Moving to Orlando...

disney4life2008

disney4life2008

Well-Known Member
AJH219 said:
I think this was what shocked me the most when I moved here last summer; it takes forever to get anywhere. Back home 20 miles away meant a nice 20 minute drive, but not here. The tolls were really another harsh reality check. Don't get me wrong, I love cruising down 417 (and avoiding I4) to work a few days a week, but gosh from my place right near UCF to Disney is four tolls...about $5 one way!! :eek: But, like you said, it is nice being able to pop away to Magic Kingdom after a tiring day at school and be back at a reasonable time. Though, I'm definitely looking forward to getting out of student housing next summer ;)
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Absolutely, I call this the Orlando struggle. Unfortunately, to get anywhere quick you need to take the toll and the the tolls over by Lake Mary are worst, I got lost over there a few weeks ago and ended up with a $15 bill one way and the traffic on the toll road sometimes is no better than a non toll road. It takes a huge adjustment but the rewards of Orlando outweigh the negatives and I love that after a stressful week at UCF I can plan a disney day then come right back home. I initially thought I would still want to stay in the resorts but I do not even do that (waste of money) when disney is a quick drive. Speaking of distance: I really wish there was a more direct route from UCF to disney because the toll road from this side of town still dumps into I-4.
 
KikoKea

KikoKea

Well-Known Member
JCtheparrothead said:
That is a good plan. We have been thinking about doing the same as well but the thought of moving twice haunts my dreams at night.
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Military family, 28 years....moving doesn't scare me! :D What does bother me is the thought of buying a house quickly and later regretting it and wishing we'd looked around more.
 
disney4life2008

disney4life2008

Well-Known Member
lazyboy97o said:
Yeah, that's probably shorter in terms of miles but can definitely be a killer with time. FL-417 South to Exit 6 will take you into Walt Disney World at the same spot.
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Thanks for letting me know. I have been living here since July but just started taking the tolls as of February. I knew there had to be a better way because I get dumped into I4 which is not really an issue now but by May it will horror all over again. I4 is truly the worst lol
 
Littlebean

Littlebean

New Member
I lived in Winter Springs for a few years and liked it. Not all areas of it, but it was a decent commute to Lake Mary and we visited the parks on the weekends. Didn't mind paying the tolls on 417 to avoid the traffic on I4. Might be another area to add to your list.
 
ElvisMickey

ElvisMickey

Well-Known Member
Sitting in my office on I4 in Lake Mary as we speak (type lol)...live in LM as well. The key to getting to the parks from here is to be an early riser so you can be on I4 before the traffic starts. 417 is a nice alternative, but it takes twice as long (without traffic) and there are tolls. If you're on I4 by 7AM on the weekends you can skip the traffic and be at Disney in about 30 minutes.
 
donsullivan

donsullivan

Premium Member
One thing I often encourage of people who are considering a move to the area in the future is a change to your vacation plans on a few trips. Instead of staying in the bubble of the tourist corridor on the southwest side of town, considering renting a car and staying in the area of the region you think seems interesting to you. You'll get a much better, real-world sense of how the community feels, what traffic is like getting back and forth between things, etc.. If you find you just don't like the area it can save you the frustration and potential expense of moving to an area you end up not liking.

Over many years before I moved to Orlando I spent some portion of each of my trips visiting different areas around the city to understand what it was really like. I had watched the development of Hunters Creek were I am now over many years so I had a pretty good sense of where I wanted to live, and why before I even came here looking for a place to live in 2004.

After having done 5 cross-country moves in my life I've experienced the scenario of having to choose a place to live quickly and on some I chose well and others, not so much. Having taken the opportunity over the years to learn the city a little as well as the neighborhoods allowed me to choose a place that suited me perfectly.

I often see people wanting to move to live 'near Disney' and they end up going too close to the tourist area. That may seem exciting at first but after a while the expense and craziness of it gets old. It's really cool to have the parks so close but in my day-to-day life, I don't want anything to do with it. I don't want to pay tourist zone prices for gas or at the grocery store, I don't want to deal with the traffic delays that come with all of that, etc..

I understand not everyone has the time for that if you've got a move on the short horizon. But if you're someone who thinks they might want to move here someday, I really encourage you to spend at least a portion of your future visits outside of the tourist zone and get to know the 'real Orlando'. It's a really great place to live but the tourist corridor doesn't represent it fully at all.
 
