Please help... Orlando residents

[LivefortheMouse]

Anyone who lives or has friends in orllando we need help.....
My boyfriend and i r talking about moving to orlando when we get married. I wanna know if those of u who live in orlando still see disney as a vacation spot and if u feel the same magic that we do when we go. I also want to know which are the best schools and neighborhoods to raise a family in. Please help us in making our decision.

 

[KevinPage]

Check your Private messages and email me personally. I moved from Long Island to Celebration 11 months ago, so I feel we can give a good perspective on things

 

[miles1]

Hi Kevin-

My wife and I are considering the same thing and would love to hear your input on life in the Disney/Celebration/Orlando area as well. Feel free to private message me or e-mail me.

(we now live about 60 miles outside of NYC in Connecticut)

Thanks.

 

[mkt]

when you live in Orlando.. you find yourself going to the parks not as often as you thought you'd go

 

[LeaveALegacyGuy]

Mkt is right. You don't go to parks so often. Orlando is a good place to live. I don't know which place is the best to live and go 2 school. You still have a little magic feeling every time you go to Disney.

 

[Timekeeper]

Living with Patrick Stewart

In my opinion, the Altamonte area has served as a good place to live. There are a number of schools in the area. It is well developed and within 20 minutes of Downtown Orlando (if traffic is moving at a good pace.) It is about 45 minutes from Disneyworld, which is a good distance to avoid those heavy tourism areas, yet close enough to drive to every 2 weeks. It's about 30 minutes from Universal Orlando. Longwood/Apopka are also nice areas, so long as they are the areas nearest Altamonte. Maitland is also near the Altamonte area and has its nice areas. A lot of people see the quickly evolving Oveido area as a nice location, however, traffic in this area can get pretty nasty due to the adjacent University of Central Florida (UCF), which if it grows at its current rate will soon be bigger than the University of Florida (UF), becoming the biggest university in Florida. The Oveido area is also a good driving distance from most professional jobs, depending on where you will be working.

I can only speak for the areas that I am familiar with, and I am pretty familiar with these areas. The best thing to do might be the same thing that you did for college, and travel down here taking a week to explore the areas. Although it may be more expensive, you'll probably want to live within 10 minutes of Interstate-4. That's the main "bloodline" here in Orlando. Any further than that an commuting will seem more of a hassle every day. I-4 runs from Daytona Beach (east) to Tampa (west), hitting Disneyworld in between. Lake Mary, Altamonte, Maitland, are all adjacent to I-4, and some areas of Longwood and Apopka are within a 10 minute drive.

Hope this helps,

Tk

 

[KevinPage]

I still go quite frequently. Granted I'm not there 7 days a week, but I still try to do it at least 1X per week on most weeks.

Sometimes I won't go for 2-3 weeks, but then I make up for it by going a few days in a row.

IE- heard Mission Space was open, went right there after work 2 days in a row.

Another night we were watching TV, I told the wife, I wanna go video tape Illuminations, so we just got up and went, no hassle, no big production, had a great time for a few hours

 

[mkt]

Lately, I've been going more often than normal.. like 2-3 times a week.... but I only go for a few hours at a time. The days of me spending a full day in the parks are gone.. lol

 

[Stitch79]

We live down here as well. I would say we go to the parks about 1-2 times a month on average, more often we just go for dinner either at the park or a resort.

It is nice to just wake up a on a weekend, decide that you want to go to Disney, and just go!

 

[LivefortheMouse]

Thanks everyone so much for your help. I think were going to be alright in orlando, as long as everyone is as nice as u all. timekeeper thanks for all those areas were really looking at the area of apopka so if u can help on telling me which area is good there and which schools are good there. Were looking for houses between the price range of 150 -200 thousand,though the 1st two years were thinking of getting a town house how do those range in price in good neighbor hoods. Kevinpage thanks for all ur help now im really looking foward to moving to orlando. Once again thanks everyone

 

[KevinPage]

To each his own, but remember the old adage of renting and trying out an area before buying.

You may not like Florida or the area you purchase in without living there first and then you are stuck with something you have to turn around and sell.

Hence why we went the apartment route, til we decide where we want to live and what exactly we want to do (besides going to Disneyworld). There about 8 zillion apartments down here, not hard to find. I'd reccomend getting a 6 month lease, so it gives you time to "ease in" to making a move to another state, which is a big enough life change for most people. But again, you know what type of person you are, so make your own decision.

Apopka is just West of Altamonte Springs, where we first moved too, so figure about a 40 minute commute to WDW assuming there is no traffic.

Anything north of downtown Orlando is a pain to get through on I4 any part of the day.

Thankfully my whole commute now is the 417 (Greenway). Have to pay tolls, but there's no one on that road ever, expect Mears buses and myself LOL

 

[Lokheed]

For all its worth, my family is four weeks away from moving to Orlando also. We are moving there for my son, who is autistic and who always becomes much more focused and verbal while he is in the parks. We pretty much decided to move to used WDW as one giant ongoing therapy session. Finding a decent apartment was not difficult at all, and as a matter of fact there are some very good move-in deals right now (I am getting my first two month's rent free). I intend to buy a house, but not until we have been there a year or so and have a better feel for the area. With Ben I expect we will be in the parks several times per week, even if it is only for a few hours in the evening.

 

[mkt]

yup.. I take the 417 straight to WDW, 1 toll, and 1 exit over... and I'm there. And I have NEVER seen this road congested..