Would you move to FL for Disney?

[grimley1968]

I wouldn't want to live in the city of Sarasota, I would want to live near or on one of the keys... Siesta Key being my favorite... it's my dream to live there with water access but those houses are in the millions.

Cocoa Beach has houses with canal access (and ultimately ocean access) that are much less expensive. I like Sarasota more, but CB isn't a bad place. DW had some friends who lived on a canal in CB, and it was worth less than $500,000 I think. They had to sell that place to be able to afford a daughter's ongoing medical treatment, but they remained in Cocoa Beach and got a condo. They've lived there pretty much their entire lives.

 

[smj2610]

Moving to Florida is my dream that I hope to accomplish in the next few years, I will take the hot humid weather over Indiana winters any day, but I agree I orginally wanted to live right by Disney but decided as long as I am close enough to do long weekends there I am fine, my family jokes they will finally be able to vacation elsewhere when I finally move down

 

[MrsDuck]

We live in FL (not because of Disney) and we get there once a month or so. Being so close has not dulled the magic. We're about 2.5 hours away.

I'd move to FL for Disney if the other conditions were right-- jobs, housing, schools, etc.

 

[DizzneyDi]

My DS, 32, is production manager of a Broadway tour, and he's been actively pursuing employment at WDW for over a year now. He made it through 2 interviews without getting the job back in early 2012, but was encouraged to apply again if something in his field opens up. He has worked on the tour with an actor who is currently in the Finding Nemo show at AK, and we've talked to him about living in Orlando. He absolutely loves it there, loves his job and the easy access he and his family have to the parks. He commented that the summer heat is horrific, but the weather for the rest of the year more than makes up for it. He was originally from Wisconsin and DS and I live in upstate NY, so we can totally embrace the idea of NO MORE SNOW!

We have very little family here, DS isn't in a relationship right now (it can be hard when you travel as much as he does), and I just retired at the end of 2012--so moving to Orlando, something we've dreamed about doing for years, is starting to sound much more possible. Even if he doesn't eventually get the job he wants at WDW, he's been told by his tour owner that they don't care where his home base is--they just fly him where he needs to be. So it could happen for us sometime in the relatively near future...

 

[eliza61]

No way. I hope my life is more rounded. I can't imagine Disney ever being "that" important. I have no desire to move to Florida so it would take a whole lot more than disney to make me reconsider.

LOL I have a coworker who moved from Delaware to Florida, she didn't sell her house (smart cookie) until she was sure she would love florida. After the 3rd hurricane she told her husband "that is absolutely the last time I am ever boarding up a house I live in". She moved back to delaware and the money she saved by not moving she spends the winters in various places. mainly California, hawaii and florida.

Lastly, I have no desire to work with the public especially once I retire. been there, done that and believe me all those guest are not the happy campers disney puts in it's advertisements. 5 days a week dealing with ill mannered guest? uhmm thanks but no thanks.

I'll take my magic for a few days and return home sweet home.

 

[middlesista]

Would not mind spending a month or two in Florida to avoid Jan and Feb in New England but that would be about it. Love where I live, love the season changes, enjoy a little bit of snow for the holidays. Would not want to live full time elsewhere.

Keeping my fingers crossed for a mild winter...

 

[DisneyMagick2008]

I am on the fence about it.

I would love to move down there and be able to get a florida resident pass and go as often as I wanted to, but I can see how it would get old after awhile. It would be nice to be close enough to be able to attend all of the special events they have there throughout the year.

But on the other hand, not having to make special plans to save up and drive 15-16 hours to get there would definitely siphon away some of the magic.

 

[seus-mouse]

So many good points. Thanks again you wonderful Dis-ers

Our general plan is going Sno-Bird after Thanksgiving and coming back around April-May. The ten year plan at least...lol

We spend longer and longer down there whenever we can. Love WDW and the beaches and State and Local parks.

You had my DH at wearing flip-flops all year
And I know we'd have a full guest room often as most of the extended family is also tired of shoveling snow.

The Summers up here near Lake Erie are very nice, so we hope to have the best of both worlds.


Holly

 

[ErinsMommy]

I personally wouldn't as I would think after a while the excitement of Disney would wear thin. I like having a 'magical' place to go and get away from everyday life.

 

[Jacquie668]

Simple answer for me, no.

 

[3Gsandme]

No.


We do plan to move south sometimes in the next decade or so, but not to FL.

 

[FortForever]

My wife and I seriously considered moving to central Florida for the same reason. We were not overly concerned with the bugs, hurricanes or heat. What detered us after doing a ton of research were the horror stories of all the crime happening right oustide the World and in the surrounding towns.

I know crime can happen anywere, but we didn't want to take a chance with three little ones.

There are some very high crime areas around Orlando and other big cities. There are crime pockets all over the state. I guess the trick is staying far away from them.

