A few months ago, I reached out to an old friend to catch up and ask her a few business-related questions. In the initial text message, I invited her for coffee, thinking she still lived a few towns over. But I was surprised to learn that she and her husband had moved to Florida.
This is not the first of my friends to move there permanently or on a semi-perm basis. I have friends whose parents moved to Florida, but the parents are in their 70s and 80s. I once heard a comedian joke that it’s in the Torah to move to Florida after a certain age. So, I understood why they made aliyah.
(For those who don’t know, the phrase making aliyah refers to moving to Israel, not Florida. 😉 )
Anyway, today, a friend and I discussed how many of our mutual friends have made this move. She asked me what my feelings were about moving to Florida. So, here are my thoughts.
Pro: I’m a Disney adult and love to visit the parks for the rides, restaurants, and various concerts and festivals.
Con: I’d spend all my hard-earned money there and never vacation anywhere else.
Pro: The Phillies are in Clearwater, Florida, for spring training for a glorious six weeks out of the year. I went to spring training with Andrew one year and had the best time.
Con: The money I don’t spend in the Disney Parks would be spent on baseball games.
Pro: I love getting away from here and sitting in the Florida sunshine for a while. Let’s face it. It’s nice to wear shorts in the wintertime. I also love the palm trees!
Con: I get grumpy in the sweltering heat. I don’t think I could take it year-round.
More Cons:
- I’m not a fan of alligators or bugs.
- I would be too far away from my family and friends unless they came with me.
- I don’t want to live in or near a tourist trap—even if we are near Mickey Mouse.
The bottom line is that Florida is a great place to visit. We always enjoy our time there, but I don’t think I’d like to live there full-time. For my friends who have made it their permanent home state, I miss you. And I am still 100% jealous of how close you are to the parks and the beaches and the fun. When I see your Facebook posts, I so wish I was having dinner at EPCOT with you or sitting outside without my heavy coat.
I promise that I’m not throwing you any shade—unless you need to get out of the Florida heat.
XO,
Elisa
vidya
January 25, 2024 at 7:51 pm (3 months ago)I agree with you and second Tamara’s thoughts too!! While I love EPCOT and Animal Kingdom, I love my California sunsets and Disneyland 🙂
Tamara
January 24, 2024 at 11:54 am (3 months ago)I totally agree with your assessment. here’s another con: you might run into the Donald 😛
PS: There’s Disney in California, too. Less humidity, equal amounts of sunshine.
Elisa
January 24, 2024 at 11:57 am (3 months ago)So true! I don’t want to run into Ron or Don in Florida. I didn’t want to get into the politics part of Florida. Maybe I will in a future post. Love Disney California. Haven’t been in years.
Doug
January 23, 2024 at 11:31 pm (3 months ago)You may know that there are six Disney parks worldwide, and Florida is the only one that is not called Disneyland. About six months ago, I had a great long,long, weekend in Paris, France with the Disney characters. It has the American feel with most of the same theme parks and downtown layout. It is newer than Florida, just celebrated its 30th birthday. Is it this year that the Disney empire is celebrating 100 years?
Elisa
January 24, 2024 at 11:54 am (3 months ago)I knew about the other parks, but didn’t realize the Orlando park was the only one known as WDW. Interesting. I remember your posts from Disneyland Paris. I have a friend who has been to the parks in Japan as well. Yes, Disney is 100 this year. There is a traveling exhibit about the history of Disney that came to Philly last year. I highly recommend going if it comes to your neck of the woods.