Communities around WDW

[safetymom]

We are planning on moving to the Orlando area. We would like to be within 20-25 miles of the beach and close enough to WDW that we could commute daily. Daughter plans on going back to work at WDW. Is 1-4 the road to stay away from during rush hour?

Are there any areas I should be looking at? Or areas to stay away from?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[FOJMO]

If you want to be in the Orlando area, you're NOT going to be 20-25 miles from ANY beach. Orlando is in Central Florida, inland. The closest beaches would be Daytona Beach (about 1-1/2 hrs); Clearwater Beach (about 1-2 hrs.); New Smyrna Beach (about 1-1/2 hrs).

I-4 is busy a lot of the time, but especially around rush hour. But when you're around I-4 at the WDW area, it can be busy all the time!

Don't know what your price range is, but areas that are VERY nice around WDW would be Dr. Philips, MetroWest, Tuskawilla. Some other suburban areas not extremely close to WDW would be Longwood, Altamonte Springs, Lake Mary, Apopka (hey, we have a nice house for sale in Apopka!).

Good luck.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Other close beaches include those on the Space Coast such as Cocoa Beach, Satellite, Indialantic and Melbourne. But still those are a little over an hour away from WDW. I do know of many people who live beachside and do the commute in. I have thought about it before myself.

 

[safetymom]

FOJMO, Several real estate books that I have looked at mention that Deltona was 25 miles to Orlando and 25 miles to Daytona. I would want to be about half way between the between the beach and Orlando.

I currently drive over 30 miles one way to work so that doesn't bother me.

 

[HeatherPage]

Safetymom,
My husband and I are thinking about moving to Orlando area in 3-4 years. On our last trip home from WDW - (last week as a matter of fact) we picked up some for sale by owner real estate magazines. I saw what looked like some awesome prices for the Deltona area. We live in Clayton, NC right outside of Raleigh, NC and our 3 bedroom 2 bath 1350 sq. ft. house cost us about $106,000. I saw several houses for sale in the Deltona area around 4 bedroom, 1800 square feet for $109,000! I need to know what the catch is! Is it because you'd probably have to commute to Orlando for decent jobs/salaries or is it out of the way enough where people haven't started buying up everything in sight. If anyone has any insight on the Deltona area, please let us know.
P.S. We're also thinking about the Kissimmee/St. Cloud area but not sure what the housing prices/job salaries are in that area (but it sure would be alot closer to the Mecca -a/k/a Disney World!

 

[safetymom]

HeatherPage, we must have picked up the same magazines. I was at WDW again last week.

I know from checking different web sites that the cost of housing and other things are less than here in PA. That works for me. I want to try and get the same size house that I have here or a little smaller in FL. I figure I should come out ahead.

 

[HeatherPage]

Good luck with your move! Let me know if you find out more about Deltona

 

[safetymom]

I plan to put the house on the market in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully it will sell quickly. I will share what I find out.

 

[FOJMO]

I checked on MapQuest, and it looks like it's about 30 miles from Deltona to Daytona as well as 30 miles from Deltona to Orlando. Now, take into consideration that WDW is not really Orlando and it's about another 15 miles at least from Orlando proper to WDW.

I don't know much about Deltona, but the housing prices you're looking at sound good.

AND, the best thing about moving to Florida from "up North" (we moved 14 years ago from Rochester, NY) is that there is NO SNOW or ICE to worry about when commuting! Best of luck to ya!

 

[PammyK]

Not a fan of Deltona, especially if you plan to commute to downtown Orlando or to WDW.

Does it have to be that close to the beach? I'd suggest looking more in SE Orlando, more towards Merritt Island and Melbourne. Avalon Park is supposed to be very nice from what I've heard and it is off the Beeline east of the 417. That would put it about 25 minutes from downtown and maybe 45 minutes from Cocoa Beach. You can check out some subdivisions from Ryland atAvalon Lakes.

Good luck!

 

[safetymom]

PammyK, thank you for the information. My oldest daughter lives in Melbourne so moving that way wouldn't be a problem.