Safe areas near the parks to live in?

[cinderella73]

I have a family member that wants to come down and work for Disney. (Possibly myself as well. ) What are some of the safer areas to be in?

I know Celebration is one and prices on rentals have gone down somewhat but are still a bit high.

I have seen some ads for Windsor Hills rentals and thats really close but is it safe enough for long term living ? We have only vacationed there and I did notice some of the surrounding area was not so great.

What about the area on Reams road. I have seen ads for " The Lakes of Windermere " . Whats that area like?

And what is in the general Reams road area that seems ok?

Closeness and saftey are the two biggest priority. I think the only thing that has kept me from finally just going ahead and making the move is hearing about the crime! I know to avoid Paramore and Orange Blossom etc etc . But I know you still have a lot of transients and questionable people . Not sure what to do. Especially considering I am moving with kids. Good thing is they are all homeschooled. My husband was going to do the CP but we couldnt survive on the pay . He was offered a job with U.S. so he could maybe do Disney part time we are thinking. Any help or advice greatly appreciated!!!

 

[TINAS74]

If your looking at apartments I would suggest you do a review search. I find reviews from people who have lived in the area are so much more reliable. I am pretty sure Windsor is nice. I live north of Orlando in Seminole county so I am not real good with the southern area. I can say with all honesty stay away from an aprtment complex called Luna Dulce... I stayed there for 2 months before I broke my lease and high tailed it out of there. My kids found a crack pipe on the slide in the playground, it was nasty and everything broke all the time and they took forever to fix anything, the pool looked like it was being prepared for a remake of the swamp thing. Just gross... If it helps I am searching too since my family is going to move in September or so in order for me to be able to live with them and do the Disney CP.

 

[cinderella73]

If your looking at apartments I would suggest you do a review search. I find reviews from people who have lived in the area are so much more reliable. I am pretty sure Windsor is nice. I live north of Orlando in Seminole county so I am not real good with the southern area. I can say with all honesty stay away from an aprtment complex called Luna Dulce... I stayed there for 2 months before I broke my lease and high tailed it out of there. My kids found a crack pipe on the slide in the playground, it was nasty and everything broke all the time and they took forever to fix anything, the pool looked like it was being prepared for a remake of the swamp thing. Just gross... If it helps I am searching too since my family is going to move in September or so in order for me to be able to live with them and do the Disney CP.

I just Googled the place you mentioned. Is it in Clermont? It sounds really scary!

I found nice looking places in Celebration . It used to be that you couldnt find a 3 bdr for under 1800. Recently I have seen ones for 1300 . Wh had rentals around 1,000 . All these places are very nice .

I worry about how people manage when they have to " leave the bubble" of a gated community though. I am curious how people living in this general area feel when they have to go shopping or run errands . I know there is a lot of touristy areas but are there any nice and safe places nearby locals use? I am just trying to get a idea of life as a local in the most realistic way possible.

Are you going into the fall CP? We still havent ruled out doing a spring CP . But we need to make sure income needs are met first. It is true that you dont make much in Florida . But from what budgeting I have done so far things cost a lot less as well so it balances out and we actually still save a bit down there.

 

[glendalais]

Just a heads up, Celebration would probably be way out of reach of what you would make working for Disney, even with a second income in the household (unless you're looking at Office & Technical or Salaried positions, but even then it can still sometimes be quite the stretch).

Lakes of Windermere is completely out of the question on Disney wages. Houses there start at around $300,000 and go up into the millions.

Many Cast Members live out in Kissimmee to the south, Winter Garden to the north and Clermont to the west. All pretty nice communities, and certainly much more reasonably priced.

The thing about Central Florida is that, outside of obvious areas like Parramore, OBT and MetroWest (over by Universal Orlando), crime in Central Florida tends to be patchy in character. You have to go look at the neighbourhoods and get a feel for them. Some neighbourhoods that may seem a little gritty at first can actually turn out to be just lovely in the end.

