Now that vacation planning season is upon us (and has been if you are me)
and tax time is almost over, spring break is here, and the summer months
are shortly approaching many of you are probably scouring the net and outside sources
for deals and such.

Am I right? However, the popularity of travel sites has grown exponentially in the past few years which makes it easier and harder to search for, trust, and book a deal. The good news is that with more sites competing for your business there are an array of deals out there. They want to make money so they are trying to be the best in the industry to get your business.

On the other hand, there are a lot of terms and conditions to read now that you must do to protect yourselves. An uninformed/unprepared traveler will ensure headaches that you don't want. Examples include, paying for things you didn't want, non-cancellation/refund policies, crappy routes for airfares, terribly dirty hotels,
car rental issues, and so forth. You get the idea. I am not trying to paint a horrible vacation picture, just putting it in your mind to enjoy the planning process for your trips, but be careful of who you deal with.

So, on our website we have compiled our favorite travel sites that we have used or others have used with great success. There are hundreds out there and maybe there are some that are better than what we use, but I would be lying to you if I posted them here without knowing about each of them. If you would like to tell us your stories of booking online or off, let us know by contacting us at our site,
www.discount-florida-vacations.com (link to the right).

If you haven't visited us yet, or found our review page for travel websites,
then here is the just of our top 5 favorites...

Our #1 site for finding Florida hotel or airline reservation discounts is Trip Advisor.
I just discovered this gem and believe it is your place to research Florida!


Find the best Florida vacation deal, compare prices and read what other travelers have to say at TripAdvisor

Read what one traveler had to say about Trip Advisor:
Joan from the Midwest...
Great site for getting a true idea of where to book!,
I have booked several B&B based on the reviews I read on TripAdvisor and I have always found exactly what I was expecting or better! This is a fantastic site for getting true experiences from other travellers. I higly recommnend it, it will allow you to find truly excellent lodging and accommodations! I would not book anywhere without checking this site first!


Expedia gets a lot of praise from experts. This is a great place to
comparison shop. They provide excellent customer service, flexible search options, and have
been highly rated for satisfaction, price, and overall recommendation.
The site is very easy to use and provides a detailed privacy policy.
Overall, they are a safe choice and if price isn't your main concern, a great spot to
find hotel, car, & airline reservation discounts.


Travelocity is a close tie with Expedia. They offer many unique extras and alerts
available when prices drop (with FareWatcher emails). There is a booking fee, but it
is minimal. Hey, they have to make money somehow.
They have been rated one of the best for their privacy policy, disclosure information,
easy to search, great customer service, and extra tools and destination info.
Travelocity might not have quite the inventory, but you can still find hot hotel,
car, and airline reservation disounts there!!



Orbitz is a good choice to check. They provide a great privacy policy, they're well
organized, easy to navigate, and have useful tools to help make your search easier.
Just note that a credit card is required, the disclosures are lacking, and
you need to read the fine print.
There is a booking fee, but if you find a lower rate on the same
reservation within 24 hours, they will give you a voucher to use another
time.



Kayak is a search engine. They received 5-star ratings from consumers. Kayak is
very user friendly, provides low rates consistently, and are quick & accurate at
finding Florida hotel, car, & airline reservation discounts. One of the best for airfares, not
as good for car rental.
You can also get frequent flyer points with Kayak, where you can't with other sites.


Sorry so long but important info to know.

Visit their sites for more info or to start planning

Til next time beach lovers

Joe

hey there beach bums!

I have recently received a great story from a family member who took their 3 kids to Orlando and Disney. So if you have plans to head that way this spring or summer, then this article is for you. They highlight their time and what they liked and disliked.

So, here it goes from Michelle...

The best thing about Walt Disney World Florida was a restaurant called, Fish Bones!!! All the steaks and such were cooked on an open pit fired grill at the front of the restaurant! Everyone had an awesome Calamari (Octopus)...and we all had some of the best steaks in the world!!!

It was located there in Orlando right off the main strip, one block down!!! There was valet parking or you could park yourself, yet it was casual enough for us with jeans and shorts! If I could fly anywhere in the world for dinner tonight, Fish Bones is where I'd be!!!

Cocoa Beach wasn't far from Orlando & Walt Disney World Florida, 45 - 50 min., and the drive was beautiful. The bridge going over was awesome! So long and wide open...WOW, is the word!

There was plenty of public parking and the Florida beaches were breathtaking! The kids had a great time playing on the beach and we enjoyed lounging and walking along the coast.

We stayed in a Florida time share in Walt Disney World Florida. It was across the street from the Sea World entrance. We wanted to do the Sea World Swim with the dolphins and such, but I guess they are booked 10 and 12 months in advanced! So, get your tickets early!! It would have been amazing though!

We went to Walt Disney World Florida and it was so-so and cost LOTS of $$$$$$! Our 9 and 10 year olds had a great time, but it wasn't the place for a 2 yr. old!!! It was soooo hot for all of us and the lines everywhere were rediculous!!!!

You can now put your ticket in this machine at each ride instead of getting in line and it prints out a ticket for you with a future walk up time to come ride the ride but, some of them were HOURS away.

I think we were all kinda disappointed in the day! And sooooo much money was spent there, I know I already said that but, it's the truth and just...I'll stop there!

We wish we would have tried some of the other theme parks in Walt Disney World Florida. Maybe the Spring and Fall, maybe even Winter would be the time to go so the weather is more tolerable! We recommend hitting the pools and Florida beaches during the summer and choosing other activities accordingly!!

The main strip in Orlando had tons of stuff to go and do!!! Shops, outlets, festivals with TONS of rides, we did this the last night and should have done it all week! They had race tracks, three or four different levels, you had to be a certain age or height to get to the next level! It was so neat! The name of it was something like, Fun World? Anyways, it was a blast for all of us!!

The Ron Jon Surf Shop was amazing in Orlando and Cocoa Beach!!! Just BEAUTIFUL! They were on the main strip in both cities! The strip in Orlando was just packed with sooo much, especially at night! Live music, shops, food, drinks, magic, so on and so on! We had fun at City Walk in Walt Disney World Florida!

Our pool at our time share had activities for the kids every three hours, during the day. From painting projects, to ice cream socials, races - in and out of the water, face painting, nature walks - sunrise and sunset, scuba lessons so on and so on!

Some of the activities were free, some were a few dollars and there were some that were a bit more costly! It just depended on what the kids were interested in and how old they were! There was also babysitting services and movie night for kids and then parents! We let the kids do some of the stuff but, we had a lot going on already!



Hope you enjoyed.
We are currently looking for good news articles relating to travel,
so we'll get those relevent ones posted ASAP.


Til next time,
See you in Florida

Joe

Howdy Florida Beach Bums!

It has been quite a while since I posted, but I am back. Our baby boy
is expected any day and I can't wait to get him on the Florida beaches and have some fun with my first born.

It is also tax season and as a first year accountant, I didn't realize how much work it would be.

Finally, I completed a milestone- 10 years since high school and I finally finished college!! No more spring break trips for me, but I will be back to update our site and continue to battle the big Florida sites and give our visitors what they want. Great travel information for the Florida beach and travel lover.

So, although I don't have a lot of news for today, I will be updating this blog
again with Florida news and such for you vacationers heading down sometime soon!


Til next time,

Joe