Agreed on that. Unless you are staying at Grand Californian, you are just as well off at any of the hotels on Harbor. (I think you will get a few people pushing for the Disneyland Hotel, but PP is not worth it, IMO.)
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I did walk into the Grand Californian through the little hidden entrance to DCA when I was there last year. It was a beautiful resort and it’s got to be the most conveniently located of any Disney resort at DLR or WDW! But that place is crazy expensive! Maybe one day we’ll splurge on a few nights.
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Meh. I’m not convinced this “Florida” thing is going to amount to much.
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I can see your worry about losing the WOW factor…
I am sure there are many that worry they will lose some of the pixie dust by being on property every weekend. How I would approach it is that your tastes may change after being there. The things you love from afar in Missouri may not be the same things when you move to Florida. That is OK. There are many things to see and do.
As mentioned by some above, and I have to agree, I will have died and gone to heaven if I ever get the opportunity to move to Golden Oaks ( https://www.disneygoldenoak.com/).
Think of it this way:
Are you and/or your wife avid people watchers?
My 74 year old mother loves people watching. She would be in heaven at WDW. I could picture here sitting on a bench all day listening the the background music, having a mickey bar and people watching. That never gets old for her.
Periodic trips to Disney do take a lot of planning, but are you and your wife obsessive planners?
If you are not OC-Disney, this is a blessing in disguise. Think about not having to wake up early on the weekend, mosey into the parks when you are ready, not have a touring plan for every bathroom break during the day and winging it.
If something is not available while you are there, no big deal. You can always catch it next weekend. Think of the reduced stress when not having to fit in 12 attractions, 2 sit-down meals, an afternoon nap, swim at the pool, etc. all into one day.
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Driving under the sign on Western Way. More so even than being in a park.
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I’ve heard of senior citizens with annual passes spending their days with their friends at DL.
I don’t want to live in Anaheim.
But if there were a retirement place close to WDW with transportation to WDW parks, I might find that doable, in a few years.
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Why isn’t there a Disney active adult community on property? They could put it where reflections was going to be.
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YES.
My thought exactly.
Missing a huge market . . .
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And my plan for retirement is suddenly solidified!
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Mine too- but in a different part of the country. You can usually tell the tourists by the shoes.
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See I don’t think living that close is for me. I don’t people watch and I live planning the crap out of a WDW trip.
I definitely fall in the latter category, though I wouldn’t go so far as to say WDW trips are “pedestrian,” or even really totally quotidian. Passing under the arch for me is an occasion to check the clock to see how good of time I made driving, not for lachrymose joy.
I do have a sense of anticipation about arriving, as these trips are about meeting people (most of whom I met here) about whom I care deeply and I thoroughly enjoy seeing. That we can do so in a unique environment where we can act like we’re in something of a carefree bubble is an enhancement, but far from the most important part. We can and do meet any number of places and have just as good of a time together.
Part of this is my personality. I see WDW as an enjoyable entertainment, not a place of transformative magic. But the fact that it is close by, and doesn’t require much planning to go and have a good time is also a great part of the appeal. I would find the full scheduling and relentlessly optimizing of every opportunity that seems to animate so many people here pretty awful, both on the planning side and the execution side. Nothing wrong with it, just not something for me.
I do think moving to Florida to be closer to WDW is a pretty bad idea. Florida can be a really tough transition, and I think people continue to underestimate how much of a culture shock and how difficult of a transition it can be, and that gets worse the younger one is, and the younger one’s children are. I believe being “closer to the magic” should be gravy, not a main course.
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Thank you TP!!
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I forgot to append that you should under no circumstances take the word of anyone so close to the subject as yrs. trly. at anything approaching face value. Proximity to a subject is to be avoided; it rots the intellect and character, leading one to fearfully ride high horses and seek offense from the most trivial things.
As in the society of E.M. Forster’s “The Machine Stops,” a true devotee of forum should eschew all first-hand knowledge, and treat as deeply suspect the gibberings of any of those corrupted by the blasted hellscape outside the bubble. One should defer to those leading lights, possessed as they are of greater intellect and character, whose dignified remove of thousands of miles makes their every pronouncement an example of iron TRVTH.
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Your posts really remind me of “Owl” from Winnie the Pooh. 
I just love all of the Pooh characters!
The first time we moved to FL from living in the north there was a MAJOR culture shock! We know what to expect now, don’t approve but are aware.