Xmas in Florida - Orlando and the Keys ?

Hi all

Been a while, but back to ask advice on this years holiday plans.
We really want to return to Florida, the parks have changed a bit since our last visit in 2012 !

Looking to fly out around 12th Dec and return just after xmas, using miles and PE vouchers. MCO availability is very limited and only via JFK with miles. MIA has lots of availability and a relative bargain

Thinking we would fly into MIA, hotel for 1 night and then drive up to Orlando and do the parks etc for a week.
Then drive back down and stay somewhere on the keys for 5 or 6 nights.
We are 2 adults and a 10 year old.

So a few questions and advise :

So is MIA airport as bad as they say ?
I think the weather will be ok, not roasting hot but much warmer than the UK ?
If we do go to the keys how likely is it that we will make use of beaches and pools in Dec ?
Is it worth spending any more time in Miami to see the sights ?

Advice would be much appreciated as always.

L2H

[mitchja]

Yes, Miami airport is as bad as everyone (including myself) say it is....so much so that I'm now avoiding MIA completely and looking at FLL instead via either JFK or ATL using VS/DL.

You can fly DL to/from Key West, though luggage is limited is it's a very small aircraft if you plan on going that far down the Keys. Key Largo is nice as well.

Weather is generally good in South Florida that time of year. Much warmer than the UK! Warm enough for shorts / t-shirts etc during the day, though it can and does cool down in the evenings. Having done both areas that time of year, it is noticeably warmer in the South compared to areas like St Pete's Beach / Tampa.

The pool and beach will generally be fine that time of year.

The Hollywood Beach area is quite nice, which is a little further up the coast from South Beach. South Beach always was (and probably still is) a pretty hectic bar/club type area.

Parking in the South Beach area always was (and again probably still is) a nightmare as many hotels there either don't have any or have very limited parking facilities and you have to use and pay for the municipal car parks which soon adds up.

It's a fair trek from Miami up to Orlando (3-4 hours drive each way) and then down again to the Keys. Miami to Key West for example is approx. a 3-4 hour drive each way. Key Largo is approx. a 2 hour drive from Miami.

Yes MIA is bad, but not so bad that I would add in the extra time and hassle of a connecting flight just to avoid it - particularly with a 10-year-old in tow.

You won’t be there very long and if your plan is to pick up a hire car straight away that’s very easy thanks to the newish rental car centre which is connected to the terminal by shuttle train. So if you’re seeing availability, I say go for it.

As noted above, if you’re planning to drive from Orlando straight down to the Keys don’t underestimate the time and distance involved. It may look simple on a map but traffic in the Miami area can be horrible and the one road that leads down through the Keys can be very slow. I’d certainly consider stopping over for a night in Miami Beach as I can’t imagine an 8 hour non-stop drive with a 10-year-old in the back would be much fun.

We've driven from Key West to Orlando before. Google Maps reckons it will take around 6 1/2 hours, but that's non-stop. We stopped 3 or 4 times so our journey took closer to 8hrs door-to-door. Doing the drive in one go won't suit everyone, but it's up to you (I'd do it again).

If you've not done the drive to Key West before, I'd certainly do it as it's a nice drive in parts...apart from being stuck behind a lorry for over 20 miles! As mitchja says, EYW Airport has a short runway which is reflected in the luggage allowances, so not worthwhile unless you don't want to do the drive or can travel within the allowances.

With regards to Miami, my view is that if you have a kid it's probably not worth spending too much time there. I'd cut down on the time in Miami in favour of more time elsewhere. In any case, parking can be tricky and expensive.

Whatever you decide to do, I hope you all enjoy yourselves!

Thanks all, great responses as always and food for thought. Just need to get the flights booked in and then we can mull over the rest.

You will need to book your accommodation in the Keys asap as it is very busy down there all year round and especially at Xmas. Expect prices to be more than sky high!

You really can't guarantee the weather in winter. It was not that long ago...maybe just after or before Xmas...it was so cold in Florida that they had snow in Tallahassee. People were posting on Trip Advisor from Orlando that it was freezing and they were having to go and buy fleeces etc.

It is a heck of a drive from Orlando down to Key West. I would not attempt to do it in one go.

