Relocating to WDW?

[ToontownPrincess]

We have a home going up in Celebration, FL right now. We hope to close in April!

Oh I would LOVE to live in Celebration!!!!! I grew up in Orlando and my whole family still lives there. I hope to move back in a year after my boyfriend graduates college....if he can find a job in the area. I know I'll live in Orlando again and I can't wait to get back!

 

[Luv2Roam]

We relo from the midwest to central FL. And yes, Disney was a big influence (but not the only) in that decision.

 

[pigby]

SimonV and I have a home just a few minutes outside Disney. Far from ruining the magic or its 'getting old', we are MUCH happier having a home in the area.

We do travel a lot, but it's great to be so close to our work. It's my refuge, my little bit of heaven.

Cleo, I am assuming that yourself and Simon are Brit's (I have several copies of the Brit's guide, BTW both for WDW and DLP) - how did you find the move from the UK - I would love to do this but we are not self sufficient - myself and DH would need to work if we moved out. I suppose it may be easier if you were self employed but I work currently in a Bank (I have also worked in travel) and DH is a joiner. Is it possible to follow our dream and if so, can you recommend any books/websites we can browse?

 

[Mouse-n-Mini]

Oh how I would love to be a FL girl! I could've been, too! Just after my parents got married they moved down to Cape Coral and decided to have a home built. My grandma always lived down in Ft. Meyers so they wanted to be nearby. Anyway, my parents couldn't make enough money to live on and ended up coming back to IL to get their old jobs back. It's so depressing to think that I could have grown up in Cape Coral, but hopefully someday finances will allow us to move back down there as a family. Maybe after college.

 

[teentoddlermom]

While I love WDW, I'm not so enamored with the Orlando area...apologies to residents. It seems so flat, hot, a lot of sameness to the housing, and Orlando is a big city with big city problems. I know everything is air conditioned, but it is so hot for much of the year....I'm sure winter here in New England is like summer in Central Florida...people just stay in their houses because of the unfriendly temps outside. Any opinions on reasons to live in Orlando other than WDW?

 

[Simba22]

My DBF and I are moving there in 2008 (hopefully) we just love florida all around and it will be cheaper to vacation there if we live there.

 

[mking624]

DH & I plan on moving to the Orlando area. We LOVE WDW obviously, but our reasons are not just so we can visit WDW more often. Back in 2003 we drove to WDW and were able to spend time after WDW with my grandparents (who live outside Orlando) and DH's aunt & uncle (who live in Ft. Myers). So we were able to drive around their areas when we stayed with them...and we just fell in love with Florida. We really felt "at home" there. So once DH finishes seminary, we plan on moving there.

 

[jk1]

Two and a half years ago, I thought about moving to Orlando. Ended up signing a contract for a house to be built in a new development in Windermere. Finally closed on the house this past March. Now I am waiting out the time I need before I move there permanently. But every chance I get, I am down visiting!

 

[k5thbeatle]

Moving 1000+ miles away is extremely difficult. I researched online, came down 3 times to check out neighborhoods and finally decided where to live. We sold it all and headed down only to find that the houses we could have afforded before were totally out of our price range now and that the schools that I visited were like a timeshare sale...all "it's a wonderful school, very small classes" to once we were registered come to find out that the kids don't have a permanet teacher and have had various subs all year long.
It's one thing to visit.....but trust me when I say this is a whole different animal.
Would I do it all again had I known what I know now? Most likely but not in the area that I am in. I love the schools that both my kids are in now so I will stay in the zone but only as a renter. Housing in this area is $400k and up for a 3/2 and with taxes and insurance it's a hefty payment and trust me again when I say Disney don't pay enough to live here. Apartments are scarce and many turning condo. House rentals are tough too since living in a short term rental area means that you could have different neighbors every week. Not to mention the fact that the short term renters really don't give a hoot if it's a school night or you have to go to work in the morning.
Nope, no state taxes but guess what they do have?? they tax everything else. There is one tax free week a year and that's just before school starts. That's it. Gas is also much higher, milk is outrageous and the list goes on.
I don't want to be a downer but please anyone looking to live very close to WDW and you have kids do your homework and then do it again and again before you leave all your family, friends, house and jobs to move to the land of mouse ears.
As they say...You can bring Northern money South.....but you can't bring Southern money North.

Finally a voice of reason.

