[Michael M.]

Hello City-Data.com Florida people.....


I am very happy to have found this site and hope that I can get the help and advice I need.
I lived in Boca way back,and I mean way back,from the age of 2 to 3....That counts I quess.

I currently live in Southern California,the Malibu area,and at times due to work in the Orange county area.
My Brother and I are CG artists (Computer graphics),we are the guys that create the characters and sets for game cinematics and full length movies,such as Shrek and Toy story,King kong etc,etc...

We are opening up our own full studio and hope to do so in beautiful Florida.Our family is in Europe (Belgium).Our plans are to come out next month,about 4 weeks from now.
We need your expert advice on just where the best spot for us might be?

To give you an idea of who we are to better judge where we fit best I should let you know more about us.....

We are very active,we surf,we love water sports of all kinds,we fish in both lakes and deep sea.And we love anything Disney,and yes we plan on getting premium yearly passes.

We will work from a chosen office near enough to our home and from home itself.So traveling or location is wide open to us,no concerns.
We want to rent at first for a year,get a good feel for things,and then next year build homes from scratch at wherever we find that best suits our style.

It will just be the 2 of us,family is in Europe,and as of now we are both un-married.Perhaps we will get lucky in Florida......

From what we have gathered we would like to stay in the central Florida region.Near Disney and still close enough to the Atlantic with San Sebastien near enough.
As I mentioned already we love to water sport and fish as well as surf.So we figured staying near the chain of lakes region and Disney would fit us best.
Thus far we have seen a couple places in the Bella lago area in Kissimmee right on the Toho lake and another nice spot in Windermere.The 20 mile drive to Disney is no problem for us from Kissimmee.Hows Kissimmee,the gated areas? Hows Windermere? any other places sound like they would fit us?

Thats where we are as of now,and we hope to get some sound advice from you people that are actually in the know.....Any tips? And any advice would be appreaciated greatly.

Hope to hear anything you can help us with if at all possible.Thanks very much for hearing me out,and hope you can be of help to us.Thanks again.

[diddy02]

I live in Dr Phillips next to Windermere which is a lovely area. You have restaurant row on Sand Lake Road with restaurants such as Seasons 52, Ruth Chris's etc. There are the Butler Chain of Lakes accessable from many sub-divisions and you are only 40 mins away from the beach along the beach-line express.
We are next door to Universal and Disney is 10 mins down the road!
Plenty to do here even if you do not like the parks.

[OC2OC]

Hello. I too am moving to Orange County from California's OC. I did reserve a house in Bellalago last month (Venezia) but decided against it and ended up buying a house in Winter Garden, just a bit North of Windermere for almost the same price.

Bellalago is a fantastic place, but I think the location may be too close to the tourist attractions. We don't mind tourists but we don't want to feel and be treated like tourists when you go out to eat, shop, etc. Eventually the whole Kissimmee area will be developed but we didn't want to wait.

Have you checked out the Winter Park area?

[Michael M.]

diddy02.....Hi....Yes I am familiar with the Dr Phillips area,and it is very nice.However I am looking to rent for a year and get more familiar withit before I look to build or buy a house.I could not find any rentals in that area.But I will keep my eyes open for opening now and possibly in the future when it comes time to build or buy.Thanks very much for taking the time to reply.

OC2OC..... So we are going through the same thing all at once....Same basic area and time to the same area all the way across country.Thats funny.
Yes I know of Winter garden,and it has some interesting candidates for rent.As for living there and building or buying I'll have to look into it more once I am there.
I love the idea of Bella Lago due to the lake just behind the area,fishing and boating.Plus the surrounding area is more rural and natural,while you get the luxury of a gated area and nice 3000 plus Sq ft homes and a great country club with its ammenities.Boat ramp and all the other great things that come with areas such as this.
It's close enough to the beach and many lakes,plus Disney area is about 17 to 22 miles away.I think its actually far enough fom the tourist type areas.Being right on the center portion of Lake Toho.About 5 miles from the town of Kissimmee.
Thanks for coming in and giving me some insight,it's appreaciated.We got lots to do me and you,dont we?

Any other tips and clues would still be appreaciated,help us get out of the fog a bit.....Hows Kissimmee,anything more on Bella lago?Why are there screens around pools and lanai's....BUGS?......Thanks very much....

[OC2OC]

Hi there again. Your question about bugs... I posted a topic on it a few days ago and was surprised to see how many people replied. Apparently in FL you get more than just bugs: wild animals! Frogs, wild cats, you name it.

Yes, we both have quite a lot to do in the next few months! I'm also setting up my business in the Orlando area so besides the house, there's the biz! We also have a baby due in January. Yikes! Talk about stuff to do!

I also worked in entertainment many years ago doing projects for record companies. Your business should do well in the area since it's related to entertainment. Good luck!