Things have change in the theme parks since you last went. You now have to book your Fast Passes 60 days in advance (or something ridiculous like that) or expect to queue for hours on end for a lot of the rides. Xmas will be beyond busy.

There is masses and masses of great info on all things theme park related (and much more) on Trip Advisor. They have forums for all of the Florida Keys and Miami and it might be worth you posting on there for more information?

I would second the caution on the weather. I was there last week in November, 1st week in December 2017 and it was mid 20’s to low 30’s (just wonderful) but the end of Dec, Jan was freezing.

We had friends across then and they ended up decamping to Vegas for 5 days although I’m guessing it was just as cold in the air conditioned casinos (but their overall view was the Florida is a very different place when the sun doesn’t shine )

It can drop 20 degrees overnight and then takes a few days to get back to their normal but again, I’m guessing the further down the panhandle you are, the warmer it will be.

David

David.

Another warning about the weather in December - it's certainly not guaranteed to be hot (or even warm). I did a week in Orlando mid-Dec 2016 and it was lovely, jeans & T-shirt weather during the day, with a jumper needed in the evening. Have also been in Orlando the 2nd week in January and it's been really cold, like close on freezing overnight (the place we stay were covering bedding plants in thermal covers overnight to protect the plants from frost). On the January trip it was jeans & fleece needed all the time - even if in the sunshine during the day. I remember writing postcards in the Owlery in the WWoHP & the handwriting was dreadful as my hands were so cold.

I've never done Christmas in the Orlando parks, but a colleague did Christmas & New Year in Orlando and she said the parks were beyond busy. It was a 2-3hr queue for just about anything once the crowds built up. If you're planning on doing Disney & you buy your tickets in the UK, you can book your FastPass selections at 30 days out (if staying off-site) or 60 days out if staying on-site. Take advantage of the 3 rides per day you can prebook with FastPass - but if staying off-site & booking at 30 days out, don't be surprised if some of the big rides have no availability for FastPass - Disney have 30 on-site hotels that will all be full at Christmas, so that is a lot of guests booking their FastPasses at 60 days out.

Finally, I'll add another vote to the "avoid Miami airport if at all possible" line of thought. I've not had the pleasure of flying through it since 2001 and it was awful then & from what you read in various places it does not sound like it's improved at all.

Thanks all more food for thought, if only we could control the weather !

The plan is to go the the parks first as our sons school holidays start on the 12th Dec, and be done by the start of the really busy period - then have a less hectic Xmas period further south.
We have much research to do on park tickets, fast passes, accommodation ( planning on renting a villa or apartment not too far from the parks).

Thanks again
L2H

If staying at one of the Disney hotels you can get early access to the parks & be way ahead of the crowds, We had no problems with queues at all. It did mean getting up very early, every morning, but probably saved us hours of queuing. Once we had done all the rides /shows ect. & were heading out of the park, there were huge crowds all coming in & very, very long queues. So off to the water parks we went for a relax. You can also use Disneys buses which save the hassle of parking ect. I also spent a lot of time planning which rides to go on & where they were situated in the parks so that I had a clear picture of what we were going to do that day. (Sounds like I was a sergeant major )!! But we loved our holiday there.

I found the mouse savers.com site extremely helpful for planning & tips,

As far as using pools ect, bear in mind that MOST pools over there rely on the sun to warm them up & can be very chilly in the winter months unless they are heated.

We were through Mia customs within 35 mins this Xmas and usually under 1hr last few visits. Aslong as you don’t get an X on the machines it’s very quick these days. Years ago you could expect to still be in MIA 2hrs after touch down.

We’ve been going to Florida at Xmas for last 25 years and never expect it to be warm (no higher than 20) in Orlando. Spend most of our time down in Miami/Naples and Cape Coral where we tended to get 25/28 averages. Was in the 30’s in Naples a few Xmas’s ago and was breaking records. Apparently that year it was hotter in Dec than July!

If your flying VS, on our flight home the entertainment system didn’t work for anyone on the whole flight. All VS provided was a poxy 6000 miles supposedly to make up for it. So take an iPad or good book

We flew into MIA in Oct 2016. Was off the plane, through immigration, collected luggage and in an Uber in less than 20 minutes. It used to be awful, but I now prefer it to MCO. I don’t know if it’s just the building work, but it was awful getting on an internal flight *from* MCO two weeks ago.

