If we move to Orlando area, should we sell/keep DVC?

[mickeyc]

I would not rush to sell your contract unless you are sure you are tired of the program, or it is a financial decision. Although staying onsite represents the best use of points remember you have other options, i.e. using your points to go elsewhere.

Last year when we were entering EPCOT I was engaged in a conversation with an elderly couple who moved down to Orlando from the NY/NJ area approximately five years earlier. They said to me they had an OKW contract and sold it because they live ten minutes from Disney. Bottom line... they regretted selling because they did not take into account their grandchildren and other relatives who would be visiting them and staying on Disney property is a nice experience.

In addition to the DVC program being so flexible you may also want to consider renting your points. Subsequent to your move if you find the program no longer works for you consider selling at that time.


Just a couple of thoughts. Good luck in whatever you decide and with your projected move!

 

[HeatherPage]

Thanks for the input everyone. I feel more and more that we should keep our points. ChrissyK-this is a great area to live in. Cary is a nice mostly upscale family area. Driving into RTP I hear can be a mess but what place isn't during rushhour. The reason we are thinking about this is that my parents (who live about five minutes away from us now) are thinking about moving maybe somewhere an hour outside or Orlando, my husband's family live in Jacksonville and my mom has a brother in Jacksonville and a sister in Okechobee (sp?). The thought of moving there has always crossed my mind now and then but I didn't want to move my son away from my mom and dad who he's very close to (he's 19 months old and my mom watches him during the week). I don't want to sound like I'm joined at the hip to my parents but we are close and with my dh's parents being in Florida it would just make sense. I'm a legal secretary so I figure that could go pretty much anywhere we'd just have to research for dh's job field. Cindy, I've seen Bellagio website before and it looks beautiful, right now that price is a little out of our range but hopefully it won't be in a few more years. Maistre Gracey good luck in getting down here it is a great place to live. Marisa's Mom, email about setting up another meet and I'll try to help get it going. Thanks again for all the input everyone!

 

[chrissyk]

I see why you're thinking of relocating to FL My in-laws are also seriously considering moving to FL (on the coast, though). They thought of it around the same time that we did, but independant of us! It's a great coincidence if you ask me, since it would be good to have grandparents locally for our future kids I can totally see why you'd relocate to FL if your parents and in-laws are there. Of course, we're relocating in part to get a little space from my parents before we have kids Good luck with your move and with deciding wether or not to keep your points!!

 

[mickeys#1fan]

It doesn't seem to be the main reason people become members, but you also have lots of other non-Disney properties you can exchange for. Of course, we've owned for three years and haven't done it yet. Our families are in Central FL, so we're pretty much obligated to spend our vacation time there. But we're not complaining, WDW gets a good portion of that time, too.
As others (including my lovely wife) have said you'll still have HHI, VB, or cruising, too.

Central Florida is a great place to live. You'll never run out of things to do. Even on a slow weekend, there's always the beach. No doubt you'll buy AP's, too. Always a good reason for a day trip. A serious consideration with Deltona is that you'll likely commute into Orlando for work. Traffic on I-4 is a nightmare, though hopefully that will ease somewhat when the expansion is finished. One other plus - NO MORE STATE INCOME TAX!!!

And Oh by the way...you'll probably have an endless stream of friends and relatives that want to visit.

 

[HeatherPage]

Thanks Mickeys#1fan-when do they expect this expansion to be finished? If it's like the DOT around here, I guess there's no telling. Also, how are the schools in that area? My son is only 19 months old but it never hurts to start thinking about that early (or maybe we could afford private school by then-wishful thinking I'm sure).

 

[mickeys#1fan]

It's 20 years too late, and the only reason I know about it is because I've driven through it. It'll take awhile from the look of it.
As far as schools, they're generally abyssmal. You can always find exceptions, but it's been seven years since we lived there, so I really can't say where you'd find them. I know even less about the Deltona area. At least housing is cheap, especially compared to Cary.

 

[chrissyk]

Originally posted by HeatherPage
Thanks Mickeys#1fan-when do they expect this expansion to be finished? If it's like the DOT around here, I guess there's no telling. Also, how are the schools in that area? My son is only 19 months old but it never hurts to start thinking about that early (or maybe we could afford private school by then-wishful thinking I'm sure).

