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Old 05-05-2016, 06:46 AM
 
19 posts, read 20,717 times
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Hi everyone,

My husband and I are taking a trip to the Orlando area to hopefully narrow down potential areas to move to. We have a few suburbs in the Orlando metro we plan to explore and will likely spend a couple days in Tampa too to compare.
I'm trying to plan everything out and am looking for some suggestions on things to do or places to see to help us in making our decision. We are Disney addicts, so of course we will be stopping there for at least 2 days as well, but I have to make sure we actually spend sufficient time in other areas. We also plan to go on a tour of Orlando residential areas, so that should be pretty helpful.

So if you recently moved to Orlando, what did you do before ultimately making the decision?
Are there any great parks I should see or downtown areas of specific towns?
Thanks for any help you can provide : )
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Old 05-05-2016, 07:47 AM
 
Location: West Florida
16,904 posts, read 15,150,623 times
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Lake Eola downtown Orlando is FANTASTIC.
Aside from that, definitely check out Lake Mary's Colonial Town.
The Seminole Trail along Markham Woods Rd is a nice bike trail in the woods.
Don't dismiss Mount Dora, has a great downtown and some beautiful waterfronts. Lake Dora and the Dora Canal are great.

As far as where to live, Dr. Philips and Windermere are both really nice communities close to Disney, but secluded enough to where you won't get overwhelmed by the influx of tourists.

I'm sitting at Central Winds Park in Winter Springs off of Lake Jesup as we speak (for work purposes) and this is another nice park to visit.
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Old 05-05-2016, 08:17 AM
 
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If you are planning to work take work location into consideration more than proximity Dinsey. Seminole County, North Orlando, Windermere and Lake Nona would give a non-tourist view of Orlando.

Take away the theme parks, Orlando is a sprawling sunbelt city not too different from Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Jacksonville etc.

Disney is at the far SW corner of Orlando Metro, so Tampa suburbs can be as close to Disney as Northern Orlando suburbs.

Make it to one of the many Springs. Close to Orlando is Wekiva Springs State Park, Blue Springs State Park and DeLeon Springs SP; in the Ocala National Forest there is Alexander, Juniper, Silver Glen and Salt Springs; closer to the city of Ocala is Silver Springs SP and Rainbow Springs SP. Very nice way to spend a HOT Florida summer day swimming in crystal clear cool( cold to Floridians) 72 degree springs. It is literally swimming in bottled water; many commercial bottled waters come from Florida springs.

Last edited by jwolfer; 05-05-2016 at 08:30 AM..
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Old 05-05-2016, 09:29 AM
 
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Check out Winter Park, Windermere, Lake Eola Farmers Market (sunday), Oakland Nature Preserve (walk the boardwalk to the lake, it's beautiful, lots of wildlife in mornings or evenings), rent canoes/kayaks at Wekiva Springs.
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Old 05-05-2016, 09:43 AM
 
995 posts, read 1,690,303 times
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You should give us more info about what you are looking for.
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Old 05-05-2016, 11:20 AM
 
Location: Florida
187 posts, read 225,761 times
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I appreciate the answers in this thread and for asking the question, too!

If this is ok not meaning to highjack the post at all but can anyone say what good things to check out for 20's crowds?
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Old 05-05-2016, 11:31 AM
 
Location: West Florida
16,904 posts, read 15,150,623 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Abirdinahand View Post
I appreciate the answers in this thread and for asking the question, too!

If this is ok not meaning to highjack the post at all but can anyone say what good things to check out for 20's crowds?
20s as in 21 or 29? Or in between? It makes a huge difference, especially if you're like me, married with kids since early 20s. I feel more like a grown man than a man in my 20s due to that...

That said, we still have fun going out every now and then.
If you're into nightlife, downtown is pretty active on most nights, especially on weekends. Can't go wrong with Wall St., or Orange Ave, Magnolia and Pine.
There are also a few spots on I-Drive and City Walk at Universal, but those tend to have quite a large amount of tourists.

There are also always events at the Amway Center, the CFE Arena, the Dr. Philips Performing Arts Center, or you can catch a soccer game at the Citrus Bowl (I REFUSE to call it by its ridiculous new name.)

Other than that, if you're into foolishness, I recently took my wife to a strip club (LOL) and needless to say, it was... interesting...

I'm more laid back, so I prefer nature, lakes, boats, jeskiis, that kind of stuff. What do you like to do?
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Old 05-05-2016, 01:02 PM
 
4,167 posts, read 9,315,944 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Abirdinahand View Post
I appreciate the answers in this thread and for asking the question, too!

If this is ok not meaning to highjack the post at all but can anyone say what good things to check out for 20's crowds?
Just to add onto Arcenal's response, alot of young single life here revolves around the water. Cocos at Cocao Beach, Wekiva Landing on the Wekiva River, Butler Chain of Lakes, Conway Chain of Lake, Lake Formosa, Lake Brantley, and there's a growing inland beach area at downtown Tavares.
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Old 05-06-2016, 02:33 PM
 
19 posts, read 20,717 times
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Wow, thank you all so much for your help! This will help me so much and I'm glad to hear that there are so many nice areas to check out.
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Old 05-07-2016, 08:24 AM
 
60 posts, read 70,418 times
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Rent a cheap place for a 6-12 months. That's the best way to learn about a city and what parts of it are likable. Taking everyone else's feedback will only give you a view of the city through their lens of politics, religion, racism, socioeconomic standing, etc. The first answer for example said Lake Eola (downtown) is "fantastic." It is, if you enjoy frequent traffic jams, roads constantly blocked off for various events, streets filled with trash after those events, hookers, bar whores, clubbers, potheads, drug dealers, and drunk kids harassing you. With no people, Lake Eola is beautiful. But it's downtown - there are people, and the worst kinds of people in high concentration. You can take my word or theirs depending on whose align with your views, but the better way is to just experience it yourself.
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