Thinking about Orlando! Need opinions.

[WilliamHBonney]

Originally Posted by BMW335i

You know, you probably were in the wrong part of Orlando. Cheap, maybe, dumpy, no way. Pretty much everything there is brand new, and everything is sparkling clean. It's so refreshing to go there because a lot of places around here is a dump compared to there.

Really? We were all over the place and stayed in a very expensive resort non-disney related. I know that we were in a more touristy area but even the non-touristy areas were dumpy to me.

We did also drive to Jacksonville, that was a nice city.

[WilliamHBonney]

Originally Posted by TH0001

"looks like Polk County could be the area I've mentioned."

Polk County has the lowest literacy rate of anywhere in Florida. My grandmother used to live there. We went to a supermarket and had people asking us to read the bottles for them.

Thats sad, I am not the smartest person around and I screwed off most of college but man to not even be able to read the bottles. Poor people.


I just looked at my travel schedule and I actually have to be in Orlando October 13-16 of this year.

[rjstaaf]

I think you really have to live in Orlando for a while before you can really judge it. The traffic, sure it can be bad but you get to learn what roads to take and when, to get where you need to go. As for tourists, they don't generally venture too far into Orlando and are concentrated around the parks, mostly SouthWest Orlando. Might be a problem if you spend a lot of time in SouthWest Orlando but again, you learn to live with it. We lived in Orlando most recently for 8 years and I have to say neither issue bothered us. What really drove us out of Orlando and Florida in general was the public school system. The public school system just isn't keeping up with the explosive growth. Probably not a problem for most of you guys but for me it was a huge issue that eventually forced our move. Our kids are thriving here now and all is good but we do miss Orlando. Once the kids get college age we will likely move back to Orlando.

[bsdsys_x86]

Originally Posted by rjstaaf

We lived in Orlando most recently for 8 years and I have to say neither issue bothered us. What really drove us out of Orlando and Florida in general was the public school system. The public school system just isn't keeping up with the explosive growth. Probably not a problem for most of you guys but for me it was a huge issue that eventually forced our move. Our kids are thriving here now and all is good but we do miss Orlando. Once the kids get college age we will likely move back to Orlando.

Sorry to hear that about the school system and making you want to move. I have heard bad things about the Florida School system myself. My kids are in one of the highest rated schools in the state of TN and we absolutely love having them there so when I move they will deffinately stay here.

I will miss them of course but the mother and I aren't together and don't plan on getting back together so we will be doing alot of every other weekend driving to meet half way so I can visit. Which is ok with me. I'm close to my kids, heck I'm still a kid and we have an awesome time together. Sometimes I wear them out.. lol.

[Kriminal]

I was surprised about 6 months ago to hear that Orlando had the "worst people reputation" in the American polls

Every time I've been, I've never bumped into a horrible Floridian.

bsdsys_x86 : have you considered Ft. Lauderdale ? Now THAT is the place I'm moving to when my lottery numbers come up
Real cheap places, if you got a coupla million dollars to spare

WilliamHBonney : Mickey IS everywhere, if you go looking for him. There are thousands of tourists every time off the year, but you CAN venture away from the Kissimmee area - Florida's a big place ya know. Just think, if it wasn't for us damn tourists pouring money into the FL pot, it would be a whole different place.