Prefer to live really near or kinda near WDW?

[kaabost]

Oh man, I haven't been on these boards for a while. After returning from my Jan. trip with no plans for a new trip, I have been "scared" to start "dissing" again. Oh well, here it goes.......

I've been daydreaming about where I might like to end up in life (location-wise). One question comes to mind. Would you prefer to live within an hour of WDW or would you rather live around 3-4 hours away? This initially sounds like a no-brainer for me (huge WDW fan). Both options sound great to me right now considering I am about 2 days away (driving). Either way, I would HAVE to have an annual pass.

If I lived in the area, I could go whenever I wanted. If I wanted to eat at one of the restaurants I could go. If I was feeling down at the end of a long day at work I could go watch the fireworks. If I needed a good dose of sparkling lights and happy music I could be in the middle of it any time I want. I COULD RIDE SPACE MOUNTAIN ANY DAY I WANTED! AH, that would all be wonderful!

On the other hand, I worry that these activities might cause conflicting emotions to arise. For instance.....watching a million families blissfully on vacation for a week would likely make me extremely jealous if I knew that I was going home to get ready for work after the fireworks. Furthermore, this is the only kind of visit to WDW that I know.......blissfully on vacation....away from the real world.

Am I babbling? Are you still with me? OK, I'll hurry up.

IF I were to live 3-4 hours away from WDW I would not be able to visit ANY time I wanted (well that doesn't sound good). BUT I would be able to visit much more often than I do now. Again, I would get annual passes.......wouldn't this allow me to stay in the All Stars or Pop Century really cheaply? Anyone know what the deal is with annual pass hotel discounts? Anywho, I would like to think that I could do the WDW thing several weekends or on several long weekends, and still do a longer week long trip. WOULDN'T THAT BE GREAT? I could go to WDW more often yet still preserve the vacation/away from the real world feeling.

What are your thoughts?

 

[GeorgeG]

Both scenarios have their valid points. I don't know if there's any easy way to choose unless you just flip a coin.

I've always wanted to move close to WDW, and might still. I, too, like the idea of being able to pop on over anytime. I believe Florida residents get nice discounts at WDW resorts, so that's a good point for being a few hours away, too.

Perhaps where you work will be a good determining factor. I'm going to retire in two years and Florida will be the place I move to. I had originally thought about being close to WDW, but I'm now considering the SW coast, more specifically, the Port Charlotte area. That's probably about 2-3 hours away from WDW.

One thing I'm taking into consideration is it might be better overall to be just far enough so that WDW is not a "day trip" away. I do not want to be a free hotel for every friend or relative who wants to go to WDW and is too cheap to pay for a room. I'm worried we'll have houseguests more weeks out of the year than not. I'm not anti-social, but a friend who has already moved down (and not even close to WDW), says her house is like a bed and breakfast certain times of the year. Just a little too much for me.

Whatever you decide, I wish you the best.

 

[Disney Doll]

I would probably live an hour or two away, on or nearer to the Florida coast...probably the East coast. No offense to oyu central Floridians, but if I am living in Flroida, I am being near the ocean, not smack in the middle of the state!!!!!!

My DSIL lives in a nice area called Barefoot Bay...it's about 1 1/2 hours from WDW, on the East coast, between Melbourne and Sebastian, about 15-20 minutes form Vero. The Indian River is close by, the Atlantic Ocean is close by, it's a nce little community. Someplace like that is probably where I'd go. The you're at WDW relatively quickly (my DSIL always drives over to see us when we're there), but far enough so it's a still a "vacation".

 

[JaysGoofyMom]

I moved to Florida from NY in August and I LOVE IT!! I am in West Palm Beach which is 2 1/2 hours away from WDW. I have an annual pass and visit as often as I can. A friend and I went to Epcot just for the day. I think it's perfect. I am close to the beach and close enough to WDW. What more can you ask for?

 

[Feralpeg]

I am moving to Florida in June. I will be 10 minutes away from WDW. I can't see myself going on a daily basis, but it will be nice to be able to run over if I feel like it. We will most certainly get the Florida resident passes as soon as possible.

I was down there in March with DD to check on our house that we are building. We were sitting at a table in front of Casey's on Main Street one afternoon. We started talking to a woman and her teenage daughter sitting at the next table. They live in the area. In fact, her husband is a pastry chef for Disney. They had just decided to have a mother/daughter bonding day at the Magic Kingdom. How cool! I can't wait!

 

[skuttle]

I think I'd rather live kinda near...a few hours away sounds perfect to me.

 

[nowellsl]

I love living 2 hours away. We go for long weekends mostly. There are good Florida residents discounts for rooms and we have seasonal passes. We have black out dates but we don't go when it's peak season anyway. I don't think I'd want to live in Orlando but it would be fun to be able to just pop over and have dinner whenever I wanted to!

 

[airhead]

.....by plane!!!! That's close enough for me. I'd NEVER leave New England! NEVER!!

 

[Dax]

Ok...I live half an hour away from WDW...and my opinion....I LOVE IT!!!


Due to work restrictions and the pesky thing called responsibility, I cant go as often as I would like...but I go pretty often. I had a Premium Annual Pass for a while and I was at WDW every weekend. I loved it. I have a cousin who works for WDW in the MK so I still get to go on a regular basis, and I also have passes for Univeral, SeaWorld and Busch Gardens, so I get my theme park fix pretty often. I am actually going to IOA tomorrow and going to try and preview the Mummy, then off to SeaWorld for some fun, then going to have dinner at the Grand Floridian, and going to watch Wishes from the beach. Sounds like a great day to me....