Celbration, FL

[BCVOwner2002]

Traffic? My current commute is 1.5 to 1.75 hours each way! So unless I move to the west coast and work on the east, my commute wouldn't be as bad as it is now!

I live in a 2100 sq ft home on .78 acres but would happily move to a smaller lot with less maintenance. One of our reasons for the delay is DS and college in Fall 2004. We have decided we should probably wait until his first year of college and then pack it up!

It wouldn't bother me to move to a new state and not know anyone but not having a job does concern me a bit. Last summer when we were at WDW I was speaking with a Floridian who said that most people from the "North" who move to FL don't have a problem finding a job because we have good work ethics! According to this woman, the laid back FL attitude can carry into the workplace. Now, I'm quoting her so don't bite my head off please!

As for crime and drugs that can happen any where you move. Since we all appear to be internet savvy there are plenty of places to find out crime rates, school information, taxes, etc. It just takes some time researching.

Annmarie

 

[CarolA]

I remember sitting in a hospital accounting office outside of Tampa, FL. I swear if I closed my eyes I was in NY city. Everyone in that accounting office was from NY! TOO FUNNY!

 

[msdis]

WOW! Thank you so much for your information. Sorry if I sounded negative, because we really love Fl. and do want to move there, but the only way to get real answers is to ask questions of people who have experienced something. I found your comments to be most valuable.

There's no need to ask about the positive, I already know it. It's the potential negatives I need to iron out.You hit the nail on the head with "fear of the unknown and being guilty of doing nothing". After a certain age though you try to prevent some of the mistakes of your past.

As someone else said, I too have heard repeatedly that southern businesses love to hire northerners for their work ethic. Lets hope they still feel thay way by the time we get there

 

[bd-celebration]

Yet another thread where people who don't live in Celebration, or have clear knowledge of the declarations, covenants and restrictions for the town, start spreading wild rumours about what you can or can't do. I just have to laugh, as most are utterly ridiculous!

While we do have some guidelines, it the same as any community development around the US that strives for a clean, orderly and pleasant place to live. While I can't keep a car on blocks in my front yard and can't paint my house bright purple, neither can my neighbors. That is just how I want it! I don't want to have to battle with my neighbors over these types of things and in Celebration, I don't have to.

We have lived nearly a dozen communities across the US and love Celebration most of all. It is a tight-knit town with lots of great people - in our opinion a perfect place to raise a family.

 

[FLeisure]

bd-celebration,
Thanks for that contribution. If you don't mind, I'd love to know why you picked Celebration above other communities around here.

 

[msdis]

Could you please tell me more about your experience in Celebration. Like I said, we have toured it twice and really wanted to move there till we started hearing not so nice things. Do you have a David Weekley home? What has been your experience with your home and who built it? What if any, restrictions have you found that were perhaps marginal? We want an environment that has restritions like you mentioned but we do have pets, and the thoughts of my dog barking or my cat walking across someone's lawn who hates cats and being able to take them away from us for who knows what reason, did scare me. What if any, are some of the things you could tell someone who was thinking of moving to Celebration that they would want or need to know. Thanks!

 

[chrissyk]

Originally posted by bd-celebration
Yet another thread where people who don't live in Celebration, or have clear knowledge of the declarations, covenants and restrictions for the town, start spreading wild rumours about what you can or can't do. I just have to laugh, as most are utterly ridiculous!

While we do have some guidelines, it the same as any community development around the US that strives for a clean, orderly and pleasant place to live. While I can't keep a car on blocks in my front yard and can't paint my house bright purple, neither can my neighbors. That is just how I want it! I don't want to have to battle with my neighbors over these types of things and in Celebration, I don't have to.

We have lived nearly a dozen communities across the US and love Celebration most of all. It is a tight-knit town with lots of great people - in our opinion a perfect place to raise a family.

Also, if you have kids in the school, would you mind sharing your feelings on the school itself? How many kids are in a classroom in reality? Do you feel that the school is giving your kids a good foundation in the basics? Sorry for so many questions...my DH and I take the school tour in Celebration 3 weeks from today, and this will be THE deciding factor in terms of whether or not we move there. I'd love to hear about the school from a parent's point of view

 

[Eggleboo]

I live part-time in Celebration and most of the time in New Jersey. I am sure I can't judge it as well as a full-time resident but I have spoken to many Celebration residents and they say the education is improving and has tremendously in the past five years. My children are college age and I just preferred them to be educated in the Northeast. My oldest is now a teacher and she said that the teachers down there have to score higher then the teachers here in NJ to be certified. I know that Celebration schools are always striving to hire the best teachers they can find. The houses are close to each other but most people know that going into it. They also know what the rules and regulations are. If they feel too strict to you, you don't move there. I really don't see many unhappy people there. Oh you'll get the few residents that will never be happy with anything but I bet if you did a survey the majority would tell you how much they love the community. Some people are quite wealthy there and some are just the average family with an average income. That's why the villages are designed the way they are, they mix the expensive with the inexpensive homes so that you have a diverse community body. If I were you, I would spend a few days down there and tour things, visit the schools, check out the programs. Good luck with your decision. I know it isn't an easy one. I would say you have your good and bad everywhere and no where (even that close to Disney) is it a fairytale land and there are things that people won't like. Most people that live in Celebration complain about the tourists all the time going through the town. I feel sorry for them because of the traffic and parking sometimes but I also think the majority of homeowners in Celebration were probably tourists at one time and you wouldn't have that community if no one came and looked at it. Good luck with your big decision. Lynn

 

[bd-celebration]

I think that Eggleboo spelled things out quite nicely. Nice job.

