Relocating to WDW?

[ElliePeters]

I saw a blog - Relocated Tourist - about one family & their move to be near WDW. It is very real & very interesting.

Thank you for the nod, we work hard on the blog!

 

[PatriciaH]

So...... It's been over 3 years since the last comment on this thread.

I guess I will pull it out of retirement and comment.

It's just been a thought for my wife and I to move to Central Florida for a little while now. Not only for WDW, but as an adventure before we have kids. We are in our late 20's, no kids, no house to sell (we live in an apartment), no family living around us, nothing holding us back except jobs. We thought we could move down for two years or so, if we like it stay, if we don't move back to Tennessee.

I guess my question is for the people who commented oh so long ago who took the plunge and moved. Are you still there? Do you still love it? Have things changed in recent years? Do you still have the same love for WDW you once had?

I just re-read the whole thread DH and I moved back to MA 2 years ago (April 2010) because he got a really good job offer (a friend told him about the job.) The benefits were amazing so we made the move. The pay was similar to what DH was making in FL, but at the time he was contract in FL and his contract was up. He would have had to wait 3 months to be picked up again. We were sick of not having anything permanent (I had been temp/contract for years too.) It was a quick move-we had to decide and pack everything in a month! We had friends look at rentals for us.

I miss FL every day! I have not been able to find work here so I work for myself from home. I am very bored and miss my friends and family in FL. DH is grateful for the job but it is not what he wants to be doing and misses FL too. We regret moving. Our town is great and Boston is great but DH grew up here (and we lived here together for 9 year before moving to FL.) We moved the 1st time because we did not want to live here.I guess we figured we would visit FL often but air has gone up a lot and vacation time is limited.

We are trying to get back there but with this economy just having a job with benefits is amazing!

 

[Mai Ku Tiki]

Don't lose heart, PatriciaH! Who knows what changes you might have had to face if you had stayed in FLA? Things there have been very unstable as you know.

You did what you had to do & I am POSITIVE more opportunities will come your way before long (whether in MA or in your goal to get back to FLA).

I sympathize with wanting to be someplace you are not. But I've been around a lot of years & trust me....there IS pixiedust in your future.

 

[PatriciaH]

Don't lose heart, PatriciaH! Who knows what changes you might have had to face if you had stayed in FLA? Things there have been very unstable as you know.

You did what you had to do & I am POSITIVE more opportunities will come your way before long (whether in MA or in your goal to get back to FLA).

I sympathize with wanting to be someplace you are not. But I've been around a lot of years & trust me....there IS pixiedust in your future.

 

[Boo Bear]

If I could find a job that would allow me to provide a steady life for my son and me, I'd consider moving closer. Unfortunately, I'm a photographer and I've already spent so much time and effort building my own business where I live now. It's all about who you know, so unfortunately, not worth it. Besides, my family lives in Indiana and we are all very close. I lived in So Cal for a year and had an annual pass to Disneyland and LOVED it!

 

[AdamsPrincess]

Back in 2005, literally 3 days after my DH and I got married, we moved to Champion's Gate, we were 8 minutes from the Disney Gates.

It was like a daily vacation, both of us worked within a mile of eachother so at night when we were done with work, we would got to one of the parks for a nightcap.

It was awesome having a stressful day and then going to Epcot to eat supper and watch IllumiNations.

We lived down there for about a year, and went to Disney on average 4-5 days a week. We moved back to be closer to our family because we wanted to start a family.

I can't wait to move back!!

 

[pwcarlson]

I would move to Central Florida in a heartbeat if I could. I miss the smell in the air when I get off the plane at MCO. I miss being able to go to Disney for an afternoon or evening. I miss going to DTD for the day. I could go on and on and on.

Someday I will be able to relocate to Central Florida. Not picky where. Ohhh I can feel the soft florida breezes on my face. Just a dream my heart made.

 

[kmb584]

I did! But only temporarily. On our 2001 trip, the summer before my senior year of high school, I stated to my parents that I'd be moving to Orlando once I graduated. They just sort of laughed it off -- until that fall when I applied to college. UCF was the ONLY school I sent an application to. The acceptance letter came shortly thereafter and in August 2002 we took another trip the WDW; at the end, they went home to PA after moving me into my dorm.

I graduated in 2006 and moved back to PA but CONSTANTLY toy with the idea of moving back to the central Florida area. One day...

 

[stitch09]

He LOVES the small community feel of the school, gets excellent grades and has some really great friends (we love having the kids hang out at our house, they are great kids ). He is very interested in Engineering and Purdue University (one of the best Engineering universities in the country) is literally in our back yard. Oh well, someday I WILL be driving my yellow VW bug (I told DH that I would have a yellow VW bug for my car when we live in FL ) with Florida plates on it !

Just thought I'd say hi! I'm currently a junior at Purdue myself! It's cool to see someone from the same area! (And he should come to Purdue, I couldn't be happier here!)

 

[luvthemouse71]

Someday I might move down there but right now, all my family is in RI. I would consider doing travel nursing in Florida though.

