Purging the Kitchen

The number one rule we have heard over and over: when moving to Florida? Purge your belongings.

And when you think you are done? Purge again. And again. And again. Until you get the number of items down to just the bare essentials.

Moving a long distance is very expensive and the more items you take? The more money it will cost, the less likely you'll use it when you get there, and the more likely you'll just end up purging it once you get to Florida. So... purge it before you go.

We found a few things to donate, but donating just means more work. Therefore, many items went straight into garbage. We filled four trash bags in one day. The items we threw away were really old, really used, and available for a dollar at most bargain stores, so, we didn't throw away any treasures. We are just thrilled to get rid of it and now our kitchen is much lighter!

Move Countdown

The move countdown is quickly coming to an end! We have 24-36 months left, according to our plan. The move is starting to feel real now!

In preparation, we set two goals for 2019: purge and save as much money as we can!

You can see our attempts at saving money by reading TheAdventuresOfTheFrugalFamily.blogspot.com

To help save money for the move, we have decided to take no trips to Florida in 2019. This will be very difficult for us, but, we are going to give it a try. Instead of taking a vacation in Florida, we want to set to money aside for Florida trips for job interviews and to look at homes.

I joined a Facebook group called Taking the Florida Plunge. It is filled with people who are either planning to move to Florida, or, people who already have. It is a supportive group with people providing tons of suggestions. If you are thinking about moving to Florida? Check it out!

Another good resource: TheDis is a Disney parks fan group. They have done very professional video podcasts for many years. They have started a “moving to Orlando” series https://youtu.be/GYQa-Uf4vvg

The first podcast discusses some of the best towns in the Orlando area to move to, and the hosts describe some of their move experiences.

I hope this information is useful!

Moving To Orlando Video

I love The Dis Unplugged and have watched it for decades. I am thrilled that they are starting a series intended to help people who are interested in moving to the Orlando area. They have released their first video entitled "Moving to Orlando":

Summer 2018 Florida Trip

The Summer 2018 trip to Florida was incredible. We stayed in Florida for four weeks and split the time between staying in the Orlando area and staying on the beach in a condo just south of Cocoa beach.

We stayed on the beach in 2017 and loved it. We really looked forward to returning to the beach in 2018 and had a wonderful time. We left a little torn: we have always dreamed of moving to Central Florida, but we loved the beach so much that we thought the coast might be a better option. In conclusion, we decided to stick with our plans to move to central Florida and use the beach as a vacation destination.

When I have told people I wanted to move near Disney World, the response has been “what will happen when you get tired of Disney?” My answer has been “wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing to go to Disney so much that you got tired of it?”

Getting tired of Disney started to sink in this summer. We had purchased ten day passes and after Day 8, our kids were begging us to not drag them back to the parks. We compromised. We gave them Day 10 off, left them at the condo, and my wife and I went.

Overall, it was a good trip and reaffirmed our love for Florida!

Indian Harbor Beach Club, 2018

After a nice stay near Disney, we moved to the Atlantic coast to stay at the Indian Harbor Beach Club. We rented this exact same condo last year and were thrilled to be able to get back into it this year.

The two bedroom condo is right on the beach, and is just minutes away from Cocoa Beach and Canaveral (where the cruise ships launch).

The beach is very quiet, filled with shells, and has sea turtles on it during the nights.

There are fantastic restaurants up and down the coast, and fun things to do. This picture is of the pier at Cocoa beach which has a bar at the end, a restaurant in the middle, and a small gift shop with beach themed items. 

We have had a lot of fun exploring this area during these past two years.

Florida Villa for 2018, 305 Solana Circle

For the second year in the row, we decided to stay in the Solana neighborhood in Davenport. This location is just off Rt 27 and twenty minutes from the edge of Disney World property.

Solana is a gated community filled with pool houses and includes a club house.

Our house was two stories with five bedrooms. The master bedroom and a smaller bedroom were downstairs, and three bedrooms upstairs.

The neighborhood is filled with vacation rentals, which I like. If you don't like your neighbors? Just wait a few days and they will be gone! Unfortunately, vacation renters like to party on their last night. On two of three occasions, we called the police as loud parties went past 3am. We might be in Florida, but I still have to get up and go to work in the morning!

Solana is very nice, and I would have no problem renting in this neighborhood again.

December Trip

I just realized I haven't posted anything about our trip in December! I'll try to get some information posted soon.

Pop Century, January 2018

After our stay at the time share resort, we decided to spend a couple of days at Pop Century.

We didn't have park tickets, so, we decided just to hang around the resort and go to downtown Disney.

What we didn't plan on was the record cold weather. It was so cold that the pool "smoked" with a fog and they had to close it.

Pop Century only has one bar and it is outdoors near the pool. It was so cold, they closed the bar for our entire stay!

We parked at the transportation center and then took the monorail to see the Christmas decorations at the resorts. 

We got to see the Ginger Bread house at the Floridian.

We went to Disney Springs (aka Downtown Disney) to look at all the decorations and their massive tree displays.

There was a snow storm blowing up the east coast and blocking our path home. 

As a result, we had to make arrangements to stay an extra night at Pop Century. 

We used the time to play cards at the food court and the get caught up on sleep.

This was our first time staying at Pop Century. It was nice and relaxing because we weren't racing to get to the parks, yet entertaining because we did a ton of "free stuff". It was the perfect vacation at the end of the vacations.