 

[michvin]

We are still thinking about moving. Don't get me wrong..we live in a very nice area, the kids go to great schools, have a beautiful home with nice country view BUT...property taxes over $10k, state taxes pretty high, 25-40 minutes to Walmart or Target or a mall, WINTER, 2 1/2 hours to beach and gas here is over $3/gallon and a gallon of milk is over $4...and I usually buy organic 1/2 gallon for $3 SOOOOOOOO for us, the job is portable, we are willing to downsize house to get the house we want in the neighborhood and schools, and be within 1 hour of beach and 1 hour of disney and have a pool and have 'errand type places' within close proximity and no WINTER. If we had to get a new job to move we probably wouldn't consider it and if it would mean we would have to lose stuff in the lifestyle instead of gain, probaly wouln't consider it either. I think that people, like us, from the I-95 NE corridor (between DC and NY) already pay a lot for most things so the money part is cheaper for us. Now if we lived more West of here, even Pittsburgh, PA which we love, and had a job there and wanted to move, we might not due to increasing living expenses instead of decreasing them. I am encouraged, though, by those who are happy with the lifestyle change.
One of my biggest things is not having to bundle 3 kids up in the winter in our heavy winter coats and gloves, and put on the heat to go to the grocery store and get milk and bread... and enduring those biting cold winds in January and feb! I will take the heat any day...especially given the Philly area has been in the mid 80's and 90's the past few weeks and I can't just hop over to TL or BB!

 

[flyinglizard]

We have always wanted to move to FLA. Even before there was WDW, we purchased a home site on the east coast, but were disappointed by the reality of the finished community.

We had been looking at neighborhoods in the greater Orlando area for a couple years. We found a builder that we really liked, and looked at the communities they were building. We found a very small project in Clermont, that we really liked, but all the good lots had been sold. When we got home from one trip, I got a call from the agent, and a prime lot had become available. We took it!

Shortly after we signed to have the house built in 2004, my company went through a change and I could decide to stay at my old store with a name and merchandise change, or I could transfer to Florida or Georgia and stay with the same store and products. They had three stores in the Orlando area... hmmm...

Although we did not purchase our new house at THE lowest price, we were close, it went much higher before we moved in. We were also lucky that our home in the Baltimore area was sold at the peak of the market boom, in only two days; both contracts above asking price and both with escalation clauses.

All the above is making a long story short, but the important thing is that once we decided we were moving, everything fell into place like a script!

Right now, the Orlando housing picture is "sluggish", with 19,000 homes on the market, while this same time last year there were only 5,000. A lot of investors who were hoping for a big, quick profit by "flipping" a house can't sell, so they are offering rental but getting few takers. Apt developements that had announced they were "going CONDO", now have gone back to apartments. Prices are coming back down, but slowly.

We've been in Clermont almost a year now. We can see MK fireworks from our B/R window and the lanai, but the sound takes a few seconds to get here. We had very few problems with our builder or our house.

For us, it really was a "happy ending"!

 

[safetymom]

I didn't find my cost of living to be much more than when I lived in PA. I also bought at a great time here in FL and house is worth much more than what I paid for it. I don't miss winter at all.

 

[flortlebap]

The year before I moved to Orlando I came to WDW 9 times. I decided it was cheaper to move here than visit.

I love it here.

Hi - sorry to pick on you (so to speak) but do the parks start to get a bit over familiar? Does it detract from your enjoyment of the parks?

I think part of the reason we love it so much is that we can only go every 3 or 4 years, it costs a lot and is a long way away, and it's just SO different to where we are in the UK! It makes it so much more special. If we lived there it would be just like we were visiting home and I'd be scared we wouldn't enjoy it as much

 

[Brise Nannie]

Dh and I always get clinically depressed (or at least it feels that way!) when we have to leave WDW! Our dd is 5 and she'll be at WDW for the 5th time in 23 days! Woohoo!! People think we're crazy and say there are so many other places to see and other things to spend $$ on, but we just LOVE it!

We hate to leave and we always talk about moving. The only thing stopping is is the kids. I worry sick about taking them away from their family. We are extremely close to my family and I want the kids to grow up with close grandparents. Now if we could just talk my parents in to coming with us!! Then we'd be set!

Oh MinnieMom, if you figure out how to talk other family members into moving PLMK. My DD and her family (she has my only 2 grandkids) are moving to FL as we speak. They'll be living approx. 1 1/2 - 2hr drive from Orlando. I can't even think about them living down there without me. I'm VERY close to my grandsons. DH won't move because his mother won't even consider relocating. I keep telling him I hear Mickey calling my name.

