Celebration vs Windermere vs Winter Park to retire

[Castmembers family]

My family and I have visited Disney for many years because my daughter is an ex cast member. I would like to retire near Disney but need info on surrounding communities. Any thoughts on Celebration vs Winter Park vs Windermere?

 

[chalee94]

Here is some discussion for your consideration:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/questions-about-considering-a-move-to-florida.3736484/
https://www.disboards.com/threads/considering-moving-to-fl.3729201/
https://www.disboards.com/threads/who-has-made-the-move-to-fl.3668365/

 

[Jdawson9807]

Check out the area of Champions Gate Florida, that is where we are looking to relocate. It is a beautiful area!

 

[Castmembers family]

Check out the area of Champions Gate Florida, that is where we are looking to relocate. It is a beautiful area!

Thank you

 

[PigletsPal2]

Thank you

Funny you should mention Champions Gate. We already live in Florida (16 years in west Kissimmee) and we're moving into Merrill
Gardens, a senior independent living community, in December. It's an all-inclusive senior apartment community - apt. rent, all utilities, meals, housekeeping, Wi-Fi, satellite TV, all maintenance, spa, pool, many daily activities, theater, game room, medical staff available, and much more. Check them out - we can't wait for December!

Queen Colleen

 

[DietCoke18]

Golden oaks.

 

[Jdawson9807]

Golden oaks.

BEST. IDEA. EVER.

 

[Feralpeg]

I live in Windermere, so I am somewhat biased. I love Windermere because it is very close to the parks, yet tourists do not come out this way. Celebration, on the other hand, is very nice, but it is tourist central. It is almost looked upon as an attraction. To make it worse, it sits along side 192. 192 is one gigantic tourist trap.

Winter Park is on the other side of town from the parks. The commute on I-4 is daunting at the best of times. Winter Park has some very nice areas, but it also has some very old, not that great areas. The closer you get to Semoran, the worse it gets. It is very much a student area thanks to Rollins College and Full Sail University. Cheaper housing attracts students.

I also am not crazy about the amount of railroad tracks in Winter Park. They are all over the place. There are very few active rail areas on the southwest side of Orlando.

Keep in mind, huge numbers of people move to Central Florida on a monthly basis. The infrastructure can't begin to keep up with the new arrivals. This means traffic congestion, lack of schools, shopping, etc. It has changed dramatically since I moved to the area 15 years ago. Housing prices are through the roof. We built a new house in 2017. The value of the house has already increased $150k. I could sell tomorrow, but I wouldn't be able to find anything at a reasonable price. Couple this with very low wages and it is not a pretty picture. Multi-family homes are very much the norm. People work multiple jobs and still can't easily afford housing. There are huge waiting lists for lower cost housing.

As a retiree, you might not think this would affect you. Believe me. It affects everyone. That being said. I still love living here!

 

[NotUrsula]

From what I can see, living in the Orlando metro is an expensive choice compared to other Florida options. I was rather stunned when I realized that you can get a comfortable place within a few blocks of the water in St. Pete for what a cracker-box complex apartment on the South side of Orlando would cost. Living inland elsewhere in the state is most reasonable of all, if you can take a semi-rural environment.

 

[DietCoke18]

Golden oaks.

BEST. IDEA. EVER.

What. How much can it be??

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Golden oaks.

And all you'll need is a bit of spare change from the couch.

 

[Bonnie1222]

Check out the area of Champions Gate Florida, that is where we are looking to relocate. It is a beautiful area!

Champions Gate is a nice area, as long as you don't need to go anywhere. I have to drive through that area every day and the traffic is nothing less than horrific. Traffic backs up for mile and miles every morning heading east and heading west at night is absolutely stupid. Champions Gate is a bottle neck and the exits back up Interstate 4 for miles on end every day. And it isn't just rush hour, it is a good part of the day. And it is not just the interstate, it is the central area where the stores are as well. I now go to work an hour early every day just to be able to drive 20 miles (15 of it on the interstate) in under an hour. Driving home, 1 hour minimum. And don't try to go anywhere on a Friday after 1pm.

Now as another poster said - the entire area is getting very congested, and the infrastructure is not keeping up, but the Champions Gate area seems to be the worst - they have added thousand of apartments and houses with no regard to how to move the people around.

This is just my personal experience, thought you should know. From my driving around, I will say Clermont are on US 27 (between 192 and 50) while growing by leaps and bounds too seems to be a little bit less congested.

 

[Sandeep1]

From what I can see, living in the Orlando metro is an expensive choice compared to other Florida options. I was rather stunned when I realized that you can get a comfortable place within a few blocks of the water in St. Pete for what a cracker-box complex apartment on the South side of Orlando would cost. Living inland elsewhere in the state is most reasonable of all, if you can take a semi-rural environment.

The question is whether the OP is retiring there for the sole purpose of going to Disney as much as they can. If that is the purpose, it wouldn't make too much sense to pick a spot as far as StP even if it is less expensive.

