[vanessa_lynn]

My mom's friend at work told her about a town in Kissimmi. The town was built by Walt Disney. It has it's own houses, schools, college, and shops. I mean this is an actual town and people live there now. My mom is interested in visiting it. She said it is not gated or anything so you can just go there and walk around or whatever. I am interested now. Has anyone ever heard of this town? Has anyone ever been there? Any thoughts or suggestions?

[Ready2Go]

Info Here. But it is not owned by Disney any more.
Welcome to Celebration, FL

Celebration, Florida - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The idea for the Walt Disney Company to wholly develop a community stemmed from Walt Disney's Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT) concept. In the early 1990s, the Disney Development Company established the Celebration Company to spearhead its development within approximately 4,900 acres of land in the southern portion of the Reedy Creek Improvement District.[1] Total investment for the project is estimated at $2.5 billion USD.[2]

The master plan was developed by Cooper, Robertson & Partners and Robert A. M. Stern.[3] Celebration utilizes new urbanism techniques as expounded in the EPCOT concept. Other facets shared by EPCOT and Celebration include plans for a community of 20,000 with state-of-the-art technologies.[4] Unlike EPCOT, Celebration is planned in an early 20th century-architectural style and is not zoned for high-density residences.

The first phase of residential development occurred in the Summer of 1996 with Celebration Village, West Village and Lake Evalyn; this was followed by the North Village, South Village, East Village and Aquila Reserve and the final Artisan Park phases.[3]

[vanessa_lynn]

Originally Posted by Ready2Go

Info Here. But it is not owned by Disney any more.
Welcome to Celebration, FL

Thanks for the link. She did mention that Disney built it but it's not owned by Disney. I found this.

Celebration Front Porch

[alilmagical32]

Celebration is an awesome place to visit! I got there about once a week! It is so beautiful and has great shops and resturants. The Town Tavern and Market Street Cafe are both awesome. The Sushi resturant is very good as well. If you want anymore specific information let me know!

[vanessa_lynn]

Originally Posted by alilmagical32

Celebration is an awesome place to visit! I got there about once a week! It is so beautiful and has great shops and resturants. The Town Tavern and Market Street Cafe are both awesome. The Sushi resturant is very good as well. If you want anymore specific information let me know!

Oh wow thank you so much. We are staying at Pop Century. I will do a mapquest to get directions. But the times for traveling aren't really always accurate. About how long does it take from Pop to Celebration? I was thinking it would be a nice way to spend a day. Maybe shop, walk around, take some photos (looks like an incredible place), and grab a bite to eat. Do you think it would be safe to say that 5 hours there isn't too much? I really want to explore.

[cinderbella]

Originally Posted by vanessa_lynn

Oh wow thank you so much. We are staying at Pop Century. I will do a mapquest to get directions. But the times for traveling aren't really always accurate. About how long does it take from Pop to Celebration? I was thinking it would be a nice way to spend a day. Maybe shop, walk around, take some photos (looks like an incredible place), and grab a bite to eat. Do you think it would be safe to say that 5 hours there isn't too much? I really want to explore.

I wouldn't plan an entire day around it..but it would make a nice morning/early afternoon trip or late afternoon/evening kind of thing.
We went there a few years ago and drove around and it is really gorgeous! It just looks so peaceful and quaint..however..the weird thing was it was a Saturday afternoon and the place looked deserted. I am not sure if we just hit it on a weird day or it's always like that. Also, it is VERY expensive!

[alilmagical32]

Originally Posted by vanessa_lynn

Oh wow thank you so much. We are staying at Pop Century. I will do a mapquest to get directions. But the times for traveling aren't really always accurate. About how long does it take from Pop to Celebration? I was thinking it would be a nice way to spend a day. Maybe shop, walk around, take some photos (looks like an incredible place), and grab a bite to eat. Do you think it would be safe to say that 5 hours there isn't too much? I really want to explore.

I agree with Cinderbella. An afternoon or evening trip is probably more resonable. If you like to shop in little shops then you could definitely stretch it out, but in all reality its just a small town (a very neat one, but a small town!) 3-4 hours should more than cover it. I havent driven there from pop, but I am guessing absolutely no more than 10 minutes. Pop is on the Celebration side of Disney!

[WishUponAStar]

When I lived in Florida I visited Celebration soon after it's inception and then once again about 4 years ago. It is a really interesting place and definately somewhere worth seeing and visiting for a couple hours. They have many community events, parades, farmer's markets, boutique & specialty stores, a hospital, their own movie theater, etc. Owning a home or condo there can also be REALLY expensive beyond the required upkeep on of your home. Last I heard I believe homeowners have about a $1k 'assesment' charge per year just for maintenance of common areas & garbage. I do know that condo owners there have an ADDITIONAL association fee.

If you are REALLY interested in Celebration there is a book out there that chronicles a writer's life while living there & all the interesting things that occur. They had a lot of problems within the town at the very beginning so the book is interesting if only to see how the town has changed since.

The name of the book is "The Celebration Chronicles." I forgot who wrote it but I bet you could find it real cheap on amazon, etc.

Also, I remember the HUGE hype when it was announced that the town was being developed. Tons of people were on a 'lottery' system & LONG waiting lists just to even have the opportunity to buy a house or town home there.

[vanessa_lynn]

Thanks everyone. I think we will plan on about 3-5 hours. I like looking around and taking my time in new places. I also like talking to strangers

I think I may get that book. I like reading and my mom is way interested in learning more about this place. I really appreciate all the info from everyone.

[LittleMissMagic]

My cousin and his family live in Celebration. It's gorgeous. There's really houses there for everyone... gigantic mansions and little "bungalows" and "villas." (I have been on their website, dreaming...) Actually, a lot of Disney employees live there. My cousin's neighbor is an Imagineer (I insisted that he set up something so that we can meet on my next trip).

[momofaprincess]

We've also rode thru Celebration. It kind of reminds me of "The Truman Show" everything is PERFECT. From what I've heard the community is very strict with how the houses look and even the length of their grass has to be perfect!!

I think the easiest way to get their from Pop is to follow the signs for 192. That will take you into town.

[KarenWDWCP]

Cinderbella, when I visited a few years back, I had the same experience! The place seemed completely deserted. It was really weird. One of my friends now refers to it as the Stepford town, she said it creeped her out a little bit. I liked it though.

It's definitely worth a visit if you have the time, vanessa!

[LittleMissMagic]

You know... when we visited on a Sunday a couple years ago, it was pretty empty. Kinda weird... only, then church let out. There was also a wedding... a bride and groom were walking down what I suppose is their "main street," getting videotaped. And there was a mother and her identical twin girls grocery shopping. (Heh... I remember the oddest little details.)

[vanessa_lynn]

Well to be honest when my mom first started telling me about it I said "... so it's a cult?" She then said it reminded her of stepford and I told her "yeah ... a cult." I do want to check it out. But I can see how it might be a little creepy. Still it's too cool to pass up.

[tiggerlover1971]

I m glad I am not the only one who thought this was a stepford town lol I used to say I never saw kids only the toys on the porch ... If they still have Hermans Ice cream shop its really good for burgers soup and Ice cream .