 

[TINAS74]

Shopping and such like that isn't bad and if you do come down once you know where you will be I, or someone on the board, can help you to know where to go and which places are safe. Most shopping centers are ok just don't wanter around late at night without someone else. Thats true everywhere though. I lived in a small small town and got mugged, I have livedin Florida for 10 years and have yet to have an issue... go figure. Pine Hills, Orange Blossem Trail, and that area should be added to your no no list. The areas are patchy. You can live in a high class expensive area and two streets down its spraypainted, crack selling, prostitution laiden corners. St Cloud is nice (again areas can be bad) Kissimmi is nice off of 192. Clermont is in Lake County and they have the WORST school. When I lived there I home schooled because my son brought home a note for me to sign stating they use corpeal punishment and I needed to acknowledge it. NO ONE hits my kids but me! Still enraged over that....

 

[cinderella73]

Just a heads up, Celebration would probably be way out of reach of what you would make working for Disney, even with a second income in the household (unless you're looking at Office & Technical or Salaried positions, but even then it can still sometimes be quite the stretch).

Lakes of Windermere is completely out of the question on Disney wages. Houses there start at around $300,000 and go up into the millions.

Many Cast Members live out in Kissimmee to the south, Winter Garden to the north and Clermont to the west. All pretty nice communities, and certainly much more reasonably priced.

The thing about Central Florida is that, outside of obvious areas like Parramore, OBT and MetroWest (over by Universal Orlando), crime in Central Florida tends to be patchy in character. You have to go look at the neighbourhoods and get a feel for them. Some neighbourhoods that may seem a little gritty at first can actually turn out to be just lovely in the end.

We were looking at a salaried position with Disney. Problem is I know those positions can be harder to fill as a outsider coming in as I heard they use a lot of CP graduates and promote from within. In the meantime we were considering accepting a currently offered salaried position with another theme park in Orlando and working part time at Disney just get a leg up and get into the company. It would work considering the job at the other theme park while salaried has a pretty set schedule. And we have been told due to some license agreement situation in that positions branch it wouldnt be a conflict of interest .

Thats the basic plan yet anyway. We have a couple days to decide if we will go foward. I am glad to hear the crime is patchy rather than all spread out. I dont mind living in a bubble but with kids I just want to make sure that that bubble can contain my basic needs so I am not taking my family anywhere dangerous to run errands and so on.

We were not looking to buy so I hadnt priced anything yet but Lakes of Windermere does have some condo and townhome rentals around 1,000 and 1,200 a month. I am not sure how close it is to the parks though. Do you happen to know by any chance? It sounded close.

Shopping and such like that isn't bad and if you do come down once you know where you will be I, or someone on the board, can help you to know where to go and which places are safe. Most shopping centers are ok just don't wanter around late at night without someone else. Thats true everywhere though. I lived in a small small town and got mugged, I have livedin Florida for 10 years and have yet to have an issue... go figure. Pine Hills, Orange Blossem Trail, and that area should be added to your no no list. The areas are patchy. You can live in a high class expensive area and two streets down its spraypainted, crack selling, prostitution laiden corners. St Cloud is nice (again areas can be bad) Kissimmi is nice off of 192. Clermont is in Lake County and they have the WORST school. When I lived there I home schooled because my son brought home a note for me to sign stating they use corpeal punishment and I needed to acknowledge it. NO ONE hits my kids but me! Still enraged over that....

Its that way in Ny to. Nice in one area and crack town in the next. Thats what I dont like . I wish the patch of good was a little further from the not so good. I hear you on homeschooling. I have been doing it for years now and wouldnt want it any other way. The great thing about being in that area would be using trips to Epcot as part of our homeschool education. I can think of so many things that would make for great learning experiences.

 

[fall08CP]

Not to hijack your thread but I'm also looking at moving down there. Does anybody know anything about the safety of Coral Cay in Kissemmee?

 

[graygables]

Avoid Poinciana. Prices are good for a reason. Davenport is also a nice area. Celebration, too much "real housewives" and waaaaayyyy too expensive for what it is. You are buying a name brand there.

