Hi Pat!
It will take you approximately 40 min. to get to Sanibel from Bonita Springs. The toll to cross the causeway is $6.00 one way (no charge to leave the island). I don't know about beach passes, but parking is $2.00/hr. and you pay at the kiosks in each individual parking lot (cash or credit cards accepted) and put the dispensed "ticket" on your dashboard. (They DO patrol, so you can't get away with not paying!
) If there's a beach pass for Sanibel, I'm not aware of it, but it would be Lee County. I'd normally suggest getting to any Sanibel beach by about 10:00 a.m., but being that you're going to be here during winter, that means "on season," which also means that the main road through Sanibel (Periwinkle Way) will be bumper-to-bumper traffic most of the day, beginning about 9:00 a.m. through about 4:00 p.m., so try to hit the beaches by around 8:30 or 9:00.
Lighthouse Beach and Bowman's Beach both have public restrooms, which is nice. Other beaches don't really have facilities, you'll just have to make a warmer spot in the water if you have to pee
. There's a couple of "porta potties" at Turner Beach, just across the Blind Pass bridge on Captiva. None of the beaches have snack bars, but there is a guy who runs a snack boat up and down the shore selling ice cream bars, sodas, etc. from time to time.
As to the Edison & Ford Winter Estates, I have to admit that I was disappointed. You get a nice tour, but you can't go IN the houses. There are plexiglass barriers about waist high at each door and you can only look in. I understand that if hundreds of people tramped through those houses everyday that they wouldn't stay pristine, but I was still disappointed, considering it costs $20.00 per person to go through. The grounds are beautiful, but there are many places just as pretty to spend your time. Put that $40.00 you and your hubby would spend on admission toward a nice lunch on Sanibel.
I'm always happy to help you with any information I can. Let me know if you have any other questions! I will be happy to send you some information pamphlets on Sanibel that have maps and mark the public beaches, if you want to PM me your address.