My Friends Think I am absolutly crazy!!!

MIKETFROMRI

MIKETFROMRI

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
My friends think I am nuts. Why????? Well I am recently retired ( teaching 34 years in RI)...my wife is still working( nurse) but we are talking more and more about making the move to Florida. Yes the weather is soooo much nicer than up north ..and other reasons ( my sister and inlaws are in West Palm) but MAIN reason is to be closer to our second home now...Disney.....It would be heaven to make those trips 5-6-7 times a year to Disney on a whim. My sister does it now and i am jealous........ Has anyone else made the move with Disney as main motivation????
 
Nemo14

Nemo14

Well-Known Member
Not crazy at all Mike, but I'd suggest you try snowbirding first and see how you like that, then rent a place for a month in the summer and compare. My husband and I are retired teachers (from RI) too, and as much as I'd move down there in a heartbeat, DH really can't sever all his RI ties.
 
ParentsOf4

ParentsOf4

Well-Known Member
We used to live in CT but decided to move south to get away from winter and, frankly, to make the trip to WDW much easier. We're now living near Atlanta. The total door-to-door drive, including stops, is about 7 hours and about as long as it used to take us when we flew.

DW didn't want to live too close to Orlando since she was concerned it would spoil the Magic and be less of a reason to stay onsite at WDW. Since the move, we've been going 3 or 4 times a year. Just returned for a 3-night stay at AKV, something that would have been rather more difficult when we flew. Now it's load up the car, hit the road early, and arrive around noon!

And we bought a DVC so we'd have no good reason to stay offsite!
 
epcotisbest

epcotisbest

Well-Known Member
It is an idea we have played with for years...and actually looked at Celebration when it was just a field with a mobile information office...before the lottery for the first lots.
Later, nearly bought an upstairs condo on Water Street in Celebration a few years ago when you could snap them up for a song...but the condo association fees and rental restrictions were a bit crazy (wanted to rent it out until we could actually move, but use it on occasion. Celebration is not the place to do that, at least for us.)
So now prices are going back up and we missed the bottom of the market at Celebration, but still have the dream. We might even look further away, maybe Ocala or Aluchua or something like Lakeland, who knows...and honestly it might just always remain a dream with family here and my wife's ties to her family.
My family would never miss me and I would not miss them, so I would be the one pushing for the move.
Now if somehow a winning lottery ticket fell in my lap, it would be Golden Oak or Windermere in a heartbeat.
The last thing you would see from me is taillights (on the new Corvette) headed south!
 
zurgandfriend

zurgandfriend

Well-Known Member
My brother in law did the exact same thing, moving from the Boston area to 3 miles from Disney. When he moved his kids were grown, he was divorced and didn't have a thing to lose. Now he works part time at one of the parks and loves everything about it, weather, meeting people and as his says never having to shovel snow again. He keeps telling my DW and I to move down too, perhaps when DS is in college, we'll move and not tell him.
 
Britt

Britt

Well-Known Member
*sigh* My husband and I always kid and joke about it. Being so close to Disney would be amazing. We seriously curled up on the couch and watched our cell phone videos of the Electric Parade and The Magic, Memories and You (we were there the very last night it played), and Wishes! And just sighed. I miss it so much. And my son turning to me mid parade, jumping up and down going "Mommy I LOVE this parade!!!!" face glowing from the lights.

On the other hand, almost all our family is in CO/WY and they're the main reason we're here in the first place. I grew up in the military, moving all over with no family for years and I really wanted my kids to live near their grandparents. Also....FL heat is sickening. I am NOT made for that kind of heat/humidity. I ALSO worry about Disney losing some of it's magic being able to go several times a year.
 
epcotisbest

epcotisbest

Well-Known Member
Agree about the heat. That is another factor. I believe I could take it for about nine months out of the year, but June, July and August I don't know what I would do.
 
Killnme

Killnme

Well-Known Member
I live about 2-2 1/2 hours away. We love it. If we wake up and want to go we go! It really doesn't ruin the magic for us b/c we still have certain dates we build in (like spring break, Star Wars Weekend, Candlelight Procession time) and that magic hits us every time. There are a few nice houses around us for sale come on down.
 
M

Mammymouse

Well-Known Member
MIKETFROMRI said:
My friends think I am nuts. Why????? Well I am recently retired ( teaching 34 years in RI)...my wife is still working( nurse) but we are talking more and more about making the move to Florida. Yes the weather is soooo much nicer than up north ..and other reasons ( my sister and inlaws are in West Palm) but MAIN reason is to be closer to our second home now...Disney.....It would be heaven to make those trips 5-6-7 times a year to Disney on a whim. My sister does it now and i am jealous........ Has anyone else made the move with Disney as main motivation????
Click to expand...

We presently live 70 miles due south of Disney, but when/if we were to move (we'd like to be a little closer to either of the coasts) we would make the drive-time of less than 1.5 hours to Disney the first priority in picking a spot. We had lived in West Palm Beach (Wellington) in 1989 for about 2 years (loved it!) but WDW is a little too far of a drive from West Palm for us for a day trip. Our daughter and almost 9 year old granddaughter live here also so our second consideration for a move would be schooling for our granddaughter.
If we did not have rental property in RI we would only go back there once a year to see family. But as it is now we go back about 3 or 4 times depending on our business. If you wanted to move to Florida and your wife is not ready to retire yet Health Care is still one of the few industries that is always looking for qualified staff anywhere. The real estate market has hit bottom and is creeping up now, but there are still lots of good values here.
As a Florida resident, or DVC owner, you can get the Annual Pass and go everyday if you want!
 
D

DisneyDebNJ

Well-Known Member
MIKETFROMRI said:
My friends think I am nuts. Why????? Well I am recently retired ( teaching 34 years in RI)...my wife is still working( nurse) but we are talking more and more about making the move to Florida. Yes the weather is soooo much nicer than up north ..and other reasons ( my sister and inlaws are in West Palm) but MAIN reason is to be closer to our second home now...Disney.....It would be heaven to make those trips 5-6-7 times a year to Disney on a whim. My sister does it now and i am jealous........ Has anyone else made the move with Disney as main motivation????
Click to expand...
Thats a terrific goal though! You aren't nuts at all. We have not made the move, but are seriously considering buying a vacation home near Disney, then retire there in the future. I'm the hold out though... I just can't imagine not staying ON property! LOL So if you're nuts, I'm a bagload of mixed nuts! LOL
 
S

Susan Savia

Well-Known Member
I wouldn't mind living about 6 hours from WDW. We are 15 hours away right now. Relatives in the Tampa area tell us about the hot summers there. And then the hurricanes that occasionally blow thru. Being about 6 hours away is close enough to get there in a day, but far enough away from a bad storm. Regardless, when we win the lottery we will buy something near WDW, but keep our home here in VA.
 
JIMINYCR

JIMINYCR

Well-Known Member
Nuts? No way. Probably 80 - 90% of the people on here think about moving to the area and either working at WDW or just living nearby enough to enjoy all that Disney has to offer on a more frequent basis. Our dream is to get the heck out of Maine, away from the cold and the snowy months and live out and enjoy our retirement with Disney in mind. Nemo14 has the right idea of your trying the area out first before making the move. Friends of ours did this and found out the area they had looked at wasnt what they ultimately wanted.
 
mrdisman

mrdisman

Well-Known Member
I used to live in Orlando...but at the age of 12...my parents had the bright idea to move...to PA...in 1969...2 years before Disney opened. I never forgave them...and yes, I though of moving back just because of Disney...
 

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