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Audrey77

New Member
I lived at UCFfor grad school (near Oviedo) and would commute to WDW for work. There was always a bottleneck going from 408 to I-4.
 
JCtheparrothead

JCtheparrothead

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
donsullivan said:
One thing I often encourage of people who are considering a move to the area in the future is a change to your vacation plans on a few trips. Instead of staying in the bubble of the tourist corridor on the southwest side of town, considering renting a car and staying in the area of the region you think seems interesting to you. You'll get a much better, real-world sense of how the community feels, what traffic is like getting back and forth between things, etc.. If you find you just don't like the area it can save you the frustration and potential expense of moving to an area you end up not liking.

Over many years before I moved to Orlando I spent some portion of each of my trips visiting different areas around the city to understand what it was really like. I had watched the development of Hunters Creek were I am now over many years so I had a pretty good sense of where I wanted to live, and why before I even came here looking for a place to live in 2004.

After having done 5 cross-country moves in my life I've experienced the scenario of having to choose a place to live quickly and on some I chose well and others, not so much. Having taken the opportunity over the years to learn the city a little as well as the neighborhoods allowed me to choose a place that suited me perfectly.

I often see people wanting to move to live 'near Disney' and they end up going too close to the tourist area. That may seem exciting at first but after a while the expense and craziness of it gets old. It's really cool to have the parks so close but in my day-to-day life, I don't want anything to do with it. I don't want to pay tourist zone prices for gas or at the grocery store, I don't want to deal with the traffic delays that come with all of that, etc..

I understand not everyone has the time for that if you've got a move on the short horizon. But if you're someone who thinks they might want to move here someday, I really encourage you to spend at least a portion of your future visits outside of the tourist zone and get to know the 'real Orlando'. It's a really great place to live but the tourist corridor doesn't represent it fully at all.
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Great insight. Thanks!
 
C

chipanddale

New Member
JCtheparrothead said:
Great insight. Thanks!
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Hi. Love this site. My husband and I hope to move down there sometime soon. We are looking at various suburbs. Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Maitland as well as others. What are the locals opinions on Apopka, Ocoee, Clermont, or Winter Garden? My brother-in-law had a house in Davenport back in 2004-2005, but ended up selling it in 2007. I have heard it went through a rough patch, is it on the up-swing now? Thanks for any insight. :)
 
JCtheparrothead

JCtheparrothead

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
chipanddale said:
Hi. Love this site. My husband and I hope to move down there sometime soon. We are looking at various suburbs. Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Maitland as well as others. What are the locals opinions on Apopka, Ocoee, Clermont, or Winter Garden? My brother-in-law had a house in Davenport back in 2004-2005, but ended up selling it in 2007. I have heard it went through a rough patch, is it on the up-swing now? Thanks for any insight. :)
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We just got back from house hunting down there a week ago. While my opinion is limited to about a 4 days here is what i found. Clermont was pretty nice and growing fast. There are a lot of new subs, shopping, and stores going in right now. Lots of cool lakes out there but you are a haul from a lot of things. 45-60 minutes to the airport, 35-40 to parks, etc. We ended up buying a house in Windermere and spent a good amount of time there and Winter Garden looking. both cities are nice and they both have an old and new sections. WIndermere is pretty nice and the schools are great but the home prices are higher and so are the taxes. Winter Garden is very similar.
 
KikoKea

KikoKea

Well-Known Member
JCtheparrothead said:
BTW thanks for everyones input. We ended up finding a home in Windermere (Summerport neighborhood) and will be moving down in mid June (poor movers). Looking forward to being participating on the boards more with pictures and info on the parks.
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Hope you're in and settled. How do you like living there? How convenient is it to WDW and other necessities of life? Is traffic awful or OK?

That's the area we've narrowed our search to for rental, possibly buying in if the area isn't too crazy. We'll be there the end of Sept and are taking 2 days to drive around that area and also eastward, in the space coast area.
 
PixieDustMamma

PixieDustMamma

Member
JCtheparrothead said:
Awesome. I will be down there in 2 weeks for a commando style assault on the area. Hopefully we can figure out the area we want to be in then centralize our search.
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Hi there,

We just recently moved to the area and LOVE Oviedo. It is very very family friendly and a lovely place to live. Also even though I4 is under construction to get to and from Lake Mary, you also always have the option of taking Ronald Regan to 417 (the toll) Hope this helps and you have a smooth move.
 

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