THE Spring Games

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Feb 7, 2014
547
43
I am a little early for this... I see DDs team plays in Lake County / Clermont, Florida for a week and I'm sure many of you have been to these parks just outside of Orlando. Any recommendations on where to stay and what to see? What to avoid?
 
Oct 1, 2014
2,218
113
USA
Which week are you there? I was surprised at the number of available lodging options (we'll be there for the DIII games) and thought some of them were actually fairly reasonable. After all, it is Florida during spring break. The website for THE Spring games had some good resources you might wanna check out. Disney ((Orlando) and all that stuff isn't very far away either. Daytona Beach and the Atlantic Ocean is only about an hour and a half drive in one direction or you can get down to Tampa (Gulf) in just over an hour. I'm really excited to see my girls play the game again...fingers crossed it happens!
 
Feb 7, 2014
547
43
We'll be there the same week. The school still hasn't published the schedule, but I see THE Spring Games has. Should be a fun week.
 
Jun 11, 2012
741
63
We always stayed in Orlando because I can stay there for free. It was about 30-40 minutes to the furthest field she played on. DD’s team is going to Myrtle Beach this year
 

marriard

Not lost - just no idea where I am
Oct 2, 2011
4,312
113
Florida
The schedules are out so you can see them on the Spring Games website even if your team hasn't published them. They may change a bit, but not by much at this point since they started assigning umpires. My DD is playing (assuming all goes well) the Mar 13th week so I am umpiring the week before and a couple of days afterwards and I have some of my assignments already.

DO NOT STAY AT THE DAYS INN CLERMONT. They love promoting this place. It is a dump.

Buy your tickets online for the week at the Springs Games website. It is cheaper and less annoying especially if you have the first game of the day.

There are some hotels right next to the parks, but with over 100+ college teams in town every week across all college divisions; accommodations near the fields can be challenging and expensive - plus it is spring break for many schools and many tourists will be in Orlando for the Parks. But you can stay within a large area of Orlando and still be less than 30 minutes to whatever park we play at. You can look in areas like UCF/Alamonte Springs/Windemere/Winter Garden for maybe some more friendly prices. AirBNB/VRBO is a good idea over hotels if you can find them, even though most are closer to Disney than the fields. I am booked to stay about 25 minutes away more near Kissimmee over by Universal/Disney (I have a time share 2-bedroom apt).

Some advice: When you get to Orlando buy LOTS of sunscreen and an umbrella. The bleachers are NOT covered. And it will be either very sunny or it will rain. Probably both. Players and fans from the North-Eastern states always burn to a crisp on the field on day 1 land it looked like it hurt.

The field are near lots of restaurants and there is a Target across the road from Legends. Publix is the best for subs. Clermont Brewing Company is a great place to eat at but lots of options in the area.

There is no END of things to do in Orlando.

There is a Spring Games Facebook group called "The Spring Games Fan Group" where they post a lot of info

Happy to answer any specific questions.
 
Jun 11, 2012
741
63
The schedules are out so you can see them on the Spring Games website even if your team hasn't published them. They may change a bit, but not by much at this point since they started assigning umpires. My DD is playing (assuming all goes well) the Mar 13th week so I am umpiring the week before and a couple of days afterwards and I have some of my assignments already.

DO NOT STAY AT THE DAYS INN CLERMONT. They love promoting this place. It is a dump.

Buy your tickets online for the week at the Springs Games website. It is cheaper and less annoying especially if you have the first game of the day.

There are some hotels right next to the parks, but with over 100+ college teams in town every week across all college divisions; accommodations near the fields can be challenging and expensive - plus it is spring break for many schools and many tourists will be in Orlando for the Parks. But you can stay within a large area of Orlando and still be less than 30 minutes to whatever park we play at. You can look in areas like UCF/Alamonte Springs/Windemere/Winter Garden for maybe some more friendly prices. AirBNB/VRBO is a good idea over hotels if you can find them, even though most are closer to Disney than the fields. I am booked to stay about 25 minutes away more near Kissimmee over by Universal/Disney (I have a time share 2-bedroom apt).

