Next January will be 2 years for us since we moved from Massachusetts to Clermont Florida to be close Disney. We are 11 minutes from the Disney entrance and it never gets old. We are so happy that we made the move and we never get bored like people said we would. There’s always something here to do all year round and I’m happy to be a Floridian !!!
@ our exact reason for wanting to move and location is amazing. It’s been a 7 year dream but I think this is the year. Hoping to make it “Home” by July so boys can start the next school year.
@ have you started looking at homes here ? My community is called Ridgeview and we are so close to Disney and shopping and they are building a multi billion dollar facility next door to us that will train Olympic athletes, restaurants, hotel, 2 hockey arenas and much more its called Olympus definitely going to be a game changer here !
@ yes I know so much new is coming. I know I’d be happy living in Clermont- My husband is hoping to rent a house for a bit . We are still trying to come to the best decision possible. He will need to find a job. I work remote full time at 3 days a week now but my other two days I’ll be looking to have home location and employment close enough. I’m a Nurse Practitioner so I’m sure health care is in every corner. These are the things that we hope to fly down in March and look around to get to know areas of you will. I’m so excited 😆
I found your channel and podcast because we were also looking at moving to the mouse. I retired 6 months after we bought our house. We live in a 55+ community. We now live in Horizon West about a 2 minute drive from the west gate and couldn’t be more happy! Disney is our playground and it never gets old. Last night we saw 98 degrees at Epcot! I love going to the parks like a local instead of “vacation mode” because it is not as exhausting-we can savor it now!
We moved to Florida in 2016 and got our annual passes. With just a two hour car ride, we would go several times a year and stay for several days each. We really enjoyed it. Then the shut down hit and Disney was still charging us the monthly fee for the parks that were closed! In the after time, Disney kept reducing services while increasing prices pretty substantially. We stopped doing because it didn’t make sense anymore. Instead we went to Europe twice. We had a good run, but now we are going to Discovery Cove and Sea World this week too.
Was here on vacation in October of 2013. We were supposed to leave on a Sunday and I had to be back to work at 8am on Monday. We ended up taking our daughter to a Character breakfast at 1900 Park Fare and just didn’t want to leave. We needed to leave around 10am but after having dinner in Daytona, we didn’t leave until 11pm. We made a pact on the ride back to South Carolina that we would move here. 6 months almost to the day we packed everything we had in a Penske truck and moved to Orlando to an apartment sight unseen. Almost 11 years later and this was the best thing that could have ever happened to my family and I. It was not easy to uproot your entire life and start over but it has been worth every single second. We now live literally 5 minutes from Animal Kingdom and have not looked back.
I lived in the central Oklahoma area for years then moved to the Orlando area during the pandemic as well (and happen to be a UCF mom!) I'm in the parks weekly and it never gets old! Thanks for all the park updates and restaurant reviews!
Always good to hear how well your move to Orlando is turning out!! Hubby and I retired from N.J. to the Tampa Bay area also just over 3 years ago to be near family, professional sports and of course Disney!! Becoming AP Holders and visiting the parks often is awesome!! The "Magic" never wears off, it is different every time!! While the summer heat is intense, we do not miss snow or the cold weather. Please keep these updates coming and continued success on Fantastical Vacations!!!!
We are moving to Orlando in June and sooo appreciate your videos on your move and feel optimistic hearing how well it went for you. It’s exciting to hear that three years later you both feel like this was such a positive change for your family. Thank you!
We will be selling our single family house behind Levi’s Stadium in about 4 years. Our house will be paid off in less than 4 years. We look forward to purchasing a house close to Disneyland, California. Don’t get me wrong! We love to vacation in Disneyworld, Florida! We just could not live year round in Florida. We would miss the hills and mountains in California. We would also miss the Redwood trees in California.
