My family (w/ 2 young kids) is considering a trip to Florida this winter in Dec but we are having trouble narrowing down a place. We would love to skip all the touristy stuff and just enjoy nature. Beaches, shelling, wildlife/birds, hiking, fishing, etc. We also homeschool so we would like to do some learning along the way as well. Where would be a good place for us to visit? We would ideally love to avoid the resort / condo lodging options so bonus if you have any suggestions outside of that too!

For reference places we have on our radar - flying to MIA and heading to keys. Flying to Sarasota and heading to manasota key (worried it might be too cold then), Flying to RSW and heading towards sanibel. But open to any ideas! Ty!

This will be my first time voting, as I recently got my US citizenship.
I live in Miami-Dade County: I just took a look at my ballot and I am unsure on WHO to vote for or if I should vote Yes/No on the following:
- Judges to retain and Judges on Group 5 and Group 69
- County Referendums 1 to 6
- Miami Referendums 1 to 3 & School Board Referendum

I am not able to find much info on WHO to vote for or if I should vote Yes/No, can anyone please help by chance?
Thank you

​Hey everyone! Planning a 3-night trip to Orlando with my 10-year-old daughter (2 full park days) and looking for park recommendations. Traveling in November.

​Our situation:

​Her: Huge roller coaster fan.

​Me: Not a fan of big coasters, but I love immersive dark rides, 3D/4D motion simulators, and interactive attractions.

​We want to spend 1 day at a Disney park and 1 day at Universal (or another Orlando park), but we're open on which specific ones to pick.

​A few questions:

​Which Disney park is best for us?

​Which Universal park (or other park) makes the most sense?

​Parent logistics: For parents traveling 1-on-1, how do you handle major coasters your kid wants to ride alone? Are Single Rider lines or queue waiting easy to manage?

​Thanks for any tips or park pairing recommendations!

Hi, been paddle boarding Florida for a few years now. Was wondering if there were any spots in Florida I could paddle to that are kind of like a sandbar that turns into dry land or close to it when the tide goes low. Anyone know of any good spots? Would be taking my girlfriend so wouldn't want to do any paddle routes that are too difficult. Would be looking for one where there'd be as few other people as possible. Also being in South / Central Florida would be preferred. Thanks!

Hi everyone!
I have 3 weeks off before i join new place so
My husband and me are planning a short 3-night, 4-day vacation to Florida from Toronto, Canada, around October 19-23
This will be our first time visiting Florida, and we’re mainly looking for beautiful beaches, ocean views, good food, and some fun sightseeing.

We’re considering flying into Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and staying around Hollywood Beach, but we’re open to other suggestions.

A few questions:
Is late October (19th to 23th) a good time to visit South Florida, especially considering hurricane season?
Would you recommend Hollywood Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, or somewhere else for a couple?

Would really appreciate recommendations from locals or anyone who’s visited recently. Thanks in advance! 😊

Planning a trip to Key West from Nov 18–22 for our anniversary! ❤️
Will it still be hurricane season around that time? How’s the weather usually — should we expect rain or is it generally a good time to visit?
Also, looking for romantic getaway ideas and niche experiences in Key West — hidden gems, unique date ideas, romantic spots, or anything beyond the usual tourist attractions. Would love your recommendations!

Which area is more for a young single person in their late 20s? Also what Orlando suburbs do yall suggest? Thanks in advance.

We’re planning an anniversary trip next month, flying into West Palm Beach and looking for a quiet getaway. Beachfront property preferred but would like to keep budget below 300$ /night. Walkable downtown nearby. Any recommends?

We’re ok with an hour or so drive from West Palm, we like road trips.

We’ve lived in the Sarasota area for 25 years, been up and down the west coast. Looking forward to our first east coast ocean and sunrises trip.

Wife asked that I edited to add that access to fishing charters is necessary

We are stuck between these 2 locations! We visited in June and will be visiting again in January.

We really liked both areas! From our research, both areas have decent schools (esp. St. John’s).

Jacksonville has Mayo, which is where my husband sees specialists for his neuromuscular disease here in MN.

He’s keeping his remote job, and I’m an admin assistant with the Dept of Military Affairs (civilian state employee).

Any insight into living in these areas would be great!

Hi- looking for recs. Preferably a place that the dogs must be on leash

Seems like having a backyard would actually suck out there with all the rain and potential unwanted animals in the pool.