I see FL on Cops all the time and other crime shows and it feels like their talking about another country. I guess FL is a big place and lots of it is scary.

We don't live near Jacksonville, but I get their news channel. It reminds me of Baltimore with the daily shootings and such, but on the other hand much of it is very nice. I have seen the nicer parts of it, but never the ghetto parts. I'd like to keep it that way!

 

[2girlsmom]

I moved to Florida in June 2011, and I didn't move FOR Disney, but it certainly was a major plus! I did already have the job and that did spur the move, my husband did NOT have a job here, and it did take him a couple months to get anything, and now is a manager of electronics, but makes roughly 2/3 of the pay he made in Iowa, as pay in his field just isn't as good here. We live in a small town north of Tampa, I drive in for work to downtown Tampa, approx 45 minutes every morning, but we have a great neighborhood, we live in a townhouse where lawn service is included, which is wonderful, we have a big pond behind us where we see lots of wildlife (alligators, bobcats, otters, Fl panthers, cranes, lizards, etc). We have a community pool across the road from our house for our gated part plus a large clubhouse with theater/2 pools, etc for the larger housing addition. We are about 30-45 minutes from the gulf beaches, about 1-1/2 hours from Disney/Universal/SeaWorld and 30 minutes max from Busch Gardens. I honestly can't imagine going back to living anywhere else, we love Florida! And being close enough to drive up whenever we want hasn't really changed our love for the Disney parks, though it certainly has allowed us to gain a love for the other parks in the area, as well as changing the sense of urgency to park touring for us. We no longer wait in any line longer than 30 minutes, cause we know we will be back when it will be shorter. We spend time in Innoventions buildings, etc. And we haven't seen any more bugs here than we did in Iowa, in fact we had more wolf spiders, etc in Iowa.

 

[wrenfamily]

I used to take business trips to Florida quite frequently, and I spent a good bit of time in different cities there. One city that I would consider living in was St. Augustine. From my experience, it had everything I'd look for in a place to live: nice people, very affordable homes, beautiful walkable historic/downtown district, tons of great local restaurants, beach and huge bay area for people who love boats or paddling, rich history, small islands to explore, small town feel, lots to do, etc. Plus it is less than 2 hours from Disney World and very close to big city shopping and airports. They haven't had a direct hit from a hurricane in something like over 100 years (don't quote me on that, but its been awhile).

Unless you are set on living on the gulf, I recommend giving St. Augustine a look.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

No.


We do plan to move south sometimes in the next decade or so, but not to FL.

Same here

 

[The Wise One]

Well I all ready live in FL, but I HATE the part of FL I live in. I would love to live in the Orlando area because I have friends there and I am used to a more "city like" atmosphere and where I live now is very.. uncity like. There is nothing around that I enjoy.

Plus - Disney, hello! Yes Disney would be enough for me to move, and we're talking about it. But it all depends on DH finding a great job down there and me getting into the college program I want.

 

[lovegrumpy]

We have lived FL two different times and have loved it both times. We plan on moving back once dh retires from the military and can't wait. We are still researching were to live. Both my boys well be out of school by then so that well not be a issues. I well still want a good school because you just never know if they well come back home with a family in tow. I'm so looking forward to the warm weather all the time Disney at my fingertips. I wanna work there but if I can find something that pays better I'll take that instead.

 

[CalSea12]

No. We've looked into Florida since we are hoping to move farther south, but their licensing structure for my husband's job is different. His certs/licenses would essentially be useless.

I didn't look much into it at the time since it was already a no from us, but I don't believe as a teacher that anyone wants to get near Florida schools (from what I've heard).

I don't understand what is wrong with being a teacher in FL? I know several and they are very happy. My DH planned to move there and be one once his degree is done...

Maybe there is something they are not telling us?

 

[korg]

I wouldn't move to Florida just for Disney but my wife and i plan to be snow birds in "southern Florida" when I retire in 6 years. While down there we will definitely drive UP to Disney for a week or a long weekend when the grand kids visit. (We'll probably be too far south for reasonable day trips) Personally I'd love to be more local to the parks when I retire BUT Orlando CAN get some pretty bad cold spells in the winter. We were at Disney in the winter on two different trips when it was in the low 50s during the day and in the 30s at night and early mornings for alomst the whole trip (both trips) and we New Englanders froze our butts off! When we retire and spend winters in FLA we want the best chance at swimming and jacket free golfing weather so we plan to retire around Ft. Lauderdale or Miami. So Florida, yes ... Florida just because of Disney ... even though I love Disney the answer to that one is no.

 

[Albytaps]

So... so far the consensus seems to be that if it's just for Disney, the answer is no. If it's for the state of FL and the plus is to have Disney close by, then possibly yes. I can deal with that.