Should we move to Disney World????

[mtakac]

I know that I can't literally live in Disney World but I can't help wonder what it would be like to live in Orlando near The World.

The hubby and I are at a time in our lives that we might have more career options if we leave Pittsburgh, PA. My husband is a technology analyst and the jobs around here don't pay as well as other cities and the cost of living is on the high side. I'm totally up for a change as I was born and raised in Pittsburgh.

We need to ID a few cities to explore for job prospects and I'm tempted to put Orlando on the list. Other than being so close to the coolest place on the planet I'd love to hear from people who live or have lived in Orlando.

We've really had enough of ice cold winter weather so Orlando certainly fits that criteria.

 

[Otimon]

Can't give you any advice on the particular jobs you're interested in, but can tell you living in Orlando is great.

We moved here from the Chicago area 7 years ago (we know about ice cold winter weather, too) when my husband took early retirement. We now both work for Disney and we're having a ball!

My suggestion would be to take a trip down here to look at real estate and employment opportunities first hand. Spend some time looking around the area.
One piece of advice we received long ago was if you plan to work north of Orlando then make your home in that area. If you plan to work basically south of Orlando then make your home there. I4 can be brutal during rush hours and no fun when you have to travel it everyday.

Best wishes.

 

[JenDaveBrendan]

I don't have any experience living in Orlando, but I just wanted to tell you that you are lucky to have a husband that would consider living there!!! My husband won't leave Massachusetts! I am only 26 and I have just about had it with the winters!!!
I want to move to Orlando!!

Jen

 

[brady961]

I live in Orlando, about 10 min. from WDW and one mile from Seaworld. I love it being able to run over to WDW after work, on weekends, etc.... WDW and the other theme parks are my leisure activities, my stress reducers and allows me to be a middle aged kid outside of working.

Good advice above, if you plan to work in North Orlando, live there. South, live in that area. I4 is horrible during rush hour but I find it bad all the time. I rarely rarely use I4, because of the mess out there. Toll and back roads is a must to learn soon after moving to this area.

also be aware that salary and wages will most likely not be what you are use in PA. But the cost of living may not be as high either.

I think salary and wages is one of biggest issues ppl have moving to Florida.

Living in Orlando is a treat if you enjoy theme parks for sure. Annual passes for all the parks allows as much as one wants to visit. Getting to meet ppl from around the world at WDW has been something I have also enjoyed.

Oh but be ready for family, friends etc.... to visit you more often while living so close to WDW hehehe. Funny how these same famly and friends rarely visited when not living in Orlando but once here, hey you are a free room LOL.

check things out, research jobs, property etc.... if possible come and stay for a few months to see if this is truly a place you would like to call home.

best wishes.

 

[DFiore1]

I wanna move to Disney World!!! I could live in the Land exhibit

 

[tednvon]

Hi...great thread!

Advice Welcome...Spouse and I are retiring in January and renting south of Disney for 3 months...I would love to work part time at Disney. What suggestions would you have for a 58 something Grandpa who would like to work 15-20 hours directly with guests but would prefer not to do merchandise...

Thanks to you all!!

Grandpa Ted

 

[Otimon]

GrandpaTed - Best wishes for your upcoming retirement. Our own retirement working at WDW is just wonderful and have no doubt your's will be the same for you.

For anyone, such as yourself, wishing to work for PT for Disney (as I do) your first step would be to visit the Casting Center directly across the street from Downtown Disney East side. When I applied several years ago I was there for quite a while filling out paper work, taking a math test (might not have to do that now) watching a video, having a long telephone interview and finally, after a long wait in the lobby, a face-to-face interview. Was hired on the spot. Then made a visit to the nurse's office downstairs followed by a Cast Member led discussion on Disney and filling out more paperwork, etc. I'm sure the process has changed since then but the Casting Center is where you will begin your journey.

If I may be of any further help please PM me.

 

[monte]

I was surfing the Century 21 site and found the homes in Orlando to be very reasonable. We live in Colorado (above 10 thousand feet) and can't find any affordable housing, so Orlando looks good to me! Too bad hubby doesn't feel that way. LOL

If you work 20 hrs. at WDW do they provide a medical plan, or do you have to work 40 hrs.? Just curious. Thanks.

 

[Otimon]

Cast Members must be regular full-time workers to receive medical benefits. I believe full-time can be anywhere from 30 hours per week up.

 

[dclwdwlover]

(Sorry this got a bit long)

Up until about January of this year, I had never thought I'd be a 'Floridian'. We had vacationed in Florida 1-2x per year, but I'm not a "heat person". Then, we realized that we're not getting any younger (in our early 40's) &, although I LOVE snow, I can't shovel anymore & sometimes DH was at work when I needed to get into the garage.

So, we began researching places to move to & we kept coming back to the Orlando area because of two major reasons: we vacation here constantly & LOVE, LOVE, LOVE WDW & DCL & figured we could go more often, & my husband's a builder & business is booming down here.

