The Villages & DVC

[Dizny Dad]

DW & I are considering buying property in Florida for our retirement. We first plan on being snow birds, but we want to invest in the right place for full resident possibilities later on.

We love DVC, but are curious about living in The Villages and still owning DVC. Any thoughts there? We love the feel of being at any of the DVC resorts, and have no ideas of ridding ourselves of that experience.

We have heard it said that The Villages is like Disney for adults. I can't imagine, but was also curious about the feel of the community.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We have friends who purchased in The Villages, and while it is a nice retirement based community, I'm not sure I'd say it's Disney World for Adults. It's kind of your typical retirement area where there are lots of golf courses and retirement community type activities. The primary mode of transportation is golf carts.

 

[MommaluvsDis]

You can actually stay for a few days in one of the Villages homes to "try it on for size". DH and I are thinking of retiring there when the time comes. We are DVC members and will keep our membership because we feel it would make a nice get away.

 

[Irishmom23]

I plan on purchasing a home for retirement at Solivita, 20 miles south of Disney. I will also be a snow bird for awhile. I still plan on keeping my DVC. It will be nice to be able to take quick trips, especially during food and wine.

 

[DVC-Don]

I plan on purchasing a home for retirement at Solivita, 20 miles south of Disney. I will also be a snow bird for awhile. I still plan on keeping my DVC. It will be nice to be able to take quick trips, especially during food and wine.

Give it a try. We did the 2 night Discovery Day at Solivita and fell in love with the place. Only 30 - 45 minutes to WDW (depends on traffic).

We sold most of our DVC points after buying our house here, but held onto one contract at OKW for get aways.

 

[Irishmom23]

I visited during my trip to WDW and LOVED it. Have to get my last child out of college and I'll be ready to purchase. No more freezing New England weather!

 

[The 6 J's]

My parents have had friends who've lived at The Villages for 20 years and they just moved down there last year. Love it. I've been a few times for visits and seems like a great place. I'm only 43 but looking forward to the day when I have to decide whether my FL snowbird home is in The Villages or closer to WDW.

 

[Lost boy]

Nice info, I'm 8-10 years from retiring and starting to look at options away from Ma. winters, not that this year is anything to complain about. I work heavy highway construction and have'nt worked a winter in 30 years, it would be nice to live someplace where I can be outdoors during the winter months without heavy layers on.

 

[DeeCee735]

May I ask where the Villages is? What town? And is it closer to the ocean or still middle of the state? The summer humidity in the middle of the state is a killer for us. We are about 15 years from retiring, but I've always got my ears open to where we would consider....

Thanks,!

 

[LisaS]

May I ask where the Villages is? What town? And is it closer to the ocean or still middle of the state? The summer humidity in the middle of the state is a killer for us. We are about 15 years from retiring, but I've always got my ears open to where we would consider....

Thanks,!

It's between Orlando and Ocala, about 60 miles northwest of Orlando, about 25 miles southeast of Ocala.

Go to Google Maps and type in The Villages, FL.

I would imagine that the climate is similar to Orlando. We have friends there and they spend the summer up north.

 

[Lost boy]

I would'nt be interested in staying in FLA. all year, just the snow bird thing and with 4 kids and so far 2 granddaughters I'm sure my wife would'nt allow it. I have an uncle who sold his big house and has a condo in the Hampton beach NH. area and a home in a gated retirement community in Fla. I'm not sure where but he say he's having the time of his life. Anyone else have any good retirement spots the want to share?

 

[Dizny Dad]

. . . . . . Anyone else have any good retirement spots the want to share?

We've also looked with some interest at Solivita; another retirement community with interesting options. As do others, they offer a three day/two night stay to "test drive" the experience.

 

[Disney Realtor]

Having lived in Ocala for a time, "The Villages" is a wonderful place. In a sense it is like a themepark for adults. My wife and I used to travel to WDW twice a month and always stayed on property. We enjoyed not having to drive the 45 min home every night.

Some other great retirement places include: St. Augustine, Palm Coast and Ormand Beach.

Living close to Disney is fun, but nothing beats the feeling of staying on property for a few days, while the outside world just sorta falls away!

 

[Lost boy]

Great, more places to look at and dream about. While traveling, I always come across people who've retired and moved someplace else. I like picking their brains for all the info I can get for a possible move in the future.

 

[allshookup]

My mother lived in the Villages over 20 years before she passed away. We started going to WDW because of all our visits to her, but we preferred to stay on site since that hour drive was a killer after a long day at the parks. I liked the Country Club pool where my mother was a member which had a beautiful waterfall & a great tiki bar. I especially love Town Square (my sister works at a restaurant there) with the all the shops/restaurants. They have live entertainment & do little festivals/fairs.

My mother had an older modular home that was not very well built & she had a lot of trouble with her pipes, windows, etc. but the newer stucco homes seem to be much more solid. DH LOVES the Villages (he's a golfer) but I don't like all the restrictions/rules such as how long your children/grandchildren can visit, what you can put in your yard, etc.

We also plan to retire to Florida in 8 years, but I prefer the west coast/Tampa area, because I also have family nearby & I love the beaches. We will still own DVC & it will be great to take off for a few days every couple of months without having to fly!

 

[Inkmahm]

DW & I are considering buying property in Florida for our retirement. We first plan on being snow birds, but we want to invest in the right place for full resident possibilities later on.

We love DVC, but are curious about living in The Villages and still owning DVC. Any thoughts there? We love the feel of being at any of the DVC resorts, and have no ideas of ridding ourselves of that experience.

We have heard it said that The Villages is like Disney for adults. I can't imagine, but was also curious about the feel of the community.

The Villages! I don't know if you remember or not but I posted this awhile back about their precision golf cart drill team. I Really Really want to be part of this! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG5CaYSnRBM I was on our military drill team in high school and I loved writing drill formations for the team. I could really get into the golf cart team!

 

[Inkmahm]

Another place we've visited that we felt comfortable at was Mt. Dora in Florida. It's a nice town and felt like it would be a good retirement location.

But, it doesn't have a golf cart drill team.

 

[DenLo]

We've met three or four couples and a single that live in the villages. Some we met while on a Princess Cruise and the others at our resort(s) at WDW. The ones that we met at WDW had no intention of selling their DVC points. One mentioned that they now did more long weekends at WDW versus the longer stays they did before moving to Florida. The other couple said they are continuing to vacation as usual at WDW.

The couples and single we met on cruises indicate they cruise more than ever. And one in January 2012 mentioned that it was a short drive to Ft. Lauderdale. But he also underestimated the drive time by over an hour. Google maps says it's around 4 1/2 hours drive to Ft. Lauderdale and Port Everglades.

Everyone that lives there just loves it.

I see the Villages in the news all the time because Republican candidates are always making speeches at the Villages.

 

[Dizny Dad]

Thanks everyone for your input. We plan on spending four or five days visiting the various places you have mentioned during our April/May visit to WDW this year.

 

[LisaS]

I hope you will report back on your thoughts about the places you visit. During the awful winter last year I started looking into this too but discovered that some places allow no more than two pets per household. We would have to purchase three homes and divide our pets between them to get under the limit!