakfast and dinner. We have 7 people on our party. 2 adults, 5 kids ranging from 11 to 3 (turns 3 the week of vacation).


Are there other resorts near Busch Gardens? A place of similar price/accomodations at BC? Or should we just stay w/ BC b/c we know where it is, how to get around, and just drive each day to BG and SW.

 

[MistressMerryweather]

Why not Bonnet Creek again?

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Both the Hilton Grand Vacations at SW and the Residence Inn SW offer two bedroom suites with kitchens, if you are looking for on official onsite property that will give you all the great benefits of staying onsite (free Quick Queue at SW, early entry to SW and AQ on select dates, free transportation to the parks, etc.). HGVC will also have laundry facilities in the room, if that is important to you. The RI SW will give your family a full hot buffet breakfast each morning as part of your room rate.

Otherwise, a nearby resort property would be the Sheraton Vistana Villages. This one has a pirate themed pool area that is a big hit with little ones. I believe the Marriott Grande Vista might be pretty close as well, and maybe Floridays and Blue Heron.

We have stayed at the RI SW, and it was an easy drive to Disney for a character meal (we usually do the breakfast at the Poly with Lilo and Stitch). Total travel time, without traffic, would be about 20 minutes. DTD is also not that far.

 

[Capt_BJ]

call me silly

you DO know that Bush Gardens is in Tampa and an hour drive from Sea World (Orlando)?

And Tampa is at least 30 minutes from the beach if 'beach' means the Gulf . . .

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

you DO know that Bush Gardens is in Tampa and an hour drive from Sea World (Orlando)?

BG offers free transportation from Orlando to anyone with a valid admission ticket. So the OP could hop the shuttle and not have to drive.

https://secure.mearstransportation.com/MearsExpress/BuschGardens.asp?pos=5&pos=3

 

[FreeThinker]

Yes, I do know they are a ways apart, that is why I am asking for suggestions Is there some place like Bonnet Creek that is close to BG? Or near the ocean? If so, we could stay there and just travel back and forth on our SW days. A SW hotel/resort would give transportation back and forth, which would be nice, but I'm not sure how reliable/convenient it would be. We do have 5 kids, and sometimes we just stay a few hours then leave. Maybe we should do a split stay? We considered this as well, just not sure where. I have looked on VRBO for places near BG, and didn't find many that we liked. We did find some awesome places on St. Petes I think, but that's a LONG drive.

I am open to any other ideas, we just want a different vacation this year since we have one Disney the last 2 years. We did do SW and Disc Cove the first year as well, but have never been to BG.

 

[jdtopgun71]

We love the Hilton Grand Vacations at Seaworld. We are family of 5 and the 2 BR units are very roomy and the kitchen is very nice to have.

 

[Rippleglrl]

Just finished a 3 night stay at the Floridays, and loved it!!! We had a 2 bedroom condo with laundry, 3 bedroom condos are also available. About a mile from sea world and great pool for the kids. Hope this helps

 

[Lynne G]

I would stay near SW and just drive to SW, BG and the beach. A few Augusts ago, I drove from my SW hotel to BG twice. It took me about 1 hour. Very boring drive, but almost all highway. I would do 2 days at SW, 2 days at BG and one day at the beach. If you don't mind the drive, I'd do the beach day near Cape Canaveral. It's about an hour too, from SW, down the 528 (toll road). There's a ton of dolphin tours near the port.

For ease with that many kids, I'd stay at one hotel. If the kids do not mind a drive to get to there, driving around the Orlando area is not bad. BG is near the University, so there's nothing really around it, residential. I would not stay there. Check the hours BG is open when you are in Florida. For us, the park closed at 6 pm, so I purposely stayed to 6 to beat some of the traffic, then we hit a late dinner at DTD on our way back to our SW hotel on I Drive.

Have a great time, we enjoyed the Busch parks in Florida, so much so, we are doing them again this holiday.

 

[azdteapot23]

BG offers free transportation from Orlando to anyone with a valid admission ticket. So the OP could hop the shuttle and not have to drive.

Have you done this before? I would love more information! If I have a Sesame Place season pass which allows access to BG would that be accepted? My son would be thrilled if we could go to BG too but I didn't think we would be able to since we aren't renting a car. Thanks!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Have you done this before? I would love more information! If I have a Sesame Place season pass which allows access to BG would that be accepted? My son would be thrilled if we could go to BG too but I didn't think we would be able to since we aren't renting a car. Thanks!

