Orlando, pros/cons?

[MyGoofy26]

Since I will be renting, does anyone have any more insight regarding the person who said "CA may be a better option". Is that really true?

Go to www.forrent.com and www.apartments.com and do some searches to get an idea of what apartments run in different areas of the city. It all depends on what area and what kind of apartment and what amenities you want.

When I did my program, I was planning to stay and we had an apartment lined up. It was in the MetroWest area (just down the road from Universal, pretty popular area at the time for young adults. . . probably still is) We signed our lease for $995 a month for a 3 bedroom with a view in a gated community with a number of amenities. We also got a free month for signing our lease. There are SO many new developments that most places offer signing bonuses - free months, discounted rent, etc. to compete with each other. The slightly older places (and at the time I was looking even a couple years was "old" because there were so many places opening up) would give the best deals.

If you DO get a part time job at Disney, make sure you tell leasing agents because employees get discounts at TONS of places. At the very least, you'll probably get your application fee waived. . . which ran about $35 per person when I was apartment hunting so if you're applying at a few apartment complexes that can be a HUGE savings. Disney has a booklet for cast members called Donald's Deals that has information on TONS of local businesses that offer discounts to cast members. Unless things have changed . . . but they had it when I was there.

I don't know much about renting in California. So I can't help you there. But at least you have my experience apartment hunting in Orlando to think about.

 

[Metro West]

Despite many cons being thrown at me I'm not giving up on Florida. It would be just as hard as find a job here, plus it's BORING in Delaware. At least in Florida, I'd be in the setting I like much better. I've been there many times and I loved it.

Living in FL and visiting are two entirely different experiences. I have been coming here since 1975 and always wanted to move to Orlando. I moved down in 2004 from Virginia and am not sorry I made the move. But, I had quite a bit of money in the bank from the sale of my townhouse to help with bills and settling in until I could find a nice job. It took almost a year to find a decent job here (I jumped from temp job to temp job in the meantime). I've been at my job almost two years and make more than a buddy of mine who has worked for Disney for seven years and he's in the administrative field. If you MUST work for Disney try starting out part-time on weekends and holidays..providing you have a full-time job and can make the bills w/o someone else's help. If you move to FL based on someone else's ability to share the expenses, you could be in BIG trouble. I don't care how long you've known this person or how well, things happen sometimes..even between friends. Just be careful and think about this a LONG time before making any concrete plans.

 

[ducklite]

Go to www.forrent.com and www.apartments.com and do some searches to get an idea of what apartments run in different areas of the city. It all depends on what area and what kind of apartment and what amenities you want.

When I did my program, I was planning to stay and we had an apartment lined up. It was in the MetroWest area (just down the road from Universal, pretty popular area at the time for young adults. . . probably still is) We signed our lease for $995 a month for a 3 bedroom with a view in a gated community with a number of amenities. We also got a free month for signing our lease. There are SO many new developments that most places offer signing bonuses - free months, discounted rent, etc. to compete with each other. The slightly older places (and at the time I was looking even a couple years was "old" because there were so many places opening up) would give the best deals.

If you DO get a part time job at Disney, make sure you tell leasing agents because employees get discounts at TONS of places. At the very least, you'll probably get your application fee waived. . . which ran about $35 per person when I was apartment hunting so if you're applying at a few apartment complexes that can be a HUGE savings. Disney has a booklet for cast members called Donald's Deals that has information on TONS of local businesses that offer discounts to cast members. Unless things have changed . . . but they had it when I was there.

I don't know much about renting in California. So I can't help you there. But at least you have my experience apartment hunting in Orlando to think about.

Metrowest is a good area going bad as Crime Hills is quickly encroaching. Incidents of burglary's and car break-in's theft are quickly rising, and there have been a couple of murders in the area. A couple of guys were robbed at gunpoint going into their apartment a couple months ago.

Additionally so many apartments are going condo that finding one that will give more than a month-to-month lease is becoming more and more difficult. This is a different area than it was two years ago.

Not sure if Donalds Deals still exists or not, I haven't been to the CU in a year now, and that's where I used to see it.

Anne

 

[ducklite]

Living in FL and visiting are two entirely different experiences. I have been coming here since 1975 and always wanted to move to Orlando. I moved down in 2004 from Virginia and am not sorry I made the move. But, I had quite a bit of money in the bank from the sale of my townhouse to help with bills and settling in until I could find a nice job.

I was in the same boat, I first decided to move to Florida in 1989. DH is able to telecommute, so no job change for him, and he makes enough to squeeze by.

It took almost a year to find a decent job here (I jumped from temp job to temp job in the meantime). I've been at my job almost two years and make more than a buddy of mine who has worked for Disney for seven years and he's in the administrative field.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who found that it took an extraordinarily long time to land a good job here.

