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<\/p>\nUp until a few months ago I lived in South Florida about three hours away from Disney World. I\u2019d visit as often as I could, but with every trip I\u2019d have to contend with a six hour round trip drive which probably put the brakes on more than a few weekend getaways. But recently I moved to Orlando, right next door to the mouse himself. With that I\u2019ve noticed a few differences between being a local and a vacationer.<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s no longer a vacation destination<\/strong><\/p>\n I can now go to Walt Disney World whenever I want. If I feel like having lunch at Epcot, it\u2019s just a short car ride away. Dinner at Ohana? As long as there\u2019s an open seat I\u2019m there. Last minute Fast Passes to Soarin? This is great \u201cproblem\u201d to have, however my trips\u00a0have lost that magic that comes with extended planning.\u00a0With a vacation there\u2019s an excitement that builds as your trip gets closer. The wait begins\u00a0agonizingly slow, but eventually the switch is flipped and it becomes worth it.<\/p>\n As a local, the planning and subsequent build up that used to occur is no more, but in its place is the ability to visit Disney World on a whim. It\u2019s also nice not having to worry about some of the menial aspects of packing for a trip like remembering to bring a toothbrush or making sure you\u2019ve got a phone charger. That small stuff that can have an impact on a trip isn\u2019t an issue when you know you\u2019ll be home at the end of the day.<\/p>\n My trips to Disney World are also shorter. Instead of spending all day at the parks to make a six hour commute worth it, I can go for a few hours and feel like I\u2019ve gotten my times worth. I do miss being at the parks from open to close, but it is nice when you don\u2019t feel obligated to stay when it gets a little too hot or it starts raining cats and dogs.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It becomes a place to hang out<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the great things about being a local is that Disney World becomes a place to hang out. Instead of going to the movies, a restaurant, or hanging out at home, Disney World becomes the hub where you can do all that and more. The manicured environment, the spotless restaurants, and atmosphere of wonderment make Disney World a perfect place to spend your down time. Just like New Yorkers have Central Park to escape to, Orlandeans have Disney World.<\/p>\n However, on the flip side every time I visit Disney World a little bit of me fears I\u2019ll eventually burn out on the experience. Just like eating the same food every day for a month lessens ones appreciation or enjoyment of that food, every time you visit Walt Disney World the experience becomes a little less magical. Each successive trip you get just a tiny bit less of that original endorphin rush. You don’t get tired of going, but being there all the time might\u00a0make you under-appreciate your surroundings. I haven\u2019t experienced this yet, but as Disney becomes a regular hang out a part of me fears I might fall into this rut.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Your home is your friends and families vacation destination<\/strong><\/p>\n Orlando is a huge vacation hub serving millions of people per year and with the plethora of activities available who can blame them? Of those millions of people a few are going to be friends and family. This could be good news or bad news. Being the local the role of tour guide falls on you. If you enjoy the vacation aspects of Orlando you\u2019ll be right at home, but others might not be so willing. Also, one thing to keep in mind is that while your family and friends are on vacation you\u2019re not. You might have to work and deal with the day to day minutia of non-vacation life.<\/p>\n On the plus side, you don\u2019t have to travel far to be in the middle of one of the biggest vacation spots in the world. No three hour plane flights, no need to rent a car or find a hotel room. You\u2019ll also find that there\u2019s always someone you know coming in from out of town. For me personally this has allowed me to be more social than ever before.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Almost everyone is a Disney fan<\/strong><\/p>\n Everyone knows someone who works for Disney. Whether a friend, a family member, or a co-workers spouse, you\u2019re never more than two steps removed from someone with ties to Disney. Because of this there\u2019s an intimate knowledge of Walt Disney World that can rival any top tier Disney blog and it\u2019s incredibly easy to get into a conversation about anything Disney related. It\u2019s great that so many people are in tune with the subject matter, but it means I\u2019m no longer the go-to guy for everyone\u2019s Disney questions which was the case when I wasn\u2019t living in Orlando.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Disney Blues no more<\/strong><\/p>\n You know that bummed out feeling you get after visiting Disney World? I\u2019ve heard it called the Disney Blues or a Disney Hangover and I used to get it every single time I\u2019d leave the kingdom. But now that I\u2019m a local that feeling is almost non-existent and only lasts minutes instead of days.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This just scratches the surface on the subject matter, but they\u2019re the standouts so far. Now if you\u2019ll excuse me I\u2019ve got a reservation at Tiffins to tend to.<\/p>\n If you had the opportunity to move and become a local, would you worry about it becoming old? Share your thoughts in the comments.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Up until a few months ago I lived in South Florida about three hours away from Disney World. I\u2019d visit as often as I could, but with every trip I\u2019d have to contend with a six hour round trip drive which probably put the brakes on more than a few weekend getaways. But recently I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":49337,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4705,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-disney-fun","category-walt-disney-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/116"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49334"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56622,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49334\/revisions\/56622"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}