Some advice: When you get to Orlando buy LOTS of sunscreen and an umbrella. The bleachers are NOT covered. And it will be either very sunny or it will rain. Probably both. Players and fans from the North-Eastern states always burn to a crisp on the field on day 1 land it looked like it hurt.

The field are near lots of restaurants and there is a Target across the road from Legends. Publix is the best for subs. Clermont Brewing Company is a great place to eat at but lots of options in the area.

There is no END of things to do in Orlando.

There is a Spring Games Facebook group called "The Spring Games Fan Group" where they post a lot of info

Happy to answer any specific questions.
I’m bummed that we won’t see you this year.
 
Feb 7, 2014
547
43
The schedules are out so you can see them on the Spring Games website even if your team hasn't published them. They may change a bit, but not by much at this point since they started assigning umpires. My DD is playing (assuming all goes well) the Mar 13th week so I am umpiring the week before and a couple of days afterwards and I have some of my assignments already.

DO NOT STAY AT THE DAYS INN CLERMONT. They love promoting this place. It is a dump.

Buy your tickets online for the week at the Springs Games website. It is cheaper and less annoying especially if you have the first game of the day.

There are some hotels right next to the parks, but with over 100+ college teams in town every week across all college divisions; accommodations near the fields can be challenging and expensive - plus it is spring break for many schools and many tourists will be in Orlando for the Parks. But you can stay within a large area of Orlando and still be less than 30 minutes to whatever park we play at. You can look in areas like UCF/Alamonte Springs/Windemere/Winter Garden for maybe some more friendly prices. AirBNB/VRBO is a good idea over hotels if you can find them, even though most are closer to Disney than the fields. I am booked to stay about 25 minutes away more near Kissimmee over by Universal/Disney (I have a time share 2-bedroom apt).

Some advice: When you get to Orlando buy LOTS of sunscreen and an umbrella. The bleachers are NOT covered. And it will be either very sunny or it will rain. Probably both. Players and fans from the North-Eastern states always burn to a crisp on the field on day 1 land it looked like it hurt.

The field are near lots of restaurants and there is a Target across the road from Legends. Publix is the best for subs. Clermont Brewing Company is a great place to eat at but lots of options in the area.

There is no END of things to do in Orlando.

There is a Spring Games Facebook group called "The Spring Games Fan Group" where they post a lot of info

Happy to answer any specific questions.

Thanks for the details ! This is very helpful.
 
Sep 8, 2015
85
18
@marriard has you covered.

If you play late into the evening at Legends, you will easily see some of the theme park firework shows at night.

Chicken tender sub from Publix. Just do it. They have online ordering. It makes it fast.

Concessions at Legends is actually above average. Really good breakfast food.

Downtown Disney and I-Drive are not far. Plenty of stuff to do without crazy theme park prices.
 
Jul 16, 2013
4,659
113
Pennsylvania
We stayed at a place in Lake Buena Vista, which was a 20-25 minute drive from most of the games. Most of DD's games were either at Legends or Hancock, and they are only 2 or 3 miles apart. Some families rented houses together as groups. Great way to save some $ if you know some of the other parents and don't mind sharing a house with them.
 
May 20, 2015
1,094
113
here's my early 2023 question:

I booked my flights already......found a deal and reserved on a "supplier's choice" rental car, and then I will shop around as it gets closer to see if i can get anything better (doubtful).......i have booked a place in clermont (old resort, cheap) simply because it was central to everything and had a bunch of pools......my youngest will like that part once she realizes she's being dragged to softball every day haha

can you tell i am a teacher and shopping for deals? doing very well so far, honestly....

my question: it appears DDs team may be playing the polk county venues vs legends this year (everything was legends last year)........do i want to leave the centralized orlando/clermont/kissimee area to be closer to the polk county venues, if this is the case, or is a 55 minute drive worth it just to stay central to a little more "civilization" - i can find similar deals price-wise in lakeland/winter haven, but......
 

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