Moving to be near the Mouse!!!!

[UncleScrooge477]

After looking at the Golden Oak community (online of course) I don't think I'd want to live there. All of us here would want to live like kids down there if we could always stay on property, and I have a feeling that community wouldn't allow anything like that. I see those places being more for events and such where you can rent out the house for a very upscale party or wedding or whatnot. Essentially...it being a place where everything always has to be prim and proper...spit spot!

So I'd rather put that money into either DVC or a house just outside of Disney property...and buy enough DVC points to stay on property whenever I wanted.

Gotta win first though.

True, they do appear to be a bit more upper crust. Sort of like when we stay on Disney property though, I wouldn't be wanting to spend a lot of time at the house ~ I'd be in the parks! With the price ranges, it definitely is not catering to the younger crowd for the most part.

Well, with enough tuxedos and limos and drivers, we could all fit right in. Now, about parking my camper on the side of the house, and sometimes having HUGE bonfires, well, enough money, and people will look the other way...

[Wizzard419]

It's Florida, so their idea of upper class is wearing clothes new from JC Penny.

Golden Oak is weird, they don't actually bill themselves as a senior community, they make no mentions of it nor have an age requirement. They only heavily imply it in the images. Though, for park access, they probably have better access than the Four Seasons (I think they might be owned by the same company).

[UncleScrooge477]

It's Florida, so their idea of upper class is wearing clothes new from JC Penny.

Golden Oak is weird, they don't actually bill themselves as a senior community, they make no mentions of it nor have an age requirement. They only heavily imply it in the images. Though, for park access, they probably have better access than the Four Seasons (I think they might be owned by the same company).

Well, those of us from "old" money like heavy white linen suits in the summer, dressing for dinner, and what not. Now, would Powerball be "old" money, or "new"??? I'm sure somewhere in the family history we had someone as part of the aristocracy, or the landed gentry, at least!

Seriously, though, I wish I could "pitch" what I'm doing and move down there. Nothing in my field, though. So just happy dreams of what could be. Congrats on taking the chance and making the move! Orlando is getting an up and coming foodie scene, too, so eating should be fun and good!

[rdeacon]

With the people that visit Disney every day, week, month, year, What do people do for a living to be able to visit sooooo often. COME ON POWERBALL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of our intrepid leaders goes a lot and I'm pretty sure he works with computers. Beyond that, I'm not sure. Maybe he "fixes" the powerball drawings

Amy: we try to go every weekend 2 years ago we went 68 times, last year was 59. We want to get our monies worth out of the Prem APs.

We also moved here 2 years ago so we could go so often. Trips down got too pricey!

Rich

[Amy]

With the people that visit Disney every day, week, month, year, What do people do for a living to be able to visit sooooo often. COME ON POWERBALL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of our intrepid leaders goes a lot and I'm pretty sure he works with computers. Beyond that, I'm not sure. Maybe he "fixes" the powerball drawings

Amy: we try to go every weekend 2 years ago we went 68 times, last year was 59. We want to get our monies worth out of the Prem APs.

We also moved here 2 years ago so we could go so often. Trips down got too pricey!

Rich

Nice ~ have you figured out your average price per day with your ticket and the frequency you are able to visit now that you live closer? And can I ask how close your latest move has gotten you to the mouse? Figment is still pouring over the maps and looking up demographic data online to figure out the ideal location to start our housing search. I'm content letting her look as I want her to be happy with where we end up if we do move. I want it to be her decision completely so I don't end up feeling bad about her giving up the house she and my Dad built together. We are still at least 2 years away I would guess though given the amount of work we need to do on this house and the sheer amount of stuff we need to sell/donate/get rid of!

[rdeacon]

We are the same distance. We live in Seminole County. We scouted out all areas around WDW.. north, east, west and south. We didn't want to be right on top of Disney. We also wanted good schools and low crime. We feel we found the perfect area. I couldn't be happier with where we are now. We are 45 min from WDW and about 25min north of Orlando.