 

[GrandFloridian4]

....but do the parks start to get a bit over familiar? Does it detract from your enjoyment of the parks? I think part of the reason we love it so much is that we can only go every 3 or 4 years, it costs a lot and is a long way away, and it's just SO different to where we are in the UK! It makes it so much more special. If we lived there it would be just like we were visiting home and I'd be scared we wouldn't enjoy it as much

When we were deciding what state we wanted to move to, we narrowed it down to two & then decided that since we always vacation in FL - specifically WDW & cruising on DCL - the obvious choice for saving $$ & getting to visit both more was to move close to the parks & the port.

Yes, I feared that the "magic" might disappear when you get to go so often, but it actually hasn't been that way at all. We still get that excited feeling going into the parks, watching the shows, riding the rides & just knowing "We're going to Disneyworld!!!!" As a matter of fact, we actually crave going often (we visit on average 1-2x per week - sometimes 0 & then the following week we may go 3x) & miss it when we aren't going.

One thing that has really been great is that whenever we would be on vacation & visiting, we tended to re-visit our favorite rides & shows & then try to cram into the time left some new things to experience. This meant that there were many things that we never got to experience. Until I moved here, I had never done any of the tours & now have been to several. It seemed that there never was a good time to do them, especially when we had young kids & didn't have anywhere for them to go if they weren't old enough to join us. My DH still comments on how we used to 'force' ourselves to 'get the most of our money' & just be on the go constantly & now, we may be there for two or three hours, be tired, & then just go home.

Also, we tended to vacation at the same time of year -when it was cooler & less crowded - & then only got to experience the parks as they looked at that time. My DH had never seen WDW at Christmas time until we moved here, because it is a very busy time of year & I don't like waiting in lines for an hour or more & would stay away. Now, we go down several times per week during the month of December, just to enjoy the Christmas decorations, parades, etc. It really makes everything that much more enjoyable.

That is one of the best things about living close by, also. I would say that less than 1/2 the time that we go to WDW now do we go on rides. Most of our time is spent leisurely - yes, leisurely - enjoying DTD & the resorts & the different things they have to offer.

Actually, we end up saving a ton of money going to Disney by being a Florida Resident Seasonal Passholder. You pay approx. $400.00+/- & get to go as often as you'd like, with free parking & discounts, so the passes more than pay for themselves after 2-3 visits. Two major plusses are being able to change your schedule at the last minute if the weather isn't good or if you get there & the lines are long at an attraction, we just say, "No thanks, we'll do it next time."

I do miss the change of seasons & the summers are HOT, but we just go north to visit & the pros of living close by WDW are more than worth it.

 

[safetymom]

Living close to the parks have enhanced my experience in the parks. I go several times a week and now have the time to do the little things that I never had time for when we used to vacation here.

There is still plenty of things that I haven't done in the parks and I went over 80 times last year. I still get goose bumps with certain things in the park.

I wish I had done it years ago.

 

[TinkerbellMama]

I am from NY and DH is from MA. We moved last October and we are very happy. We love Celebration but it is $$$$$$ here now Everything costs as much as up North. I would have a job before I came next time. I own a pet sitting business and DH works for Marketing at WDW. I also work PT at WDW in concierge. We are making a lot less than we were up North as are most of our friends but we love the weather here and being so close to WDW. 5 minutes to property! We used to BE WDW property

<perk>

My husband is in Marketing...are they hiring????

 

[PatriciaH]

<perk>

My husband is in Marketing...are they hiring????

As far as he has heard there is a hiring freeze. Disney just laid off a ton of people. I know they need over 5500 hourly people but I guess the ones that get paid more they cut.

 

[Feralpeg]

Hi - sorry to pick on you (so to speak) but do the parks start to get a bit over familiar? Does it detract from your enjoyment of the parks?

I think part of the reason we love it so much is that we can only go every 3 or 4 years, it costs a lot and is a long way away, and it's just SO different to where we are in the UK! It makes it so much more special. If we lived there it would be just like we were visiting home and I'd be scared we wouldn't enjoy it as much

I've found we don't do the parks the way we used to do them when on vacation. For instance, the other day, DD and I decided to go to MK to ride POTC. We did a leisurely walk around MK, rode POTC, had lunch and went home. It was great. We had a very good time, but we were ready to go home because it was very hot.

We often just go for a stroll around one of the parks and dinner. Sometimes, we decide to go commando through a park, but not often. Because we have the time, we do just what we want and really take our time to look for the details and to talk to people.

Because I go to DTD so often, I know many of the CMs. It's like family.

 

[java]

One year when I was at Universal(GASP!) I met a woman just walking around the parks. She was so sweet. So happy! Just wandering around. She told me she doesn't even really like rides. She just loves the atmoshere of the parks. She lives there and hits a park to take a walk. Now that sounds nice to me!