Should we go see Celebration?

[viluvsdisney]

HI there - never been to Celebration. This time we have a rental car and we're thinking of checking it out. Is it worth a trip - we have a day of no Disney scheduled. How do we get there? ANy tips abou Celebration? Thanks!!

 

[jkovick]

DH and I were curious about Celebration also. We visited-- it was a very nice little community that is very well maintained. We visited the "downtown area" and found some very interesting shops. I wouldn't plan on it being a whole day activity but we enjoyed a couple of hours there.

 

[tc]

We spent an afternoon in Celebration, and had a really good time. We toured some of the model homes, ate lunch, walked around downtown. It's a really nice community, and worth a look. I agree though, don't plan on spending all day.

 

[JudithM]

A few months ago we were visiting friends who live in Celebration. We had a delicious lunch at the Cuban restaurant, Columbia. I would highly recommend eating here - delicious food & excellent service. Check out the Celebration Hotel & the shops around downtown.

Another hotel to check out since you will have a car is Gaylord Palms - the interior is gorgeous!

 

[Wheelsie]

when we were on our last trip DH and I decide to trek down there and check out the surroundings. we met this really sweet lady w/ a puppy and she was so warm and asked us to dine w/ her at a quiet little diner. we had such fun and learned about her and Celebration from someone that actually lived there. I would like to see that little old lady again. we had a really nice chat.

but I agree with everyone else. don't plan to be there very long esp since (if you're handi like me) the display homes aren't at all accessible.

 

[CathyCanada]

My DH golfed at the Celebration course last year and HAD to bring the family to tour the community. We have stayed at the Celebration Hotel 3 times now and LOVE it!

It is a lovely little community, we enjoyed just walking and seeing some of the beautiful homes. There are excellent restaurants! The Plantation Room in the Celebration Hotel is a 4 star restaurant, but is priced comparable to a Disney restaurant that is not nearly the quality. You will actually find all of the restaurant prices to be a treat, especially compared to Disney. And it is only a 5-10 minute drive (sometimes took us less time to get from WDW to the Celebration Hotel than it took to get from the Boardwalk to Downtown Disney!
CC

 

[Crazy Hakim]

Kudos to all the replies!

Yes, it is worth the trip for a quiet afternoon. Great downtown area, great food, even the new Pizza place is excellent.
Also, not mentioned so far, there is a two screen, stadium seating AMC Theater. Great for a rainy afternoon.

 

[maryhenry]

It is worth the trip and easy to get to. I can't remember the name of the main drag in WDW, but you just take that out of there and instead of going into Kissiminee (sp?) you go straight. It takes you right into Celebration - less than 5 minutes if I remember correctly. It will make you long to live there - we have been scheming ever since!

 

[miche61]

Yes, go! However, DH and I think it is a little Stepford Wives-ish. It seems a little too perfect. That said, we have toured the homes, and they are gorgeous! What a great place to spend an afternoon.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

OMG Miche61 were you listening to our conversation when you said Stepford Wives. That was all we could think of. We never saw many people on the streets either. We said the exact same thing.
It is nice and I love to visit but we always say it is too good to be true. We visited the first time about four years ago. At the time the model homes were really fantastic and there were lots of them. Some of them had the huge doric columns and were like mini mansions. Last time we were there we noticed just the smaller homes were open unless we missed something. I even spoke to someone about the schools. At the time they had just opened the school and told us that Stetson U would be opening in a few years.

 

[miche61]

Bella, we took our in-laws with us there last time, and they thought the same thing. We'd watch people out "working" on the streets, and imagine that they were really "spy" type people. I am glad we are not the only ones who thought that.

 

[HookedonMagic]

Hello from a "Stepford Wife!" Yes, real people actually live here! I must admit, before moving to Celebration last summer, we had many of the same concerns about the town...maybe it is "too perfect", you have to be audio-animatronic to live here, etc. We moved anyway, and so far, so good! Now we laugh when we hear tourists describing our town...one day, we heard a women on her cell phone tell someone that she was in Disney's "fairytale, make-believe" town! Too funny. (I wish our mortgage was "fairytale, make-believe!")

Anyway, to answer the original post, by all means make the trek to Celebration. It is a quick drive, and depending on the time of year you visit, downtown is often full of activity. In the fall, we have sidewalk sales, an art festival and a fall festival, just to name a few. As other posters have suggested, we offer several restaurants (one with a great Sunday Brunch), a few cute shops, a movie theater, walking paths, a golf course and a tea room. All the stuff little towns everywhere have.

Have a great trip...I hope you decide to pay us a visit!

 

[OhMari]

Hello from a "Stepford Wife!" Yes, real people actually live here! I must admit, before moving to Celebration last summer, we had many of the same concerns about the town...maybe it is "too perfect", you have to be audio-animatronic to live here, etc. We moved anyway, and so far, so good! Now we laugh when we hear tourists describing our town...one day, we heard a women on her cell phone tell someone that she was in Disney's "fairytale, make-believe" town! Too funny. (I wish our mortgage was "fairytale, make-believe!")



See people really do live in Celebration.

When we drove thru by mistake, (cause of the wild fires ) in 2000, our kids asked us if these houses were real, or was it like the houses at MGM
.


Finding Celebration was one of the highlites of our trip.