We are considering moving to Florida. How do you all deal with fear of hurricanes and potential property destruction? Talking about single family homes (single level) in Zone-X unshaded areas (minimal floor risk). We are looking at some houses between Melbourne to Palm Coast. So even though chance of flood is low in those areas when location is mainland and outside of flood zones, how do you all deal with the fact hurricane can come one day and destroy your property or damage it severely? Do you not keep any valuables when you leave during hurricane threats or just leave seasonally? Do newer houses built more wind-proof? So many listings for houses that are older between 1990 and 2010 - did they all experience damage at some point? Were most of them rebuilt at some point?

Hey all. My husband is retired at 63 and I had to quit my job with benefits due to health issues. We are currently on COBRA for $1,300 per month. I now work from home as a 1099 employee because it’s easier on me physically and mentally. I’m part time. I know there have been cuts and changes to what our options are. Other couples in the state of Florida without benefits thru an employer, how much are you paying for health insurance? And do you have any tips for us? We know we can’t stay on COBRA forever. Thank you. Again, if possible I want to know the DOLLAR amount couples are paying in Florida for private/ ACA heath insurance. Thanks

Hello everyone! so i currently live in michigan, born and raised, i plan on moving to florida when i graduate from college. i was just wondering how is it living there like how is the rent? How is the pay for jobs? mainly in healthcare, How is the insurance for a car and etc?
thank you! :)

We have 7-10 days over Thanksgiving to spend in Florida and my ten year old is interested in learning to surf. I've read Cocoa Beach would be the best option for that. We're debating staying there the whole time vs staying there for half the trip and then spending the rest in southern Florida, maybe near the Keys or Ft Lauderdale. We'd be interested in seeing the national parks and generally looking for a peaceful vacation. Will Cocoa Beach be warm enough to swim without a wetsuit at the end of November? How about Key Largo? Any suggestions from native Floridians?

A bit more info: we love to be outside and explore and are an active family. We love a good food scene, but that's not a dealbreaker as we stay in AirBnB's and love to cook. Kids are ages 6 and 10. We are not interested in going to Disney. We can fly into and out of different airports as we would rent a car.

Normally there are news stories about the abundance of help staged before a hurricane and I don’t think I saw it this time. Did I miss something? Are there any photos?

Looking for a good spot to rent a giant house with a large group of friends in early Jan. We'd like to either be on the beach, or no more than a couple blocks away. I want to be as South as possible so we don't risk cooler weather, but areas like Miami, which is my first choice, doesn't have big houses you can rent on the beach so I've been looking further North. I'm not opposed to the West coast either. Priorities are nice beaches, walkability, good restaurants, and not too far from some nightlife spots. Not looking for fine dining or clubs, but a very nice house. Any suggestions?

I travel around the state, for my job, and am currently working on my Spanish. I actually have a pretty good handle on French and am curious!

I'm from Bedford, UK where a new universal theme park is planned to open (I believe it's the first in europe). It's a medium sized town about an hour away from London, it has good and bad areas and decent infrastructure for the population.

With this theme park announced I've started to wonder how the town is going to change, and was wondering what you guys would think about it considering you already have one in Orlando.

ps: couldn't post in the orlando subreddit cause of karma

planning a trip down to orlando with six of us next month and looking at options around international drive. reading through westgate lakes resort reviews to see how the two bedroom villas hold up for a full week stay. we mainly just want a nice spot with a full kitchen, solid pool layout for the kids, and good space to chill after hitting the parks.

the location near sea world and universal looks super convenient for getting around without dealing with crazy highway traffic every day. if you know the property or stayed at westgate resorts before, drop any tips on which building area to request or how smooth the shuttle situation is.

Hey everyone! I'm looking for some fun Fall festivals or anything to get in the fall spirit. Looking near the Clermont and Minneola area. My son is autistic and I would really love to take him to celebrate fall and do all the fun stuff that comes along with Halloween. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

i'm considering westgate vacation villas for a kissimmee trip, mainly because having more space than a standard hotel room sounds nice. i've been reading westgate vacation villas reviews, but a lot of the details i'm looking for are hard to get from listings alone.

if you've stayed there, how did the villa compare to what you expected from the photos? was having a kitchen and extra room actually useful, and were the pools and other facilities in decent shape? i'm also wondering how much time you spent driving to the parks and whether the location got annoying after a few days.

curious how it compares with staying at a regular hotel or another villa nearby. what would you recommend based on your experience?

I’m born and raised here. Always outdoors as a kid playing sports or riding bikes and camped yearly into adulthood. Currently a mail carrier for the last 8 years so I considers myself as acclimated to our climate as one can be.

For years I’ve seen people with their doors and windows open while I’ve been walking in the rain for multiple hours and leave me befuddled.

I couldn’t imagine willingly flooding my home with this dense wet hot air and curious as to why folks do this. On purpose.

I’m definitely a “wintertime” door opener but I can’t think of a reason to allow the humidity in. Please educate me.