Has anyone move to Florida to be close to Disney?

[HappilyEverAfter80]

We are in Georgia and it is ok, but the areas around Atlanta are very congested. They started out as farm towns with two lane roads, and now they are busy cities with two lane roads. Sometimes my commute to and from work feels like I am part of a slow moving train. Every foot of road to and from work is covered with a car. And I only work about four miles away. It is still maddening. Takes me an hour from leaving work to pick up two children from their local schools and get home. I used to work in downtown Atlanta (26 miles away) and it was an average 1.5 hour commute each way.

We definitely have a lot of conveniences here, but we pay the price with crowds.

The schools are rated pretty high, but behavior issues are getting worse by the year.

One of the big reasons I am ready to move to Florida is that in north Georgia, it is really nice to be outside less than half the year. The other half is too cold or too hot. I want to want to be outside more than I do here. Winters are also depressingly colorless. Brown trees, brown houses, brown grass, gray skies. I would love to be surrounded by green foliage, blue skies, and bright flowers year round.

And yes, Disney (and other theme parks) are part of the reason for my Florida dream. I think it will happen one day.

I hear you with the work commute, it can be brutal in a city like Atlanta.
But my friends are experiencing similar living in Miami. You will have to live outside of the main urban area in Florida to deal with less traffic too.
Now, with the weather in Florida it's also too hot for half of the year. My friends always say they are rarely outside from 8 am to 8 pm in the summer. They spend much of their time inside air conditioning.
I also find that much of summer it's gloomy and cloudy in Florida (as opposed to the winter) as it's their rainy season. I would say that almost every time we arrive in Orlando in the summer it's either cloudy or raining or about to rain.
But yes you are right, the folliage is always green even when it's gloomy...
Even though the summers are too humid and often gloomy, the Florida winters are glorious where even if it's cooler it's still only sweater weather (usually). Easier to go outside and just enjoy the outdoors. But again to me that's mostly from November to March. The rest of the year it maybe hot but Floridians are dealing with other issues.
Anyway to each their own, I think if we had to move to Florida I would be happy there. My biggest issue with Florida is their school system.
Right now if I could choose I would choose Georgia. Just not Atlanta itself.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

I hear you with the work commute, it can be brutal in a city like Atlanta.
But my friends are experiencing similar living in Miami. You will have to live outside of the main urban area in Florida to deal with less traffic too.
Now, with the weather in Florida it's also too hot for half of the year. My friends always say they are rarely outside from 8 am to 8 pm in the summer. They spend much of their time inside air conditioning.
I also find that much of summer it's gloomy and cloudy in Florida (as opposed to the winter) as it's their rainy season. I would say that almost every time we arrive in Orlando in the summer it's either cloudy or raining or about to rain.
But yes you are right, the folliage is always green even when it's gloomy...
Even though the summers are too humid and often gloomy, the Florida winters are glorious where even if it's cooler it's still only sweater weather (usually). Easier to go outside and just enjoy the outdoors. But again to me that's mostly from November to March. The rest of the year it maybe hot but Floridians are dealing with other issues.
Anyway to each their own, I think if we had to move to Florida I would be happy there. My biggest issue with Florida is their school system.
Right now if I could choose I would choose Georgia. Just not Atlanta itself.

I'm sure all places have their issues. We would just love to live somewhere with a more active, outdoor lifestyle and really good schools for the kids (and more color for me).

My husband and I have actually compromised on the south suburbs of Jacksonville. I wanted Disney and warm weather and palm trees. He wanted breezes and refused to live in Orlando due to the summer heat. Jacksonville fits our needs. An excellent school system in Saint Johns County, a mild climate that generally stays warm but doesn't get oppressively hot, and only a couple of hours from my favorite theme parks.

He is keeping his eye out for jobs in the area. Could take a while, but we aren't in a huge hurry.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

I'm sure all places have their issues. We would just love to live somewhere with a more active, outdoor lifestyle and really good schools for the kids (and more color for me).

