Aloha Hawaii - Hello Orlando, Florida

It's true, I live 25.5 miles from Disney World's Epcot (and all the other parks)! Having lived in Hawaii my entire life, up until Feb 2009 - I visited Orlando 4 times. Once after my brother graduated from high school, than when I graduated from college, than again for a vacation ten years later; the fourth time was to attend a conference and see where my than fiancé was living and working. Little did I know that when I left Orlando that fourth time, I would move here permanently three months later - to get married and so my husband could see his daughter every other week, instead of a few weeks out of a year.

One of the best parts of living in Orlando is that we live sooooo close to Mickey. I love the mouse. I was in my twenties when I visited Disneyland, California for the first time. It was amazing; I was truly like a kid. My family didn't have much when I was a kid so we only traveled to outer islands back in Hawaii, we never had the money nor the motivation (as both my parents were from Maui and we lived on Oahu) to go to the "mainland". What does Disneyland have to do with Disney World? It just fueled the flames of Mickey love.

The first thing I did when I moved to Orlando was work on figuring out what I needed to do to become a resident; for no other reason than to get my FL license and get my Florida resident annual pass! It's such a deal, compared to when I visited and paid an arm and a leg for tickets. There are great deals for most every major park and attraction in Orlando. Now if there were no amusement parks or attractions in Orlando, I'm sure it would be like Anytown, USA - but it's not and I am blessed to be here.

Sure, I'm still dealing with the culture shock outside of NOT being a tourist in the protected tourist areas of hotels, restaurants, and free tour buses; but I'm adjusting. Sometimes I wonder if I would still be here had it not been for the mouse. When I think about it, we have so many choices to live anywhere we want, or that money and our feet could take us. In reality, most people live and travel within a twenty mile radius (give or take a few miles) from their home. Most people stay in their little radius - with their "circle" of friends - their home, schools, jobs, churches, stores, etc. I'm just fortunate - my little radius includes Walt Disney World, Sea World, two Universal Studios parks, and many other great attractions that would never fit in Hawaii.

When I first moved to Orlando from Hawaii, most people asked two questions. One, "why?" and two, "how do you like it?" I already told you why, however in regards to the second questions, I would say, "ask me in a year." It's now a year. My reply is, it's just a little different radius - and I'm glad that Disney is part of it.