So, we put our house on the marked in upstate NY, it sold in one week & we made a rushed trip down here to buy. We told our realtor that we wanted to be somewhat near WDW (within 1/2 hr) & we looked at all of the outlying areas, but she, being originally from NY, kept insisting we look slightly north & to the west of Orlando - the Clermont area. Boy, was she right! (If you ever want her name/number, PM me. She's works for a very big & reputable co. down here & she's very honest & she's become a friend, now.)

I grew up in PA & was used to mountains & rivers & Clermont is in the ONLY hilly part of Florida. There are actual hills here and TONS of lakes. We love it here & I just hibernate in the summer with my air conditioning. I'm like a bat - mostly come out at dusk. We are about 30-35 min. from WDW (25 from Universal) & we don't go on I-4 at all. We take the Turnpike to Univ. & Sea World & 192 to WDW. A bunch of my neighbors & people from my church work for Disney.

I definitely see that the wages down here are lower, but the cost of living is cheaper only in certain areas. I think food is quite a bit more costly - at least more than I was used to. Gas is cheaper - especially closer to Orlando. Our electric bill is 1/2 of what it was in NY. Starting a business is extremely difficult - at least in the building field. We were used to doing work on our own house/property, but you have to be careful what you do - some things they "permit you to death". It is very, very different living down here, but we do enjoy it.

One last thing, we are still in awe of how we can just wake up & say "Hey, let's go to Disney today". Last weekend we did the Segway "Around the World Tour" in EPCOT & then spent the afternoon at MGM & went home. This weekend our son will have his b'day at Disney Quest & the following weekend my DH & I are going to stay on-site for my b'day & do the MK underground tour. These are things we never booked because we didn't want to take away from our park time. There were many x's in the summer that we went down to Univ. in the a.m. & left before noon to avoid the high heat & crowds & then went back down in the evening & had dinner & did a few rides & enjoyed CityWalk. But, now we have our annual passes to WDW & we spend most of our time there.

Hope this helped. Like I said, PM me if you'd like to discuss anything. Best in whatever you decide to do. It is exciting, though.

 

[bsusanmb]

Hubby and I are almost 55. He can retire from Federal service at 55, and at 60 will receive his pension for being in the Air National Guard for 32 years. At that time we will be covered by military insurance. I am a career RN, work for a Veteran's Admin hospital in PA, in management. I keep telling hubby that at 55 if he retires, he will earn 60% of his income and can then take a part time job to supplement. I suppose I can get a job just about anywhere with my BSN from Penn State. Making the move is difficult, as we have lived here in PA all our lives. We hate the cold and the snow, and have discovered that our 5 grown children don't spend as much time with dear old dad and mom as they once did. We vacation in WDW about 4 times a year. We LOVE it. We love everything Disney. Heading for the first time to Sea World this trip. I don't know if we want to buy a big house again. Would prefer a one story townhome. Do they have 55+ communities anywhere near Orlando. They are very popular here. Hubby would like to work for Disney at the sports complex. Do you think we should take the plunge? How would you suggest we start? I am sure that if I were to get a job that we could live on my income in an apartment temporarily - anyway, here in PA we could....help to cheer me on here. I am dying to leave this climate!
Susan

 

[lovespugs]

DH and I moved to Orlando about 6 months ago from Kansas City. We were spending all of our vacations here, and I was looking to get away from the cold winters. I love it here! We live across the street from Universal, about 15 minutes from Disney. We have dinner at WDW about twice a month, and try to visit a park at least once a month. The weather here really suits me. DH and I constantly tell each other how much we love it here. Of course our family thought we were crazy for moving, but we've really found a place that suits us. All of the things to do around Orlando are the kinds of things we like to do, so we are never bored.

One of the things I like about Orlando is that it seems that no one is a native Floridian. I've found this makes it much easier to make friends quickly. I would definitely encourage anyone thinking of moving here to rent before you buy. This will allow you to get more comfortable with the area, feel out the traffic, and figure out what areas you like. We're renting an apartment near Universal Studios, which is fun for recent transplants who still feel more like tourists than locals. But when we decided to build a house we picked the east side of town, where the tourists rarely venture.

When DH and I were debating moving down here we figured if we totally hated it, it would always be easier to move back home than it was to leave home. Luckily we're young and don't have kids, so it was easier for us to pick up and move. I'm so glad we decided to go for it. We weren't unhappy in Kansas City, we're just so much happier here!

 

[dclwdwlover]

bsusanmb,

There are plenty of 55+ communities in our area, so I'm sure there must be many directly around Orlando. They are very nice communities, also.

