Living near the magic, questions???

[suorkaterina]

Anybody know anything about Winter Garden? It has a cute little website, but that could be misleading!

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

Anybody know anything about Winter Garden? It has a cute little website, but that could be misleading!

My advice after years of research is move down in a rental and look around. We had thought we wanted to live in Palm Bay and realized very quickly that is no where we wanted to be. We ended up about 30 min north and would not have been happy if we moved where we thought we wanted to be. Florida is a quirky state make sure you live in the area before you purchase property or a home because the market down here is crazy.

 

[bawstngrl]

Anybody know anything about Winter Garden? It has a cute little website, but that could be misleading!

Winter Garden is between Clermont and Orlando to the West and if you take the new Hwy 429 you can be at Disney in 20 mins.
I personally prefer Clermont ( I have lived in both)....Clermont is more "suburban" and green and now has a lot of stores/restaurants (which it really did not when we arrived in 2001).

As someone above said come and RENT - there are many many houses for sale and rent - and see what appeals to you. You can check out both coasts - personally I would prefer the Tampa area over Cocoa, but everyone is different. You need to see what works for you.

As far as housing, you can get acreage and privacy, or a brand new house with a pool in a new subdivision...or a condo ( and get to skip all the yard work). There are also very nice over 55 communities ( If you fit that category)

I do miss the seasons - especially fall......but it is a small price to pay to not shovel snow and put on triple layers of clothes!!!!! It hits 90 and stays there for 5 to 6 months so sometimes, for me, the heat gets a little overwhelming...but overall I have enjoyed being here.

 

[bawstngrl]

Thank you all! This is helpful, very helpful



...one more thing...I wanna live in Celebration too!

Celebration - my opinion - a nice place to visit, but not really to live. It is very EXPENSIVE!!!!
and there are a lot of rules and regulations to follow...about plantings/grass maintenance/what you can have on your property etc. etc. Even down to painting your house and trim...everything is very controlled! Homeowner fees are very high also.

 

[Disney MAINEiac]

Celebration - my opinion - a nice place to visit, but not really to live. It is very EXPENSIVE!!!!
and there are a lot of rules and regulations to follow...about plantings/grass maintenance/what you can have on your property etc. etc. Even down to painting your house and trim...everything is very controlled! Homeowner fees are very high also.

I agree, coming from rural Maine (which is like the wild west in comparison to some place with a HOA) I just could not get used to living where they tell me what I have to do with my place. give me a few acres and some me space. I don't mind a drive to get groceries.

 

[solar]

New podcast listener here: quick question...who was the person in the podcast that mentioned french fries and Wildwood? (NJ)

<---- LBI and Wildwood - my summer playgrounds when I'm not in Disney

OP - We're looking into this as well in a couple years...good luck to you! I hope you find an area you love.