Celebration is great! We live in Orange County, CA and Disneyland is our “home park” but last time we went to WDW in 2022 we walked around Celebration. We also watch Adam The Woo who lives and loves it! I would love to live there but it has gotten basically like California prices so to sell our home here and be semi or fully retired would be hard to do now. I remember seeing model homes there in 199y on another WDW trip and there were models homes right off Water Street that at the time were $250K +. The locals thought that was hugely expensive for the area but being from California it was like half the price of a new home here. Wish I would have the means to buy back then!
We took a quick trip in August and decided “we’re going to do this”. After a few years of being discontented where we live, we make the final move to Windermere w/ our 8 y/o the day after Thanksgiving. Watched your videos earlier this Summer and it made the whole idea seem perfectly plausible. Thank you for the nudge 🙏
We are a year and 6 month in. Both of my girls are in Maine part of the tine. One stayed to attend a private college and the other is going back for college. I have no regrets at all. If my kids were younger it may be different. I knew I was about to be an empty nester. Love going to the parks still on the weekend.
I grew up in the San Francisco area and then moved to Orange County to work at Disneyland in the late 70’s. Now my wife and I are ready to get out of this crazy state! I have gone around Celebration a few times so I know that area, but wow has it gotten pricey for the homes! I first saw a model home there along Water Street for about $250K which I was told at the time was much more than the surrounding area, but coming from California it was cheap! So what area areas around Disney World are less expensive to buy a home but just a nice as Celebration? I know Windermere is quite nice (from watching Paging Mr. Morrow) and I have watched The Tim Tracker go up to Mount Dora and saying how nice it is and sort of “old school Florida” (and it looks nice!). Also, what was it like dealing with the humidity and heat on a daily basis (and the rain!). Yes it gets hot in SoCal and we are getting more humid each year, but nothing like Florida and certainly not the rain they get every summer day!
Love love your vlogs. Hubby and I plan to move from Chicago area….cold….to Orlando area…..nice and warm with palm trees. I’m really nervous about the cross country move. Hoping to be down there soon….just retired as a nurse of 42 years.
You guys are amazing. Love seeing your content and your channel grow. Looking forward to the Japan content if yall go next year. It’s a bucket list of ours to do Disney sea in Japan. We are going to disneyworld in the first week of December so counting down the days. Enjoy the cruises. We also just became empty nesters so totally understand that stuff.
Our daughter just got accepted to UCF Summer 2025!! We are beyond thrilled!! She will be majoring in Theme Park and Attractions Management at the Rosen College of Hospitality! Thankfully, she was able to already earn 54 college credits in high school through dual enrollment! This year they did admissions differently, and we had to wait 3 months to get an answer!! Go Knights!!
I personally am very happy you moved to Orlando and started this Chanel and business! I love your videos and pray that when we plan our big family Disneyworld trip that we will use Fantastical Vacations. You guys are the best! Such a sweet family 💕🙏💕
Fellow travel creator, great info. I have lived in Orlando before. I agree it is slightly different. Orlando changes so fast that it’s cool to try a new restaurant or attraction. We live in Charleston so a quick car ride and we’re there. Orlando always keeps you busy.
Hi to all- literally just discovered this channel and can't thank you enough for everything you covered! My name is Anya--my husband Paul and I will be relocating to Orlando from upstate NY in June. We are very soon to be empty nesters, absolutely love all things Disney, dining, travel and beyond. Watching this instantly relieved my worries regarding establishing a new social circle--we will be leaving behind family, friends and most difficult, our children who prefer to stay here. So excited to become Orlando residents and looking forward to opportunities to connect with others who share similar interests--our current plan is relocating to Lake Nona--appreciate any other thoughts, advice or suggestions from any!
Our son Tyler who’s a Senior at Horizon High School just got accepted into UCF for Pre Med Track and I’ll be wearing my UCF Mom shirt soon too! Also we moved here during pandemic and closed on our home 10/21/21 here in Winter Garden and too moved here due to our love for the Disney Magic. Your story seems so similar to ours ❤️ here’s to many more amazing years living here near the Magic Regina
Our daughter graduated from UCF in 2014 and has been a Disney Cast member in Technology for ten years. Attending UCF will bring your son so many great opportunities.
