Locals in Orlando??

[mhcueball2]

My fiance and I are actually thinking of moving to Florida, around the disney parks (since there seems to be many employment opportunities there). We are young so we'd like to do it now...before kids come along.

Any word on houses/apartments there?? Is it good to work for disney (or hard to find work)??

Any tips or suggestions??

 

[dzneelvr]

I have a business friend that moved to Celebration almost a year ago. He did a ton of research on jobs, etc. and a big part of his success in making it work was that his company allowed him to transfer to their Florida office, so he didn't need to get a new job.

Be prepared. It is VERY difficult to get into Disney and the local job market is flooded with people wanting to come to the "promised land".....wages are low; cost of living is high. Do your homework before making any big decisions. Get on websites of temp help agencies, chamber of commerce's, company career lines in order to see what vacancies are there.

One huge roadblock will be the availability to make job interviews. In-person job searches are best. Will you be able to travel on a timely basis to pound the pavement??

Good Luck but don't get your hopes up!!

 

[ChristmasElf]

The cost of living in Orlando is not that high. The cost of living in Celebration is ridiculously high!

There are areas around here that are very reasonable. A lot of cast members live in Lake County. Clermont area. (look for Hwy 27 on a map)
Kissimmee is in Osceola County. Here you will find fairly reasonable rents.
Hunters Creek is just north of Kissimmee in Orange County. There are several apartment communities here.
Dr. Philips, Windermere, Bay Lakes, Winter Park, these are all higher rent areas.
You will never NEVER get rich working at the house of the mouse. Most Cast members start around $6.95 an hour. You will be expected to work most week ends and holidays as you know WDW is open 365 days per year.
You would be better off checking out major companies that are in the area that you are qualified for if you want to make money.

ChristmasElf

 

[msdis]

A lot of employers say locals only righton their ads so it makes it almost impossible to get hired without moving first. We are seeing that roadblock.

 

[Stepharoonie!]

We live across the street from Sea World and for a 2 bedroom apartment, we pay almost $900 a month in rent.

Gas costs are getting higher...and yes, Disney CMs get between $6.25 to $6.95 an hour. It's not the ideal place for jobs around here, sadly.

 

[DocRafiki]

I don't think the job prospects around the parks are good at all. Actually, I was discussing that with someone last night -- talking about how it would be nice to live closer to them so I could just pop in and out. But, if you're a professional, pickings are slim. It's mostly service jobs down there.

Plus, I pay less than Steph does for a 3-BR, 2-ba, 1-car garage house w/screened porch and fenced yard (retention pond view to boot)!

 

[JANNYANS]

Can i sort of high jack this thread ?
my son has to do an exam piece on tourism from the locals point of view -but we only know locals within the tourism trade and that is no good .We could do with fed back from local who work in other sectors so if you feel like answering a couple of questions we would be intersted in your points of view.
The questions are as follows
what problems does tourism bring to the area ,? ie litter,traffic , vandalism employment others?


what are the advantages of tourism


do you think in general tourism is important for the area and why /why not?
what would the area be like without it
any other comments you have to make would be appreciated
many thanks

 

[kylara]

Janny, I sent you a PM regarding your questions so as to not hi jack the thread. Hopefully you can use the answer.

Now to the OP. If you are moving to the Orlando area just to work for WDW, I would suggest you think seriously about if that is what you want to do. WDW rarely hires anyone for more than entry level work. Some higher positions are filled from outsiders but not very often since there are many CMs at the park who can qualify for them and who have Disney experience.

You don't say if you have any qualifications for specific jobs. Most in the tourism industry here are entry level. That doesn't mean all of them are, but you have lots of competition for those jobs from locals who are here to interview immediately rather than having to wait for someone to make travel arrangements down here.

As for the cost of living being high...that depends on where you are coming from. I moved down south from the Boston area...to me, the cost of living is lower than there. Apartment prices range depending on the area you live. Houses on the average are much cheaper than where I grew up. In fact, my sister lives in MA still and is paying over $450,000 for a new 3 bedroom house (being built). My staff assistant here just bought a new 4 bedroom house (built) from 180,000. And both are comparable areas. My sis is in a suburb of Boston...and my asst. is in a suburb of Orlando. So as I said, cost of living is relative to where you are moving from.

I would suggest if either of you have jobs now with national companies, check to see if there is the possibility of a transfer. I know a few people who have moved to the area that way. Or if you are in a field that is highly sought after in this area, such as nursing or education, then it might be easier to move.

Either way, good luck if you decide to go for it.