Let's hear your Disney-themed dream retirement scenario

[rutgers1]

Perhaps some of you are living it already, but here is mine.....

When we retire (30 years from now!), my wife and I want to have a condo wherever our kids live and one down near Disney. Our DVC will be the enticement to get the kids and hopefully grandkids to visit. We both want to work at Disney. I would really like to work for DVC, even if only as the guy who drives guests back and forth to their resort when they take the DVC tour.

My wife and I are definitely not the types to sit around in the house. Actually, our main hobby is eating out, which is definitely satisfied at Disney. I can see us walking around Epcot and eating out several times per week.

Likelihood of this happening: 90%

 

[bradisgoofy]

We aren't that far from retirement, we want to find an RV resort near WDW to park our coach from new years to early May. I would like to work security (not the bag checkers) or be a bus driver. DW can't stand very long so she would like the ticket booth or maybe a bookkeeper, which she does now. We would use our DVC points to get the kids and grandkids down for visits.

 

[anonymousegirl]

I want to be a pontoon boat driver for either the Wishes or Illuminations cruises. I love Disney and fireworks and know lots of trivia, so this would be an ideal job for me.

 

[carol1231]

I would love a condo in Celebration. We would use our points for a studio on the weekends and hang out at one of the pools. If I work, I would like to be somewhere on Main Street, I want to wave the big Mickey hand in the morning when everyone is entering.

 

[Disneypirate85]

Ours is too get a little piece of land buy 1 of those Park Model homes and put on it. Just big enough for DW and I and the cat. We also will use or DVC for travel to other Disney Locations around the World and when kids visit.
Would like to work on one of the Ferries or be involved DVC operations.

 

[WolfpackFan]

Well both DW and I are both retired (three years now). I don't ever see us moving down to WDW, there is no way our DS33 and DD29 could function without us . But we are using our DVC membership to spend a lot of time down there. If you had asked five years ago if we'd ever be going to WDW 3-4 times a year I'd have said absolutely no way (and DW would have said over her dead body ). But that's exactly what we're doing. Our plan is 1-2 weeks a year at HHI and 2-3 weeks a year at WDW. It's not even close to being like we're residents of HHI or WDW but it's a lot more than I thought we'd be able to do. Once I start drawing Social Security in a couple of years, I hope to do an additional add-on to HHI so we can be guaranteed 2 full weeks a year in a 1BR there.

PS - If we did ever move anywhere else I could see us moving to Sun City at HHI. I just love the location and area. Bluffton is such a pretty little town. But once again DD and DS seem to have so many issues and things going on in their lives that seem to involve us (like am I the only person in the world that DS knows to call when he has a car problem ).

 

[murcor]

Our plan of retirement in 12 years isnt looking too good lately

Buy an RV and find an RV resort near WDW for the winter months, visit the brother-n-law and family in their lodge in the Canadian Rockies (their retirement plans , and in the summer months live at the cottage.

Our DVC will be to get the kids and grandkids to visit (and with the leftover pts use then ourselves)

I would love to work at the kidcot station in 'Canada' or in a Community Hall at one of the DVC Resorts

 

[ranthony]

Several HS friends have gone on to work at Disney well into their adult lives (I used to live in Volusia County) and also have known some co-workers that have done the college program and they all have one resounding thing in common when I speak with them about Disney...working there "ruins the magic". I don't think I would want to work there and chance that happening.

I'd much rather take a part time job near our lake house in the warmer months when we're there to supplement the needed income for living in our DVC for 2-3 months. (Which is what we hope to do). We figure that OKW 2042 contracts should be selling for a fraction on what they are now (which is pretty cheap, btw) in the next 20 years when we're ready for retirement. With strategic planning we can eliminate a weekend here and there by visiting friends, family in the area and should be able to stretch our stays nicely that way.

Also, the AKV value studios (or any room size) are proportionately more reasonable for weekends than the OKW 1 BRs so we could leave our 1 BRs once in a while to stay in a studio for a few nights. The weekday points at OKW are a great bargain but the weekends aren't as great of a deal when compared to AKV.

DH jokes that he would be fine with a conversion van in the parking lot on Fri and Sat nights...(Gosh, I sure hope he is joking!)

 

[culli]

DH jokes that he would be fine with a conversion van in the parking lot on Fri and Sat nights...(Gosh, I sure hope he is joking!)