The schools are just crummy! That's why we're still considering RTP even though we really want to be in Central FL. We toured Celebration School and we had mixed feelings on that school even. Right now, the schools are truly our holdup in deciding where to move. Even though your son is 19 months old, it's NOT too early to think about schools. My children are still a twinkle in my eye and finding an area w/good public schools is our #1 priority right now

One other thing...FL has this lettered rating scale for schools. Honestly, it doesn't seem to mean that much. Take a look at www.greatschools.org for comparative data...it didn't look like it took much for a school to earn an "A" rating My neighbors across the street are moving to Kissimmee in about a month...they bought 2 Dunkin' Donuts in Orlando! Anyways, they are very concerned about the quality of the schools in the area They seem taken in by the "A" ratings, though...definitely research what an "A" rating really means before deciding on a school/area because of it.

 

[Terry S]

Well, chrissyk and HeatherPage, if either of you find a good area to move to in Central Florida let me know. I really want to move there as well. One thing I have been doing on our last 2 trips is talking with CM's and guests who are from Florida and just asking them where is a good place to live. The one thing I have heard time and again from everyone I have talked to is to send your kids to a private school because the public schools are not good. It really bums me out, the one reason we moved to the city we currently live in is that the schools are great, so this is my only thing that is stopping me from moving. I want a really nice family neighborhood and good schools.

 

[HeatherPage]

Thanks for the heads up on the schools, Mickey and chrissyk - I guess there's always home schooling which I probably would enjoy, but I'd hate for my son to miss out on interacting with other kids (I'm sure he could play intramural sports though or something like that) of course, I'd have to be in a position where I didn't have to be bringing home a salary. I can see it now- "Come on sweetie, our lesson today is on the world community and its relationship with the United States so let's head over to EPCOT to tour some countries" Okay, maybe we wouldn't get a whole lot done that way, it was a good thought at least.
Terry S. if I find anything else out, I'll let you know. I just called the other day to the Deltona chamber of commerce for some information for them to send. I got a packet from Kimssimmee and St. Cloud last week. St. Cloud seems to be family oriented, I may have to check them out too.

 

[Terry S]

Well, I haven't looked into these and this is strickly hearsay, but several communities came up a few times when I asked around and they were: Windemere, Winter Garden, Winter Park and College Park. Like I said, I haven't had a chance to look into any of these, but all 4 of those names came up more than once when I asked about a nice family neighborhood to live in that was within 30 minutes drive time to WDW. (I would want to work there if I moved there so I would want to live within 30 mins). Somone elses idea of a nice family neighborhood, may not be the same as mine though!

 

[luv34747]

Keep them!!!

There are lots of celebration residents who are also dvc members. You can't live much closer to wdw than them.

 

[mickeys#1fan]

Originally posted by Terry S
Well, I haven't looked into these and this is strickly hearsay, but several communities came up a few times when I asked around and they were: Windemere, Winter Garden, Winter Park and College Park.

Here's what little I know about these areas:

Windermere - Tiger Woods lives here. Mainly country clubs and expensive gated communities. I think Eisner has a home here, too.

Winter Garden - Used to be in the sticks, but has grown alot. We had friends that lived here.

Winter Park - Most areas are older. Wide range of prices. Getting crowded.

College Park - Old section of town. Might find a good deal on a fixer-upper. Schools there have a good reputation.

Homeschooling is a great option, and there's a huge homeschool organization in Central FL - intramural sports, the works. No worries about interaction.

 

[Terry S]

Thanks mickeys#1fan... The one I had been thinking of was Windermere. Now I am wondering if it is out of my price range. We were looking for around $300,000. Do you know how the schools are in Windermere?

 

[HeatherPage]

Aaack! We will probably be thinking at the most $150,000 (and that's in 3 or 4 years). But we're only 30 and 31 so I guess there's plenty of time to find our dream house. I have a feeling Windermere isn't an option for us. Well I still have plenty of time to research but keep the info coming. Thanks!

 

[chrissyk]

One plus to the Celebration schools is that they seem to have their enrichment stuff down pat! On the school tour, we saw fantastic rooms for art, music, etc. If we decide that we really want to be in Celebration but we're not comfortable with the schools, one option that I can see is homeschooling for academics and putting the kids in Celebration school for the enrichment stuff That way, they get the socialization and learn skills that we aren't equipped to teach (art and such). It's definitely a possibility.

Our realtor recommended that we look at Windemere because it was a more "established" area. I'm not really sure what she meant by that, but I thought that I'd mention it since you guys asked about Windemere.