All that said, you’re usually better off flying to where you want to be.

Just a thought, can you still do the thing where you book your return and then just change the £25pp change fee should PE reward seats become available into MCO?

Not sure if that would screw you over car wise in the U.K.

Thanks again all.
Yes I had considered the car issue, we normally book parking at the airport so ideally needs to be same airport in and out. We live near Marlow so 30 mins from LHR - much easier than the 60 + mins to LGW.

I would certainly Naples or Fort Myers beach instead of the keys. Easy drive from MCO and easy drive back to Miami. Beaches at FMB are superb. We were there December 2017 and had days in the high 20's.

As others have posted the temperature in Florida that time of year can be varied but Miami being that little bit further south rarely gets to what we in the UK would say is cold and usually its blue skies. Our winter trips normally involve a trip to Orlando from Miami and in the old days of stopping for tolls on the turnpike, at each stop it was noticeably colder on the road up. We have been caught out a few times with just how cold when going out for a night out but as long as you pack a mixture of summer and winter clothes you should be fine. Most hotels have heated pools, I remember swimming in the boardwalk pool when the outside temperature was close to zero which was refreshing.

I always find its a nice time to be there.

You will need to book your accommodation in the Keys asap as it is very busy down there all year round and especially at Xmas. Expect prices to be more than sky high!

To be honest, hotel prices in the Keys, and particularly Key West, are more expensive on average than the mainland anyway because of its remote location and the same goes for most things you can think of (petrol prices, eating out etc). That said, I've only ever been during the low season in September so can't really comment on prices during the high seasons other than assuming that if it was pricier than the norm in low season it'll be even more in the peaks.

A bit late but maybe you still have to book. Miami is really not as bad as many seem to say, you’re on holiday, just chill. I’ve had worse queues and experiences at MCO. Maybe a result of me being me, but why the Keys. I really think of them entirely as an adult destination, and expensive too. Weather in South Florida mostly been kind to me, have spent a Christmas Day on the beach. I’d research the Keys a bit more before booking with a 10 year old. Key West has limited beaches, good for fishing and water activities, but again expensive compared to much of Florida. Not in an unsafe way, but the main tourist area seems to be mostly about drinking and other adult pastimes. Weather is what it is, but look maybe at Clearwater, Treasure Island, Fort Myers Beach, anywhere down the Gulf Coast.
Hope you find what you want and have a great time.

Christmas in Orlando is fun, hideously hectic but fun, but don’t assume the weather will always be better than here.

We went some years ago and it was so cold. Temperatures down to almost freezing and frost every morning. This went from Boxing Day until New Year’s Day, then it was delightful again. We were very unprepared clothes wise andwere having to buy sweatshirts, gloves, hats and scarf to add to the many layers required.

Be prepared for COLD, not cool weather. You may not get it, but you very well may do.

We have had very cold weather too....one year there were snow flurries in the middle of one night and it was bitterly cold for days on end. The jackets we had worn over from the UK were not warm enough, so we ended up going to Outdoor World and buying fleeces. They now travel with us whenever we go to Florida in the winter months! It was quite strange seeing everyone in the theme parks wrapped up in coats and long trousers.

[honey lamb]

Years ago I travelled to Florida for a wedding on St. Stephen's Day (Boxing Day to most of you) leaving Cork on the early morning flight to LHR. The temperature as we were travelling to the airport at 5am was 5C. When we arrived in Florida at about 7.30pm their time, it was -1C.

Thanks everyone, we have booked the flights in PE, currently flying out on 10th Dec and returning on the 27th. No firm plans in place, I think we will do a few days in MIA either end and then spend most if it in Orlando.
I take on board all the comments on the weather, we will go prepared but I think we'd rather be in a cold Florida having fun, than in a cold UK not doing so
We will leave Orlando before it gets too busy - 21st ish. I have read that the parks are quieter up until that point.

i think we have ruled out the keys based in price and suitability for 10 year old. I have penciled in some potential Miami hotels, maybe even St Petes, always go for those that can be cancelled pretty close to the departure date in case we change our minds.

L2H

Miami is terrible but I was tempted by the recent VS offer there.
On departure was much much easier so if the price is right...

Sealink - are you referring to the airport or the city ?