How does that go.......if the van is a rockin don't come knockin

 

[emlutz23]

My DH wants to be one of the boat operators, such as the one for SSR to DTD. And I want to work in any Magic Kingdom gift shop! We'll live nearby of couse, but our DVC will be good for mini-escapes and for the kids and grandkids!

 

[PSC]

I would also like to buy a retirement home near Disney and work there part time. My hobby is motorcycling and I'm a Motorcycle Safety Foundation instructor - which means spending a lot of weekends standing in a parking lot during the hot summer months. My great retirement fear is that because of my previous experience, I'll end up as a parking lot attendant at the MK waving people to "go over there".

 

[drommer0]

My wife and I are going to do our first retirement trip starting Sunday. She has been a high school English teacher for 35 years and just retired. She has always wanted to take a winter vacation and get away from the Mn winters. We are going to spend two weeks at OKW. After driving to work the last two days with -32 and -31 on my car thermometer, it will be nice even if it is only 55 degrees out. Still will be a 75 degree increase from the weather we are leaving. When we return we only have 6 weeks left and that makes living her Okay.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I'd love to live year round in an OKW two bedroom dedicated villa.

Likelihood of this happening: 0%

Likelihood of staying right where I am in Louisiana: 100%

 

[dianeschlicht]

Well, we are of retirement age, but not retired. We spend at least 2 weeks at one of our DVC resorts each winter, and then another trip or two in between.

Our "retirement Disney dream" is to have enough points to spend at least 3 months of winter in Disney. Then the alternate dream is to stay down there for the winter living in a condo with DH driving a Disney bus, and I'd love to work one of the ride attractions.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We thought that we would be buying in Orlando, DH thought he couldn't be a homebody once retired and he would like to have worked for Disney. Well, he's still working full time, and we're both happy about that, for now. Seeing all of the blue roofs after the last bout of hurricanes hit Florida did a job on my psyche. Now I lean toward retiring to Tennessee or Cape May.

When DH does retire, if we're in one of the places I mentioned, we would like to stay in WDW/VB for the month of January and 1/2 of February.

Bobbi

 

[TIGGERmetoo]

Ok, you asked. The 'plan' was to have DH’s job moved him to Orlando (& pay moving expenses) before the kids started high school. Well that didn’t happen so the 'plan'changed to try that before DS#2 started high school, that didn’t happen either. Now the kids are 23 and 26! The revised 'plan' is to still have DH’s job move him to Orlando and find myself get a job at Disney (in accounting so it wouldn’t “ruin the magic”) to get the perks.

Likelihood of this happening: ??? too scared to put a high number, don’t want to be disappointed and it would be too depressing to put a lower number.

I’ll just keep dreaming.

 

[jekjones1558]

We had hoped to spend about 6 weeks in a 1 bedroom every winter. We are retired and we have accumulated the points but now health issues are interfering. We still hope that changes at some point and our dream happens.

 

[AnnaS]

We are/were not even close to retirement age but due to unexpected medical reasons, dh has been officially disabled/retired for about 9 months. I work p/t but that would not be a problem.

I would need at least two of my kids to move out before we even think of leaving all three here for more than a week or so, lol. They are 23, 21 and 16. They literally need a personal maid In about a year or two when my youngest is driving, I don't have to worry about car pooling, driving to activities, etc. either.

Our hope/dream is to spend the winters in Florida and get a seasonal p/t job for myself - perhaps in one of the resorts. If this does not work out, we will be more than happy to spend a few weeks (winters) in one of the DVC villas.

 

[Krissalee]

DH and I will both be getting our Captain's Licenses, so we can captain the boats from the resorts to the parks. A long way off, but we can dream.....

 

[VLee]

Hopefully.....my retirement dream will start this May (age 57) with grandkids, 9, 6 and 2 by then. Plans are to stay at Disney about 4 weeks, beginning May 24 and ending the last few days at Universal, departing around June 24 for our drive back to Louisiana. (We have always flown before, but would like a car since we are staying so long.)

Thereafter, would like to visit about 3 times each year, sometimes staying at the Fort in our RV and other times at the Villas. At this point, I have to take the older kids when they are out of school....although they are both great students and have often missed a week during the year. I look forward to taking just the 2 year old at various times since she is not in school for a few years.

Perhaps, my mother again, (80) ...she has been each year for the last 3 years. And finally, maybe, just maybe my husband-- if his work schedule permits. I think he will want the RV vacations... since one or two of our 6 dogs must accompany him everywhere he goes.

Really want to get into photography -- once we slow down and master the fireworks shows at Disney.
And finally catch up on all our Disney scrapbooking.