Safe family neighborhoods near Disney?

[philharmagic fan]

OKWLover, can you hear the fireworks (not the soundtrack, just the fireworks themselves) ?

DH and I have a condo in the Artisan Park section of Celebration. An oft-heard joke is that everyone in Celebration knows exactly when it's 9:12pm (because you hear the reports of the Illuminations finale fireworks). Seriously, we really like the place; really walkable, nice restaurants, great farmer's market on Sundays. It may look Stepfordish, but the people right around us are very friendly and much more considerate than our former neighbors in an upscale suburb in upstate NY (noise from barking dogs, late night cars and motorcycles is practically nonexistent). Yards are tiny, but we're empty nesters so that wasn't an issue, and the parks are quite nice. One thing you should know, though, is that Celebration is made up of several small "villages" with their own homeowners associations and facilities. Ours has a clubhouse with a small restaurant, outdoor kitchen, fitness center and pool but you need a membership card to get in (i.e.no "pool hopping" to other "villages").

 

[Dgh1973]

1. Are all planned communities under CDD's? Are the HOA's monthly dues or yearly? Are CDD's something you would look for when buying or would you advise to stay away from communities with those for the most part? Just trying to figure out the real life impact of CDD's on a homeowner over the long haul.
   
   
2. I wanted to add, being close to Disney is a bonus for us, but not top of our list. It would be nice to be around 30 minutes out. A solid college where my oldest can finish her degree is second to being in a safe area. (I would appreciate input about colleges you all advise to stay away from) Also, an area where homeschool activities are not an hour drive away, plus nice shopping and amenities. That's pretty much our list. We need a 4 bed home, preferably with a backyard that would accept a yellow lab. Having a pool is ideal, but we would be happy to have one within the community. My husband works at home, so stellar internet is a must! ha Thanks everyone!!
   
   

 

[Luvchefmic]

Hello!
We are moving to Orlando in August! I absolutely can't wait. We head down in June to look for housing. Focusing on celebration and Windermere. I will be working in davenport and need to be no more than 30 minutes away. Really want to be in celebration but the inventory is so low and the homes move so fast I don't know if that will be a reality. I am really excited to be so close to the parks, but I think I am most excited to explore the non tourist areas of Orlando. Will follow along with this post!

If you are going to be working in Davenport why not look in the Davenport area to live?

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

TwinPrincessMermaids: Do your townhomes do leases? You are selling me!

There are a few units that are rented, just depends on the owners. It would be a great place to rent, I'd think, compared to apartments (much quieter and dog friendly.)! Some are short term, some are rented, and a few are like us, residents. Most of these units aren't even finished yet, and of the ones that are ready to sell, well there are plenty of them available. Frankly, I wish we were in a position to buy another as a rental ourselves!

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Any thoughts on the Poinciana or Haines City areas? Someone mentioned they were warned to stay away from Hanes City. Thoughts? That made me laugh about "Florida Man......." I wonder if that is where the guy lived that killed his imaginary BFF? ha..

Poinciana did not seem to rate high in a 'booming area' based on our search down here. One realtor was like 'nope, not even going to show you over there.'

Again, some parts of Davenport are like high rental areas, but none of them are what I would consider risky. You either get a great big fancy golf development, or townhouses, or a community full of trailers/mobile homes (with some great amenities, but a trailer?!), or subdivision after subdivision of stucco vacation homes, block after block. Otherwise, you get cow pastures and an RV park here and there. That's about it, its not like a city, like Kissimmee would be, at least not to me. I like living near Celebration, been to the post office, it's cute, but I don't feel like "aw man, I wish we lived there!" Nope. Btw We have a great park area in Davenport as well, and they are expanding it. Speaking of expanding, try not to let the road work get you down. I think they are smart expanding 27 before it gets even busier.

 

[Dgh1973]

House went on the market today! Prayers for a quick contract please!! I'm raring to get back and house hunt!

Oh, roadwork isn't a deterrent after living in North Texas! I'd rather be near pastures than lots of vacation homes stacked up.