Many people come down with an apartment mindset, but don't rule out renting a house. There are a lot for rent, with some "vacation homes" being converted to long-term rentals as well. You can get a 4br in the $1200 range which becomes reasonable with 4 (or more) chipping in on the rent.

about Coral Cay, I've heard very mixed reviews. One DISer lived there and had horrible problems with garbage, utilities, etc. They seem to get a new management team, everything is rosy, and then it goes downhill. We lived at Fiesta Key for awhile, but moved due to our landlord going into foreclosure. When we hightailed it out of there, we had some miscreants starting to move in, so I was glad to get away.

Also, be aware that there is still a foreclosure problem around here. I had no way of knowing that my landlord hadn't paid his mortgage for 6 months BEFORE we signed our lease and didn't bother to use the money WE paid toward it, either.

 

[cinderella73]

Avoid Poinciana. Prices are good for a reason. Davenport is also a nice area. Celebration, too much "real housewives" and waaaaayyyy too expensive for what it is. You are buying a name brand there.

Many people come down with an apartment mindset, but don't rule out renting a house. There are a lot for rent, with some "vacation homes" being converted to long-term rentals as well. You can get a 4br in the $1200 range which becomes reasonable with 4 (or more) chipping in on the rent.

about Coral Cay, I've heard very mixed reviews. One DISer lived there and had horrible problems with garbage, utilities, etc. They seem to get a new management team, everything is rosy, and then it goes downhill. We lived at Fiesta Key for awhile, but moved due to our landlord going into foreclosure. When we hightailed it out of there, we had some miscreants starting to move in, so I was glad to get away.

Also, be aware that there is still a foreclosure problem around here. I had no way of knowing that my landlord hadn't paid his mortgage for 6 months BEFORE we signed our lease and didn't bother to use the money WE paid toward it, either.

My last trip a cast member was telling me about Davenport. How is travel to work though? Havent been there so I had no real idea of distance or location.

The forclosure thing worries me. I remember some poster posted a link to a site to check tax record on owners at WH to make sure they were legit. I wonder if there was some way to check up on landlords to make sure they were not in foreclosure?

I have a question. I have a link here and its interesting and a bit scary. Apparently Windermere and Lake Buena Vista are like the only 2 places ranked " safe" according to this crime map.

The question is is Lake Buena Vista where the majority of Disney property is? Or rather aren't the theme parks and DTD located in Lake Buena Vista ? With MK being on Reams road ? Is it on the LBV / Windermere line ?

http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/fl/crime/

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I lived in Coral Cay June-Dec 2008. It seemed "great" on the outside I guess you could say. We had signed a lease for a 4 bedroom and when we checked-in we were told that they did not have a 4 bedroom and they had a 5 bedroom and we would have to pay 2000 a month instead of 1600 but it was all inclusive. At that point we had 4 girls waiting to move in so said fine.

We had 2 months of issues with the cable and I guess the community as a whole was on one plan and tennants who don't live there full time were not paying the bill so no one was getting cable and finally they took several hundreds of dollars off our rent and told us to get our own through Brighthouse and we did..internet too, and never had an issue again.

Parking was a huge issue. We attempted to park in neighbors lots who were not being used but that changed for when people were renting and what-not.

It took us 4 months to get our deposit back.

The hot tub was nice and having our own rooms and own laundry was nice. We always felt safe there but did not walk outside at night alone. There were 5 other townhouses in CC that were used as interns at the time which was good to know.

We had issues with the garbage as well. It went from a garbage bin to like individual garbage bins and a pick-up truck would empty the bins once a week. It was odd!

The management is a tad sketchy. After our lease was up in Dec we had the choice to renew or not and ended up finding a local realtor who rented out a 3 bedroom condo for us in south Kissimmee right outside of Clermont. It ended up being the best decision and were soooo glad to be out of CC!! It is called THE VILLAS AT ISLAND CLUB.

A friend of mine lived in Fiesta Key and really liked it but her lease ended and she ended up moving into our 5th bedroom at CC. I know 7 Dwarfs is nice as well but more expensive I think??

We looked at a place in Davenport but one of my roomies had lifeguard friends that lived there and advised not living there, not very safe!!

Let me know if you want the number of the realtor we used. We contacted her about the Davenport townhouse and she showed us the condo as well and we fell in love with it and signed the lease that day! We lived in it from Dec-June 2009. After that, we all moved from FL and got other jobs.

