Would you consider Cellebration?

[dmoore22]

. . . the "stepford wives" feeling got to me.

We had the same reaction after we spent a day at Celebration. When Disney divested its interests in Celebration that was another red flag for us.

 

[carol1231]

We have a home in Celebration and we love it there! We still have our DVC for weekend get aways.

 

[Muushka]

If not Celebration, any other communities of interest?

Hi Di

We also have looked into Celebration for a future retirement home. But now thinking about a different area.

I am stunned at the monthly costs, I think I knew singular fees, but never added them all up. Ouch.

Just joining in on the fun! Thanks OP for starting this thread.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We thought about it too....for about 5 minutes. Our other choice was The Villages....Same idea, but much nicer than Celebration (albeit, quite a ways from Disney). I guess we decided it isn't right for us at this time, and may never be right, but at any rate, we will continue to own DVC either way.

 

[daisyduck123]

We plan to buy in Celebration (although a single-family home) when I retire in 11 years. We've got family there living in a condo & a single-family home. They absolutely love it there.

We plan to keep our DVC points so we can "vacation" a few times a year.

 

[DVC-Don]

If not Celebration, any other communities of interest?

We purchased a second home in Solivita. Much less $ than Celebration and a 35 -40 minute drive to Epcot. And we also kept a 210 point OKW DVC for vacations.

 

[tecdavidt]

We had just added onto our DVC when DH decided to look into buying property in the WDW area with the prices so low. I found a realtor in Celebration and told him what we were looking for. Something gated, near Disney. Well, he lives in Celebration but pointed us toward Champions Gate area. Love it. We live in the gated community of Bella Trae. We are at exit 58 off of I-4. In 10 min. we are on Disney property via World Drive. Our development is all condos but some are highrise condos, one section is called carriage homes which in their terms are stacked townhomes and then the connected condos that look like townhomes. The clubhouse is wonderful, and the pool is huge and uncrowded even on a hot summer weekend day.

We love the area. The Omni hotel is right there by us. The golf course is awesome according to my husband, it also has the Dave Leadbetter sp? golf school. The Publix is 5 min. from my garage to walking into the store. There is a doctor's office, Walgreens, Chili's, two banks, large gas station all as close as the Publix. The next exit SW toward Tampa has a large outdoor shopping complex called Posner.

If I-4 is a parking lot, which can happen on the weekend, we always can go the backroads to Disney Property.

Best thing we every bought. As far as HOA fees, we have them, and we don't have to worry about Hurricane insurance because the HOA provides that for our buildings. We only have to worry about the inside.

There are also other gated communities in the Champions Gate area. As far as DVC, we still have all of our 800 pts. Next year DH said we may have a glut of points, well, maybe we will have to take a cruise with the points?

We usually do split stays, a couple days at the house, 4 or so in between at a DVC resort, then back to the house. Love it.

Kathy

 

[FoodLover]

Some background on celebration as I understand it (please correct if not true)
- Celebration was once going to be the Disney city
- Disney has pulled back on Celebration development because it cannot run the city as it wanted (residents have power) but still owns all land, most commercial properties....

Just to clarify a few points: the land that became Celebration was originally owned by Disney. Various developers were brought in to build homes. The town center (shops, restaurants, etc.) was originally built by, and owned by, Disney.

Disney always planned to divest itself of most of Celebration. It sold the town center (Market Street) in 2004. Market Street is now owned by a company called Lexin Capital.

So at this point Disney owns relatively little of the land in Celebration. Lexin Capital owns the downtown, individuals own the land under their own homes, and Disney continues to own a few offices and other properties, mostly out on the edge of town. Disney also controls the utility companies that serve Celebration.

 

[cvjw]

You mentioned 3 costs associated with buying vs DVC (Taxes, Maintenance Fees and a condo fee).

However, I think there is a 4th. Homeowners insurance, which might be a significant cost in Florida.

This isn't Cellebration related, but it is 2nd home related. We just spent a week in Cape San Blas, Florida (on the gulf coast), in a vacation condo on the beach. It happened to be for sale, so we could see what all of the extra "fees" associated with owning that condo as a 2nd home were. We were blown away. The actual condo was selling for around $350,000, but when I added up the monthly fees (HOA dues, insurance, and taxes), it was $1400 per month, not including the mortgage!! This condo was also exempt from flood insurance (not sure how), so it could have been even higher.

Those condo fees made my DVC maintenance fees look really, really good!

 

[acourtwdw]

Well, Celebration is out for us. We have 4 dogs and 2 cats. We would have to purchase 3 homes to keep the family together.

 

[TEK224]

Many of my friends often tell me I should just buy a place in Florida, since I go to WDW so often. I thought about it, but decided against it. Don't want to live year-round in Florida. Don't want to worry about repairs, damages, etc. when I'm not there. That's why I think I'll keep adding-on for DVC. When I retire I hope to have enough points to stay 2-3 months of the year. The monthly cost for maintenance fees would be the same or less than HOA fees, plus I'll have access to a pool, fitness center, housekeeping twice a week, entertainment, etc. Why worry about maintenance issues when I can let Disney worry for me?

Terri

 

[JimC]

I don't believe Disney has any remaining interest in Celebration other than the offices it maintains there. Other than its proximity to Disney, it is in a not so great location. It was priced originally based on the Disney brand affiliation, which commanded a very serious premium.

When we relocated to the Orlando area, we did not consider Celebration because of the premium cost, I-4 congestion and surrounding environs (excluding Disney). If you were looking today for a condo close to Disney you might consider going up 417 a bit and looking in the Hunters Creek area.

The full or fractional ownership debate is a good one. Each is appropriate under certain situations.

 

[nu2dvc]

I don't believe Disney has any remaining interest in Celebration other than the offices it maintains there. Other than its proximity to Disney, it is in a not so great location. It was priced originally based on the Disney brand affiliation, which commanded a very serious premium.

When we relocated to the Orlando area, we did not consider Celebration because of the premium cost, I-4 congestion and surrounding environs (excluding Disney). If you were looking today for a condo close to Disney you might consider going up 417 a bit and looking in the Hunters Creek area.

The full or fractional ownership debate is a good one. Each is appropriate under certain situations.

OK- now you are talking, this sounds like a great scenario to me.. DVC snowbirds.. I am down with this in every way! Wonder how many points would need to be secured for a winter-long DVC stay and what the MF's would look like.. I'm feeling lazy, so if anybody has run these numbers.. please share