DVC-Landbaron
What Would Walt Do?
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2000
Hello all!!
I found this little tid-bit on another site. I have to admit that I really dont understand much of this Celebration thing. Perhaps someone can clue me in.
Ive heard that some WDW property was sold off and that they have really strict codes. I went there when it first opened and again to finalize more DVC points a couple years ago. Went on the tour and watched the film. Very interesting. But very Stepford like. I really didnt care for it much. Kind of like, A nice to place to visit, but I wouldnt want to live there.
So anyway, here I am reading about this place, and my mind started to wander to my DVC interest. I bought it sight unseen. Because it was Disney!! I trusted Disney to always do the right thing. I knew it may be just slightly more expensive than most other timeshares, but I knew it would always have that Disney quality that I had come to expect and love!!!! Needless to say to anyone whos read anything Ive written, I would not do it again, knowing what I know now about Disney. Thats not to say Ive been disappointed in my DVC. Quite the contrary. But I wonder how many people bought into Disneys Celebration because they were relying on Disneys fifty year history and really were blind to the Ei$ner factor. I think their eyes may be opened now! (hmmm, Is this the BRAND thing that AV is always on about!!! )
I found this little tid-bit on another site. I have to admit that I really dont understand much of this Celebration thing. Perhaps someone can clue me in.
Ive heard that some WDW property was sold off and that they have really strict codes. I went there when it first opened and again to finalize more DVC points a couple years ago. Went on the tour and watched the film. Very interesting. But very Stepford like. I really didnt care for it much. Kind of like, A nice to place to visit, but I wouldnt want to live there.
So anyway, here I am reading about this place, and my mind started to wander to my DVC interest. I bought it sight unseen. Because it was Disney!! I trusted Disney to always do the right thing. I knew it may be just slightly more expensive than most other timeshares, but I knew it would always have that Disney quality that I had come to expect and love!!!! Needless to say to anyone whos read anything Ive written, I would not do it again, knowing what I know now about Disney. Thats not to say Ive been disappointed in my DVC. Quite the contrary. But I wonder how many people bought into Disneys Celebration because they were relying on Disneys fifty year history and really were blind to the Ei$ner factor. I think their eyes may be opened now! (hmmm, Is this the BRAND thing that AV is always on about!!! )
In Celebration, some are losing faith in Disney Mike Thomas
Published June 20, 2002
When considering a move a few years ago, I looked at Celebration.
I could put up with the ridicule from my colleagues. I could put up with bylaws dictating that all curtains exposed to the street be white.
But I couldn't get over Osceola.
I would not plunk down my life savings on a small enclave of "new urbanism" surrounded by old tourism. Lurking just outside the nice neighborhoods and chic (if completely impractical) downtown was U.S. Highway 192 in all its gaudiness.
Could Celebration survive, long term, in the very heart of Osceola's low-income service economy? Once the novelty wore off, would demand stay strong for a community that is across the street from Water Mania?
Or would the outside seep in and eventually smother new urbanism, sending its practitioners to more secure locations, such as the various Parks -- College, Thornton, Winter and Baldwin.
Celebration has indeed held its own. The reason is Disney. The same Disney that spawned the blight on U.S. 192 also provided its residents a psychological barrier against it.
Trust the name Disney.
Now some residents wonder how far to take this trust.
Disney is asking Osceola County for permission to almost double the number of hotel rooms allowed in Celebration, from 1,039 to 2,039. It also wants to put in 150 time-share units. Some residents feel betrayed.
"We were sold on the original statement that 'Celebration will be a place where you can live and work,' " wrote resident Rod Owens in a flier to his neighbors. "We invested our hard-earned money in that concept. We want to be a town, not a vacation destination."
Imagine people moving to Interstate 4 and U.S. 192 and being shocked at the possibility of hotels nearby. But Disney's customers have fallen so much in love with Disney's vision that they are ready to battle Disney to protect it.
The creator of Celebration now is viewed as its greatest threat.
It's a hot topic on a Celebration message board on the Internet.
"The bottom line for The Celebration Company [Disney] is that this is really all about money," wrote one resident. "They can sell hotels real easy. They can't sell office buildings as easy and for as much money. The residents are then left to deal with the consequences."
In fact, the market for office space is weak all across Central Florida. Some office buildings at Celebration appear almost empty. Even so, residents view office space as the long-term key to higher-paying jobs that will attract affluent, stable professionals into the community. "Not many hotel workers can afford to live in Celebration," Owens said in his flier.
Disney's Celebration manager Perry J. Reader sent out a letter telling residents to trust Disney's commitment to Celebration.
"We believe that the mixed-use sites and [a planned] luxury resort will complement Celebration," he wrote. He went on to say that Disney might request more changes in the future.
Given Disney's overriding commitment to making money, that kicker would set off my alarm bell if I had bought into Celebration.
This community's value is based on its isolation from that which surrounds it. Each hotel and time share, no matter how luxurious, blurs the boundary.
Mike Thomas can be reached at 407-420-5525 or
mthomas@orlandosentinel.com.