 

[graygables]

We looked at a place in Davenport but one of my roomies had lifeguard friends that lived there and advised not living there, not very safe!!

This greatly depends on where you are. Davenport/Polk County is one of those areas where you just have to shop around. I know several people who live in the "Four Corners" area who are very happy, both price and safety-wise. It definitely pays to shop around.

Most of the folks I know who live in that area take anywhere from 15-25 minutes to get to work.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

This greatly depends on where you are. Davenport/Polk County is one of those areas where you just have to shop around. I know several people who live in the "Four Corners" area who are very happy, both price and safety-wise. It definitely pays to shop around.

Most of the folks I know who live in that area take anywhere from 15-25 minutes to get to work.

Oh yes I agree! The complex we looked at was not safe and actually had 3 shootings there a few weeks after we looked at it! Thank goodness we found the condo instead! We enjoyed the Kissimmee area near Clermont much better! 2 of the 3 of us worked at AK so it was a great 10 min drive to work!

 

[RyanS]

I lived in Club Cortile in Kissimmee right off 192 (Seven Dwarfs Ln to be exact) last summer and it is a very nice complex. Completely gated, partially tennants partially tourists. I believe it was 1000/month for a 3 bed room apartment and they also had townhouses that were a little more expensive. Our apartment was fully furnished and was very well kept. It has a pool, small gym, dumpsters in each corner of the complex, etc. The location is very good if closeness to Disney is a priority, and it's in the touristy part of Kissimmee. It's about a 10-15 minute drive to Disney property from there depending on traffic and all the big stores are within walking distance or a 2-3 minute drive. The Lynx also picks up on the corner of 192 and Seven Dwarfs (in front of Sam's Club) if you ever need to use that as well.


http://www.clubcortile.com/

 

[rbrainerd]

My daughter did the CP during the FA of last year. She decided to live down there and continue employment with Disney. We own a condo at Club Cortile and she is staying there with her finance. We bought the condo in November and have been very pleased. Very nice community, gated, smaller sized, and secure. We visit around every 3 months and love it there. If you call, speak with Connie. I know she personally rents out units or can hook you up with some else. Good Luck!

 

[Berlioz70]

I lived in Sabal Palm (10 min from Epcot, and close to everything else). It's an older community (built in the 80s) but the location is great. Lots of CMs live there as it's right across the street from Vista Way College Program Housing.

Sabal Palm is owned and operated by Equity Apartments, which also own a couple of apartments right outside of the Magic Kingdom (Alexandria and Park View). The other complexes are newer, but the location is in the middle of nowhere and prices are a little more.

For more information on Equity click here. Search for Lake Buena Vista.

There is also a new complex even closer to the Magic Kingdom, I do not know what it's called, but I drive by it everyday and there is a guy with an arrow so they must be having moving specials. I have a friend that lives there and it's really nice (again, very new).

 

[PigletsPal2]

Late post, but I hope it's helpful. You might want to look into Tierra Vista apts on Rt. 192 and Lindfields Blvd. They're income controlled, but by NO MEANS like "the projects" of some inner cities. The apts are nice (when I saw them several years ago), the grounds are very well kept, there's an on-site after-school day care center, and the bus (both school and public transportation) stops right outside the complex. The kids go to Celebration School (K-8, A rated) or Celebration HS (9-12, C rated). FWIW, DGD graduated from CHS in National Honor Society and attends a small prestigeous private school on full academic scholarship, so don't let the "C" rating scare you off. Lots of shopping, restaurants, churches in a 10-mile radius. Close to Disney (I used to be a CM), but out of the mainstream traffic. Good luck with your decisions!

Queen Colleen

 

[pinktink88]

Does anyone know of any safe area-close to disney places to live that have 1 bedrooms?

 

[rockaustin]

How is Apopka, Florida?

 

[GalDisney]

Try Buena Vista Place apts. They are on Reams rd, just behine the MK. The address is Windermere. They are an income restricted property. I know people who live there and they like it.

 

[ihoward]

Hi. I may be interested. Can you pm me?