We first visited Celebration in 1996, basically as the first residents were moving in. The moment we laid eyes on the town, my wife turned to me and said "this is our future home" (I even have it on video!). At that time we lived in Chicago, then moved to Atlanta a year later and by 1999 we were here in Celebration. We sort of made it a goal of ours to live here and the most difficult thing was waiting for the right job to provide the opportunity to make the move. The way things worked out was almost like it was meant to be.

We chose Celebration because of a number of factors: the style of the homes, the friendly people, safety, strong sense of community, a nice school, a great hospital and because we felt it would be great place to raise a family (we have one one the way).

Since we do not have kids yet, I can't tell you much about the schools except for what I hear from other parents of school-age kids in town. At first, the school had many problems, but there has been quite a turn-around and it has received much praise. This fall, the brand new Celebration High School will open.

As far as homes are concerned, we just had a new French bungalow home built by Cambridge Homes in East Village and are very happy with it and with the builder. When you sign your contract you receive a 2" binder that contains all of your builder documentation and all of the declarations, covenants, and restrictions for Celebration. While there are some rules you have to follow, it really is not as restrictive as people make it out to be. It is just part of living in a nice community. Most of the documentation is legal stuff about how the community is to be governed.

MSDIS, you should have no worries about pets as there is a huge percentage of people with animals. There are leash laws, so there should not be any of them running free. For a number of years, the owner of one of the downtown shops even had a pot belly pig named Orville that he would walk around town every day. Orville, who was actually a girl, even had her nails painted! Each year, around the first weekend of May, Celebration has the "Posh Pooch Party" where the entire downtown is blocked-off and vendors set up to sell food and dog-related merchandise. There is a stage set up for look-alike contests, talent contests and all sorts of fun. It is usually wall-to-wall people and their dogs and is a great time.

In our opinion, all of the various festivals and events Celebration has makes it such a great place to live. We are firmly planted and plan to stay as long as we can!

 

[Eggleboo]

BD-Celebration, Don't forget our pets get to go sit on Santa's lap in December and get their pictures taken as well!!! I adore watching all the dogs line up to tell Santa what they want!!

I love Cambridge homes. We always thought they gave you the best buy for the buck!! Enjoy your new home !

We are in the Terrace Homes for now. Hopefully in the future we'll upgrade to a townhome. Hubby and I are tired of taking care of yard work and windows and painting. Our girls are almost finished with college so we'll see what the next few years bring.

My only other comment about owning a home in Celebration or anywhere in that part of FLorida is maintenance is there because of the climate. You have to be willing to keep it in tip top shape and the powers to be will inform you if you don't! Just one of those little rules you have to abide by!!

Aaaahhhhhhhh longing for a sit down in Market St. Cafe and enjoying one of those delicious smoothy drinks after riding my bike on all the paths from village to village!! Can't wait for the next trip down. : ) Enjoy the week! LYnn

 

[colleen costello]

Thanks so much to you folks who live in Celebration. You are the best sources of real info and opinions on what it's like to live there!

Please more info if you don't mind. Eggleboo, what do you mean about "maintenance" in Florida? I think you mean humidity is hard on paint, trim, etc. I know Disney is ALWAYS painting. Is that right? Also, if you live there part-time, can you rent your place out when you go back to NJ? Finally, are houses priced higher AND taxes higher than other parts of Orlando? I had nothing to compare as I don't live in Florida. The house proces seemed expensive but not compared to the East Coast, I guess.

Thanks!

 

[PatriciaH]

Is there a pet sitter in town right now? With all the animals they may need a dog walker/pet sitter there and DH and I own a pet sitting business

 

[luv34747]

Property taxes seem very high in Celebration compared to the surrounding areas. If you are curious to see what the taxes are for a particular property in Celebration (or osceloa countty for that matter), use:

http://ira.property-appraiser.org/ira/PASE/presentation/Osceola/index.htm

Remember these taxes don't include a $863 community fee. I also think there is one other community fee, but I can't remember correctly.

Our real estate agent told us to expect the taxes to be approximately 2% of the selling price of the home.

