Well my vote would be for the Orlando area (realizing you don't have to actually live in Orlando, there are a lot of nice smaller surrounding communities).
You have all the resort areas close by with Disney, Universal, Sea World, etc. and all the hotels that go along with that for your job situation. Plus (well for my family anyway who are theme park, water park, Fort Wilderness, etc. nuts anyways) there is a lot more to do in that area but you are still only an hour or two away from the beaches if that is something your family likes to do.
Good luck whatever you decide! (and how fortunate for your family that he has a job offer and a choice of cities).
P.S. My inlaws are in Jacksonville and nothing I've seen there has really impressed me (and with that being said we are still trying to move to the Orlando area over J'ville and that's with having family there).
Welcome to City-Data.com forum! Make sure to register - it's free and very quick! You have to register before you can post and participate in our discussions with 700,000 other registered members. User profiles and some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your free account you will be able to customize many options, you will have the full access to over 15,000 posts/day about local topics and you will see fewer ads. 
Orlando vs Jacksonville? Family with young children.
Linear Mode
