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N FLA | The Florida guys above gave some great advice. I will comment on a few things. First, unfortunately, March is the most expensive time from a hotel standpoint. Additionally, you mention a budget, but you have perhaps the highest priced itenerary I have ever seen, because prices per day go down for multiple days at parks, but you have all different parks that are not sister parks. Anyway. We have a daughter and like to do "Florida" vacations too even though we live in Florida.
I would try some sightseeing around the Mid-Atlantic, perhaps Gettysburg might be a place to spend a day. My inlaws did take their grandkids to Williamsburg, older kids, they enjoyed it. When I stayed in Williamsburg, I just went out for pancakes and went to Williamsburg Winery. Didnt do much else. Friends have raved about Savannah GA, I think they have a haunted tour or something like that. Google that one.
On your Florida trip, the guys are probably right about St. Augustine area, any days you can spend on the beach and out of the parks will really reduce your costs. My friends like to stay at St. Augustine Ocean and Racquet Club. You can find it on google. I think they are fully furnished rooms, so you can cook your meals, etc. You could HQ there a few days, see the history at St. Augustine, spend a few days at the beach, get your requisite sunburn out of the way, go see the potato farms in Hastings, maybe day trip to Kennedy Space Center. I would avoid Daytona Beach in March with the family.
If I were to stay in Orlando, with your various destinations, i would stay at a non-park resort. We like to stay at the Sheraton Vistana Villages. There are about three very nice pools, and we usually make a couple days of our vacation cheap pool days. The rooms are completely furnished, and there are gas grills outside, so we can BBQ, cook breakfasts, lunch dinner, or whatever. The grocery store is about 3 minutes away. So you can just load a full size refrigerator for the week. You can bring lunch to the parks if I'm not mistaken if its in a soft sided cooler. Downside is driving to parks every day and paying for parking, but if you are trying to save money and go to different parks, its the way to go.
In Orlando, you have Disney, which includes Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. Your Disney packages would include any or all of those for the number of days you want to go. We dont use parkhopper passes, but we go to different parks each day. There are nighttime shows at Magic Kingdom and Epcot, so days you go there, you will want to stay in the park until 10 pm or so. If you go to Animal Kingdom, you will be back at your resort for dinner. There is also Downtown Disney, which is free and has alot to see (even a Lego Store), and somebody could spend the day for free to stretch the budget. If you look at the Disney Resorts, they have what they call Value resorts, but you will have to eat all park and resort food service meals for the entire week, or go out to eat. They just have a mini-fridge.
You also have Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and Sea World which are a family of parks which have packages. I would take Islands of Adventure over anything else in Orlando. If you have older boys, I suspect they would also.
Lego Land is at Cypress Gardens, or Lake Wales. I'm sure that is a 45 minute drive from your orlando resorts. It is not a part of the other parks, so you are out of the package deals again. But it sounds like a fun place. If you go down to Lake Wales, my wife and I got married at Bok Tower (google), it is a beautiful place to spend time and rather unique (free i think). I remember Florida's Natural orange juice also had a museum and may do juice plant tours across the street from the museum. That area is the heart of the Florida Ridge, and has a lot of citrus groves, which you can drive through the countryside, or whats left of it, and see.
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Florida Road Trip for rookies