I think that "Baldwin Park" is the planned community in Winter Park. We looked at it in May. The houses were fantastic (and cheap! Like $300K for a big house!). Winter Park schools have a good reputation, too. The downsides to Baldwin Park were the surrounding area (urban bordering on ghetto IMHO) and the proximity to the airport (LOTS of low flying jets). Also, we saw police cars patrolling Baldwin Park 2 by 2, so it seemed to me that they were just expecting problems from the surrounding area to pose a problem to Baldwin Park residents

The 3rd development that we looked at was called Avalon Park. Hopefully luv34747 (my DH) will post here about where this actually was (he drove, LOL!). Anyways, this development was fantastic with awesome big (and cheap!!) houses, it's own school, etc. The downside to this one (for us anyways) was the big steam/smokestacks from the Orlando coal plant that were clearly visible down the Main street of the town. If you could live with that, this place was a gem!

 

[mickeys#1fan]

I'm not 100% certain about the answers to either of your questions. Windermere, being what it is probably has some very fine private schools. The public schools are probably better funded as well. As far price range, I'm not sure what you could get for $300K. Not all of it is country clubs, but I'm sure of it all being upscale. Lots of waterfront property.

As far as Celebration, you will definitely overpay. There is a website detailing home styles and pricing. It's expensive compared to what you could get in the Kissimmee area. Focus on results with the school. The schools there are kind of social and educational laboratories. Alot of experimental learning techniques. Take a close look at whether you goals will be met. Finally, read the covenants and restrictions very carefully. I've heard the occasional story about how strict the homeowners association is.

I don't mean to bash Celebration. There just happen to be better values all over the Orlando area.

One other note about Orlando subdivisions. Most of the new ones are zero lot line - very crowded, and they mow down all the trees. In general, stick with more established neighborhoods if you don't want your neighbor to be able to see your tan lines from his bathroom window.

 

[ducklite]

We're bilding a house twenty minutes from WDW. We have 460 points between the BCV and BWV. We'll be keeping them and using them for getaways to Vero and to trade out for Hawaii, Europe, and the concierge colection.

Anne

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by Terry S
Thanks mickeys#1fan... The one I had been thinking of was Windermere. Now I am wondering if it is out of my price range. We were looking for around $300,000. Do you know how the schools are in Windermere?

Terry--we looked at Windermere, our price range was a little above yours. It was OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive! Unless you wanted a chicken coop with a 40 year old roof and no central air it was in the $500K and up range!

We are building in Clermont--you can build a 3000+ square foot custom home in that town in your price range.

Anne

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by HeatherPage
Aaack! We will probably be thinking at the most $150,000 (and that's in 3 or 4 years). But we're only 30 and 31 so I guess there's plenty of time to find our dream house. I have a feeling Windermere isn't an option for us. Well I still have plenty of time to research but keep the info coming. Thanks!

Heather,

Windermere will be out of that price range by a long shot. We looked there and didn't see anything decent for under $500k! Dr. Phillips will be too expensive as well. Clermont and Davenport are definitely in the right range for you--lots of new construction in the $110-180 range in those towns.

Anne

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by mickeys#1fan
I'm not 100% certain about the answers to either of your questions. Windermere, being what it is probably has some very fine private schools. The public schools are probably better funded as well. As far price range, I'm not sure what you could get for $300K. Not all of it is country clubs, but I'm sure of it all being upscale. Lots of waterfront property.

As far as Celebration, you will definitely overpay. There is a website detailing home styles and pricing. It's expensive compared to what you could get in the Kissimmee area. Focus on results with the school. The schools there are kind of social and educational laboratories. Alot of experimental learning techniques. Take a close look at whether you goals will be met. Finally, read the covenants and restrictions very carefully. I've heard the occasional story about how strict the homeowners association is.

I don't mean to bash Celebration. There just happen to be better values all over the Orlando area.

One other note about Orlando subdivisions. Most of the new ones are zero lot line - very crowded, and they mow down all the trees. In general, stick with more established neighborhoods if you don't want your neighbor to be able to see your tan lines from his bathroom window.

I agree about Celebration. We looked there and didn't like the sterile feeling. We also didn't like the fact that we bought twice as much house in a nicer area twenty minutes up the road.

The schools in Celebration are not right for all but the most gifted and talented kids...I have a friend who is an elementary teacher who read several articles about the problems the schools there are having in professional journals. It's an experiment that is not working out for most kids. Many 2-3 year old homes are up for sale there--that should be an eye opener in itself...

Anne