How to create a Golden Oak knockoff

LovePop

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
If you haven't heard of Golden Oaks, it's this super expensive community next to Disney World, run by Disney, where houses are like 5 million dollars or more. It's very nice, of course, but most people, like me, can't afford it. Personally, I don't want it. I mean, I want to live in a nice home next to Disney World, but I don't want to do it in a 5 million dollar home. It's too fancy and too much, it's just overwhelming.

So I'm thinking, I can create a Golden Oaks knockoff experience for myself for much less money such that I can afford it. So I found this luxury apartment complex in Celebration, a town founded by Disney and is 4 miles away from DHS and costs about $7 to Lyft there. It has lake view, swimming pool, weight room, and nice landscaping. It is surrounded by restaurants and is even walking distance from the Publix grocery store. Now, I am not advertising apartment complexes here, and I've never been there myself, so I am not going to name it. There are many apartments in the area, it's just that this one suits me the best that I can find, but a different one might suit you better. The two bedroom apartments are around $1300 per month, 3 bedroom $1800 per month, which is less than $24000 per year. I've read the HOA fees at Golden Oaks are around $25000 per year. So, for the price of the Golden Oaks HOA fee, I can live in a fancy apartment next to Disney World year round! And $1800 a month is rather doable or at least approachable for a lot of people. I'll never be able to afford 5 million houses.

Living in a luxury apartment means I don't have to clean my own pool or fix my own treadmill. I don't have to mow the lawn or get rid of dead trees. No need to pay for broken dishwasher or leaky roof. No need to deal with plumbers who can't look at the plugged toilet till a month later. You know, live in luxury!

So I can get to the parks by Lyft, which is actually more convenient than waiting for the Disney bus that Golden Oaks has. (I don't like driving, but other people will probably just drive.) I can eat at all the countless restaurants in the area when I don't want to cook, or just get groceries and cook myself. I can make friends with neighbors, as the complex has hundreds of units and there are many friend options to choose from, and there are likely a ton of Disney lovers there. Most importantly, I can by an AP and go to Disney World any time I want, all year round! All right!

So I'm just talking about it to be talking, being that I'm stuck at home with my WDW trip cancelled for this year and the foreseeable future. But it's fun to talk about, you know? It's not going to happen any time soon because my husband doesn't want to move. He owns his own business, is making good money, loves our small town, and doesn't ever want to move anywhere. But we are near retirement age and he can't work forever, and the moment he quits working I am putting on the pressure! In the mean time, we compromise by going to Disney World once a year, but that part has grounded to a halt this year and might not restart for several years. I am waiting for all the "enhanced health measures" to go away, hopefully by next summer. (Please Disney, get rid of the mask requirements ASAP, I can't go until you do! And I'm just dying here without my annual Disney fix!)

So, what do you think of my Golden Oaks knockoff plan?
 
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epcotisbest

Well-Known Member
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macefamily

Well-Known Member
I dig your idea. You're right around my age, and I don't plan on working my full time gig in PA till 60. Plans are to sell our home, walk away with a few bucks in the bag, and then reestablish ourselves in the Orlando/Celebration area. My wife is an OT so she could get work quickly, but my experience in manufacturing procurement and contracts administration may not fit very well. We'll see. If I have to take something lesser; so be it.
 

LovePop

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I dig your idea. You're right around my age, and I don't plan on working my full time gig in PA till 60. Plans are to sell our home, walk away with a few bucks in the bag, and then reestablish ourselves in the Orlando/Celebration area. My wife is an OT so she could get work quickly, but my experience in manufacturing procurement and contracts administration may not fit very well. We'll see. If I have to take something lesser; so be it.
Great to hear from like-minded people! I can't wait to move to a nice, comfortable luxury apartment where I don't have to lift a finger to keep up the home and yard, when I can go to Disney World any time I want and be there in 10 minutes. You know, taking something lesser isn't necessarily a bad thing. The lower your pay expectations, the more options you have: you might be able to find work that pays less but is more fun. Like some job you've always wanted to do but couldn't do it because it doesn't pay enough. Or try different jobs that might prove to be fun if you only tried but you never had the chance. Or go through a series of jobs such that you do one job while it's new and fun, and when it gets boring you get a different job! The jobs don't pay much, but they are easy to get! These are all my plans.

You know Richard Gert? He moved to Disney World after he retired, and got a job as a greeter at the Grand Floridian, and he worked there till his 90s! And he won the Disney best employee of the year award too! I plan to do something something similar. Find something I can do as I get old, make a few bucks and have fun at it.
 

Lilofan

Well-Known Member
I dig your idea. You're right around my age, and I don't plan on working my full time gig in PA till 60. Plans are to sell our home, walk away with a few bucks in the bag, and then reestablish ourselves in the Orlando/Celebration area. My wife is an OT so she could get work quickly, but my experience in manufacturing procurement and contracts administration may not fit very well. We'll see. If I have to take something lesser; so be it.
Living in Celebration is nice but step outside your surroundings and end up in 192 right outside Celebration and it's a whole new world of seedy Kissimmee. You should watch the movie " The Florida Project" starring Willem DaFoe. It's an eye opener what is right next to Celebration and WDW.
 

macefamily

Well-Known Member
I know what you're saying about 192. Just a few months ago we had to stay at a pet friendly place and the cheapest available was Banyan Hotel. It had good ratings and the pics were good. However, when we got there the place maybe had 30 people staying there. Most of the rooms were shut down. It was somewhat clean, but very shady. I saw a hypodermic needle in the parking lot. And I would see raggedy people walking through the woods in the back of the place at night; probably vagrants. When we got there after being at the parks, we would park as close to the elevators as we could and run to them.
 

Diamond Dot

Well-Known Member
If I had the money I would absolutely buy a house in Golden Oak, except they are all way to big for little old me on my own. I love the cottages, but, they are huuuuge!!
I quite like the idea of Ceelbration, but, it does get a lot of tourists now (I should know, I'm one of them) I first went there in 2007 and loved it there, but, I went back in 2017 and it had changed:confused:
 

mkt

Disney's Favorite Scumbag™
Premium Member
I quite like the idea of Ceelbration, but, it does get a lot of tourists now (I should know, I'm one of them) I first went there in 2007 and loved it there, but, I went back in 2017 and it had changed:confused:
Celebration went majorly downhill when Disney sold it.
 

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