# resort for kids in Florida?



## zcrider (Jul 17, 2012)

We have airline tickets to West Palm Beach Florida over Thanksgiving week already, but no TS booked.  I really want to find a week for rent at either Hyatt Coconut Plantation resort or Disney Vero beach resort as these are both super kid friendly and within a reasonable drive from PBI airport.  I have been looking for a while and nothing is coming up available at either one of these.  

Anyone know of any other super kid friendly resorts within a reasonable drive from West Palm Beach???


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## MILOIOWA (Jul 17, 2012)

Marriotts Ocean Pointe has a lot of activities for kids, and great selection of pools, a playground area, mini golf, volleyball court, and a nice uncrowded beach.


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## simpsontruckdriver (Jul 17, 2012)

There are a few Wyndham timeshares in Pompano Beach...

TS


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## zcrider (Jul 17, 2012)

simpsontruckdriver said:


> There are a few Wyndham timeshares in Pompano Beach...
> 
> TS



Oh, Thanks.  I know nothing about the Wyndham resorts so I will look into them.


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## jdunn1 (Jul 17, 2012)

Vero Beach will be near impossible to rent, unless you have an RCI account and can put in a request and get a match.  Vero is very expensive for DVC owners to book (Vero Beach owners, especially) and most DVC owners do not rent specific resorts, they rent their points and let you pick the week.  But, it is VERY expensive.

I second Marriott's Ocean Pointe.  It's a very pretty resort and maybe 15 minutes from PBI airport.  No waterslide, but very kid friendly -- at least it was over 4th of July week when I was there.  I get the impression the resort becomes a senior hang out in the winter, though -- so you may run into an older crowd.  

If you don't mind the drive, look into any of the Orlando Marriotts. Especially check out Harbor Lake.  Have fun.


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## zcrider (Jul 18, 2012)

jdunn1 said:


> Vero Beach will be near impossible to rent, unless you have an RCI account and can put in a request and get a match.  Vero is very expensive for DVC owners to book (Vero Beach owners, especially) and most DVC owners do not rent specific resorts, they rent their points and let you pick the week.  But, it is VERY expensive.
> 
> Thanks, I will look into the Marriott Harbor Lake one.  I just found Bush Gardens at Tampa Bay has a wonderful looking Sesame street section!!  That would be perfect for my son.  So now I am going to look into timeshares there too.  Only problem is that is a 4 hour drive.  I could do it, but not sure I want to spend 4 hours driving each way from the airport in a rental car?!?  Maybe.
> I will check out all my options though, so I appreciate the ideas of which ones to look into that have super great stuff for young kids.


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## natasha5687 (Jul 18, 2012)

zcrider said:


> jdunn1 said:
> 
> 
> > Vero Beach will be near impossible to rent, unless you have an RCI account and can put in a request and get a match.  Vero is very expensive for DVC owners to book (Vero Beach owners, especially) and most DVC owners do not rent specific resorts, they rent their points and let you pick the week.  But, it is VERY expensive.
> ...


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## Larry (Jul 18, 2012)

simpsontruckdriver said:


> There are a few Wyndham timeshares in Pompano Beach...
> 
> TS



I stayed in Pompono Beach one time ( I think it was called Surfrider or something like that) and never again. I thought that parts of Pompono was very seedy and the beach was dirty. I did not stay at a Wyndham resort but checked out a few of them in Pompano and was not overly impressed. The only one that I would have considered was right on the beach, but I don't remember the name. It had a nice pool area and nice lobby but then I checked out the beach and there were signs all over to shower off the "tar" after using beach and returning to resort. That was enough for me and I left. 

I don't know if the sign was just up during that time period ( I think it was April 2009) but it looked like a permanent sign.


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## Larry (Jul 18, 2012)

Larry said:


> I stayed in Pompono Beach one time ( I think it was called Surfrider or something like that) and never again. I thought that parts of Pompono was very seedy and the beach was dirty. I did not stay at a Wyndham resort but checked out a few of them in Pompano and was not overly impressed. The only one that I would have considered was right on the beach, but I don't remember the name. It had a nice pool area and nice lobby but then I checked out the beach and there were signs all over to shower off the "tar" after using beach and returning to resort. That was enough for me and I left.
> 
> I don't know if the sign was just up during that time period ( I think it was April 2009) but it looked like a permanent sign.



I just read the TUG reviews and the resort was the Royal Vista and maybe the dirty beach was not a recurring issue since only one reviewer mentioned anything about it and most of the reviews were good but here is what the beach comment was in the review.