 

[diznygirl]

Champions Gate is a nice area, as long as you don't need to go anywhere. I have to drive through that area every day and the traffic is nothing less than horrific. Traffic backs up for mile and miles every morning heading east and heading west at night is absolutely stupid. Champions Gate is a bottle neck and the exits back up Interstate 4 for miles on end every day. And it isn't just rush hour, it is a good part of the day. And it is not just the interstate, it is the central area where the stores are as well. I now go to work an hour early every day just to be able to drive 20 miles (15 of it on the interstate) in under an hour. Driving home, 1 hour minimum. And don't try to go anywhere on a Friday after 1pm.

Now as another poster said - the entire area is getting very congested, and the infrastructure is not keeping up, but the Champions Gate area seems to be the worst - they have added thousand of apartments and houses with no regard to how to move the people around.

This is just my personal experience, thought you should know. From my driving around, I will say Clermont are on US 27 (between 192 and 50) while growing by leaps and bounds too seems to be a little bit less congested.

I live in Celebration. I see the traffic backed up going your way all the time. Our community might be a little more expensive and yes we deal with tourists, but the location is great. Everything west 192 is so congested now. And East is now getting built up.

I think the OP might mean Winter Garden. It’s also a growing area and there is traffic certain times of the day for that as well, but retirees can travel at off times and avoid most of the traffic problems for all these areas. A trip to look area would be the best advice. I think they could all be great.

 

[DVC-Don]

Funny you should mention Champions Gate. We already live in Florida (16 years in west Kissimmee) and we're moving into Merrill
Gardens, ..................................

Hey, just around the corner from us. We live in Solivita, 35 minutes from the Epcot parking lot. I know some roads that take us around the mess in Champions Gate.

 

[NotUrsula]

The question is whether the OP is retiring there for the sole purpose of going to Disney as much as they can. If that is the purpose, it wouldn't make too much sense to pick a spot as far as StP even if it is less expensive.

I didn't mean that they should retire in St. Pete. What I was pointing out was the ridiculously inflated cost of living on the south side of Orlando. When inland suburban property in the midst of a snarl of concrete starts costing more than living very near to an ocean, you are looking at a local economy that is way out of whack. That situation tends to make retiring in such a location an iffy proposition unless you have an unlimited supply of both money and patience.

I will agree that the Championsgate area is badly overbuilt for the road capacity. Here is a news story about plans, or lack of them, to help ameliorate the situation (this is from a Tampa TV station site):
https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/t...-i-4-delays-between-davenport--champions-gate

There *is* a back way in/out of Championsgate up to WDW, but it's pretty convoluted. I found it when staying at the Omni while DH spoke at a conference there. I drove the kids to the parks, and it was the only way that we could get there without losing half the morning in traffic. The back way is about 8 miles longer than taking I-4, takes at least 25 minutes and includes a toll, but if I-4 is backed up, it's the faster option by far. (Unfortunately it really isn't useful for commuters who just need to bypass the area on I-4. The only way to do that is to bail off I-4 at Haines City, then take FL17 west and then north to Poinciana and link back to I-4 at 535. That's really no good option at all, because you would end up going 25 miles out of your way just to trade 2 smaller traffic jams for one bigger one.)

I ran across an interesting article published by USF about the future of the 4 Corners area; it does a good job of explaining a lot about the development of the area and the various governments that provide services around there. https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/post/four-corners-offers-possible-glimpse-floridas-congested-future

 

[chalee94]

I think the OP might mean Winter Garden. It’s also a growing area and there is traffic certain times of the day for that as well, but retirees can travel at off times and avoid most of the traffic problems for all these areas. A trip to look area would be the best advice. I think they could all be great.

I have visited Winter Garden a couple of times recently for Off Kilter performances after their run at Epcot. It's a beautiful area.

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

I have visited Winter Garden a couple of times recently for Off Kilter performances after their run at Epcot. It's a beautiful area.

I love downtown Winter Garden. It’s so cute and lots of festivals/markets/community events. Personally I prefer WG and Windermere (well, the older incorporated parts of each) over Champion’s Gate and Davenport because they have character. The endless suburban sprawl that has taken over west and south of WDW makes me queasy.

 

[Bonnie1222]

@NotUrsula Thanks for posting the links. The area is so troubled and any potential fixes (Think I-4 Ultimate south) will compound the problems 10 fold and by the time they are completed it will be too late and they will need to start again.

And thanks to Google, most people have figured out the "back ways" to get around, and they may not be much help. It seems like a no win situation. I am waiting to come home one day and find a moving truck in front of my house because DH has gotten fed up with trying to go anywhere. I can't go in much earlier than I do now and am stuck having to deal with it on a daily basis.

 

[NotUrsula]

I love downtown Winter Garden. It’s so cute and lots of festivals/markets/community events. Personally I prefer WG and Windermere (well, the older incorporated parts of each) over Champion’s Gate and Davenport because they have character. The endless suburban sprawl that has taken over west and south of WDW makes me queasy.

Amen to that.

I love visiting WDW, really I do, but I don't think that I'd really want to live anywhere really close to it. I'm not a suburbia kind of girl.