Six years ago this week, I started creating what would become this website. Back then the idea of one day moving to Orlando was an exciting new idea we were just considering. Today, I’m writing this while sitting on a lanai surrounded by palm trees while my wife swims in our pool on another beautiful sunny day four miles away from Walt Disney World. This is what all the work was for!

However, as longtime readers know, getting settled in our new reality was a bit rougher than we had hoped. That caused some anxiety and worry that made enjoying being here harder. Writing for this site had always been a pleasure before the move. Afterwards… not so much! Trying to put a happy face on for the blog felt inauthentic, and being honest felt like a chore.

I’m going to admit something I don’t think I’ve said before. For the first year we were here, I wondered if we had made a mistake. I thought maybe we should think about moving back. Don’t get me wrong, I loved being in Florida! That wasn’t the problem at all. It was a great decision, but the timing just ended up being terrible. If we’d moved three years earlier (when the kids would have moved with us) or three years later (when the kids would have been more settled after leaving the nest) I’d probably have had absolutely no complaints. As it was though, it was so hard being away from family, especially when they needed so much help. I felt selfish. And the money we were spending to live here seemed like it could be “better” spent there. Having that mentality — that moving back was an option — made it more difficult to fully commit to our life here.

But since my last post in March, after our kids finally made a long anticipated visit and after we decided to be more intentional about making our own magic, I’ve begun getting excited again about sharing our experiences. That’s a big change. And, probably no surprise, it tracks with an overall feeling of contentment I’ve started having about our life here. I can finally say it feels like this really is our forever home, and that we’re not just here for a very long visit!

With that in mind, I think it’d be helpful for me to bring this chapter of the site to an end.

So going forward, this is no longer our “moving to Disney” story. We did it — we moved to Disney!

Instead of thinking of this blog as a place to write about our move as if it were still something we were in the midst of, I’m switching my mindset about this site to being a place to discuss our having already moved here and figuring out what’s next.

As I said in a previous post, the next chapter of this site is me getting to enjoy being here, not me becoming a full-time Disney blogger! I have some favorites who did exactly that after moving here, and I love them, so absolutely no disrespect meant. But that’s just not for me.

But I think there is a narrower path I would be interesting in taking where the site continues to speak to people considering the move and to those who have recently done it. Sure I might occasionally post things like a picture of the massive bear claw I ate at Wilderness Lodge! But helping newcomers out by discussing things we eventually figured out, like how the handicapped lot at Magic Kingdom is not always the best option, is more along the lines of what I’m thinking.

So with that, this chapter of Moving to Disney comes to an end. Thanks for those who followed along with our journey live! I very much appreciate your support as we started this adventure. I look forward to sharing whatever is next with you.

And hello to those who find the site in the future! I hope the story of our move inspires and assists as you work on your own plan to join us here!