If you MUST work for Disney try starting out part-time on weekends and holidays..providing you have a full-time job and can make the bills w/o someone else's help. If you move to FL based on someone else's ability to share the expenses, you could be in BIG trouble. I don't care how long you've known this person or how well, things happen sometimes..even between friends. Just be careful and think about this a LONG time before making any concrete plans.

Good advice. No, rather VERY good advice!!

Anne

 

[kdm31091]

All this not-being-able-to-find-jobs stuff is really starting to scare me. I should probably reconsider this move.

 

[ducklite]

All this not-being-able-to-find-jobs stuff is really starting to scare me. I should probably reconsider this move.

You know, now that I think about it, your answer is right in front of you. Stay with McDonalds. Work you way up to shift leader and go to McDonalds U to get management skills. Then transfer to a McD's down here. Now you've arrived and have a job to fall back on that will pay the bills. Work there while you get to know the area, and decide what you want to do with your life. Then take classes while you work.

I've said it before on these boards, and I'll say it again. For smart, motivated individuals, McDonalds IS a good career starting point. They promote almost exclusively from within, and you can walk away with a few years of MANAGEMENT experience under your belt. McDonalds stresses a lot of things that employers like to see. Teamwork and customer service being two of them. It doesn't mean you'll spend the rest of your life saying "Y'all want some fries with that burger?" But you can take the skills you acquire there and leverage them into a variety of fields.

Anne

 

[kdm31091]

You're really serious? I hate McDonald's. It was practically the only place that would hire me at 15. Once I'm actually 16 I was going to look into drugstores like Happy Harry's or Rite Aid. I hate being around disgusting fast food. I guess I could deal with it if it meant experience, but still, would a drugstore offer good-looking experience too?

Wherever I'm at, though, your basic plan sounds great. I'll work at a chain type place, work my way up until I'm 18 and ready to go, then transfer (these chains are abundant after all) to a locale in Orlando/surrounding area. Then I can have a decent living in an apartment w/ roomate while I scout for jobs and do my training/degree/classes. Good plan!

 

[MyGoofy26]

All this not-being-able-to-find-jobs stuff is really starting to scare me. I should probably reconsider this move.

Unfortunately that's just the state of things right now in almost every city/region. Luckily, where I live we're on the verge of a big boom - a theme park opening phase 1 in the summer, Homeland Security opening a main office downtown, a number of technology companies moving in. I just got a call this morning for an interview from one major company that just opened its doors. If I can get this job, or one of the others coming in then I'm much better off to stay here than to move back to Orlando like I planned when I left after the college program. I can buy a cute, nice, little house here for what I'd spend in rent for 5 years there. Cost of living is so low, even a "McMansion" here will only run about $200,000 - that's for the huge house and quite a few acres!

But Orlando seems to be one of those cities that's cooling off from everything I've heard from locals and what I see in job listings. That's why you need some sort of education or specialty - if you're going in as entry level you have a lot of competition for low paying jobs.

 

[MyGoofy26]

Metrowest is a good area going bad as Crime Hills is quickly encroaching. Incidents of burglary's and car break-in's theft are quickly rising, and there have been a couple of murders in the area. A couple of guys were robbed at gunpoint going into their apartment a couple months ago.

Additionally so many apartments are going condo that finding one that will give more than a month-to-month lease is becoming more and more difficult. This is a different area than it was two years ago.

Really? That is such a shame! I loved that area when I was there. Sad to hear it's going downhill!

 

[ducklite]

You're really serious? I hate McDonald's. It was practically the only place that would hire me at 15. Once I'm actually 16 I was going to look into drugstores like Happy Harry's or Rite Aid. I hate being around disgusting fast food. I guess I could deal with it if it meant experience, but still, would a drugstore offer good-looking experience too?

Wherever I'm at, though, your basic plan sounds great. I'll work at a chain type place, work my way up until I'm 18 and ready to go, then transfer (these chains are abundant after all) to a locale in Orlando/surrounding area. Then I can have a decent living in an apartment w/ roomate while I scout for jobs and do my training/degree/classes. Good plan!

McDonalds will offer the fastest track into management with great advancement and training opportunities of almost all the retail companies. They are one of the few who will promote to general manager based on merit and experience rather than the possession of a degree. They were one of the first companies to offer a full "Corporate University" and their Hamburger U is a widely regarded world-class benchmark in the field. Dell, Disney, Caterpillar, DoD and Cisco have all looked to the model that McDonalds developed.

Anne

 

[kdm31091]

Good. I'll stay with McDonald's and do that plan you suggested. But as for a possible career, I just want something that earns a living where I don't have to worry about the bills, but yet is hands on. A barber salary looks to be about $16k in Florida, worse then I thought, and that's not liveable by any stretch.

A medical secretary does not make hugely more, but about $19-28k according to Valencia Community College website. I like medical stuff, and I like organizing, typing, etc, so maybe medical secretary is a good fit? Would the 2 year coursework be a lot of math, science, english, etc or just "learning how to be a medical secretary?" And does a male like me even have a chance in that field anyway? I've heard and seen that it's HIGHLY predominantly females. I don't want to look strange. But based on my interests listed in this paragraph is it a good or bad idea?