I would suggest, if at all possible, connecting with a good realtor (we got ours thru a relocation program w/our NY realtor) & coming down & checking out several - if not many - areas & doing the drive back & forth to the places that you think you'll frequent most (i.e. Disney's Wide World of Sports, since your husb. would like to work there). Traffic is pretty heavy out here - especially down towards the theme parks. That's why we like our rural area.

Renting sounds like a good idea. We didn't want to simply because we have a son still in school & we didn't want to take the chance that the next place available wouldn't be in the same school district. {Plus, we got a great deal on our (new) home.} I agree with lovespugs that people are pretty friendly down here - at least our community is - & the majority of them are all from up north.

 

[Mom B]

You know, I could never understand how people could pack up all their belongings, move thousands of miles away from home and friends and family, and start a new life. How COULD they? But yesterday morning in my 49th year of Minnesota winters when the first snow storm hit, I decided I was ready to...sell it all and move to Orlando! We've already discussed what we'd do for jobs down there...he'd drive a Disney bus and I'll work as a CM at a front desk somewhere...I think I'm really still too much of a coward, especially with the first grandbaby on the way up here, but it is SOOOO tempting! We just may do it yet. Good to hear from you all who have done it and loved it!

 

[ufgator]

I was born and raised in Fort Lauderdale. Just know that central FL is brutal in the summer because there is no breeze. South FL is hot in the summer but I live near the ocean so the breeze helps. My MIL just moved to St. Cloud after living in Ft. Laud. for over 30 years. She lived in Pittsburgh before that. I think she likes St Cloud. Good luck with your decision.

 

[safetymom]

I moved from Pittsburgh PA last December. I LOVE IT HERE!!!! Even with 4 hurricanes to come through my county.

I live on the "ridge" down the road from Clermont. It reminds me of hills in PA but you don't have to worry about snow on the road.

We live about 15 mins from the parks down I-4.

I just drove around on one of my many trips to WDW and looked at areas. Then when I went home to PA I looked on realtor.com and researched the area further. I came done to Orlando for a long weekend and looked at 30 houses. I loved house 25 and made an offer. I had a month to move out of my house in PA. It was a crazy month but well worth the effort.

I had 2 good snows last year and I don't miss it at all. You will love it in Florida and being close to the parks is wonderful. I still haven't seen it all yet.

 

[lovethattink]

We moved to Central Florida in Jan 2000 from Pa. We don't regret our move. We love it here. Many people who move here complain about the lower salaries here. Health care jobs pay more. The school system here wasn't as good as the schools back in Pa. So DS goes to a private school here. We go to Disney about once a week. We still haven't done everything there is to do. Often we go to WDW for a weekend and stay on property. They have good rates for APs and Florida residents. As posted above, beware of having to commute on I-4. Our 45 minutes to WDW has turned into a 90 minutes drive many times due to bottlenecking and accidents. The hurricanes this summer were very scarry. If you decide to move, make sure you have a safe room in the house. Our house does not. We have windows in every room, including the bathrooms. We used DH's walk in closet during Charley and Jeanne. Bugs and Termites are also a problem. I strongly suggest a prophylactic treatment around the parimeter. We didn't know about that, and last spring we had swarmers in our bathroom, thousands of them! We didn't have to be tented, but they did have to drill holes around the house and fill them with solution. Even after that treatment, a few weeks ago my hand went through the wood frame to our bathroom. This time we had worker termites (look like albino ants). They came back and treated that area, put in a trap behind the bathtub and drilled holes in our bathroom floor and filled the holes with solution and patched them up. We had no idea termites were so prevalent down here.

 

[GRAYWIFE]

What a great thread!!! So interesting how people actually did (and are planning) to make the move to Orlando. My husband and I have discussed retirement locations for a few years now. He wants to retire to Sedona AZ and vacation in Orlando. I want to retire to Orlando and vacation in Sedona!!!

In the meantime I will continue to live vicariously through others!!

 

[mtakac]

Wow, thank you for all the information. I'm learning so much.

I currently have my own business so that is also an issue. The county I live in in Pgh permits and inspects you to death so I'm pretty prepared for anything. My background is in nonprofit management so that is also something to consider as a job option if I do not continue my business. Sadly, nonprofit salaries are low wherever one lives and Pgh is pretty bad. I can't imagine Florida would be worse.

From the research I've done on apartment rents, it seems that Orlando is about the same or better than Pgh. However, we live in a higher priced area in Pgh for the safety and convenience and are used to paying a little more.

Thanks again!

 

[spiceycat]

this is a very interesting post.

I have consider moving to the Orlando area - but I also like Clermont and other places along US 27 better than real close to WDW.

I have even got the pamplets.

I have a big problem - I am allergic to the sun and Florida's sun is so much more intense than Ala. Sun screen helps - but I still have to avoid the sun during certain hours.

of course I could follow your lead, dclwdwlover, and stay inside.

I brought DVC so I could live in WDW!!! and I know if I moved there I won't kept my DVC membership....

decisions....