Relocating to WDW?

[Feralpeg]

I was looking at Windermere. Does anyone have any thoughts on that area? It seems like a great place with some pretty affordable homes.

I've lived in Windermere for eight years. It's a great area. It's right next door to WDW, but you'd never know it. No tourist traffic in this area. Homes range from the $150k to millions. It's a nice quiet area. The chain of lakes is beautiful. I love the area.

 

[DLB]

We REALLY want to move closer to florida, but we are not able to sell our house up here in CT. We need to find a home swap or something!!!

 

[earthfaries]

We relocated to Walt Disney World 3 years ago from Asheville, N.C. We were tired of talking about it as a dream, and really wanted to live the fun ~ so we decided to make our dreams come true and move to Disney!

We're all so glad we did, it's been THE Best and most fun years of our lives! We still feel as if we're always on vacation, and we never grow tired of the parks, or the magic .

We love being able to head to the parks whenever we want to, whether it's to ride a ride, eat dinner, or just get a treat ~ it's only a few miles away. It's also wonderful knowing that WDW is my backyard ~ and that I can explore it as much as I want, and I never have to leave! It's a great feeling, we've really gotten to know WDW in a special and more magical way since being here.

​

 

[EpcotMatt2]

Any suggestions on decent, safe places/areas available for rent? Thinking 2-3 BRs in the $1000/month range {or less}. I’ve researched several sites & locations, but sometimes it’s tough to get a true picture as to reviews, as it seems people like to point out the negatives more than the positives. It seems Windermere, Winter Garden, & Winter Park may be decent options. But even narrowing it down to specific areas, there’s also the task of determining specific complexes or areas within those towns. Any advice, suggestions, etc would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[sephorachick]

I lived in Orlando during my Disney internships. Both times I went home to Virginia I got VERYYYYY depressed but I basically lived there for 5 months each time. It was very hard to get back to reality after living there!

 

[TandLMommy28]

I don't imagine I'll ever relocate to central Florida. I did spend five years in Pensacola so my dream retirement is the beaces of Navarre, Gulf Breeze, etc.

And Pensacola is a far more reasonable drive to WDW than Fort Wayne, IN.

 

[CDNLADY]

Count me in as someone who is going to relocate , much harder for me though lots of paper work and lawyers but so worth it!! I applied for a job at Disney with the start date of July 9th , If for some reason I either don't get that job or takes to long for the visa we have route 2 picked out and that will take 6 -8 months but so worth it!!!

 

[Glennie5]

Count me in as someone who is going to relocate , much harder for me though lots of paper work and lawyers but so worth it!! I applied for a job at Disney with the start date of July 9th , If for some reason I either don't get that job or takes to long for the visa we have route 2 picked out and that will take 6 -8 months but so worth it!!!

I was just thinking about how hard it would be to move to WDW as a CND and then I read your post. I hope everything works out for you. I would love to make the move but my husband works for the military so no way to transfer. We always talk about moving there when we are retired so at least I have something to look forward to.

 

[stackyallred]

DH and I have talked about moving to FL (we currently live 19 hours away in TX) but we always agree that we want to live at least 1-1.5 hours away from WDW. Going to WDW is like a break from "real life" and we are afraid if we live too close, it won't seem as magical. Plus, we like to stay on property and we fear living too close would make us feel irresponsible if we stayed in a hotel rather than just staying at home (we are very budget minded- almost to a fault in this way). We don't have the kind of jobs that allow for just moving where ever we would like to go but we talk A LOT about retiring in central FL and working part time at WDW. We have had many conversations with both CMs and Disney guests while waiting in lines who specifically moved to FL to retire and work there. Retirement is still probably 25 years from now for us so until then, we will just keep going once a year, experiencing the 3 month depression after and then enjoying the 9 months of counting down until we go again!

The good news is, my dad is retiring in a year and a half and him and my mom are seriously considering moving to central FL from IN. They see my DS about twice a year as it is but they just may get whole summers of me and DS staying with them if they do that!!!

 

[CDNLADY]

I was just thinking about how hard it would be to move to WDW as a CND and then I read your post. I hope everything works out for you. I would love to make the move but my husband works for the military so no way to transfer. We always talk about moving there when we are retired so at least I have something to look forward to.[/QUOTE

It really is not hard, takes time for sure , the best part is you are Canadian and with the treaty from both our wonderful countries you can get a permanent card or green card if you wish not to work , that takes about 6-8 months I am going the work route and like I said if it don't work out then we are doing step 2, for us its worth it for others not so much. Most Canadians become snow birds that is option 3 .. On a personal note I would like to thank your husband and you for your sacrifice for out country

 

[Feralpeg]

Any suggestions on decent, safe places/areas available for rent? Thinking 2-3 BRs in the $1000/month range {or less}. I’ve researched several sites & locations, but sometimes it’s tough to get a true picture as to reviews, as it seems people like to point out the negatives more than the positives. It seems Windermere, Winter Garden, & Winter Park may be decent options. But even narrowing it down to specific areas, there’s also the task of determining specific complexes or areas within those towns. Any advice, suggestions, etc would be appreciated. Thanks.

