Moving to be near the mouse.

[ConnecticutFlea]

Has anyone moved to Florida to be near Disney? If so, can you recommend an area and/or a realtor within 30 minutes of WDW?
TIA!

 

[wgeo]

I live further away then you're probably interested in. But I do recommend searching around the forum - that question is asked quite often, so you'll probably find lots of good answers in previous threads.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

A friend actually quit/lost her job as a teacher here because she was spending any chance she got down at WDW.
She moved down there and got a teaching job there and now lives in Windermere and can see MK fireworks from her house.

 

[ConnecticutFlea]

A friend actually quit/lost her job as a teacher here because she was spending any chance she got down at WDW.
She moved down there and got a teaching job there and now lives in Windermere and can see MK fireworks from her house.

Can you tell me more about Windermere? Was it a long distance move? Would she recommend her realtor?

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Can you tell me more about Windermere? Was it a long distance move? Would she recommend her realtor?

Sorry don't know much about Windermere but you could do some googling on it.

She moved from the Buffalo NY area so yeah long distance move but she has family that works at WDW and was already familiar with the area and I don't think that was the first place she lived. I just know she's lived there for at least a year now.

Don't know if she even had a realtor.

I just know I'm jealous when I see pics of MK fireworks from her yard and seeing very empty parks during bad weather.

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

IMO, the best areas near WDW are Windermere and Dr. Phillips. Both are considered upscale and desirable, family-oriented areas.

Windermere can be divided into two areas, “old” and “new”.. old Windermere is within the town limits and is very expensive but beautiful- with huge trees and quaint dirt roads. New Windermere is located around 535/Reams Rd. and is comprised of new housing subdivisions and is a bit more affordable. It can feel a little bit removed and quiet and has less amenities/access to highways to Orlando.

Dr. Phillips is closer to Orlando (and has an Orlando address), and is nestled between WDW and Universal, essentially. It’s home to “Restaurant Row” and tons of grocery options (Publix, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Fresh Market), and has quick access to I-4.

I don’t know any realtors, so I can’t help you there, but if you have any questions let me know! I’ve lived in this area for most of my life.

 

[buzznina]

Can you tell me more about Windermere? Was it a long distance move? Would she recommend her realtor?

The median home price is $700,000, but way on the outskirts you can get homes in the $200,000 range. Also beware of 'bloody I-4' a nickname for it because of all the accidents. We lived just north of Orlando for 18 years and was about a (depending on traffic) 45 - 2+ hour drive to WDW. If $$ was not a factor, you canot get any closer than the Golden Oak neighborhood

 

[ConnecticutFlea]

Thank you both! Golden oak is a tad out of my price range. LOL. How is summerport? Or Stoneybrook west in Winter Garden or Mable bridge right across the road from Windermere?

 

[bluejasmine]

Wintergarden is the perfect area to be near Disney what ever you do don't go to Mount Dora..

 

[ConnecticutFlea]

Tell me more about Mt Dora please. It seemed like a nice area, but I’m out of state and relying on on-line research.

 

[dish rag]

Tell me more about Mt Dora please. It seemed like a nice area, but I’m out of state and relying on on-line research.

It's a very nice old town with a northern feel to it. Lots restaurants. Art festivals during winter. The Dora Canal makes for an excellent boat ride.

 

[dish rag]

Wintergarden is the perfect area to be near Disney what ever you do don't go to Mount Dora..

Not sure why you say that. The people I know me included who have lived in the area for decades would say the opposite. Except that it is closer to Disney

 

[dish rag]

The median home price is $700,000, but way on the outskirts you can get homes in the $200,000 range. Also beware of 'bloody I-4' a nickname for it because of all the accidents. We lived just north of Orlando for 18 years and was about a (depending on traffic) 45 - 2+ hour drive to WDW. If $$ was not a factor, you canot get any closer than the Golden Oak neighborhood

I drive every day on i4 when I'm in town for a long long long time and have never heard that reference. We consider the back roads to New Smyrna and Daytona as much more dangerous.

 

[jeff_h]

Tell me more about Mt Dora please. It seemed like a nice area, but I’m out of state and relying on on-line research.

I saw another forum user mention that she was having a house built in the area so I sent her a PM a few months ago and she responded and said that she highly recommended Amy as a realtor - we are still a few years away from retirement but may also be moving there someday - in the meantime DW and I enjoy watching the house tour videos and coming up with our list of home features that our "someday" house will have.

Below is Amy's channel, and she does mention out-of-staters moving to FL in some videos and I see plenty of comments from those out-of-staters in the comments on her videos - so look over some videos and contact her if you like, the person that recommended Amy to me had nothing but good things to say. Good luck!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsQAifEtzEiOcWcx6Emezww

 

[bluejasmine]

Not sure why you say that. The people I know me included who have lived in the area for decades would say the opposite. Except that it is closer to Disney

I lived in Mount Dora for a year and we hated it. It is 40 min west of Disney and I drove to Disney almost Daily for work having to use the toll roads each day. Its an adorable tiny town at first but we had a lot of different issues. One the only grocery store was Publix, there was no movie theater (there is now) or anywhere to shop besides walmart and kmart so there was NOTHING to do in town. Its a tourist town bc of it being artsy so everything was more expensive. Utilities were crazy expensive, there was more but too much to write all at once.
Everyone has different experiences but ours were pretty bad even the school my daughter went to was always an issue and the faculty and admins were very rude.
We always said we should have gone to the wintergarden area, its very nice, lots of shops and things, nice neighborhoods the ones in Mt Dora were old, and Wintergarden is much closer to everything

 

[bluejasmine]

It's a very nice old town with a northern feel to it. Lots restaurants. Art festivals during winter. The Dora Canal makes for an excellent boat ride.

We found even most of the restaurants were crazy expensive with the exception of a couple places that we ended up frequenting bc the others were Disney priced. I am in SC and everything from real estate, property rental, car registration, gas and groceries were much much cheaper than living in Mt Dora, we have plenty to do that isn't an hour or more away without paying tolls. It was just an all around bad experience.. To register my husbands 2004 vehicle that was paid off in 2010 we had to pay right under $500 when I came home and re registered it here it was $60 for license plate and $60a yr property tax..

 

[MouseMomx2]

I would recommend the Independence/Hamlin/Summer Lake area. There is both existing and new construction, including individual homes and townhomes, plus a couple of apartment complexes. We rented an apartment in Independence (Falcon Square) for a year and then bought our townhouse in the same community.

 

[ConnecticutFlea]

How was the HOA in Independence?

 

[kilroy1966]

Just bought in Windmill Village. About 12 miles from WDW. Over 55 community. Love it.

 

[MouseMomx2]

How was the HOA in Independence?

They are wonderful. They are not hyper-restrictive and address issues in a timely and appropriate manner. There are lots of family-friendly activities and two clubhouses with pools and gyms.

Our HOA fee us about $100/mo and includes cable and internet. We have a separate HOA fee ($200/mo) for the townhouse to cover painting, roofing, pest control and landscaping.