Celebration, Florida: Freaky Fake Town or Slice of Paradise?

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Are any of our readers familiar with Celebration, Florida? This is the Disney-planned community in Osceola County, Florida (2.5 miles from Walt Disney World Resort). About 3,500 people live in the town that’s modeled after a “southern American village from the 1930s.”

I visited Celebration a couple years ago with some friends who live in Orlando. We brought our kids to the Oktoberfest celebration, where giant fans blew colorful paper “leaves” into the air and onto the meticulously clean streets below. Another popular celebration takes place in the seasons-challenged town around the holidays, when fake snow is blown all over the streets — enough for making soap-bubble snowballs.

I felt like I was at a Disney theme park, frankly. Or a movie set. It was all too Stepford-Wives perfect for me. The entire town was built out of open space in 1994, so all the buildings, shops and homes are brand new. Its set on a pretty lake, with well-manicured parks and lawns. I was like, “Where’s the grit? Where are the stories? The history? The authentic charm?” I don’t think there is any other town in America that looks or feels like Celebration.

But, maybe I’m just envious about this picture-perfect community, where residents walk or use “neighborhood electric vehicles” (these sound to me like Segways, but they are speed-limited little cars or carts), to their town-center shops and cafes, and where crime is virtually nil, and everything looks so clean and crisp.

My take on Celebration, though, definitely leans toward the “This is just weird” variety. I’d love to hear from folks who actually live in the town to give me the down and dirty (or does Celebration not do dirty?). Perhaps folks are looking at real estate listings here? (I saw MLS listing for a 3 bed, 2 bath home at $415,000.) And if anyone has plans to stay in Celebration’s new Mona Lisa Suite Hotel, let me know! I’d love to hear your take on the town.

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August 22, 2008 | Filed Under Destinations, Family Travel, The Cookie Jar 

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5 Responses to “Celebration, Florida: Freaky Fake Town or Slice of Paradise?”

  1. Recent Links Tagged With "slice" - JabberTags says:
    October 27, 2008 at

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  2. Judy says:
    April 2, 2009 at

    My inlaws took my husband and me to Celebration a couple of years ago. It was unique,lively, extremely clean and we were impressed. However, when we visited it again last summer, it seemed empty. It must have been nap time. You’re right, it feels like a movie set — for an updated version of “Leave it to Beaver”.

  3. Ex-Celebrat says:
    April 30, 2009 at

    I was transferred to Kissimmee and wanted a safe place to raise my daughter, so we started out by renting a house in Celebration with the intention to buy a home in Celebration when our lease was up. I had a very short time in which to find a place to live and had visited Celebration several times, so I thought it was a good place to start. Boy, was I wrong. First, you hear about how friendly the people are. That was not the case. It is a town full of people who think they are better than you, and it felt like high school again with all of the clicks. I am a professional woman with an executive level job, but the others in town look at you like you are trash because you are too tired to get up early on a Saturday morning, put on full make up and a dress that I might wear to a formal wedding, in order to get my daughter to a 9:00 am dance class. Second, go on their internal message board, the Front Porch, which is only available to those who own property or who have a lease, and see how nasty everyone is to each other- they bash anything that anyone says, no one or anything is good enough for them. Third, the schools were great at one time, but the high school now has a D rating. Fourth, and foremost, they portray that they are a family oriented town, but just go to any of the restaurants that the residents rave about. The last time we went to the Town Tavern, we were told not to let my 3 year old color b/c the manager did not like crayon getting on the table, and the majority of restaurants do not even have children’s menus. The town is a ghost town anymore and there is a lot of crime, muggings, home invasions, etc, but it is hidden from the public as to not dispell the myth that is Celebration. It seems like every other house is a foreclosure with peeling paint and an overgrown lawn and only 1-2 single family homes are selling each month. Meanwhile, on the Front Porch, owners are complaining that they quit their 40 hr/week job b/c they wanted a better quality of life and now can’t afford the $700K home they purchased and the bank will not modify their mortgage. As for the Mona Lisa that you mentioned, they have not been able to sell and it is being marketed as a hotel and is in bankruptcy. Stores and restaurants cannot stay in business. I purchased a home about 20 min from Celebration and am so much happier. I am still in Celebration every week for my daughter’s dance lesson, and am reminded of how glad I am that I did not move there.

  4. Chris says:
    September 21, 2009 at

    I’ve always felt Celebration was one of those towns that a crazy slasher movie would take place in. I used to live and work in that area, but not in celebration. They wanted to get it zoned as it’s own town. It’s kind of creepy. Anything a company like Disney does on a scale like that makes me suspicious. I would live in fear of something being in my water supply or something if I lived in that town.

  5. loan modification says:
    September 21, 2009 at

    I used to live in celebration and it was actually quite a nice community. It’s very secure and the people that live there all seemed very ammendable to me. Maybe your just being a bit overly paranoid with your “water” suspicions. The property is a bit pricey but it’s a great place to live, and so close to Disney.

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