"The beach here is very deep with soft sand. The beach area gets a little dirty as you go North and South from the resort but it's not too bad."


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## theo (Jul 18, 2012)

*Yes, BUT...*



simpsontruckdriver said:


> There are a few Wyndham timeshares in Pompano Beach...



Pompano Beach, IMnsHO, is grimy, old and seedy; a worn out coastal FL city, left over from "yesteryear".
To me, it's just a depressing place, although the Wyndam facilities (3 or 4 of them there) are all certainly nice enough. I was very happy to just give away my Wyndham ownership in Pompano Beach for free --- 
and I gladly paid the transfer fees myself, just to be rid of it. Go somewhere else. Go *anywhere* else. :ignore:


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## justmeinflorida (Jul 18, 2012)

zcrider said:


> Thanks, I will look into the Marriott Harbor Lake one.  *I just found Bush Gardens at Tampa Bay has a wonderful looking Sesame street section!!  That would be perfect for my son. * So now I am going to look into timeshares there too.  Only problem is that is a 4 hour drive.  I could do it, but not sure I want to spend 4 hours driving each way from the airport in a rental car?!?  Maybe.
> I will check out all my options though, so I appreciate the ideas of which ones to look into that have super great stuff for young kids.



Being only about 20min from Busch Garden, we have 2yr Plantinum Passes to all the Anheiser Busch theme parks. Here's a link to a review I posted on tripadvisor, on saving yourself some money if you decide to go to the park.


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## Bob B (Jul 18, 2012)

When our kids were young we all loved Vistana's Beach Club on Jensen Beach. It's about 45 minutes north of Palm Beach. The resort only has about 76 units and there isn't much to do there but they do have programs for kids and it is right on the beach.


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## zcrider (Jul 18, 2012)

justmeinflorida said:


> Being only about 20min from Busch Garden, we have 2yr Plantinum Passes to all the Anheiser Busch theme parks. Here's a link to a review I posted on tripadvisor, on saving yourself some money if you decide to go to the park.



Thanks for the link and tips!  It sounds like those cups and popcorn bucket can also be used at the Sea World in San Antonio here in Texas.    Great news.  They just added a sesame street bay of play area here and we plan to visit soon.  

Any great resorts or hotels for kids in that area I should look into?  Also at Thanksgiving should I expect the water stuff to be turned off?  Thanks for your help!


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## gnorth16 (Jul 19, 2012)

DVC Vero Beach was great for kids.  We have an ongoing search to back there for April/May of 2013 AND 2014 .

Another resort that looks great is Ron Jon Cape Caribe (#6988 in RCI) in Port Canaveral.  Slides, lazy river and has great reviews in RCI.  This also looks to be a tough trade in RCI during peak times, but there is a decent amount of studios and 1BR's right now, but not when we need it.  It has been added to our ongoing search.


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## justmeinflorida (Jul 19, 2012)

zcrider said:


> Thanks for the link and tips!  It sounds like those cups and popcorn bucket can also be used at the Sea World in San Antonio here in Texas.    Great news.  They just added a sesame street bay of play area here and we plan to visit soon.
> 
> Any great resorts or hotels for kids in that area I should look into?  Also at Thanksgiving should I expect the water stuff to be turned off?  Thanks for your help!



From what I hear Bonnet Creek is really popular, we haven't been there yet  Star Island gets some great reviews on tripadvisor. As for the water area being closed down it really all depends on if it's cold. We don't get many cold days here, it should be in the 70's in Nov. However the temp. drops dramatically it the evening could go down to the 40's, so be prepared to have pants and jackets with you at the park or at least in your car. Rainy season will be over by then as well, so you shouldn't have to worry about the rides closing down either.


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## justmeinflorida (Jul 19, 2012)

gnorth16 said:


> DVC Vero Beach was great for kids.  We have an ongoing search to back there for April/May of 2013 AND 2014 .
> 
> *Another resort that looks great is Ron Jon Cape Caribe (#6988 in RCI) in Port Canaveral.  Slides, lazy river and has great reviews in RCI.*  This also looks to be a tough trade in RCI during peak times, but there is a decent amount of studios and 1BR's right now, but not when we need it.  It has been added to our ongoing search.



Ron Jon's is a very nice place for the kids, we really loved being there for the day (timeshare tour), almost got stuck with a developer sale but found tug before our rescind time was up  Would I own there now that I know more about timeshares NO, would I trade into it YOU BETCHA!


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