MOVING TO ORLANDO FOR UCF (Rosen College, not main campus)...Apartment Help Anyone?

Which Neighborhood is the Best in Orlando?

  • Lake Buena Vista

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Williamsburg/Sea World/International South

    Votes: 1 50.0%
  • Universal Area

    Votes: 1 50.0%
  • Millenia

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Downtown

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    2

Robert Clay

New Member
Original Poster
Hey Y'all!
My name is Robert and I will be moving to the Orlando area between September and December 2013. I have applied and got accepted to UCF's Rosen College of Hospitality Management. I am looking for an apartment somewhere between Downtown Orlando and Lake Buena Vista. The college campus is located off Universal Boulevard and Florida 528 Toll (Martin Anderson Beachline Expy) near the convention center.
My search parameters are pretty broad. I would like the Southern Border to be W Osceola Parkway. The Western Border to be S Apopka/Vineland Road. The northern border to be Conway Road. And the Eastern border S Orange Blossom Trail. I am not opposed to living downtown as well even though it doesn't fall into this general area. Closeness to the parks is not necessarily a priority as working and schooling full time will eat much of my free time. I am looking for safe and affordable. My budget maxes out around 1250 per month. I have looked at a couple places, the Vinings at Westwood, Camden World Gateway, various Millenia area apartments, Lofts at SoDo, SkyHouse, and 55 West. Has anyone lived or had friends live in any of these apartments?
Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I am NOT interested in purchasing a home, but wouldn't be opposed to renting a home or condo. Are any neighborhoods better than others? I've looked at Dr. Phillips but it is a little out of my budgets range.
Anyways, I can't wait for the move and to be closer to my favorite place in the World, WDW. Hopefully I can meet some of y'all in the parks starting this fall and we can become great friends.
 

71jason

Well-Known Member
First off, congrats! I used to live in the Vinings, it's great, very safe, good people, convenient to everything (especially the Rosen campus, hop on 528 and it's the next exit). Monterrey Lake, down the street, is less nice, but cheaper for a furnished apartment. Still very safe. Both have a lot of people in their 20s, should be well within your budget. There may still be condos for rent around the corner from Westwood, on I-Drive; I don't recall the name of those developments at the moment, tho.

I can't recommend downtown. More expensive, more crime-ridden, and far more likely to get stuck in traffic. Suprisingly, Millenia isn't all that safe; I can't recomment that area, either.
 

Robert Clay

New Member
Original Poster
Hey Jason! Thanks for the recommendation. I have a couple friends who work at WDW and they have also recommended The Vinings. I was only looking in Downtown at some of the newer properties like the SkyHouse under construction because they look awesome, but the other would ensure an easy commute and cheaper pricing. I'm getting super excited.
Well be coming down in September to view the apartments so hopefully I'll get some other recommendations to check out as well. Thanks again for your help. I really appreciate it.
 

StarWarsGirl

Well-Known Member
Hey there! I also applied and was accepted to UCF for Rosen, but decided not to go because of financial reasons (higher scholarship offer back home).

I would stay in the area that is most convenient for getting internships where you want them. Rosen will set you up with the internships. I would say the Universal area to be close to the college and potential work opportunities. :) But it's up to you.
 

maxairmike

Well-Known Member
If you're not opposed to renting a home, check out options in the Indian Wells subdivision just off of 535 next to the Walmart (just south of the 536/World Center Dr. intersection). The homes are mostly decent, a pretty quiet neighborhood, convenient to pretty much everything (multiple routes to everything in the attractions area, including Rosen), and the only headaches are the typical evening rush hour times and holidays with tourist/outlet traffic. In terms of apartments, I wouldn't consider anything in Millennia as 71jason said. All of the options in the Disney area are nice, but right at the top end of your rent range. The District looks like a very nice community, I've been in there a few times and there are several UCF Rosen students that live there, plus its right across the street and next to Publix and a NYPD Pizza (very popular with the Rosen students). There are some new apartments being constructed off Central Florida Pkwy that look like they'll be done early next year (maybe deal with Rosen housing, which isn't bad at all, for a semester and then move there when they finish), and Alta at Lake Eve just opened on I-Drive just north of the Vineland Premium Outlets and the Disney CP housing area.
 

Stephanie Lebow

New Member
Hey! I just got into Rosen! I'm not there right now, because I'm a CP and live in CP housing. :3 But I'm looking for more inexpensive places to live. Disney does not pay me nearly enough. :/
 

Robert Clay

New Member
Original Poster
Awesome. I wanted to do CP, but I can't live off minimum wage. I've been working in the industry, spas specifically, and worked my way up to pretty good pay. I'm trying to switch over to the hotel side of hospitality once I move to Orlando, which should pay similar. I recently discovered that if you attend Valencia and have above a 2.0 GPA you are guaranteed into Rosen. So I'm going to Valencia for the next year to save money and then transferring into Rosen. We decided to stay living in the SeaWorld/Williamsburg area and are either going to choose the Vinings or District. It will be me and my boyfriend and were either bringing a friend or searching for one roommate. That will bring the price of a 2 bedroom down to around 400-500 a person, which is doable. I'm super excited to move down there (coming from Dallas, TX). We'll be back in town in December to finish school orientation, sign our lease, and of course visit Universal and Disney for a few days. I would love to meetup Stephanie if you have time off from CP and any other obligations. Our travel dates are Dec 4-9th. 4th and 5th well be at Universal. 6-9th well be at Disney. Staying at Bay Lake Tower the whole time cause my sister is a DVC member. And then we'll be moving in full time January 2nd. I'm so excited for the change and to be so close to my favorite attractions. It's been my life dream to work at Disney and now I actually have the opportunity to do it. I may wait for the degree though so I can get a little better pay...
 

LilyChao

New Member
Hi~ I'm enrolling to UCF Rosen in Fall 2016. I've been looking for off-campus housing around Rosen, which I thought would've been easy but turned out exactly the opposite >< The school's official off-campus housing webpage as well as a couple of apartment websites I've found ONLY have housing options around the main campus. May I ask where you guys obtain information about neighborhoods and the websites that post housing options around Rosen? Many thanks to all the input above!!!
 

LilyChao

New Member
The school's off campus housing website has an option that lets you select various neighborhoods around Orlando, not just central to the main campus

Thanks for the heads-up! I went back to the website and it did have an option to choose other neighborhoods! Unfortunately, among the tens of neighborhood options, only 3 are currently available, and they are all around the main campus ><

I believe the housing information will keep updating, right? Maybe there will be information about Rosen neighborhoods sometime soon?
 

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