As I mentioned on another thread, you won't find a 2-3 bedroom apartment in Windermere for $1000 a month. There is only one apartment complex in Windermere and it is expensive. Look more into Winter Garden and Ocoee or closer to WDW in the Lake Buena Vista area.

 

[sharadoc]

We want to be snowbirds. We'll move to FLA in November and come back north in April. I'd like to go to Canada or Minnesota for the summer if I could.

We met a lovely couple at Biergarten last year who do that. They come to WDW, rent a small house and work in food service at WDW. They said that's the easiest job to get. For them, it's theme park admission and discounts. The money they earn is their pocket money for the time they are in the area.

Sounded like the perfect way to retire to me! And I think Disney sees retired folks as still capable of caring customer service so they are always interested in hiring retirees. Think about some of the great CMs you meet. The sweetest and friendliest are usually a little gray

 

[ocean134]

Hoping to make the dream of living in Florida a reality, very soon! All I need is a little Pixie Dust!

 

[thedonduck]

Any suggestions on decent, safe places/areas available for rent? Thinking 2-3 BRs in the $1000/month range {or less}. I’ve researched several sites & locations, but sometimes it’s tough to get a true picture as to reviews, as it seems people like to point out the negatives more than the positives. It seems Windermere, Winter Garden, & Winter Park may be decent options. But even narrowing it down to specific areas, there’s also the task of determining specific complexes or areas within those towns. Any advice, suggestions, etc would be appreciated. Thanks.

You may have a hard time finding a place for under $1000. We found quite a few different places in the $1000-1350 range when we came down in January. But it was a very tough search that took us over a week to find a place to live (we had 8 days to find a place we liked that would be close enough to my DH's work at the airport, it took 7 days!!!). We had done some research online prior to our visit, but like you said, you never really know what an area is like until you actually see it. It was tough and scary at the same time.

We found everything from condos/apts at around 1500-1800sqft to a couple of houses that were around the same size. If you have any animals make sure you take that into consideration as well. We searched everywhere within 40 mins driving time to MCO. (Poinciana, Kissimmee, Meadow Woods, Oviedo, Winter Park, Goldenrod, Wedgefield)

We ended up in the Meadow Woods area in a very nice house in Beacon Park. We have 2 kids and 2 dogs and we ran into a lot of issues trying to find enough space for the kids AND having the landlords allow pets. There are A LOT of houses for rent in here. We ended up finding ours on Craigslist!

 

[CarolineB]

I moved to Orlando and am 10 miles to WDW (and less to Sea World and Universal Studios) -- there's so much to do for me and my 8 year old son. Plus, I'm 10 miles to the airport which is important for my ex-husband to visit his kid. As a single parent, I feel a lot safer spending time in the parks. Ten years ago I lived 45 minutes to an hour north of WDW depending on traffic and really couldn't enjoy the parks during the week. Now that I'm south of downtown Orlando, this isn't an issue.

 

[BlovesC]

The quality of my life has increased about 1000% since I moved to FL in 2009. I didn't move here for Disney; before we were engaged, DH moved down here for school, and I followed him. Best decision I've ever made. It's not for everyone, and there are certainly aspects of the south that I don't quite like. But I had a job lined up before I even moved down (health care!), and a couple months before we got married, DH and I bought our first home, which is a beautiful, spacious new construction home smack dab on a gorgeous pond with a nature reserve behind it. On our salaries, back home in NJ, we'd likely have had to save up until we were 50 to even afford a shack. The area we're in is close enough to be convenient to our favorite places, like WDW, but far enough away to be quiet and less crowded. I'm not sure I could handle living smack dab in the middle of tourist attractions...but being down the road from them I don't mind at all.

 

[ExpatDisneyLover]

After a good seven years of living in Turkey I have moved back to the States and having the pleasure of being free to move wherever I wanted, I decided WDW's back yard was the perfect place for me!! I am currently looking for houses in Windermere - there are lots of choose from - many new builds and at affordable prices. I really love being able to go to the Parks whenever I want - an evening or dinner out at the Parks or DTD is very enjoyable - and I hope I can find a house where I can see the fireworks from MK!

 

[jollyollygoodtime]

We just got back from a 2 week vacation, so of course we are all going through the depressed phase. I have always thought of moving closer to Florida every time we go. We live in Washington State and are very sick and tired of our weather. I will move out of state one day, just to where. My question is to anyone who lives in Charleston, SC. Do you feel like you are close enough to visit often and enjoy similar weather. My husband has a good chance of getting a job there thanks to the new Boeing Plant. Just courious to your opionions. Thanks

 

[elf]

We lived in Winter Springs, very close to Oviedo. It took forty minutes or an hour from front door to WDW gate. Nice school (rainbow elementary moved before experiencing middle/high schools), nice people. We paid $1100 a spacious house with 3/4 bed, but not updated but nice. Had two children and two cats. My youngest dd and I would get out of school early on Wed. (worked in school) and race down to WDW. It was great never got sick of it.

 

[DisneyDetective]

I relocate to Saratoga Springs (Grand Villa of course) all the time, but that's in my head unfortunately.