 

[Eggleboo]

Hi, You are welcome!! Yes maintenance, painting, make sure the house is powered washed if need be, replacing dead shrubs, things like that. Celebration has rules about all of this. There is actually a committee that will ride around Celebration and check things like that out. The rules are the rules and it is important to know them before committing. When we bought our condo, the binder we received in the mail was at least 3 inches think and we read it from cover to cover twice. We just thought of it as being the most considerate neighbor you could be. It's when one or two people don't follow the rules that the problems seem to start. There are always the few that don't think the rules apply to them. I contacted a realtor and made sure I knew everything upfront before signing on the dotted line.

Yes we can rent our condo out BUT there are rules with that also. I happen to like those rules because they protect my property value. I cannot rent it out like a hotel room. I can rent long term, at least 6 months and not more then once in a 12 month period. So in other words if I rent to a tenant from January to June, that's it until next January. I don't rent it so it didn't matter to me. We are there often enough that I wouldn't want to deal with any of that. I believe the rules are the same for homes. A realtor could help you with all of that. Let me know if you want the name of one and I will give you ours. I will also send you a few sites to check out listings if you want. Eggleboo@aol.com.

GOod luck once again with your decision. I adore the community but it is exactly what I was looking for at this time in my life. LYnn

 

[bd-celebration]

PatriciaH - Yes, there are a couple of pet sitting services in town that do quite well. I think there would be room for another, especially with the upcoming growth from the last two villages, Aquila Reserve and Arvida. My friend who is a builder here in town says that Aquila will have about 70 new homes and Arvida may have as many as 500, including condos and townhomes. Not to mention that Reunion is starting its development just south of Celebration with a lot of new homes.

The sitter we use has been just great and takes fantastic care of our kitties. The gentleman who owns it also works for Disney at the EPCOT kennel, so he is quite busy. Right now, I don't think he is taking on any additional clients.

Colleen - Truthfully, homes are more expensive in Celebration than many Orlando communities and you do have smaller lots, but when you drive through Celebration and see the fanstatic community that comes with the purchase of a house, it just brings a big smile to your face. Single-family homes here start in the low-200s and average around 300. There are some fantastic homes that range into the millions, but most are much more reasonable!

Although, if you are interested, I have a friend who is selling a 10 BR/10BA home in Tiger Woods' neighborhood in Orlando for around 12 million. I saw the pictures last night and was truly amazed! He is thinking of moving to cheaper area where the homes are more in the 3-4 million-dollar range.

 

[PatriciaH]

Thank you for all of the info! Celebration truly looks wonderful.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Interesting thread. I did not read every post in detail, so pardon me if this has been asked.
I have been trying to get my wife to move to Florida, and Celebration sounds very enticing.

Questions-

1) We are going to WDW in October. Can we schedule some sort of tour? If so, how?

2) We are DVC members who frequent WDW. Would the WDW vacation experience be diminished because we are so close to the World?

Thanx in advance.......

 

[Eggleboo]

Somewhat yes. I am a DVC owner and just bought a condo in Celebration last year. We actually purchased the condo now before husband retires next year so that we had more income to work with. Disney is "our place" so to speak and while we still go into the parks and enjoy them, we also enjoy the community of Celebration as well. There are things I miss about staying at OKW or BW, but every now and then we will just book a room and stay inside and enjoy it that way. We go in and shop and eat at our favorite hotels. The only thing we don't do is sleep there. I don't even mind the 8 minute drive back to the condo because it takes that long sometimes to get back to the hotel anyway half the time. I don't enjoy the trip from parking into the parks, but am getting use to that. Honestly, we stayed in the Contemporary for the Christmas Party and I was very disappointed with the cleanliness of the room. My husband said this is why I like our condo because I know what's what as far as cleanliness. I also like that I don't have to wait till 4 for check-in anymore. As far as a tour, believe me any realtor would do that for you but be prepared for a sales pitch. We just always went and walked around and looked at the model homes ourselves. You could always stay a few nights in the Celebration hotel and travel inside to the parks to see what the trip is like and how you enjoy the location. Good luck with your decision! I adore our new home!

 

[ZPT1022]

Is there a place in Celebration where we could go and pick up information about the community and the homes when we are down there next week? I am hoping there is some sort of informational packet that we could pick up and look through at home, my husband likes the idea and LOVES that the school has such a focus on technology but still needs to be convinced. I am hoping that a quick visit over to Celebration might sway him a little.

 

[chrissyk]

Originally posted by ZPT1022
Is there a place in Celebration where we could go and pick up information about the community and the homes when we are down there next week? I am hoping there is some sort of informational packet that we could pick up and look through at home, my husband likes the idea and LOVES that the school has such a focus on technology but still needs to be convinced. I am hoping that a quick visit over to Celebration might sway him a little.

There is a school tour on Saturdays. We are going to be down there in a week too! We're going from May 4th-May 11th, and we'll be at the school tour on the 10th. This is going to be the deciding factor in our moving to Celebration. If you're going to be there on the 10th, come on the school tour!