On Thursday, 22 December 2016 23:35:47 UTC-5, wrote:
Looking to get a glider add on rating through a commercial school to do it quickly. Nothing near by me suits this so I must travel.

Reading through this forum I could use some pointers of where to train.

Planning on taking a week of vacation, buying airline tickets for the family so I need certainty that this is the right decision. I don't want to get down there and find out it's a bust.

Gatlinburg seems nice with Chilhowee, but how reliable is the weather in this area?

Seminole Lake in Orlando seems iffy after reading reviews of the owner in jail. Nice resorts in the area for cheap, but will it for sure be operating in 6 months from now?

Dillingham in Hawaii looks awesome, but will that kind of flying prepare me for soaring in the 48 states given it's an island?

Any solid recommendations where I can have a luxurious vacation and get an add on rating in 2-3 days.

Thoughts? Recommendations?

Let me add my reassurance to Rich Owen's about Seminole Lake. I'm a Canadian snowbird, and love SLG so much, I managed to get my wife hooked on golf so I could buy a condo close to the field. Golf, BTW, is a great solution to the "Honey, you're spending a lot of time at that airport").

Seminole is a mix of a commercial FBO offering training and Introductory flights, and a group of private owners who fly X/C there all winter. This gives it the efficiency of an FBO, and the fraternity of a club, exempified by the after-flying Sunday 'debriefing', which involves sharing a couple of beers and snacks around the pool. Newco0mers are welcomed warmly.

And Seminole is about 30 miles away from the parks, and all they offer families. The operation is humming along under Rich's guidance, and I highly recommend it; you couldn't, IMO, do better.