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Florida with Kids
Although you might be tempted, don’t try and do all of the theme parks all at once. We’re guilty (not for the faint of heart), but broke them up with a few days at the beach to recharge. So which is best? We love them all and they’re good for different reasons. Harry Potter fans obviously need to visit Universal. If you want cleanliness and family-friendliness, go with Disney. If you’re trying to avoid crowds, give Busch Gardens Tampa a try. No matter what you pick, you’ll make some great memories.
Once you’ve had your fill of theme parks, take a trip south. Everglades and Biscayne national parks are an hour from Miami, and the Dry Tortugas are seventy miles past Key West. We took the seaplane out to Fort Jefferson and it’s the best way to get there. Add the Gulf Coast for a slower week, Miami for the food, the Space Coast for rockets, and Clearwater for the museums and Florida can keep a family busy for years.
Destination guide · Updated November 2026 · Last visited January 2026
Best months
March–April, Oct–Nov
National parks
3 + 8 NPS sites
Fly into
MCO · MIA · TPA · FLL
How long
5 days for Orlando, 10 with the Keys
Book ahead
Dry Tortugas ferry · Disney dining · Discovery Cove
We’ve taken the kids to Florida more than any other state. Orlando is where most families end up, but there’s much more to Florida. Some other great spots include Key West with a seaplane to the Dry Tortugas, Miami with a side quest to Everglades and Biscayne, Tampa Bay for Busch Gardens and the zoo, and Kennedy Space Center and Cocoa Beach. After all that, relax and enjoy the a Gulf Coast resort – you can’t go wrong with the water park at the Hyatt Coconut Point.
Florida is a never-ending playground for families, but try to get outside of the theme park bubble. There’s a lot more to see and do here that you may be missing.
Your Florida guide
Enjoy exploring Florida with kids!
Keep scrolling for the essentials, three road trips, and where to stay.
Essential Florida
Why we love Florida
We think you’ll love it too.
Florida is where we’d send a family that wants Mickey Mouse one day and wild alligators the next. Every place on this page is one we’ve done ourselves, and some we keep going back to. The seaplane flight out to Dry Tortugas took our breath away, and the key lime pie in Key West was our favorite dessert of the year. Keep scrolling for the Florida essentials that go way beyond Orlando.
Universal Orlando Guide
Universal is our favorite Orlando resort, and two-day park-to-park tickets with Express Passes made it easy. We spent our afternoons in the Harry Potter lands, and the quick-service food is the best of any theme park we’ve visited.
Everglades National Park Guide
The airboat tour through the mangroves was number one on the kids’ list, and it delivered with two wild alligators up close. We finished the day on the Shark Valley tram.
Dry Tortugas National Park Guide
We waited too long to book the ferry over a holiday weekend, so we took the seaplane instead and flew right over the reef. Snorkeling off the beach at Fort Jefferson made it worth every penny.
Kennedy Space Center Guide
We’d been to Orlando many times before we finally drove over to see Mission Control and the Saturn V. We spent a night in Cocoa Beach afterward to recover from the parks.
And the rest we’d cross the state for
Walt Disney World Guide
We’ve stayed at several resorts both on and off Disney property, and for us it comes down to convenience and whether or not we can use hotel points. Now that Fast Passes are retired, make sure you understand the new system.
Volcano Bay Guide
Volcano Bay is the best water park we’ve ever been to. We split a cabana with our group, and everyone agreed it was worth it.
Key West Guide
We spent three days in Key West snorkeling the open ocean with Fury and taking a sunset cruise. Carrie and the kids liked the six-toed cats at the Hemingway House more than the house itself!
Biscayne National Park Guide
We drove down from Miami Beach the same day as the Everglades and spent a few hours at the visitor center and on the boardwalks. Next time we’d make more time and book the boat.
Tampa Bay Guide
Busch Gardens, ZooTampa, and the water bikes on the river downtown kept everyone busy. Busch Gardens is better than the Orlando parks for one reason – you get coasters and a zoo in one place.
The Gulf Coast Guide
Bonita Springs, Naples, and Sanibel are a relaxing break from the theme parks. The Hyatt Regency Coconut Point is our favorite Florida family resort, and we’ve stayed there several times. The water park is a win.
Parasailing at Bonita Beach Guide
Parasailing at Bonita Beach is how we broke up five days at Disney. The kids were excited before we even left Orlando!
Cocoa Beach, Kennedy Space Center, and the Space Coast Guide
Cocoa Beach is just twenty minutes south of Kennedy Space Center. We stayed the night for some beach time, and it was a perfect break from Orlando.
Browse
Find your next adventure in Florida
Tell us what you’re planning and we’ll match it up with some great trip ideas.
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Things To Do in Key West with Kids (besides eat pie!)
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The Best of Walt Disney World Resort – Old Favorites and New Magic
I know that there are a lot of families out there who pretty much only take Disney vacations, and there…
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AftT’s Guide to Wizarding Around Universal Orlando Resort
“If yeh know where to go” Disclosure: Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links meaning that…
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The Best Parasailing in Florida
Parasailing in Florida was the perfect way to split up our time between Florida theme parks. After spending 5 days…
Routes
Three Florida road trip itineraries
It’s one state and three very different trips. Choose Orlando and the Space Coast, the south Florida parks and the Keys, or the Gulf Coast at an easier pace. We’ve done all three. See all the best stops on a map.