We are still working on finding the right college for my oldest. The good thing is, she's still completing her basics, and considered a sophomore this year. Im hoping to knock it out of the park the first time around with the perfect location for all of our needs! If anyone has any suggestions on area colleges, I'd love to hear them. In my research, I see that many state/local colleges with UCF so thats great. Her major is nursing btw. We've looked (online)at UCF downtown & regional campuses, Valencia, Lake Sumter State and Florida Southern College. The caveat is, we have to reside in Fl for 12 months before she's considered a resident for in state tuition purposes. It will triple the tuition rate basically for this year. It will even out and we will still make out better in the long run over what we are paying now. Like I said before, if we have to drive 45-an hour to Disney for her to go to a good school, thats fine. Thanks!

 

[staceyeileen]

Like I said before, if we have to drive 45-an hour to Disney for her to go to a good school, thats fine. Thanks!

What's the max commute she'd want to make to school?

 

[Traveliz]

I know a bunch of people (well enough any) that do the commute from the Disney area to UCF.

Liz

 

[Dgh1973]

I would love for her to not have to drive more than 25 miles...in a perfect world, with minimal traffic

 

[staceyeileen]

Go to UCF, live in Lake Nona area.

 

[staceyrhood]

My brother used to live in Lakeland, he really liked it there. It took him about 25-30 minutes to get to Disney. Florida Southern is there and I have heard good things about it.

 

[BebopBaloo]

Can anyone recommend a good quality homebuilder? I've been looking around online at new and 'newer' homes, partly for fun and partly in case we ever decide to jump on our daydream and head south. I see that Lennar is building a lot of new homes, but they have awful, terrible, horrible, reviews. Beazer seems to have troubles too. Any insights?

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

Can anyone recommend a good quality homebuilder? I've been looking around online at new and 'newer' homes, partly for fun and partly in case we ever decide to jump on our daydream and head south. I see that Lennar is building a lot of new homes, but they have awful, terrible, horrible, reviews. Beazer seems to have troubles too. Any insights?

I'm vaguely interested in this too - we are planning on moving in 3 years and thinking about buying a piece of land and just building ...which we've never done before so it looks / sounds daunting but since we're 3 years out we can kind of mentally play with it for awhile. Mainly haven't seen any houses that I love yet...so building looks appealing

 

[OKW Lover]

Our home was built by DR Horton and we're happy with the results.

 

[train]

Meritage builds a nice home here as does Toll Brothers. Both are currently building close to Disney in the Dr. Phillips and Windermere areas. David Weekly also has a good reputation but is currently not building as close to Disney as the other two are.

 

[harbin]

Chef mic I don't want to live in davenport because we have school aged kids and the schools are not rated well. We really liked champions gate, but when looking at the schools they are not rated highly at all.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

@harbin There is a new charter school almost completed here in Champions Gate. This specific area is VERY nice. (We live next to it. Those who live in it will have the $$!) I can't see how they wouldn't mandate decent schools, maybe that's how they got the public charter built. Anyway Celebration is $$ and frankly the reviews are mixed for the schools. I think its a FLORIDA thing, not necessarily a Davenport thing. We love it here. I just came in from Illuminations, and while I'm a tad tired to go back out for wishes, I'll catch Star Wars fireworks tomorrow.

Prices are definitely on the move up. I'm glad we bought when we did although there are many units left to sell yet.

 

[Feralpeg]

Dgh1973, my daughter is taking classes at Valencia's east campus. We live in Windermere, so she drives to the other side of town. Traffic can be bad during rush hour. She take the 408 to avoid I-4 traffic. It is still busy, but not as bad as I-4. The 417 has a lot less traffic, but it is a longer drive. Both the 408 and 417 are toll roads.

BeBopBaloo, my home was built by Ashton Woods. I've been very happy with it. I don't like Meritage or Lennar homes. I've heard too many negative things about them.

 

[njmousefest]

A question for those that have made the leap and moved down to work for Disney. How long did the hiring process take (I assume like any large organization things move the speed of molasses)? I'm looking at a full time salaried position and threw my hat in the ring on Monday to see what happens. A couple of days ago my dashboard on disney careers went from submitted to in progress (from step 1 of 8 to 2 of 8).

Just curious as I've been looking now at real estate in the area over the last few days...

 

[Dgh1973]

Feralpeg- We are looking all over. Windermere seems to be a great area. I have a few houses saved that I'd love to view when we come look. I saw that Valencia has a west campus close by that offers a partnered program with UCF. I would be thrilled to be close to a good college, nice amenities and so close to the parks! What do you think about Winter Garden? Thank you!