I lived in Celebration for 11years. It is not as great as you think it is. Dealing with tourist is unbelievable. Traffic has gotten so bad with all the people that has moved here. Florida was nice until everyone started moving here.
It is just too expensive. We went back in the day and loved it . I wish we could afford it but we just can't and I do not like what Disney hasdone with prices, tickets, etc.
Our son Tyler who’s a Senior at Horizon High School just got accepted into UCF for Pre Med Track and I’ll be wearing my UCF Mom shirt soon too! Also we moved here during pandemic and closed on our home 10/21/21 here in Winter Garden and too moved here due to our love for the Disney Magic. Your story seems so similar to ours ❤️ here’s to many more amazing years living here near the Magic Regina
Next January will be 2 years for us since we moved from Massachusetts to Clermont Florida to be close Disney. We are 11 minutes from the Disney entrance and it never gets old. We are so happy that we made the move and we never get bored like people said we would. There’s always something here to do all year round and I’m happy to be a Floridian !!!
My exact dream. Looking to leave Mass and being Clermont. Hopefully see you in July.
@ we love it best decision we ever made. We live 11 minutes from the Disney entrance and it never gets old seeing that sign !
@ our exact reason for wanting to move and location is amazing.
It’s been a 7 year dream but I think this is the year.
Hoping to make it “Home” by July so boys can start the next school year.
@ have you started looking at homes here ? My community is called Ridgeview and we are so close to Disney and shopping and they are building a multi billion dollar facility next door to us that will train Olympic athletes, restaurants, hotel, 2 hockey arenas and much more its called Olympus definitely going to be a game changer here !
@ yes I know so much new is coming.
I know I’d be happy living in Clermont-
My husband is hoping to rent a house for a bit .
We are still trying to come to the best decision possible.
He will need to find a job.
I work remote full time at 3 days a week now but my other two days I’ll be looking to have home location and employment close enough.
I’m a Nurse Practitioner so I’m sure health care is in every corner.
These are the things that we hope to fly down in March and look around to get to know areas of you will.
I’m so excited 😆
I found your channel and podcast because we were also looking at moving to the mouse. I retired 6 months after we bought our house. We live in a 55+ community. We now live in Horizon West about a 2 minute drive from the west gate and couldn’t be more happy! Disney is our playground and it never gets old. Last night we saw 98 degrees at Epcot! I love going to the parks like a local instead of “vacation mode” because it is not as exhausting-we can savor it now!
We moved to Florida in 2016 and got our annual passes. With just a two hour car ride, we would go several times a year and stay for several days each. We really enjoyed it. Then the shut down hit and Disney was still charging us the monthly fee for the parks that were closed! In the after time, Disney kept reducing services while increasing prices pretty substantially. We stopped doing because it didn’t make sense anymore. Instead we went to Europe twice. We had a good run, but now we are going to Discovery Cove and Sea World this week too.
We are Disneyland Magic Key holders and go every week, so we would never get tired of Disney World!
Was here on vacation in October of 2013. We were supposed to leave on a Sunday and I had to be back to work at 8am on Monday. We ended up taking our daughter to a Character breakfast at 1900 Park Fare and just didn’t want to leave. We needed to leave around 10am but after having dinner in Daytona, we didn’t leave until 11pm. We made a pact on the ride back to South Carolina that we would move here. 6 months almost to the day we packed everything we had in a Penske truck and moved to Orlando to an apartment sight unseen. Almost 11 years later and this was the best thing that could have ever happened to my family and I. It was not easy to uproot your entire life and start over but it has been worth every single second.
We now live literally 5 minutes from Animal Kingdom and have not looked back.
I lived in the central Oklahoma area for years then moved to the Orlando area during the pandemic as well (and happen to be a UCF mom!) I'm in the parks weekly and it never gets old! Thanks for all the park updates and restaurant reviews!
That is awesome!
