Heading to Orlando
 

I don't like winter, we don't have the worst here in the St. Louis area, but I don't like it none the less.

I just got back from changing the oil in the plane and the tanks are full. We are leaving Friday as the ceilings are forecast to be low on Thursday over part of the route. But Friday looks good. Its a 5h17m flight if no wind, hopefully we will have a tailwind.

We are heading to Orlando first, the wife wants to go to Epcot, we have never been. Then we will play it by ear. We may also hit Marco Island, its about 1hr away. We need to be back by the 12th, its our grandson's first birthday.

Any suggestions?

We are going somewhere again on the 13th. Maybe San Antonio if the weather is good, if not back to Florida.

Avoid Disney this time of year. We went the first week of January 2 years ago and the crowds were brutal.

I thought the kids had to be back in school after the 1st. I use to have to go between Christmas and New Years back when the kids were little. I don't want to deal with that again.

The parks should die down by this weekend..... or mid week at the latest. .....
Shouldn't be too bad once it does.....
We go there allot, epcot is my favorite..... I'll pm you some valueble info on how to make the most of your time. ...

Oh and we went to the warbird museum at the space coast regional airport. .... was small but very cool.... you could fly in there...

When we went we left boxing day, drove 2 days, so would have arrived on the 28th and stayed a week. They closed MK 4 days in a row due to capacity crowds, which was unheard of. All the staff were saying they'd never seen crowds like that before. Even after jan 1 it was still really bad. Maybe it was a fluke, but we'll never do Disney over Christmas again.

I'll be there this weekend....... I'll report on the crowds......
All the parks have been hitting capacity for the past3 years around the holidays. .... but it will die off.
In my experience the 2nd week in January through easter is light, may, and between Sept-Halloween. .... but it's really hit or miss. ....
I would say how many times I've been there over the past 5 years but don't want to sound crazy lol

I'm thinking of going Monday or Tuesday, unless I hear something different.

Op- what are you planning for accommodations? There are plenty or resorts in the metro that will provide nearly all you might expect. I'm thinking specifically of Starwood properties near Disney and other parks... Sheraton Vistana Resort, Sheraton Vistana Villages... you can shuttle to most parks and enjoy resort accommodations and have your own kitchen if you don't want to eat out for every meal.

Spending one night at a Disney resort is pricey, especially since it's still considered peak season, figure 180-220/ngt at a value resort.
If you priceline something don't go lower than a 4 star or you'll get stuck in a not so great hotel off property.
I've stayed everywhere. ....
Good value are the courtyard by Marriott, and the other2 hotels next to it.
I've scoredvia priceline the westin by the convention center for $80 for a suite before....
The Holiday inn on 192 is "ok".....
If you do pricelinea room you aren't eligable for any upgrades or refunds if the room sucks fyi
The downtown Disney area is a cluster fudge right now as they are re building all the parking areas. ....

On property. ..... my favorites are port Orleans Riverside, art of animation, Coronado springs.....those are moderate resorts (art of animation is a value but more expensive).
All Disney resorts have free transportation to the parks, and if you stay you get free parking ($16).
Also if you stay on property you can get a magic band (wrist id) which will let you get the best possible fast passes by scheduling it.... get a fast pass for soarin and test track. .... those are the 2 rides which always have long waits and are fun......
Fast passes are free and you'll only wait 10-15 minutes...... normal lines for soarin are 40-120 minutes if they aren't busy. ....
Test track has a single rider line, so you'll get split with your party, but the cars sit 3 in front, 3 in back so you'll usually end up in the same car. ...

We don't plan to stay at Disney. We really only plan on going to Epcot for a day. Probably go over to the Space Center stuff for a day. May also swing by St. Augustine for a day also. May go to Universal. Just really no plans. As long as its 60 degrees or better we will be happy.

We may even shop for a condo if we like the looks of the area. We are thinking of doing the snowbird thing.

If you have your own plane there are lots of airport communities down here, my best friends dad is a snowbird and lives on one of the St Johns River about an hour or of town..... maybe 35 minutes West of Daytona. ....
Universal is fun, I was there a few months back..... although my eyes don't like how they do 3d.....
Haven't been to the space center yet, but the beach immediately North of it is my favorite Atlantic fl beach..... never real busy. ...

kids go back to school between the 6th and 8th depending on what county.

and if you have to do a fuel stop somewhere near ATL let me know. I'm near KRYY on the NW corner of Atlanta.

Come up to N. Florida and enjoy the nature

You can fly into Cedar Key, ; its great little island on the Gulf coast without all the usual plasticky Florida resort stuff. You can walk into town, or the radio guy is also a taxi driver. Way south on the Gulf coast theres a strip(but no fuel) nearby Everglades City adjacent to the 10000 islands National Park where you can get fantastic 2-3 hour boat tours.

I've found the best time to go to the parks is a week before Christmas break. There are very few people there at that time. Consider Busch Gardens if you want to visit a second park, it's nice.

Cedar Key is 60 miles due east of me. It is also a drinking down with a fishing problem and a art/craft infection

I've only been to Cedar Key twice and didnt notice a whole load of people too drunk to fish properly and none of our party caught an art or craft infection on either visit.

Yes Cedar key was very mellow...... neat little community in the middle of nowhere lol

We did Epcot and Kennedy space center. The wife also when shopping, I may have to double check the weight and balance. We also went to winter haven today, I am sitting at a Coffey shop while the wife is again shopping. We are leaving tomorrow, hopefully the snow will be cleared from in front of my hangar by then.

Then we plan on coming back next week and go down to the Naples area. We are going to look at condos, plan on doing the snowbird thing.