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The great Chevy Chase proved in National Lampoon's Vacation that family trips are a little tougher to get right than buddy trips, corporate retreats and couples escapes. An ideal family trip requires three elements: breathing room for mom and dad, a fine golf course, and plenty of activities for the kids. This handful of Florida resorts proves that you don't have to choose between babies and birdies.
Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club
Palm Harbor
800-456-2000, innisbrookgolfresort.com
Busch Gardens Get-a-Way Package rates start at $309 per night, two-night minimum
This is about as good as it gets if your kids are into golf and baseball. Within a few minutes drive from this Tampa resort you'll find the Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies in spring training. It's also just 45 minutes to Busch Gardens, and the package here includes suite accommodations with a kitchenette, two adult tickets (kids tickets available at the front desk) and a Kids Club gift at check-in. The golf is pretty darn good, too. The Copperhead course tops the list of four layouts here, and has long been a PGA Tour stop. The Island course was recently renovated, while the Highland North and South tracks are no pushovers, even if they lack the challenge of their siblings. Kids will have to pay to play in the high season of March, but it's free in summer.
The Breakers
Palm Beach
888-273-2537, thebreakers.com
Room rates in March start at $550 per night
Despite its museum-like facade and interiors that epitomize Palm Beach's Old World elegance, The Breakers is remarkably family-friendly. March rack rates might alarm conservative spenders, but at least children under 16 stay free in the same room as their parents. There's a dizzying array of activities for kids, starting with a 6,160-squarefoot Family Entertainment Center that includes a heated oceanfront pool, a movie room, and a game room with Playstation 2 and Xbox. Kids 3 to 12 can enjoy the Coconut Crew Interactive Camp (scavenger hunts and waterfront activities), while the whole family can mix it up in the Breakers Fun Zone with its arcade games. The Breakers' Ocean course is one of the state's oldest, a pint-sized pearl that dates to 1896. If the kids aren't up to the rigors of this short, tight track, the Palm Beach Par-3 course is just down the road, while the private Breakers Rees Jones Course is a 20-minute drive from the resort.
Ginn Reunion Resort
Reunion
888-418-9611, reunionresort.com
Ultimate Family Package Rates
start at $179 inclusive, per person per night
The Family Package at
this Orlando-area
resort includes a
one-day pass per person to
any Walt Disney Theme Park
and a one-day pass to either
Universal Studios, Universal
Islands of Adventure or
Sea World. On-site you'll
find complimentary "dive-in"
movies (films are shown to
guests floating in the pool)
and access to a five-acre
water park, fitness center,
bicycle rentals and spa.
The "Kids Crew" supervises
guests aged 4-12, giving
parents time to enjoy
themselves alone. On the
course, the Arnold Palmer
Legacy layout has kidfriendly
tees and a resort
credit issued at check-in gives
junior golfers a discount.
If Dad needs more of a
challenge, he'll find it at
Reunion's two other courses:
the Independence, a Tom
Watson design, and the
newer Tradition, a Jack
Nicklaus creation. Watson's
layout is the most distinctive,
a faux-links that's liberally
sprinkled with mounds,
bunkers and greenside
chipping areas. The Palmer
and Nicklaus tracks offer a
more traditional Florida
experience, with roomy
fairways accented by
lakes and flowers.