 

[MrsKreamer]

We lived there for 4 months after Hurricane Katrina in 05-06. Dh loved it there and if it wasn't for being super homesick, and having a hard pregnancy with DS6, we probably would have stayed.

Dh still talks about relocating out there again. Maybe one day

 

[WondersOfLife]

Once I graduate college (which is around 2015) my plan is to move down there.. like Winter Haven or Ocala. Somewhere i can get to the parks all the time!

 

[Phatoomch]

We're only in GA so WDW is as far for us as some. To be honest, I love the planning and anticipation of being able to TOTALLY get away from everything. When we're in the World we really do feel like the outside world has disappeared ... just for a bit. I think the fact that we drive to it, the scenery completely changes and we cross state lines just adds to whole getting away from it all.

As much as I love the place, I think a tiny bit of the magic would go if everytime I left my house WDW was just down the road, like say Target is. My trips there wouldn't be so precious if I could every weekend.

 

[fla4fun]

As much as I love the place, I think a tiny bit of the magic would go if everytime I left my house WDW was just down the road, like say Target is. My trips there wouldn't be so precious if I could every weekend.

Just because you CAN doesn't mean you WILL. I've lived in Florida for more years than I care to admit, and near Orlando for more than twenty years. I very seldom do a Disney day trip. In fact, the only times I've done that a lot were the two times I was out of work for a few months and couldn't do the overnight trips. I almost always stay overnight at least two nights when I go there, and I spend at least four of my six weeks of vacation there. I'm sure there are some locals who go every week, or every month, but once you get used to the fact that it's there and you can go whenever you want, you're OK with NOT visiting every week. I still get that magical feeling when I drive under the welcome sign and know I won't be leaving for a few days, and it still feels a million miles away even though my drive to Disney is shorter than my drive to work.

It is kind of weird though to take a shortcut through Disney to get somewhere else. I have a friend who used to live in Kissimmee, and instead of taking 192 to get to their house, I would cut up through by AK and take the Osceola Parkway.

People should do some research before moving here, because there are areas that are better than others, and there are areas where the commute is much easier than others. You can live here and not even be aware of the tourist industry for the most part (unless you work in it, like I do ). I think the people who are happiest live a bit away from the more touristy areas, so if they want to do the parks, they can, but they can also forge a life much like they would have in any city setting - jobs, schools, social settings, etc. - plus there's easy access to beaches pretty much everywhere (it's hard to get more than an hour and a half from a beach in Florida and most people are closer than that). There are people who live in Ocala, Lakeland, or Winter Haven, that don't have a lot of tourist activity, but still have easy access to it if they want. Or if you want a larger city, try Tampa or Jacksonville. There are lots of great places to live if you don't want the theme parks in your face every day.

 

[Bonniec]

We've never gotten tired of it. I look forward to the weekends when we all get together and pick a park to go to. I love living here.

We're in Davenport which is just on the west side. Every morning when I take my son to school, there are hot air balloons in the sky. I love that!

The 2 main down sides of the area are the drivers/traffic and the schools. I'm on a waiting list for a charter school because the zoned elemntary school is AWFUL. If he doesn't get in next year, I may actually home school him until he gets accepted. No way will I let him go back to that school next year.

 

[hookedonears]

As much as we love Disney, we've always been afraid that if we actually moved to the Orlando area, some of the magic would be gone. The planning for our vacation, the enjoyment of walking down the concourse at MCO, the trip to our resort and the feel of being on vacation and staying in a resort are just a few of the things that makes Disney a special place to go. Even though we live in Louisiana and are use to the oppressive heat and humidity, the addition of massive traffic makes the thought of moving to us less than desirable.

 

[Berlioz70]

Check and Done!

Second greatest decision in my life, only behind marrying DH.

The only downside - fireworks wake me up at night. It wasn't too bad when they were at 8 and 9, but now they are getting later and that gets annoying.

But, in all honesty, that's truley the only downside and it's not really all that bad.

 

[dickyrader]

Check and Done!

Second greatest decision in my life, only behind marrying DH.

The only downside - fireworks wake me up at night. It wasn't too bad when they were at 8 and 9, but now they are getting later and that gets annoying.

But, in all honesty, that's truley the only downside and it's not really all that bad.

When did you move down? If you don't mind me asking.

 

[Phatoomch]

Just because you CAN doesn't mean you WILL.

lol actually that is VERY true. I am originally from the UK, when I was 32 I relocated to Atlanta, GA. The amount of times I think of world famous places that were on my doorstep in London and I have never, ever been

And off the back of that, and maybe I didn't explain myself so well, if I lived near WDW I probably wouldn't go anywhere near as much as I plan to because of complacency, so some of that magic would go.

 

[simzac]

Just thought I'd say hi! I'm currently a junior at Purdue myself! It's cool to see someone from the same area! (And he should come to Purdue, I couldn't be happier here!)

I have a DS who is a junior at Purdue. It certainly is a small world after all