Beach and Theme Park Yearnings

It has definitely been too long since I've had the pleasure of going to the beach or attending one of the fine theme parks surrounding Gainesville (from a distance). I am ready to take a day trip out to Universal Studios and their Islands of Adventure park to ride the rides and stroll around the crowds. The problem I have is that it's sometimes difficult to be able to get everyone in my family synchronized with their schedules to allow some free time for us all to make an excursion together. Also, we have passes for the rest of the year to Universal, but this actually creates two problems for us. One, if you go there and don't buy special "express" passes that allow you to bypass long lines, then you're liable to be spending too much time waiting in line for a small number of ride opportunities. Two, having the Universal passes makes going there a priority over other parks like Wild Adventures (in Valdosta, Georgia) or Busch Gardens (in Tampa). Personally, I enjoy these parks more than Universal. The lines are almost always much shorter than Universal's, and the rides are comparable in quality (actually, I generally prefer the rides of Busch Gardens to those of Islands of Adventure at Universal). But there always seems to be something on our schedules that rules out a theme park excursion.

Also, as an alternative to the crowds, noise, and exhaustion associated with going to a theme park, a short stay at St. Augustine or Ormond Beach sounds awfully attractive, too. And there is a very comfortable hotel in St. Augustine that is just about the best I've experienced, and at a good price to boot!