Disney Retirement

[kcs]

I turned 51 this year and all I can think about is retiring and moving to Florida and working at WDW. I think this would be a great place to retire to. I know most of you are probably too young to think about this, but I wondered if anyone else is thinking like me? Do you want to do this or have you done this? Maybe I am in a midlife crisis:shrug:

 

[Vernonpush]

We've been thinking and planning this for a few years now (we're a few years older than you).:lol:

 

[graphite1326]

I'm a little older than you also. I have thought about this a great deal. I have googled "What is it like to work at WDW". You should do this and look at the results. Also, would this ruin the magic for me? Right now I am thinking about being a commuter retiree. That is living in Florida during the winter and summer up north where I live now. Perhaps I could work at WDW during my time in Florida. It is a lot to think about.

 

[Susan Savia]

My husband and I are nearing that moment in our lives. I hope that I am working my last year with a goal of June 2011 to be retired!!! Anyways, my father lived in Tampa/St. Petersburg for a number of years and he would tell me the summers in Florida are so very hot and that he would always come north for a vacation to escape the heat in the summer. I do not think that my husband and I would ever move to Florida as we are centrally located here in Northern VA to beaches and the mountains. I always told him, its a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

 

[The Mom]

The flip side of this story is that I DO live in Florida, and every time I've gone north in the summer, I've landed in the middle of a heat wave.

Many people do not have A/C, and many shops, etc are not air-conditioned. We always opt to stay in a hotel, rather than with family, since the one summer I was 6 months pregnant and miserable for a good 3 weeks of temperatures over 90, with a few days over 100, thanks to my parents begging me to stay with them for a month (in their non air conditioned house) while my husband was deployed. "Come up here and get away from that awful Florida heat!"

 

[Monty]

With the exception of working for Disney [I have facial hair and a tattoo on my forearm], my retirement plans are similar...

I retire in 2019. My house here will have been paid for for five years, my cars will be paid for and I'll be debt-free. I plan to sell my house here, use the proceeds to buy a bungalow in the vicinity of WDW and live there in winter, renting here. When I'm not in FLA I'll have a broker renting the property to tourists and use the proceeds to cover maintenance and taxes [or as much as possible thereof]. I'll live in Ottawa enough to maintain my health care eligibility while avoiding the summer heat in FLA. Basically another Canadian Snowbird!

Of course, nine years hence all of that may have changed. :shrug:

 

[David S.]

When the hurricane devestated New Orleans in 2005, I had the chance to experiment with moving to Florida. I had no regrets; it was a lifelong Dream Come True to have unprecedented regular access to the parks!

However, after two years, when conditions back home began to be more improved, I became torn about whether to stay in Orlando or return to NOLA. I missed my parents and friends (although I did visit them for holidays), and I found I was hardly visiting the parks in the summer because the heat is just too brutal! (I am from the south, but have NEVER gotten used to the intense heat, and like to keep my living space cooled to between 65 and 68 degrees with the AC! And in the winter, I let it get MUCH cooler than that before thinking about running heat - which I pretty much never do!)

Giving up the access I had to the parks was not very appealing either, though. So I decided to go for the best of both worlds, and spend the cooler half of the year in Orlando, where my leisure-time focus is visiting the parks; and the hot half in New Orleans, which is of course hot, but where my leisure-time focus is on enjoying my CDs, DVDs, books, and internet reading in the ultra-comfy 68 degree Air Conditioning! (20 Celcius)

I find this approach works best for me! Everytime I return to the parks after a season away, they feel fresh and new again. And my parents in NOLA are only a 9 hour drive away to visit for Christmas!

So basically I've become like a "snowbird", only I am not in Florida in the winter to escape the northern cold, but rather because I find that time of the year best for enjoying the parks while avoiding the insanely brutal summer heat!

PS. Here is a similar post about the joys of living in Florida seasonally:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showpost.php?p=4232209&postcount=31

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Too flat for me. Though I would enjoy the sky being more than 10ft above my head in winter time.

 

[Space Mountain]

A lot of people choose to retire here.

 

[luvlifeinfl]

interesting topic;

I wonder how many people think of doing just that retiring to FL, I know my DH & I talk about it all the time. If that was the case of retirement why is the state of FL in such bad financial state, so many foreclosures? house are cheap and still cant be purchased.

 

[Monty]

interesting topic;

I wonder how many people think of doing just that retiring to FL, I know my DH & I talk about it all the time. If that was the case of retirement why is the state of FL in such bad financial state, so many foreclosures? house are cheap and still cant be purchased.

Generally speaking, retirees don't contribute all that much to the local economy. So while many retire there, the locals still have to struggle to get by. Retirees being able to buy houses outright artificially inflates the market so locals have a harder time making ends meet.

Economics like that are magnified by the kind of recession that hit recently.

 

[wendysue]

I turned 51 this year and all I can think about is retiring and moving to Florida and working at WDW. I think this would be a great place to retire to. I know most of you are probably too young to think about this, but I wondered if anyone else is thinking like me? Do you want to do this or have you done this? Maybe I am in a midlife crisis:shrug:

We are absolutely thinking of doing this. We are going to WDW in November and will be talking to a couple people we know in Florida about places to rent next winter for a few months to check out the area and get things rolling. We are not in a position to buy a place when we retire, so I will definitely have to work when we move. But it's getting closer and I'm getting more excited.....:sohappy:

 

[WDW 3]

My DH talks about doing this all the time. We did the Backstage Magic tour and when they said the need 1. machinists 2. people with a background in electonics (he fits both those descriptions) to work on the aminatronics he found his retirement career.

 

[Olijimcha]

I plan to sell my house here, use the proceeds to buy a bungalow in the vicinity of WDW and live there in winter, renting here. When I'm not in FLA I'll have a broker renting the property to tourists and use the proceeds to cover maintenance and taxes [or as much as possible thereof]. I'll live in Ottawa enough to maintain my health care eligibility while avoiding the summer heat in FLA. Basically another Canadian Snowbird!

Of course, nine years hence all of that may have changed. :shrug:

Sounds familiar, all being well we hope to do the same escaping the UK winter each year once we've retired (a wee while yet though).

 

[bgraham34]

My wife and I have talked about moving there in 30 years or so. We have plenty of time to decide.

 

[BrerFrog]

I wish I could have that dream, but I don't live in the US so I don't think that will happen.

 

[TubaGeek]

That's my plan!
Of course I'm only 22, so God only knows what may change between then and now...

 

[Tater48]

I'll be retiring on 09/17 after 27 years of Law Enforcement(all with the same agency). We leave for the world on the 18th to celebrate this (parks and cruise). I have an interview in Tampa on the 20th, but it's not with Disney, so it's looking like we will be relocating to Florida where I will start working on my 2nd retirement.

 

[Master Yoda]

Good to know that I am not alone. Both my wife and I are 39 and retiring to front line CM or behind the scenes roles at WDW at around 65 are a serious part of the plan.

 

[3fordisney]

We are thinking the same thing! Being in our early 30's, we have some time to make up our minds. My hubby wants to either drive a bus or the monorail. He discusses it every trip. This last time, he decided it would be a boat driver.