I completely understand the issue with dealing with a house you have to repair and dealing with large amounts of stuff. We had the same issue with the house in NJ. We weeded way down, and we still ended up with storage units. We just moved into a house here and are starting to deal with the storage units. I would recommend reducing as much as you can. The less you can move with the better.

Let me know if you have any questions or if I can help in any way.

Rich

[DisneyYorkie]

I will second what Rich posted. REDUCE, REDUCE, REDUCE.

After you do that, reduce some more.

We have a 10x10 storage unit in WV (where we originally grew up and lived for many years). We have two 5x10 units in Kissimmee. And that's with NO furniture! When we sold the house in MD, we left the furniture. We have spent hours and hours pairing down, but we still have that much stuff. It's ridiculous but I don't know what else to do....no one will let me get rid of stuff

MY favorite place to live so far is Windermere. There are parts of Windermere that are extremely expensive, but there are nice apartment complexes and SFHs that aren't as bad. From Windermere, Disney is about 10 min. away. The traffic in Windermere is much better than most places we've rented.

If you need further help, Amy, you know I'm available.

[Amy]

Thanks guys ~ yup, reducing is the goal. The reality is that it is much harder said than done
I figured y'all were a bit closer than that rdeacon. I know when we were in Cali we stayed about 30 minutes away from DL and the drive wasn't as bad as I had anticipated, but we never really ran into much traffic. I think the traffic situation in FL is much worse though right?!

[DisneyYorkie]

Traffic in Kissimmee is bad....real bad. We lived in Kissimmee for about a third of our nine months in FL. It is much more "touristy", for want of a better word, than other areas. So many of the tourists stay right in Kissimmee; it is amazing how many hotels and restaurants there are in that area. And it isn't the kind of traffic where you can figure out what times or what days it is better to be out. It's bad all the time.

Clermont is another good area for being away from traffic as is Davenport and Windermere.

[rdeacon]

Amy,

It really depends. We have 2 ways to go. One way invloves I4. If I4 is a hot mess, we check the traffic before we leave, we take 417. Its really not a bad drive. As I mentioned I didn't want to be on doorstep of WDW. I would recommend, if possible, your next few trips down you scout out areas. We did that for years before we moved down. This way you will get a feel for the areas you are thinking of moving to. We checked out Davenport and Clermont as well. We just found we loved the area we are now. What you like depends on where you live now, what you are used to, and your individual requirements and tastes. For example Davenport might be great for you, while we didn't care for it. One tip I can't stress enough is DO NOT BUY when you first come down.. RENT. Its too hard find a place that you want to live in with all the complexities of a relocation. If you rent you are stuck there a year at max and can take the time you need to find an area you love.

Rich

[Amy]

Yup, good advice all ~ we will definitely be looking to rent first. Figment is really hoping to relocate for the winter this year, and I hope she is able to do so, but I don't know if that will be feasible or not. Since she is retired it is a bit easier for her to up and move like that, but money is still a factor. I myself am trying to figure out what my next career choice is going to be. I am nearing the end of being able to enjoy my teaching anymore with all the hassles of scheduling and being at the lowest end of almost every family's priorities when it comes to keeping the times they have scheduled ~ I had one family (that I don't teach anymore) who actually told me their priorities came in this order: sports, academics, and family time. I think I ranked below the family time, and there wasn't even much time for that after all the sports were accounted for
On the plus side, I have a whole bunch of unrelated talents and training to draw upon...office ninja, fire fighter/EMT, world traveler, piano teacher...who wouldn't want to employ me?!

[Amy]

Anyone else see the news story with a sneak peek inside Golden Oak? I love how the community is for just "regular folks" Anyhow, here is the link if you are interested ~ http://m.clickorlando.com/news/luxury-h ... s/31338412

[Polynesian Princess]

If only I had a couple million dollars...

[dwellsbct]

I would love to move into the Golden Oak neighborhood, right on WDW property.
Guess I'll have to win Powerball to do that though.