Anyone live in Celebration Florida

[LinK]

Trying to meet some people that live in Celebration FL. Would like to know what it really like. Can you tell me about the pro and cons? This is a dream of mine to live in Celebration and only be around the corner from WDW. If you would like to share i would be so grateful. I love to day dream about this.

 

[Peanut Giggleface]

Have you ever visited this area? If not, you should. It is a BEAUTIFUL community and very close to WDW. Their power lines even are in the shape of a hidden Mickey. But, and it's a big but, it's right off 192. That made it a deal breaker for me and my family.

My husband is being transferred to the east coast starting in January and we are moving to Florida. So we were down there this past summer to look at areas to move to. Celebration was on my list until I saw where it was located. SR 192 is where you'd be doing your grocery shopping and most of your errand running. We stopped into a couple of the stores along there and they were dirty, not well maintained and I didn't feel safe or comfortable there.

As much as we loved the homes and downtown Celebration. It was just a no go for us.

 

[phorsenuf]

I live in Davenport, very close to Champions Gate and Reunion. I live in a subdivision off Ronald Reagen Parkway. It's quiet and a very nice area. It's exit 58 off 4. Takes us about 15 minutes to get to Disney. You should check it out.

 

[Peanut Giggleface]

I've heard good things about Davenport. Our lender recommended the area even. We decided we wanted to be closer to the beach and discovered a beautiful little town called Viera. It's on the outskirts of Melbourne.

 

[OhMari]

We went to a car show in Celebration last April. I finally found a reason to get my dh to visit. Leave it to him to start talking to a bunch of people or guys that all happened to live in Celebration. To top it off they were all Imagineers for WDW. He asked them how they liked living in Celebration and one guy cracked a joke how everything is taken care of and he never has to cut his own lawn.


I read a few other threads were someone asked the same question. The cheapest place is a studio condo for around $230,000 the most expensive is probably in the millions for one of the houses.

 

[BlovesC]

If you have a million bucks in the bank and want to spend it on a modest home where you can reach out the window and touch your neighbors' house, Celebration might be for you.

Or, you could research the hundreds of other communities around WDW where you'd get bigger, nicer homes for a third of the cost, and not have to deal with tourists going sightseeing down your block while you're getting the mail in your PJs.

 

[Princess Dolly]

I've heard good things about Davenport. Our lender recommended the area even. We decided we wanted to be closer to the beach and discovered a beautiful little town called Viera. It's on the outskirts of Melbourne.

Viera can be hit or miss. Look at Suntree if you want to be in that area. Much nicer. Really.

 

[craftymama71]

We drove through Celebration last year on our visit to Orlando and we loved it. It's never going to be in the realm of possibility for us to move there from Australia, but I can dream right

 

[Peanut Giggleface]

Viera can be hit or miss. Look at Suntree if you want to be in that area. Much nicer. Really.

Would you elaborate on that? Everything we saw was very nice. But then maybe we missed something.

 

[Princess Dolly]

Would you elaborate on that? Everything we saw was very nice. But then maybe we missed something.

At first glance it looks nice, but when you look closer in the subdivisions you'll notice that it's hit or miss with people taking care of their homes and foreclosures. Our Realtor was very much against us moving there when we were looking to relocate within the area to a nicer home than our starter home that we had built.

 

[NYtoCelebration]

I live in Celebration. It's a lovely community. I never shop anywhere on 192, I don't even drive down it, except occasionally to get to Osceola Parkway. There are dozens if other locations to shop. 192 is not for locals in any sense. We now have a new Publix in the Water Tower, which is awesome. It's a new model store which is similar to a Whole Foods.

I can't stand the gated communities all over this area. I love the smaller lot sizes. We came from a big house on 3/4 acre in NY. I find the home prices and taxes here to be half what they were back in NY. A house that would sell for $850K in NY is about $425K here. Taxes are less than half what we paid in NY as well (we paid $16K a year in NY for a similar house, here they're less than $7K)

The public parks, pools, trails and spaces are amazing, I don't need a big yard and love not having to care for one either. We are always walking, running, swimming and getting involved in community activities. Our neighbors are awesome.

There aren't any more foreclosures here than there are anywhere else. The homes here are in exceptional condition. I was in Keene's Pointe a few weeks ago to see a friend and I was astounded at how rundown and overgrown some of the houses and yards were.

It's not for everyone, but nothing is. We absolutely love living here. I think it's probably best to listen to folks who actually live here rather than those who are just assuming they know what it's like to live here. The best way I can describe it is it feels like we're on vacation every day, even when we're working and the kids are in school. Living in Celebration makes you want to get outside and enjoy life.

The schools are not anywhere near the caliber of the schools in NY, so we're footing the bill for private school, so for now our cost of living is a wash. Once we're done with that, it's very inexpensive to live in Celebration and in Florida.

You could always rent for a year and see if it's your cup of tea.

 

[Art 1]

No, no reason to. If you do buy there really find out how well your house was built. Hire your own trades people to check it out, not just a pre buy inspector. Lots of poorly built homes and condos there.

 

[SandrA9810]

Slightly over rated. Hunters creek is a way better area, and an area just north of Disney in Dr Philips. I hate the idea of looking into your neighbor's window. And the fact that a lot of the design is a facade, like the third floor windows that is really an attic/crawlspace.