Home base
Orlando
Fly into MCO. Where you stay matters more than which park you pick first. We’ve stayed at the Hilton Bonnet Creek and Disney’s Pop Century and both worked for different reasons.
Then head to
Kennedy Space Center
It’s an hour east. Kennedy is a full day, and we spotted an alligator and a bald eagle nest on the bus tour.
Add on
Cocoa Beach
It’s twenty minutes south of Kennedy. We stayed the night for the beach, and surf lessons and the pier are right there.
Start
Miami Beach
We stayed at the Hilton Cabana on Miami Beach and did Biscayne and the Everglades in one day. Book the Biscayne boat ahead if it’s a holiday weekend.
Then head to
The Overseas Highway
It’s three and a half hours to Key West across forty-two bridges. Stop at Bahia Honda for the beach.
Finish
Key West & Dry Tortugas
Three days in Key West gives you time for the seaplane to Fort Jefferson. Book the Dry Tortugas trip before the hotel.
Home base
Tampa Bay
Fly into TPA. Three days in Tampa Bay covers Busch Gardens, the zoo, and Clearwater.
Then head to
Bonita Springs & Naples
It’s two hours south. Parasailing at Bonita Beach starts the trip, and then you’ll spend a few nights at the Hyatt Coconut Point, our favorite Florida resort.
Add on
Everglades from the west
The Gulf Coast visitor center at Everglades City is an hour from Naples. The drive across Big Cypress is full of old crab shacks and kitschy billboards, which are fun to spot from the back seat.
When to go
Time your visits with the weather and the region
Florida is warm all year, so it comes down to crowds, humidity, and hurricanes. We’ve been in summer for the theme parks and in the cooler months for the Keys and the Everglades, and the cooler months win. The Gulf Coast is lovely almost any time.
Swipe the chart sideways to see the full year.
March – April
It’s warm enough to swim and dry enough to hike the Everglades, and the water is calm for the Dry Tortugas crossing. Spring break crowds are the trade-off.
May – September
It’s hot, humid, and stormy every afternoon. We’ve done the theme parks in summer and it works if you take a midday break. The Gulf Coast beaches are still lovely early in the day.
October – November
This is our pick. Humidity drops, hurricane season winds down, and the parks put up holiday overlays before the Christmas crowds arrive.
December – February
This is prime season for south Florida and the Keys, and these are the driest months in the Everglades. Orlando can be surprisingly cool, so pack a jacket for evenings.
Where to stay
Pick a good base to start your Florida adventure
Florida is easier when you don’t try to do it all. Here’s where we’ve stayed and what we’d pick again.
Theme park trips
Orlando
We’ve stayed on-site at Disney’s Pop Century and off-site at the Hilton Bonnet Creek, and we wrote up the ones we’d recommend. On-site buys early entry. Off-site on points can cost a third as much.
- The best hotels in Orlando for kids
- Universal on-site for Express Pass at the top-tier hotels
- Book refundable, then re-check monthly
Beach trips
The Gulf Coast
The Hyatt Regency Coconut Point in Bonita Springs is our favorite Florida family resort and we’ve stayed three times. It has calm water and a lazy river, and it’s easy on Hyatt points.
- The best Gulf Coast family resorts
- Tampa Bay as a city-and-beach base
- Cocoa Beach for the Space Coast
National park trips
Miami Beach & Key West
We stayed at the Hilton Cabana on Miami Beach for the Everglades and Biscayne. Key West is expensive and worth it. Book early and expect to pay (great place to use those points).
- Miami Beach or Homestead for the Everglades and Biscayne
- Key West for the Dry Tortugas
- Book the Dry Tortugas ferry or seaplane before the hotel
Good to know
Questions families ask us about Florida
Universal is the pick for our family. We’ve done both several times, and Universal’s Harry Potter lands, the coasters, and Volcano Bay win with our kids. Disney is still magic for younger kids and we had a great time at Pop Century using FastPasses. If you have a week, do two days at each. Our Universal tips and our Disney post cover both.
You get there by ferry or seaplane from Key West. The Yankee Freedom ferry is cheaper and sells out weeks ahead. We waited too long on a holiday weekend and took the seaplane instead, and it was the highlight of the trip. You fly over the reef, land on the beach, and have the fort to yourselves before the ferry arrives. Here’s how we did it.
Yes, but give each side its own base. Orlando to the Everglades is about four hours, and Key West is another four beyond that. With ten days you can do Orlando, then Miami and the Keys, without rushing either.
Fly into MCO for Orlando and the Space Coast. Use MIA or FLL for the Everglades and the Keys. Pick TPA for the Gulf Coast and RSW for Naples and Bonita Springs. Fort Lauderdale is often cheaper than Miami and only forty minutes farther from the parks.
Yes, it is. The airboat tour was at the top of our kids’ list, and we saw two wild alligators up close. The Shark Valley tram is the easy way to see the sawgrass. For wildlife on foot, walk the Anhinga Trail boardwalk near the main entrance. Go in the cooler months, because summer is buggy and hot. Our Everglades guide has the details.
It runs June through November and peaks in September. We travel in the fall anyway, but we book refundable rooms and buy trip insurance. The parks close for a day or two and reopen quickly.
Map
Essential Florida, mapped
Keep exploring
Where to go next
South Carolina with Kids
Charleston and a national park where you can canoe through and ancient hardwood forest.