My husband and I have actually compromised on the south suburbs of Jacksonville. I wanted Disney and warm weather and palm trees. He wanted breezes and refused to live in Orlando due to the summer heat. Jacksonville fits our needs. An excellent school system in Saint Johns County, a mild climate that generally stays warm but doesn't get oppressively hot, and only a couple of hours from my favorite theme parks.


He is keeping his eye out for jobs in the area. Could take a while, but we aren't in a huge hurry.

Jacksonville sounds great!
Hope you can make it happen if that's what you want

 

[Gigi@Disney]

I'm sure all places have their issues. We would just love to live somewhere with a more active, outdoor lifestyle and really good schools for the kids (and more color for me).

My husband and I have actually compromised on the south suburbs of Jacksonville. I wanted Disney and warm weather and palm trees. He wanted breezes and refused to live in Orlando due to the summer heat. Jacksonville fits our needs. An excellent school system in Saint Johns County, a mild climate that generally stays warm but doesn't get oppressively hot, and only a couple of hours from my favorite theme parks.

He is keeping his eye out for jobs in the area. Could take a while, but we aren't in a huge hurry.

Timing couldn't be more apt for this thread:
http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2017-03-30/st-johns-county-rated-healthiest-florida

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

Timing couldn't be more apt for this thread:
http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2017-03-30/st-johns-county-rated-healthiest-florida

Wow. Great article. Thanks! Looks like Jacksonville might be a great place for Disney lovers to enjoy the outdoors, still visit the parks, and raise their children.

 

[dlavender]

Wow. Great article. Thanks! Looks like Jacksonville might be a great place for Disney lovers to enjoy the outdoors, still visit the parks, and raise their children.

Julington Creek is an awesome area.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

Julington Creek is an awesome area.

That is one of the top on our list. Considering that and Nocatee. Love the Nocatee golf cart and biking community, but prefer prices, yards, and schools in Julington Creek.

 

[dlavender]

That is one of the top on our list. Considering that and Nocatee. Love the Nocatee golf cart and biking community, but prefer prices, yards, and schools in Julington Creek.

Julington is "older" than Nocatee. For kids, I think Julington has more to offer, but you can't really go wrong. My MIL might be selling her house in JCP next year, I'll let you know

 

[Ashley Michaels]

We made the FL move from Chicago 3.5 years ago. Best decision ever!!! We didn't want to be inland, however and moved to Estero (between Ft. Myers and Naples). It puts us just under 3 hours to the parks. Easy enough drive to go whenever we want. We mainly do short, weekend (sometimes just overnight) trips, but will extend our stays when friends visit. People thought we would never go, or it would lose its appeal. Not a chance! We own DVC and I've already used all of next years points!

And I have to disagree about a few of the negatives above:

1) "It's too hot." And it's too cold up North. At least you can enjoy the mornings, evenings and outdoor activities such as pools and beaches when it's hot. When it's cold, forget it!

2) "Too many creepy crawlies." Stay out of the bushes, woods, rivers and lakes! We have less bugs in our house than we ever did up North. I think the "critters" do a good job!

3) "It's for the rich." There's something for everyone and every budget in FL--just like anywhere else.

Just my two cents!

Feel free to IM me, if you want.

I would love to talk to you about the move. We live in Chicago and want to move when my husband is done with his 20 years of teaching here. We have about 7 years until he is done. I work from home and our son is two so he will be around 9. We are also Disney vacation members! Maybe we can email? ashleypedersen22@gmail.com

 

[DaisyDuck001]

We made the move 2 years ago as we found the only place we vacationed was Orlando.

Hi @dmartin69, now that y'all live in the Orlando area, where do you go for vacations?

 

[abooch]

Disney was part of the reason I moved down the Florida but I didn’t want to live too close and I enjoy the beach. I decided on the Tampa/St. Pete area. Takes about 60-80 minutes to get to Disney which is perfect. Originally from Northern NJ and I’m in my early 30s. Found a job after a few months and I’m actually making $25,000 more than I was in Northern NJ.