 

[kaligal]

I don't know how people could stand to live that close to their neighbors. Those houses are built one on top of the next. I need more space.

I'm also not sure why people are willing to pay extra to live there. One day, that will end and they'll lose money.

 

[diznygirl]

I live in Celebration. It's a lovely community. I never shop anywhere on 192, I don't even drive down it, except occasionally to get to Osceola Parkway. There are dozens if other locations to shop. 192 is not for locals in any sense. We now have a new Publix in the Water Tower, which is awesome. It's a new model store which is similar to a Whole Foods.

I can't stand the gated communities all over this area. I love the smaller lot sizes. We came from a big house on 3/4 acre in NY. I find the home prices and taxes here to be half what they were back in NY. A house that would sell for $850K in NY is about $425K here. Taxes are less than half what we paid in NY as well (we paid $16K a year in NY for a similar house, here they're less than $7K)

The public parks, pools, trails and spaces are amazing, I don't need a big yard and love not having to care for one either. We are always walking, running, swimming and getting involved in community activities. Our neighbors are awesome.

There aren't any more foreclosures here than there are anywhere else. The homes here are in exceptional condition. I was in Keene's Pointe a few weeks ago to see a friend and I was astounded at how rundown and overgrown some of the houses and yards were.

It's not for everyone, but nothing is. We absolutely love living here. I think it's probably best to listen to folks who actually live here rather than those who are just assuming they know what it's like to live here. The best way I can describe it is it feels like we're on vacation every day, even when we're working and the kids are in school. Living in Celebration makes you want to get outside and enjoy life.

The schools are not anywhere near the caliber of the schools in NY, so we're footing the bill for private school, so for now our cost of living is a wash. Once we're done with that, it's very inexpensive to live in Celebration and in Florida.

You could always rent for a year and see if it's your cup of tea.

It's all in your perspective, isn't it? We moved here from Los Angeles and got twice as much house for half the cost. The houses in Cali were close together with deeper lots, but we didn't like having so much land to care for. And the schools here are way better than LAUSD. We could have moved someplace else in the LA area for better schools, and spent most of our time on the road. But here we live minutes from the school. No traffic - it's heavenly.

OP - Living here is not for everyone. Just do your research and make your decision based on what your lifestyle is like and what your wants and needs are.

 

[ChristmasElf]

Slightly over rated. Hunters creek is a way better area, and just north of Disney in Dr Philips. I hate the idea of looking into your neighbor's window. And the fact that a lot of the design is a facade, like the third floor windowsthat is really an attic/crawlspace.

Hunters Creek IS NOT located in Dr Philips. Hunters Creek is located in unicorporated Orange County south of 417 just north of teh Osceola county line. Dr Philips is located over near Sand Lake Rd and Turkey Lake Rd which is 10-12 mins drive depending on the time of day and traffic.

The 2 areas do not touch.

 

[SandrA9810]

Hunters Creek IS NOT located in Dr Philips. Hunters Creek is located in unicorporated Orange County south of 417 just north of teh Osceola county line. Dr Philips is located over near Sand Lake Rd and Turkey Lake Rd which is 10-12 mins drive depending on the time of day and traffic.

The 2 areas do not touch.

Ummm duh. How about this?

Hunters Creek is a nice area. Dr Philips is a nice area.

 

[fall08CP]

I have several friends who lived there and they all moved out. They didn't like the homeowners laws and felt it was overpriced and you're really paying for the name. They didn't like the local schools.

Most of them moved to Davenport (very affordable) or north of downtown Orlando (getting away from tourism).

Celebration has a nice town feel, something you don't find in most areas of Orlando. They do some fun holiday events and its a beautiful place to run, fish, and bike. I agree with PP- rent for a few months and see if it's your cup of tea.

 

[ilovefh]

We say we'll move there when we win the lottery. Currently we can only afford a condo.

We do spend quite a bit of time there. We eat at the Tavern, walk around and play in the fountains and go to all the special events they have there.

We really do love it and the schools are pretty good in Celebration.

We live in Davenport and we love it! We live off Ronald Reagan near Champion's Gate and Reunion. It's quiet and our neighbors are wonderful!

That said, I would not want to send my kids to school in Polk County. Our current plan if we stay in FL is for me to continue working in Osceola County so he can go to school there.

 

[Katieinwonderland]

DH and I rented an apartment there before we bought our current house. Our apartment was right in the middle of town, and we liked the area a lot. It was quiet and safe, but we could walk to restaurants, shops, etc. I used to love running on the trails around the lakes and ponds.

We didn't buy there for two reasons. The first was the cost - we couldn't afford the kind of house we wanted. The second was the area outside of Celebration - we HATE 192!!! The whole area is awful, it's so tacky and the traffic is horrific. When we lived in Celebration, there wasn't a Publix there like there is now (and it is a gorgeous Publix!) so we had to go out onto 192 to get groceries, and it was awful.

I'm not a huge fan of Davenport either - it's not a bad area, and I have friends who live there and love it, it's just not for me.

I love where we are in Winter Garden, and the surrounding Windermere and Dr Phillips areas.