A town called Celebration (Orlando, Kissimmee: environment, apartment, condos)

[bballchick123]

Just came across this town in my searching for an apartment. Hows this town? What's it like? Is it in a good area.? I was specifically looking at Sienna Condos. Can anyone help me out? Thanks

[cmj_fla]

Celebration was a brain child of Walt Disney himself. It was what he really wanted when he designed EPCOT but after he died it was morphed into something very different. Until the early 90's when they decided to try to create the work, live, play environment that is now Celebration. It is a very charming town that you can definatly play and live in but has fallen very short in the work department (unless you count Disney but it still is not what he imagined). The houses are extremely overpriced as are the condos and you have to deal with a great deal of tourists in your day-to-day life. However, if you can get over sort of being under a microscope by outsiders then there are many great things about the area. There is easy access to 1-4 and shopping and entertainment contained within walking distance of most condos. If you feel that magic feeling you get when you go to Disney then I think you would feel the same thing when you are in Celebration. If not, then it is just a cute, overpriced part of Osceola County. I know a lot of people who are very happy there but I would want my privacy a little to much to live there.

[luvthatmouse]

I live in Celebration and enjoy it. Siena is a nice complex but you will hear lots of noise from your neighbors (THIN walls.) Seems like a lot of rentals there (investors renting their condos out.) Also, there is a TON of construction going on right now in that area and you hear noise 24-7. They took down tons of trees for the construction and now you can hear the highway all the time. SO glad we did not buy in there.

[Prichard]

To understand Celebration, you really need to visit. And, you really need to read the volumes of Deed Restrictions that every person living there must abide by. Some people love this type of place and think its paridise. Some hate it and think its Stepford Wife-Hell. It is relatively expensive. It is clean. It is quite safe. It does have a downtown, a hospital, and schools. The people that live there tend to be professionals. It is not close to Orlando, or any of the towns north of Orlando. It is right next to Kissimmee and near Disney.

[Nirvana-Guy]

Originally Posted by bballchick123

Just came across this town in my searching for an apartment. Hows this town? What's it like? Is it in a good area.? I was specifically looking at Sienna Condos. Can anyone help me out? Thanks

My borther's dream was to move to Celebration. It is EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE to do that though. I remember the rent on a 1/1 apt was like $1,300 and that was like 4 years ago. Totally insane.

The town is cute but it is extremely small. The side streets are super narrow and if you drive 1 inch closer to the curb than you should, you will hit a parked car on the side.

There is no gas station in Celebration, so you have to do some drivbing into 192 to get gas. That can be a hassle and it is also a big problem during hurricane season.

There is a "mini-Publix" in Celebration, but it has so few basic goods, you really have to drive a few miles to a major grocery store.

The schools in Celebration were a national model of efficiency and quality UNTIL Osceola county sued the town of Celebration and forced the town to open it's school to Osceola's worst kids. Since then they have had svereal guns and knives at school, kids selling drugs in school, and the school grades (of good performance) have gone to the toilet. It was so bad we have a British family who is friends with us leave Celebration and moved to East Orlando just to put their kids in private school (Trinity Prep). So forget the reputation of awesome Celebration schools - they suck NOW.

Tourists will be evreywhere. That makes the town extremely crowded year round. You can never find any parking on Celebration Ave or Market Street. That means you cannot just stroll down to the cafe and sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee and read a book. You have to get in line for over 1 hour to get that cup of coffee. That is a drag when you live in a city/town that is ALSO a tourist attraction. >_<

Overall, Celebration is great because it is "perfect" like The Truman Show. It is very safe, very upper class, very expensive. Nice peopel there though! You would think the rich people would be rude, but no, they are nice!

I am kinda biased because I think Celebration is cute. I even asked my wife to marry me in the park across the street from the movie theater. So, I am biased to LIKE Celebration, despite all the problems.

[luvthatmouse]

You can rent a garage apartment for $750 and a 1/1 for $800-900 a month today. The town will have 20,000 residents at build out-not exactly small. We have a Mobil station at the entrance to town/Water Tower Place. There is no Publix/grocery store in town. We used to have a Goodings but it closed like several other Goodings in the area. The closest Publix is across 192 (5 minutes.) I have never waited more than 5 minutes for coffee at PJ's or Starbucks Truman Show was filmed in Seaside, Fl a town similar to Celebration.

http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/...school/fl/2206

[luvthatmouse]

The last two are from the exotic car show this past weeeknd. They raised $200K for Make A Wish.

[luvthatmouse]

The last one is at the Celebration Hotel

[Nirvana-Guy]

LuvthatMouse:

They have a gas station nearby now?? They didn't before. We had to leave Celebration to go to the gas station.

Did the "min-grocery store"c lose down near the cafe on Market street??

You NEVER waited to get a cup of coffee?? Really? Dude, I cannot ever recall going to Celebration on a weekday evening or the weekend and having to park all the way down by the other side of the lake just to get parking. Eating at the Celebration Tavern was a 1h - 2h wait ordeal. Yes, during the colder months, the wiat was usually 30mins or so, but during most of the year, it was a super long wait. Coffee on the counter at Max's Cafe was usually a 15 - 20min deal too.

Celebration, as your pics will show, is very nice. Like I said, I am biased and love the town. I like the lake at night, despite having to watch for gators and snakes coming out of the lake or the woods.

The town is very cute, flooded with tourists and rules of all kinds. It is not for everyone, I can say that right now. I would never live there myself, as I would not pay a $1,000,000 for a stupid 1,200 sq ft house/condo (even if I could afford it).

I knew the Truman show was not filmed in Celebration. Anyone who ahs been to Cele can tell you that. I just saying it looks so much like it.

[luvthatmouse]

There is a Mobil gas station at "Water Tower Place" now. It is right at the entrance to town where the water tower is and WTP also has a Joes Crab Shack, Moes, Sienna Flats (pizza/pasta), Mulligans Pub, PJ's coffee, Florist, Planet Smoothie, small Library, Quiznos, hair salon, Chick-fil-A, Le China (chinese food), 2 banks, Goodyear tire/car place, vitiman shop, jewelry store, H and R Block, Movie Gallery, nail salon, tanning salon, carpet store, It Girl boutique, Cingular store, vet, travel agency, bike shop, pet store, and soon to be an Ace Hardware and some more shops.

The mini Goodings did close and a deli took its place. A bigger Goodings opened for a few months (at WTP) and then the Goodings all went under Now Ace HW is taking that spot.

Take a look at the condos/homes again. There are plenty of condos listed in the $190-$250 range and single family homes start around $320 now. Like most of Florida prices are dropping!