Always good to hear how well your move to Orlando is turning out!! Hubby and I retired from N.J. to the Tampa Bay area also just over 3 years ago to be near family, professional sports and of course Disney!! Becoming AP Holders and visiting the parks often is awesome!! The "Magic" never wears off, it is different every time!! While the summer heat is intense, we do not miss snow or the cold weather. Please keep these updates coming and continued success on Fantastical Vacations!!!!
Will do, thank you!
We are moving to Orlando in June and sooo appreciate your videos on your move and feel optimistic hearing how well it went for you. It’s exciting to hear that three years later you both feel like this was such a positive change for your family. Thank you!
Good luck!!
@ thank you! Minnesota to Orlando will be quite the change but we are excited!
Congratulations on the growth of your company! Your family is an inspiration ❤
Thank you so much!
We will be selling our single family house behind Levi’s Stadium in about 4 years. Our house will be paid off in less than 4 years. We look forward to purchasing a house close to Disneyland, California. Don’t get me wrong! We love to vacation in Disneyworld, Florida! We just could not live year round in Florida. We would miss the hills and mountains in California. We would also miss the Redwood trees in California.
Thank you for sharing ,my family and I are hoping to move down in central Florida after this school year
I began listening to your podcast during Covid. It’s been so fun to see your transition. Thanks for bringing us along!! From this Univ of Alabama Mom.
We have been in celebration for over a year now, so grateful for your videos that helped us feel comfortable and prepared for our move from Alaska
Wow, what a change!! My sister lives in Celebration, I love it there.
Bill Russell of the Dodgers is from Broken Arrow, OK
Celebration is great! We live in Orange County, CA and Disneyland is our “home park” but last time we went to WDW in 2022 we walked around Celebration. We also watch Adam The Woo who lives and loves it!
I would love to live there but it has gotten basically like California prices so to sell our home here and be semi or fully retired would be hard to do now. I remember seeing model homes there in 199y on another WDW trip and there were models homes right off Water Street that at the time were $250K +. The locals thought that was hugely expensive for the area but being from California it was like half the price of a new home here. Wish I would have the means to buy back then!
A wonderful update
This was fun to watch. We moved down from Massachusetts in July to be closer to wdw.
We took a quick trip in August and decided “we’re going to do this”. After a few years of being discontented where we live, we make the final move to Windermere w/ our 8 y/o the day after Thanksgiving. Watched your videos earlier this Summer and it made the whole idea seem perfectly plausible. Thank you for the nudge 🙏
That is awesome! Good luck!!!
We are a year and 6 month in. Both of my girls are in Maine part of the tine. One stayed to attend a private college and the other is going back for college. I have no regrets at all. If my kids were younger it may be different. I knew I was about to be an empty nester. Love going to the parks still on the weekend.
Thank you so much for sharing. I’ve shared your company several times to help fellow Disney lovers travel.
Thanks for sharing!!
I grew up in the San Francisco area and then moved to Orange County to work at Disneyland in the late 70’s. Now my wife and I are ready to get out of this crazy state! I have gone around Celebration a few times so I know that area, but wow has it gotten pricey for the homes! I first saw a model home there along Water Street for about $250K which I was told at the time was much more than the surrounding area, but coming from California it was cheap!
So what area areas around Disney World are less expensive to buy a home but just a nice as Celebration? I know Windermere is quite nice (from watching Paging Mr. Morrow) and I have watched The Tim Tracker go up to Mount Dora and saying how nice it is and sort of “old school Florida” (and it looks nice!).
Also, what was it like dealing with the humidity and heat on a daily basis (and the rain!). Yes it gets hot in SoCal and we are getting more humid each year, but nothing like Florida and certainly not the rain they get every summer day!
Love love your vlogs. Hubby and I plan to move from Chicago area….cold….to Orlando area…..nice and warm with palm trees. I’m really nervous about the cross country move. Hoping to be down there soon….just retired as a nurse of 42 years.
Ahh, awesome, congrats!! Good luck on the move!
