Who lives in/near Orlando / Disney ?

[disneyworld1977]

So who lives in the area of Disney World? Have some questions for you.

Where do you live? Do you like the area? Have you always lived there or moved to be near Disney?

Just asking those and whatever else related to that so I can get some tips/suggestions. It is possible we might try to move this summer to the Orlando area. We lived in Orlando several years ago for just a few months. We enjoyed but had to leave for work reasons. We think we didn't give it a fair trial to see if we would enjoy in the long run. We just want a change for personal reasons and I can move just about anywhere with my job since I work mostly from home and my wife should be able to get in the school system there.

So any areas like Clermont, Celebration, Windmere, NE side like Oviedo have come up in my searches of areas. Any info on those places? We just want to be in an average to great neighborhood in which to rent. Hoping for a condo, townhome, or house and stay away from apts if we can.

Thanks!!

 

[disneyworld1977]

Anyone?

 

[brdlyleon]

I go to school at UCF so I live near Oviedo now and its a nice quiet area. I transferred schools from Jacksonville for my degree but Disney was definitely a perk. I'm not sure about any of the other areas though since I've been here less than a year.

 

[mom2of2]

I live in Celebration and have for over 5 years. Being from NJ I was used to communities and when I first moved to FL over 9 years ago I really missed that. Celebration had everything that I was looking for, good schools, sports, churches, restaurants, stores. Places that I could go, be recognized and called by name. It made me feel at home and something that I really missed when I first moved to Fl.
I originally moved down here for my ex's job, WDW was a perk but I had no intention of working there. A job working at WDW literally fell in my lap almost immediately but I didn't become a CM until almost 4 years ago. My kids have grown and moved away but I'm still here. I miss home (NJ) but if I'm not there I wouldn't be anywhere other then Celebration

 

[SLK1]

I live in Dr. Phillips - about three miles from Downtown Disney. Orange County offers great schools, nice neighborhoods, lots to do. My parents just bought a house in Clermont - it's beautiful country out there with rolling hills (doesn't feel like Florida at all!), but Lake County's schools aren't the best. Celebration is nice, but very pricey, and not sure how good Osceola schools are in general, but Celebration schools seem good.

You might also check out Hunter's Creek and Lake Nona.

We moved here 20 years ago from Northern VA and would never go back!

 

[suzannews]

I live in south Clermont also known as the Four Corners area. It has grown ALOT since we moved out here 11 years ago but I love it. My daughter graduated in May 2013 from Lake county schools and we never had a problem.

 

[lakelandgal70]

I live in Lakeland about 30-40 minutes away from Walt Disney World. Have lived here almost 40 years. Don't really like it but do like being close to the mouse. Polk County is a great place to raise a family and retire but for us doesn't really appeal to us and when we want to do something fun we usually to to Tampa or Orlando area.

 

[WhateverLolaWants]

I live extremely close to WDW, in the Winter Garden/Windermere area. I moved down here a couple of months ago for a job, though I did the WDWCP many moons ago so I was already familiar with the area. I like where I live just because it's so close to my work. For the most part it's quiet but it is definitely being built up like crazy and I'm worried it's going be chaotic around here soon. The neighborhoods go up quickly here - when I moved down, there was one street that had like 3 or 4 houses up. Now there's 10-12 more in a matter of 2 months. Plus my GPS doesn't recognize some of the roads nearby because they are so new.

The only thing that annoys me about living here is driving. It is very common to be stuck behind someone doing 10-15mph under the speed limit. Or you'll see the same person change back and forth between the same two lanes multiple times because they have no clue where they're going. Sometimes they'll nearly hit you in the process.

 

[Feralpeg]

I live in Windermere. I am about a mile and a half behind the Magic Kingdom. I moved her ten years ago from the Midwest.

I did not move here because of WDW. Being close to the theme parks was just a really great perk. I retired here because I wanted to live somewhere warm, with a similar cost of living to the Midwest. I wanted someplace with a lot to do. We also moved here because DD was into acting and we thought there would be more acting opportunities here. The cost of living in LA was too high. Unfortunately, shortly after we moved here, a lot of the acting opportunities moved back to California which is okay. She did enough acting to get it out of her system and is interested in other things now.

I am very happy with my choice to move here. While I am very close to WDW property, tourists don't tend to come out this way on a regular basis. It is a quiet area, although building fast. While there are houses for rent in my neighborhood, they are not short term leases. This makes it a more stable neighborhood and a place I really enjoy living.

 

[palmtreegirl]

Spent 8 years living in Florida and just moved back to up North a little over 2 weeks ago.

Lived in Ocala for 6 months, too far away from Disney.Spent the next 6 months in Kissimmee off 192 and I hated it. Too crowded, too many tourist and a lack of neighborhood feel for me. Only good part was Disney was very close.

Spent 7 years in Clermont, up past Hwy 50 and loved it. Great neighborhood feel, everything you need close by and lots of lakes & hills. Clermont is really the only place I'd live in Florida.

 

[disneyworld1977]

Thanks for all the replies. I think I see where people like some areas and some don't like others. I have heard kissimmee may not be the best place.

I am probably going to look at Windmere, Clermont. Which I think I would like because of what the areas look like.

But up near Sanford, Lake Mary, Oviedo is an option too because my wife might be able to work for Seminole school district because the may pay more than Lake County.

So it may be where she can find a job and have to span out from there so she isn't far away from work. So we will see.

Going down in March to do some scouting.

 

[Dax]

I live in Davenport, about a ten min drive to the Mouse House. I am 5min off of I-4. I lived in Kissimmee for a while, and HATED it. We are happy where we are now. We plan to buy a house in another year or two, and are looking to stay in this area

 

[dyna]

I'm in polk county about a mile from lego land right off hwy 27 too. I have no idea aout the schools I don't have any kids in school so that was of no concern when I moved here.

We wanted close to Disney without being in the chaos an traffic all the time.

 

[Beka]

We lived in Meadow Woods for about a year. Not a fan. Lake Nona is close and is MUCH nicer, but also more expensive. I didn't love Orlando, for sure, but if I had to move back, I would insist on living in Dr Phillips or Windermere. Meadow Woods, Hunters Creek, Lake Nona all lack personality to me. There are other part of Orlando that are older and have more personality to them (and better schools) but they're further from WDW. Celebration was also nice, what little I saw of it. I really didn't drive around Orlando much, as I hated all that traffic and time spent just to get half way across town.

Hope it works out for you though!

 

[EpcotMatt2]

Any other folks have any insights on Celebration?

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

We live in Windermere immediately behind the Magic Kingdom. I can watch Wishes from my bedroom window and Illuminations from my front yard. Love it back here! Schools are wonderful but insanely overcrowded. My youngest goes to a school that is almost at double capacity with no relief in sight for over a year and tons of new construction going up all around us.

Celebration is very nice. The community feel over there is wonderful but it is insanely expensive. It is also quite clique-ish but schools are the best in Osceola County. They have started bussing kids in from other parts of the county into Celebration High School so it isn't quite the exclusive school it used to be. The hospital there has a huge health club which is a nice bonus.

 

[BlovesC]

I live in Lakeland about 30-40 minutes away from Walt Disney World. Have lived here almost 40 years. Don't really like it but do like being close to the mouse.

I'm in Lakeland also, and that pretty much sums it up for me. I didn't move here for WDW (I can't imagine relocating for a theme park) but WDW has definitely become one of my coping mechanisms for handling life in Florida. DH and I will be finished with grad school next spring and we're doing everything we can to get ready to leave the state by the end of 2015.