Since your husband is a cook and you are in the hotel business, Orlando would definitely be a good fit once the economy turns around. They are constantly building new luxury hotels in the area.
I moved to the Orlando area five years ago. I knew nothing about the area other than what I had seen during my trips to WDW and Universal. I started by getting a map and locating the various cities. I then, did a lot of research. I knew I wanted to be fairly close to WDW, but I wanted a new home and a safe area. The areas I considered were parts of Ocoee, Winter Garden, Gotha, Dr Phillips and Windermere. I eventually chose Windermere.
We made a trip to the area and had a real estate agent take us around to look at various neighborhoods. It really helped. We found the one we are now living in.
The thing I like about my area is that it is close to WDW, but does not feel like a tourist area. I can be on WDW property in five minutes, but I never see tourists around my neighborhood or the nearby shopping areas. It is a very quiet area. Homes in the Windermere area range from the 200s to several million dollars. Many celebrities live in this area. The crime in Windermere is pretty low, although we recently had a guy shoot and kill his wife in Isleworth. Isleworth is the most prestigious neighborhood in the Orlando area. Those things can happen anywhere. Since it is a relatively new area, there is still alot of building going on. A new Walgreens just opened about five blocks from my home and other stores are slowly creeping into the area. I am lucky in that everything I need is close enough to me that I rarely need to get on a highway. About the only time I need to take a highway is to get to the airport. Staying away from I-4 is a good thing.
Parts of Winter Garden and Ocoee are very nice...other parts, not so much. If you stay south of Highway 50 and west of McGuire, the areas are nice. The new Winter Garden Village mall is very nice and convienent for my area as well as Winter Garden, Ocoee and Gotha.
Gotha is a very neat little town. It is very little, but nice. The homes there are expensive.
Dr. Phillips is also very nice and more convenient to places like the Mall of Millenia. I ended up not choosing that area because there was no new construction. It is a well established area with nice neighborhoods. It is about a 15 minute drive from Dr. Phillips to WDW property.
I don't know a lot about elementary and middle schools in this area. My daughter was in high school when we moved here, so I've never paid close attention to the schools. She attended West Orange High School in Winter Garden. Since she attended, they have built a beautiful new high school. The only problem I've seen with the schools here is that they are terribly over crowded. The student to teacher ratio tends to be high. The high schools are huge.
I very quickly ruled out the areas south of WDW like Kissimmee and Celebration. Those areas are very much tourist areas. They were way to commercial for my taste. I felt Celebration was over priced for what you got. My home is actually closer to WDW than Celebration and just as nice and I paid less than what I would have had to pay to live in Celebration. Then again, they do have some nice little events that take place in downtown Celebration, if that is the type of thing you are interested in. Of course, anyone can attend those events whether you live in Celebration or not.
I do like the Winter Park area. It is older and quaint. Some parts look very run down, but much of it is very nice. It is an expensive area. On the plus side, Rollins College is there. It is a private college. Very nice, but the tuition is high. The Park Avenue area has a lot of quaint shops and it tends to be an area devoted to the arts. My biggest problem with Winter Park is the need to take I-4 to get to WDW or many other places in the Orlando area.
I've only been to Winter Springs once. They hold the annual Scottish Festival there. It seemed very nice, but a long drive to WDW.
I've been to Oveido a couple of times, but don't really know it well enough to comment. The area near the airport and UCF do not appeal to me at all.
Clermont is a nice area. It is the only area of Orlando where you will find hills! It has a lot of new construction and new stores in the area. It is an expanding area. It is about a 20 minute drive from WDW property.
Don't let the people on that other forum scare you with the talk of crime in Orlando. Yes, there is crime. I don't know of any large city without it. You just have to know the areas to avoid. Don't go to Pine Hills (aka Crime Hills). The vast majority of crime in Orlando happens in just a few areas. OF course, you'll here of break ins and petty crimes everywhere. Again, it happens in all cities. I never feel unsafe in my area. I take my dog for a walk every night after dark and I never worry. Orlando is not an unsafe city as long as you use your head.
If you have any specific questions about the area, I'd be happy to help as much as I can.
but my DH is a realtor and he always suggests to people moving to a new area to rent for a year or so, get a "feel" for the area, drive around, get to know the neighborhoods and towns in an area and THEN make a decision about where you want to buy.