 

[Metro West]

All this not-being-able-to-find-jobs stuff is really starting to scare me. I should probably reconsider this move.

Remember...in Orlando you're up against MANY people who save the same experience you have. This is a service/tourism area and lots of employers cater to that type of job and they don't pay much at all. You might want to look into call center/customer service jobs around the area. But you should have some kind of customer service experience. Unless you have some experience that's unique or something that really sets up apart, it's going to be tough to find anything that would be capable of supporting your daily life. I'm not trying to scare you...just trying to make you understand what's involved in making a move to another state...it takes LOTS of planning and LOTS of money upfront. You'll have to pay deposits on apartments and utilities so don't forget to think about that.

 

[kdm31091]

Is $20k saved up (I will have roughly that by summer 09) enough or do I need more?

 

[ducklite]

Good. I'll stay with McDonald's and do that plan you suggested. But as for a possible career, I just want something that earns a living where I don't have to worry about the bills, but yet is hands on. A barber salary looks to be about $16k in Florida, worse then I thought, and that's not liveable by any stretch.

A medical secretary does not make hugely more, but about $19-28k according to Valencia Community College website. I like medical stuff, and I like organizing, typing, etc, so maybe medical secretary is a good fit? Would the 2 year coursework be a lot of math, science, english, etc or just "learning how to be a medical secretary?" And does a male like me even have a chance in that field anyway? I've heard and seen that it's HIGHLY predominantly females. I don't want to look strange. But based on my interests listed in this paragraph is it a good or bad idea?

Rather than a community college you might be better off going to a business school. You will have to take some math classes--business math and basic bookkeeping, and English--business writing, but these will be career oriented, and not just generalized classes.

When I say business school, I'm not talking about a correspondence course, but an actual accredited business school.

Anne

 

[MyGoofy26]

A barber salary looks to be about $16k in Florida, worse then I thought, and that's not liveable by any stretch.

But, if you do like I mentioned earlier and go to a good school (not just for your stereotypical barber doing $10 haircuts) and get in with one of the big, trendy salons or salons gearing to tourists going all out, pampering themselves I'd be willing to bet there's a huge difference in pay.

You really need to think about what you'll be happy with doing for the rest of your life that you can find the motivation to work hard to rise above the "average" in the field and NOT look at whether or not math and English classes are required, what starting pay is, or the easiest to get into. Unless you get VERY lucky, you'll most likely end up miserable. You can't choose a career simply because you don't have to take math class or write a few papers.


Something to consider, someone I was on the college program with went back to Orlando to work. . . his roommate at the time was working at a restaurant at Downtown Disney (not sure which restaurant) as a waiter and making between $200-300 a night in tips. Obviously this was during the busiest seasons. . . but if you do find a job that you really want to pursue that doesn't pay well to start with and you think you can work hard to advance, you may want to consider taking seasonal jobs as a waiter to save money to make up the difference.

 

[kdm31091]

Well the career I truly think I have motivation for is being a hairstylist/barber. My sister is a waiter once a week now (formerly more) and although of course it's not high paying, you do walk out with tips every day, which can be a plus.

I wouldn't mind doing the barbering and waitering together as needed. I need to do what makes me happy. Cutting and styling hair fascinates me and makes me happy, so that is what I should do. I'm going to stop doubting and floundering for easy ways out. I want to be a barber. Now I just need to find the best school and get into a nice place. Thanks for the advice, I hope this works.

 

[kdm31091]

You mentioned being a barber--how about massage therapist? It's a growing field, and you can find jobs in spas, hospitals, with chripractic practices, you can start your own proactice, or a combination. A friend of mine is friends with a girl who works at one of the local swanky spas that caters to tourists enough hours a week to get her health benefits, but runs her own mobile practice on the side with local clients. She's doing quite well. My guess is she works 45 hours a week or so, and is making in the $40K+ per year range.

Anne

Sorry - forgot to ask - what's the educational requirements for a massage therapist? Specialized, hands-on schools? Regular college?

Never thought of it, but it does sound kinda interesting, so I'd like more info. Thanks for planting an idea in my head Anne

 

[SamRoc]

Goto UCF. It has a decent buisiness program and also a good hospitality program also too. And if you want you can work part time at disney. Disney people always recruit people from UCF.

My dd is auditioning for UCF in February for their musical theater program. She really likes the school.

 

[Amity 3]

I'd check into the medical field. our neighbor is a physician at tampa general hospital. they moved down here from Michigan primarily because of the (very large) salary increase they offered for him to relocate. health care and teachers are highly needed.

 

[kdm31091]

How about Cali? I figured it was an insane idea, but some of the 1 bedrooms are only like 1000-1200 a month. Yes that's a LOT of money, but with a roomate, could it be feasible? BTW, I'm not talking San Francisco anymore. This is in Anaheim, a CA city I also like (visited a few times).