July 23-24 HELP!

Ok Pointbuzzers, I need your help.

I'm planning a trip with some of my employees for July 23-24. We want to stay on sight and I am trying to decide what the best place to stay would be. There will be 6 or 7 of us total. We are planning on arriving at CP around 12-1pm, spend the day/night and then hit the park early Monday and leave around 3-4pm since it is 6-7 hour drive home.

Option 1 is to use my friends motor home & stay in Camper Village. It will hold all of us but the down side is the amount of $ we'll spend on fuel. The site would only run us $8-9 per person but not sure how much more everyone would have to shell out for gas.

Option 2 - Book a suite in either the Breakers or Sandcastle Suite or a cottage in Lighthouse point (no cabins available for these days) and have them pay $45-50 per person and only $15-20 pp for gas.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Bill in Morton, IL
*** Edited 6/25/2006 3:24:23 PM UTC by Schureman***

I'll let MrScott voice my opinion. :)

Go for the cottage. save on food, go out, grill out, relax a bit, get a drink. much better! LOVE em!

COTTAGE! You'll have a great time! Things to remember (most are available at the camp store, if you forget something):

Charcoal & Lighter Fluid

Food, in cooler (s)

Adult Beverages (The beer IS high priced in the camp store)

Skillet (for breakfast, if you choose)

I'm going to be honest here...Grilling can be more difficult at a cottage, as they are right on the water and it can be windy. If you have some sort of wind break, I'd bring that, too, just in case.

A coffee maker and coffee are provided, as is a microwave. The money you'll save by eating at your cottage will more than offset the price of the cottage.

Don't forget to check out the pool and hot tub over by the Lighthouse, they are included, free of charge. There is nothing like relaxing in the hot tub and watching Mean Streak and hearing the screams. :)

If you have any other questions, just ask!

MrScott

I agree with Mr. Scott. :)

Thanks guys! I made a reservation for one of the cottages and the kids I'm bringing are quite excited about it. I had one of the CP Resorts brochures and showed them where we will be staying and they think it's great.

Now, how do I keep them from driving me and each other crazy during the 6-7 hour drive over to CP?

Bill

Three words -

Portable DVD player.

And at least 3 movies for it.

Bill,

Leave the kids at a rest stop, you'll have a better time. (I'm just kidding of course. You will enjoy their smiling faces, laughter and watching them hit the wall at the end of the day.)

You are going to LOVE Lighthouse Point! Don't forget the swimsuits! LHP has a very nice heated pool and Hot Tub. A perfect way to end a perfect day.

MrScott

Agreed with everything MrScott said. LHP is awesome. If you have the means, I'd suggest bringing a gas grill. Yes, I know the taste is horrible as compared to charcoal, but the convenience factor is one that is simply too great to ignore. It makes quick lunches that much faster and easier - not to mention cleaner!

Regardless, enjoy yourselves!

ADDED: If you and/or your employees are "real" coffee drinkers (i.e. more than one cup to start the day), I'd also suggest either bringing your own, or bringing a thermal carafe or thermos. The coffee makers are quite small - they're typical of what you'd find in a hotel room.
*** Edited 6/27/2006 12:59:16 PM UTC by djDaemon***

Thanks. I'm the only coffe drinker in the bunch as they are all 17-19 years old. We may bring a grill but they are all saving there $ for the trip expenses (tickets, lodging, gas) so food costs are on the low end as in a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter & jelly!

Either way I'm sure they'll have a blast. Some have been there before but a couple of them haven't. It will be my second trip this year.

You are going to have a GREAT time!

MrScott

Go to Costco and get a bulk thing of hot dogs (you can get the 30 packs for relatively cheap) and some buns. Trust me, it is worth it to have something warm to eat at the end of the night.

I much recommend a propane stove. Sure it doesn't have the taste of charcoal, but at 11:30 at night when everyone is exhausted and hungry, the last thing you want to do is wait for the charcoal to heat up. Besides, its not like you'll be cooking steaks or ribs on it anyway (where flavor would actually matter).

Or, if you don't want all that hassle, you can just go to TGIFriday's, or order a pizza. ;)

Yeah, either they don't advertise it well enough, or I'm not very observant, because we didn't realize Pizza Hut delivers to LHP/CV until checkout.

I called the hotel operator and she gave me a list of pizza places in the area that deliver (or that she though would). We ended up with a local pizza place, I don't remember the name though. It wasn't bad. Not the best pizza I've had, but certainly not the worst.

Probably the better choice, as I'm assuming Pizza Hut's on-site prices are adjusted. Plus, I worked at a Pizza Hut in college, and am quite sick of everything they offer.

Probably. All the places she gave me were off point. I'm assuming the PH delivery (which ended when the park closed, or shortly thereafter) was from the Breakers.

Squirting lighter fluid on charcoal and throwing some weenies on the grill is no hassle to me. It's part of the whole expierence.

MrScott

Me neither. I'll just have to keep the guys from trying to blow things up/set on fire!