Debate: Beach life or Disney life (Jacksonville, Orlando: condo, home, employment)

[outofbounds]

We have an opportunity to relocate to Florida from Arkansas. We vacation in Orange Beach almost yearly but work would put my husband in Pensacola. He has other office options in other cities as well. We also travel to Disney yearly and love just being there.

My question for those of you who live in the Pensacola area, how often do you actually go to the beach? The thought of a slower paced life sounds nice. We love the beach as much as we love Disney. We are aware we can't afford to live on the beach and of course cannot live in Disney either so will have to compromise with either decision.

Also, if you get off the coast do you still get the wind from the ocean? If so, how far out can you be and still "feel" the beach life?

Thank for any info. It's going to be tough to decide what to do.

[beachmouse]

Pensacola's beaches are low elevation barrier islands. You can buy a modest home or condo on Pensacola Beach for a surprisingly reasonable price, but having seen how the beach communities looked after Hurricane Ivan, and how long it's taken them to recover, I'd definitely live on the mainland. You can smell and feel the breezes the ocean or Santa Rosa Sound (waterway between the barrier islands and mainland) for a couple blocks and the moderating effects of the ocean go inland several miles more. Look at gardening zone maps of the area- coastal areas will be 5-10 degrees warmer in terms of lowest annual temperatures than you would get up near the Alabama border.

In terms of going to the beach, a whole bunch when you fist get here, and then it tapers off over time. Spring and fall are prime beach weather- air temperatures are more pleasant, it's less crowded, and just generally more enjoyable. Get a Gulf Islands National Seashore annual pass, and you can have long stretches of beach almost to yourself if you like that kind of thing.

Disney is about a seven hour drive from Pensacola. If you're able to be a little flexible with dates, they do have some good to great Florida resident deals every year. (I've seen three day Disney base tickets for $119 each advertised from time to time.)

Cost of living will probably be a little higher overall than in Arkansas.

[HarryWho?]

Originally Posted by outofbounds

We have an opportunity to relocate to Florida from Arkansas. We vacation in Orange Beach almost yearly but work would put my husband in Pensacola. He has other office options in other cities as well. We also travel to Disney yearly and love just being there.

My question for those of you who live in the Pensacola area, how often do you actually go to the beach? The thought of a slower paced life sounds nice. We love the beach as much as we love Disney. We are aware we can't afford to live on the beach and of course cannot live in Disney either so will have to compromise with either decision.

Also, if you get off the coast do you still get the wind from the ocean? If so, how far out can you be and still "feel" the beach life?

Thank for any info. It's going to be tough to decide what to do.

What are the other city options? Maybe you can get between Disney and the ocean.

[jambo101]

I'd not move to a place strictly for the beach as for many that attraction to the beach wears off after a while and becomes more of an attitude of what am i going to do at the beach but sit on my butt on the sand that seems to get into everything,get a radiation burn from the sun,sweat a lot and look at water..So i wouldnt put all the proverbial eggs in the beach basket.
As some one who lived in Florida for 20 years the last place i'm drawn to on my yearly visit to Fla.to see family and friends is the beach,in fact i'd have a hard time dragging any friends or family to the beach as the response to Hey lets go to the beach!! would be What are we gonna do there? errrrhhmmm,ok lets go to the Flea market..

[outofbounds]

Thanks for the info so far. There are multiple corporate offices possibility available in my husbands industry so we have several options with cities by both Disney and beach.

In the debate, I know we would not go to the beach everyday or even once a week, but I think it's more the laid back lifestyle we enjoy in beach life. Sundresses and flipflops year round along with beach life type restaurants and activities. We also love Disney and I would love to get a part time job there. If we found the right community around either I think we would be happy. We love the panhandle, but the more we think about it living more central with give us more options to both.

Keep the suggestions coming. The beach is a love of mine, from the ocean noise, the breeze, shells at your feet and swimsuit and coverup attire. But the love of the mouse is also a sweet spot for my family. We will see where the venture leads us I guess.

[jambo101]

Living in the Orlando area would put you an hours drive from Daytona or about 2 hour drive from the St Pete beaches.I guess if you plan on working at Disney Orlando area is your logical option,without the Disney equation you have many options for closer to the beach living from Clearwater South on the west coast and from Jacksonville south on the east coast although if Disney trips are going to be frequent i'd focus on the Daytona to Cocoa beach area on the east and the St Pete Beach to Sarasota areas to the west.

http://www.beachhunter.net/closest-beach-to-orlando.htm

[Crystal Blue]

The beach depends. There are several seasons in my life I've been drawn there.

There was a time I loved going on LONG walks, and would usually go around the point at Fort Pickens. I used to jog on Pensacola Beach (either in the sand or the water gives a lot of resistance!). A few summers I spent going to the beach and lying in the sun, watching the people, reading a book, and sipping something cold at the old Dock on Pensacola Beach. When I had a child, I often took her to the beach to play in the sand a splash a bit, closely supervised in the surf, or sometimes on sound side. Kites were fun too. And there were a few years in there where we had a boat, and most weekends saw us out on the water, in the bay, bayou, or gulf. Fishing is a whole other activity there. And if you enjoy it, the boardwalks have music, shops, food, and more. Then again, there are times when a year or two passes and I never go.

Disney on the other hand is great too. We used to get FL resident annual passes from AAA at a good discount, and try to use them 2-3 times before they expired. If you only go once a year, just bump the second visit up slightly so you go just before the pass expires. We'd often stay a week or as much as ten days, and that's enough Disney to make you start missing home, LOL. You really feel as though you've been there!

Then again, I keep telling myself that if I lived near Disney, I'd buy the $40 (last time I looked) annual pass that lets you into Epcot any day after 4pm, and I'd go there several times a month. But seriously, who am I kidding, if I lived there, I'd have the full annual pass.

The beaches down there don't have the same feel as the ones in the panhandle though, at least not to me. Daytona is NOT Pensacola Beach. The waves can be better, but otherwise I don't really enjoy Daytona much.

It would be a difficult choice for me, based on beach vs. Disney alone. But there's so much more to how you live your life ... if it were me, I'd put a lot more consideration into local culture and pace of life, traffic, economy, climate, and all the other factors that make up life instead of just those two. With any luck maybe you can vacation at whatever point you don't live near.

[CouchTater]

We have been struggling with the same issue. We live in Tn. and have been trying to move to Fl. for the last 2 years but life keeps getting in the way. We love going to Panama City but we love Disney as well. Central Fl. seems like it offers more to do as well as proximity to the beaches but the thought of living on or near the beach in the Panhandle has it's appeal as well. You just can't beat the beaches there. Central seems to offer more in the way of employment opportunities. Although I'm retired the economy is forcing me to go back to work at least part time.