One hotel to do all of this?

[teach1abc]

I just mentioned to my husband that it would be fun to plan a trip to Florida. Things I would love to see - Clearwater Aquarium, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Harry Potter World if there is time (we are around 6 hrs from CA Universal). I was thinking the Saturday through Thursday of Thanksgiving Week. If the weather is still decent, I would also love to go to a beach. Is this possible to do, staying in one hotel? How far is Clearwater and the beach from Orlando? Also, I want to look into hotels that have a kitchenette and a suite. Are their decently priced ones close to Disney or even on site? I have been to Disney World several times but the last time was around 14 yrs ago so things are probably really different now!

 

[powellrj]

Yes you can do all of these things from one hotel. There are lots of rentals available for rent. You can rent a vacation home or a condo for much cheaper than staying on-site at WDW.

Bonnet Creek
Windsor Hills
Westgate Lakes

Are places you could look at.

 

[JimMIA]

I just mentioned to my husband that it would be fun to plan a trip to Florida. Things I would love to see - Clearwater Aquarium, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Harry Potter World if there is time (we are around 6 hrs from CA Universal). I was thinking the Saturday through Thursday of Thanksgiving Week.

You'd better get planning quickly!

How far is Clearwater and the beach from Orlando?

The Clearwater Aquarium is about 95 miles (2 hours) from Disney World, which itself is about a half hour SW of Orlando. There is major highway construction in downtown Tampa that you'll go through to get to Clearwater and that could affect your drive time both ways. There are Atlantic beaches closer, but if you're going to Clearwater Aquarium, it's on Clearwater Beach, so that's a natural combination for a day trip.

Universal is about 20 minutes east of WDW, on the way to Orlando.

As far as places to stay, unlike the Disneyland area, there are numerous great places to stay at, or very near to WDW.

For one thing, this is a very overbuilt timeshare area and you can rent a timeshare apartment from an owner or broker MUCH less expensively than you can get it from the company (Wyndham, Hilton, Marriott, etc.) You'll see a number of those brokers mentioned in various threads here, especially the ones about Wyndham Bonnet Creek. Prices vary with the season, but generally you can rent a 2 BR with full kitchen and in-unit washer & dryer for less than $1000 for a full week.

ONsite, there are also Disney Vacation Club villas that might be worth checking out. You can rent those over on the DIS DVC Rent/Trade Board, or from one of several brokers who specialize in DVC (David's and The Timeshare Store). Note: to see the Rent/Trade board, you have to be logged into the DIS. Just browsing without signing in, it will not be visible to you.

 

[bankr63]

The only thing I would add to Jim's post is that you might struggle to find a GOOD resort under $1k for the week on Thanksgiving Week (or any major holiday week). That is very prime time. And yes, if you want Thanksgiving, you should be booking ASAP.

 

[Mattysmom]

Good tips.

 

[JimMIA]

One caution I would add about renting a timeshare. If you look on eBay and some other sites, you will see offers to rent RCI exchanges. Those are situations where, for example, someone owns Wyndham and has used their points to exchange into Disney Vacation Club via RCI (a timeshare exchange company).

The person doing the rental won't come right out and say, "This is an RCI exchange," but the reservations will often be strictly a 7-night stay (although you don't have to stay the whole time) with specific checkin dates. And if they're into DVC, you will see a notation that you will have to pay a $95 fee directly to DVC at checkin.

Renting RCI exchanges is prohibited by both RCI and their member timeshare companies. If you rent one of those, you could arrive at your resort only to find that your reservation has been canceled because of the rental violation. RCI exchanges (and through other exchange companies like Interval International) are very easy for the resort to detect.

Don't risk your vacation by trying to save a few bucks this way!