No, I haven't (never been to BG yet....and we always have a rental vehicle, so I doubt I would convince DH to shuttle anyway). Hopefully someone else will weigh in with their experience, though! I do think its a nice option for those who would rather not make the drive.

 

[sersee05]

For what its worth...we stayed in Windsor hills and had zero issues getting to seaworld.

I rented a five bedroom home an d got a great rate. We have five and it was very nice to spread out. I didn't have to watch spongebob until the kids fall asleep. We were able to hang out, have a couple drinks and watch what we wanted.

When I was looking they had some really nice condos. Reunion was very beautiful and had really upscale condos. Now I don't know how far either are from bg.

I think you have to figure out where you want your base to be. If its a beach..you should be able to find a vrbo.

 

[syraphill]

We've also enjoyed Windsor Hills and have stayed there several times. We also went to SeaWorld during all of those trips. One place we rented from only rents Sat -Sat, which seems like it would fit your time frame. They also have some rentals at Cocoa Beach. Check out vacationcentralflorida.com.

 

[jpeppers]

We have stayed here the last couple of years and love it! It is about 2-3 miles from DTD on 192. We usually pay about $110 a night but I think it is a little spendier this year for a 2 BR condo with WD, an enclosed deck, 2 bathrooms and 3 TV's (and most units are recently updated with modern kitchen). The pool area is completely updated with 2 huge waterslides and an awesome lazy river plus an adjacent business that has an indoor surfing machine for very reasonable. My favorite is the pool bar that had an awesome happy hour with $2 domestic drafts from 4-7 (but only $3.25 the rest of the time). My favorite non resort hotel by far!

 

[kathy884]

I'd pick a great timeshare resort in the Orlando area and just travel to Tampa for the Busch Garden day: Orlando has more selection and Orlando is less expensive.

I'd maybe look on Redweek.com or TUG2.net classified ads section and rent a place for the week from an owner to save $s over retail.

Hilton Grand Vacation Club would be a condo choice where you could walk to SeaWorld if you want to be walking distance.

Nice resorts that frequently have good owner renter deals on the sites I mentioned are the Sheraton Vistana Resort and Cypress Points / Cypress Pointe Grand Villa. Again it's a quick drive to SeaWorld. These are just outside the downtown Disney area.

If you really loved Bonnet Creek, you could do that again too. Quick drive to SeaWorld.

 

[PA Princess]

We travel as a family of 7 (dh and I,our 4 kids, and my mom) and we have made two trips to Orlando and stayed in Sea World Area hotels.

In August 2012 we stayed at the Sea World Residence Inn. We liked it - good hotel, inclusive and nice breakfast, 2 bedroom, 2 bath suite with a kitchen was just enough room for us, pool was nice but no theme, housekeeping okay, indoor corridors, very limited on site food options.

In June 2013 we stayed at the Marriott Harbour Lake resort - very nice. It had a real resort feel with amenities and activities. The pools were well themed and there were several on site food choices. The suite was really lovely and very spacious - we did not feel the least bit cramped. We booked through Travelocity and light housekeeping was included - loved this!

Both properties are located in the same are (can see one from the other), and we have found we really like this are for the vast choices for off site eating and shopping. Traffic can be heavy but we never seemed to be going in the direction where people were really crawling (or we were on the highway for so short a span it mattered not at all).

 

[Ksquared]

we are going down right after Christmas and spending time at Disney, Sea World and Bush Gardens and are staying in a house in Davenport. We stayed at Bonnet Creek our last trip and while I loved it, the price we are paying for a 5 bedroom home with a private pool and game room I just could not pass up. Sounds like this might be a good fit for your family as you enjoy spending time at the resort hanging out. We rented from Home Away but there are plenty of sites to rent houses from in the general area.

 

[PryncessLace]

We are driving home from our Universal/ SW Christmas Trip. We stayed at Windsor Hills (for the 5th time) and we loved it. I didn't know how it would be driving wise since we usually go to Disney, but was pleasantly surprised. It was only about a 15 to 20 minute commute with traffic. We really love Windsor Hills and the fact that we save so much money staying there makes it a no brainer for my family.