Disney is out…kids haven’t earned that yet.

Just looking to get away from the cold for a bit, spend a little time on a beach, and find fun things to do for a 10 and 7 year old. Mid-March.

General idea on what you want to do? Beaches are easy enough but the rest might be difficult.

Nothing in particular. Warmest, nicest beach. Maybe a theme park not named Disney or universal for the kids. It’s -7 here now…warming up to 12 tomorrow and we might get above freezing next week…and February is usually the coldest month. Need to get away to some warmer air for a few days.

Spring break is very busy here, Gulf beaches are better for swimming than Atlantic beaches. St Pete beach is nice
and the parking is limited there so if you get a Gulf side hotel you should not have issues with crowds. Fort Desoto Park
is not far away. You can catch a boat there that goes to Egmont Key in the mouth of Tampa bay. It was the location of a
military fort/base in the late 1800s into the early 1900s. There are brick roads all around the north end and a lighthouse.

Plenty of restaurants in the area.

You could always do Universal Studios.  Fraction of the cost of Disney.

Like stated before, Florida turns into a zoo during spring break.  EVERYWHERE is busy.

Gulf Coast, the beaches and water are better. While I like NW Florida better, I would advise against it because the weather can be flakey, it does get cold here, the water will still be cold. Every Spring Break it gets cold, it could be 80 and sunny, the minute it's the weeks of Spring Break it will either rain the entire time or get cold, you can put money on it.

Sarasota beaches generally are the best value. Siesta Key is probably considered the best sand. World class. You can have fun at Lido, Coquina, Long Boat, Anna Maria. Busch Gardens is about an hour away. Legoland too. Mote Marine is a nice local aquarium. Get your ass down here and pay my taxes!!!

I'd go Tampa & Bush Gardens. The park for the kids & then you can take a family drive to the beaches.
The Lowry Park Zoo is also nice there.

Came to post all these exact things.  Here's a great way to hit everything and save a ton.

https://www.citypass.com/tampa

Alot of my friends prefer universal, seems to be a much better cost/fun ratio

The Gulf water will be cold in March but the beaches will be nice .

Agreed, probably in the lower to mid 70s, on par with our natural spring water that we swim in most of the year.

Siesta Key Beach and Smathers Beach are world class beaches. Sunday evening Drum circle on Siesta Key beach is fun.
Spring break can be chaos. Good luck where ever you choose. This year is bad for beaches around here. Even more than the usual amount of tourists. Everyone is wanting a break from their locked down internment states.
Northern gulf coast is by far the most rural. A lot of good relaxing things to do.
Southern gulf coast is for the beaches. So many awesome incredible beaches...
Atlantic coast is more expensive.
Central Florida, well, it is a different world than the coasts.
We have many beautiful rivers and springs. Fishing is beyond any other state. Manatees might still be inlnad when you get here, just ask around and you might find some close to where ever you decide to stay. People from around the country save their vacation time and money to visit here. There is always something to do or see but it will cost something.

Clearwater Aquarium is the home of the renowned film star Winter (of the film "Dolphin Tale". You can see her at the aquarium. (Or at least you could 8 years ago, how long do dolphins live?)

I'd encourage you to consider staying a day or two in the Crystal River area, do some snorkeling (manatees may still be in), fishing, etc.

Gonna check with the wife and see if she thinks the hordes of drunken spring breakers (that was me once) is enough to keep us away from the beach. Thanks for the recs.

I can do it.

If you stay at St Pete beach, parts of Clearwater or Indian Rocks beach the parking is limited so the beach is not as crowded.

Sanibel Island is a quiet place with many great restaurants and less crowds  

Destin is a good option for a family vacation.

busch gardens is the best bang for your buck. if not, then lego land. depends on the age of your kids.

word of advice for beaches:
tourist = clearwater beach/daytona beach
locals = honeymoon island/indian rocks beach/ft. desoto beach

Add to that Caladesi State Park. Near Clearwater and is accessible via passenger ferry. Have been there when the family was the only ones there. Beautiful white sand. And quiet because of the extra effort of taking the ferry.

Another vote for LEGOLAND.

It’s smaller, and less overwhelming than Disney/Universal.  My two boys, 7 & 4, are nuts about that place. They have a small water park with HEATED pools, and just enough rides for the kids to keep busy all day.  The “MiniLand”  walk-through cityscape area just got a major overhaul, and is a pretty cool place for grownups to take a stroll.  It’s really geared toward the younger, 4-12, age range, and if they’re into Lego…it’s Mecca. If you really want full immersion, book a night or two at the new Pirate Island wing of the hotel. We stayed over the Halloween weekend and had a blast. They have, what amounts to, a giant castle/Lego pit for he kids to go nuts, surrounded by a bar for the parents…and they make great Old Fashioned’s! The food was also quite edible, which is a compliment for theme park cuisine.

It’s not far from Tampa/St. Pete/Clearwater area so you could split a week between them. Treasure Island (between St. Pete & Clearwater) has some really cool Old-Florida style beach-side hotels, and a great, huge swath of sand for the beach. Downtown St. Pete has seen quite a makeover over the past few years, and is quite modern and trendy, if the wife wants to shop. There’s also the Dali museum, which is really cool, but with kids it might be a rainy-day-only type of event.