While in Orlando, definitely visit Disney World. Prior to planning your trip, however, contact the city of Kissimmee Florida for a travel guide and planner. They usually will mail it out to you quickly and in the back will be all sorts of coupons that actually come in handy and save you alot! IF you have a credit card, while in the Orlando/Kissimmee area stop at one of those roadside kiosks where you will be offered a chance to visit a timeshare. Go thru the hoops and visit it..(plan to spend about 1/2 a day doing so) and they will give you free or discounted tickets to a Disney themepark or sometimes to Sea World. It is worth it, considering the cost of the tickets. We did this when our kids were small and it was fabulous! 1/2 a day ...they usually have childcare on site at the timeshare...and you are saving your family a bundle on themepark tickets.

Bradenton is not a "fun" town.  Nothing going on there.  They have a lot of chain restaurants and some small mom-n-pop type places.  No decent shopping except for the outlets at Ellenton (about 20 minutes away). Great for retirees and it is quiet.  There's a lot of waterfront real estate and lots of new development.  It's near nice beaches in Sarasota and close to nice-sized city of Tampa.  Note: No nightlife for those under 50+

Buy tickets for the theme parks BEFORE you go, so that you dont have to include the price in your budget. Also, you will spend a day searching for what you think is he best price, when they are more or less the same.

Try to get a hotel on the nort side of miami beach, cheaper than the sout beach

walk the hall of fame side walk, visit man chinese theatre, look at the signs in the hills. When you lucky there will be a premiere of a movie with all the fuss around it :-)
left of the man chinese theatre, on a little parking is a gift shop with very cheap tshirts and pullovers you can buy as a hollywod souvernir ;-)

When you're in Miami and the weather is a little off (rainy, cold, ...), make sure to hit the beach pubs. There isn't a big crowd then and the pub owners love foreigners who can tell some stories from their country. Free drinks will follow :-)

The News Cafe is the place to eat in Miami Beach. It was famous before the murder of Versace (he had breakfast here minutes before he was gunned down in front of his mansion). The food is tasty, the portions are ample, the service is great and since you are sitting on the sidewalk, people watching is primo. Best of all, the prices are very reasonable! Sunday brunch is an absolute MUST.

Find a ticket booth selling compound tickets for disney, universal and the water parks if you want to visit everything.

When going to Disneyworld Get Birnbaum Guide's to Disneyworld its informative but also intreasting.

buy dried up seahorses at Sandestin's finer souvenir shops. Seriously, seahorses and seashells.  I love 'em