You guys are amazing. Love seeing your content and your channel grow. Looking forward to the Japan content if yall go next year. It’s a bucket list of ours to do Disney sea in Japan. We are going to disneyworld in the first week of December so counting down the days. Enjoy the cruises. We also just became empty nesters so totally understand that stuff.
Our daughter just got accepted to UCF Summer 2025!! We are beyond thrilled!! She will be majoring in Theme Park and Attractions Management at the Rosen College of Hospitality! Thankfully, she was able to already earn 54 college credits in high school through dual enrollment! This year they did admissions differently, and we had to wait 3 months to get an answer!! Go Knights!!
Dual enrollment is amazing! Congrats to her!
I personally am very happy you moved to Orlando and started this Chanel and business! I love your videos and pray that when we plan our big family Disneyworld trip that we will use Fantastical Vacations. You guys are the best! Such a sweet family 💕🙏💕
Thank you!
Really excited to hear about Japan. Finding that a daunting plan for 2026 at the moment!
Fellow travel creator, great info. I have lived in Orlando before. I agree it is slightly different. Orlando changes so fast that it’s cool to try a new restaurant or attraction. We live in Charleston so a quick car ride and we’re there. Orlando always keeps you busy.
So true!
Hi to all- literally just discovered this channel and can't thank you enough for everything you covered! My name is Anya--my husband Paul and I will be relocating to Orlando from upstate NY in June. We are very soon to be empty nesters, absolutely love all things Disney, dining, travel and beyond. Watching this instantly relieved my worries regarding establishing a new social circle--we will be leaving behind family, friends and most difficult, our children who prefer to stay here. So excited to become Orlando residents and looking forward to opportunities to connect with others who share similar interests--our current plan is relocating to Lake Nona--appreciate any other thoughts, advice or suggestions from any!
Our son Tyler who’s a Senior at Horizon High School just got accepted into UCF for Pre Med Track and I’ll be wearing my UCF Mom shirt soon too! Also we moved here during pandemic and closed on our home 10/21/21 here in Winter Garden and too moved here due to our love for the Disney Magic. Your story seems so similar to ours ❤️ here’s to many more amazing years living here near the Magic
Regina
your videos make my wife & i want to move there even more! hopefully we can find work soon so we can get closer to disney. arizona is kind of far lol
Ohhh what spring break cruise are you doing?? Love following your journey
Awesome video as usual! Love all of your content!
Thanks so much!
Great video. Thanks for sharing.
I live 6 miles away from Disney world I love it
Is it too early for Christmas? Nah! Bring it on!
Our daughter graduated from UCF in 2014 and has been a Disney Cast member in Technology for ten years. Attending UCF will bring your son so many great opportunities.
How could you possibly get tired of Disney? ? Can't wait to retire and work there.
So jealous, my dream is to move close, my hubby isn’t as enthusiastic as me
I lived in Celebration for 11years. It is not as great as you think it is. Dealing with tourist is unbelievable. Traffic has gotten so bad with all the people that has moved here. Florida was nice until everyone started moving here.
Did yall do the marching band at broken arrow?
I did (Dan)
@ wow! Very cool! I (Mykhailo) marched DCI for 7 years. Scouts.
@ that’s awesome!
My daughter is a freshman theatre major at UCF ! Go Knights
Charge on!
I’ve got twin girls who are sophomores at UCF 🎉
Better than "OU MOM"
It is just too expensive. We went back in the day and loved it . I wish we could afford it but we just can't and I do not like what Disney hasdone with prices, tickets, etc.
Unfortunately Disney has become anti consumer in those 3 years.
K
Our son Tyler who’s a Senior at Horizon High School just got accepted into UCF for Pre Med Track and I’ll be wearing my UCF Mom shirt soon too! Also we moved here during pandemic and closed on our home 10/21/21 here in Winter Garden and too moved here due to our love for the Disney Magic. Your story seems so similar to ours ❤️ here’s to many more amazing years living here near the Magic
Regina
That’s awesome, congrats to Tyler!