Hmmm sandy, when we originally "came up" with the idea of going longhaul, it was on the proviso of an overnight flight.... and now it seems all the decently-priced, direct flights leave at lunchtime

Not looking forward to the flight out, but at least the flight back is overnight....

Hi
We are going to Florida in November for three weeks with a 20mth old - think he will be as happy on beach but if anyone has any other entertainment ideas we would be grateful! We are going to Tampa/Sarasota area to stay with family. Also does anyone have any suggestions for keeping him entertained on the 8 hr flight?
Thanks

Thanks Attila

We are going for 3 or 4 weeks, and want to see a fair bit of the state, so flying into Orlando shouldn't matter too much

It is an extra £200 to fly to Miami. That said, it would mean we could fly from Heathrow instead of Gatwick, which is more convenient for us, so it is worth considering, certainly. I'll look at the guidebooks and decide where we want to go

Its a journey of several hundred miles from Orlando to the Keys. FL is a big state all told and you need a detailed map.

If you are thinking of going to the Keys you'd be better off flying into Miami rather than Orlando.

Sadly the queues on the toddler rides can often be the bsiest as they are so popular. However the queues at DisneyWorld are much shorted IME than the queues at DLP, so for most it is a 20m queue max, many shorter and you can use Fast Pass for a fair few too.

Me and DH (well he does now, lol) both like rides though, so we went for me us too originally. DD was very excited by it, but then she'd been very excited at zoos and wanting to go on little toddler rides for a while before that too.

That's interesting Hula.
She's only 16 months now, and really was more excited by walking on gravel than looking at the animals at the zoo!

I guess I'm not really into all the rides and the thought of queueing for any amount of time fills me with horror, when we could be doing other things.... are the queues generally shorter for the toddler rides?

Even a 19m would like Magic Kingdom and ASnimal Kingdom. DD was 18m when we went for a day trip to Disney Paris and loved it so much, we went back the next day, lol! There are rides they can go on and so much to see. Plus you can do baby swap so you and Dh can ride bigger rides should you wish. DD loved it so much we came home and booked our first Disney Florida holiday for the summer after, when DD was 2y.

OK, starting to get excited about Florida now... Trailfinders have found us flights for £850 all-in, which is far better than the £1500 to SA! And I can get car hire for £350ish for a largeish car for 3 weeks.

Sooo... where to stay? I fancy the Keys, anyone recommend a villa/place to stay?

Also want to see the Everglades and the places Sourdough mentions, so another base to those would be good

And then I was wondering about going north? Apalachicola? Or is it too far to drive to be worth it? (we will be flying into and out of Orlando I think)

We've done SW Florida a few times - starting when DD was 4 - and the kids always love it. If you rent a house with a small pool you will have lots of space to relax and DD should enjoy splashing in the pool. Food and shopping etc are very easy and the roads tend to be quite empty so it's a pleasure travelling around. Everglades and state parks good for boat trips/alligator watching and you can go to lots of islands or on boat trips to dolphin watch too.

i am totally petrified of snakes and so avoid certain beaches in Florida which have signs up about snakes - the only place I've seen one though is round some busker's neck in South Beach Miami!! I couldn't run away fast enough....

Have been to SA with small children too - it was bliss!! The beaches are so stunning and they just loved the penguins, elephants, lions etc!! We stayed in a forest in a log cabin and i was terrified I'd see 100 snakes but didn't actually see any!!

There are snakes,hairy but I haven't seen many. It is the tropics so you get all manner of mad wildlife - Bobcats, Armadillos etc and of course snakes. We had a little black one on the lanai once, but apart from that they've never been a problem. They tend to be shy.