Disney Luxury Community

Goofy Kid

Member
Original Poster
As some of you may know Disney is opening the "first-ever whole ownership of custom single-family homes at Walt Disney World® Resort". The community is called Golden Oak, and you'll probably need a couple golden bars to buy into it. The community is named after Walt's ranch which he purchased in 1959, the ranch was located in Placerita Canyon, California. Disney claims that the whistles of the Walt Disney World railroad can be heard from your doorstep. Who wouldn't want to live there? The place sounds beautiful and knowing Disney will be, it ought to be beautiful with the starting price of a home being $1.4 million. It is unfortunate that it is so expensive. The question is, Is it worth it? Especially considering those who can actually afford it would probably only use it as a vacation home. Would love to know what everyone else thinks!

There are more details at http://www.disneygoldenoak.com/?int_cmp=SOC-intDPFY10Q2Oak23-06-10@0001.
 

MarkTwain

Well-Known Member
My main problems with Golden Oak are:

- it took a massive chunk of prime-location WDW property to something as mundane as a suburban neighborhood
- it meant the loss of a golf course that was once open to everyone at WDW
- Disney very prominently placed this highly-visible, gated neighborhood of luxury homes right at the intersection of Vista and Bonnet Creek, which many WDW guests frequent
- it reads as a one-time cash grab on behalf of the Walt Disney Company. Even my extended relatives who came down to Orlando for the first time in 10 years commented on the development and laughed that "Disney must have fallen on some hard times lately."

...but other than that, I don't have any problem with it. :lookaroun
 

Rasvar

Well-Known Member
I have been wondering how they are getting around the RCID problem with this area. I assume it has been deannexed but that just opens up a whole different kind of political problems. Just seems like too many governance issues to deal with. I guess Disney did not learn from its first mixed up foray into housing development.
 

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
I have been wondering how they are getting around the RCID problem with this area. I assume it has been deannexed but that just opens up a whole different kind of political problems. Just seems like too many governance issues to deal with. I guess Disney did not learn from its first mixed up foray into housing development.
The property was deannexed from Reedy Creek. It is technically now part of Orange county and not Reedy Creek.
 

Rasvar

Well-Known Member
The property was deannexed from Reedy Creek. It is technically now part of Orange county and not Reedy Creek.

Yeah, but it is still a troublesome issue with it being smack dab in the middle of Reedy Creek. Fire service will be the biggest issue in the short term. Orange County assess for it but it will likely be Reedy Creek providing the service. Sheriff is not really an issue since OC already handles law enforcement. There are other problems that won't be big deals early on but 10-15 years down the road, If RCID wants to do something on nearby land they may find things much more complicated. They have already had enough issues with Bonnet Creek. As long as Disney is the active developer, a lot of the issues will be under control. Once it is sold out and they have to relinquish some of their power over the development, things could get messy. Not very good long term planning on the location.
 

AEfx

Well-Known Member
They already tried this in the 1970s, albeit on a different scale. It just screams of Disney offering a solution to a question nobody asked.

More the answer to a question that nobody can afford.

Although, I'm very lucky to live in a home that has been owned by my family for the past 60 years or so in my town. New houses start at 400-500K where I live, and a million dollar house actually doesn't...well, look like a million bucks. No way in the world I could live in my town if I didn't already own the house through inheritance.

The problem remains : it's in Florida. I know many people are happy there so obviously some folks love it, but many also wouldn't want to live there for various reasons, so picking up and moving to Disney isn't as attractive as it might seem at first blush. So it really would be moderately wealthy people who want a 2nd home, and to be able to afford a second home at that cost means you'd have to have some bucks lying around.

I'd totally buy-in down there, my reservations about Florida notwithstanding. Just not in my price range at the moment. I actually like that it's there - kind of a long-term goal. :) I'm surprised it hasn't become celebrity-central - an awful lot of celebrities are big Disney fans, and any read through the entertainment news stuff shows constant sales with properties in the millions, and tens of millions, of dollars. Perhaps some are already there - just we don't know about it (John Stamos, I am talking to you! LOL).
 

trr1

Well-Known Member
More the answer to a question that nobody can afford.

Although, I'm very lucky to live in a home that has been owned by my family for the past 60 years or so in my town. New houses start at 400-500K where I live, and a million dollar house actually doesn't...well, look like a million bucks. No way in the world I could live in my town if I didn't already own the house through inheritance.

The problem remains : it's in Florida. I know many people are happy there so obviously some folks love it, but many also wouldn't want to live there for various reasons, so picking up and moving to Disney isn't as attractive as it might seem at first blush. So it really would be moderately wealthy people who want a 2nd home, and to be able to afford a second home at that cost means you'd have to have some bucks lying around.

I'd totally buy-in down there, my reservations about Florida notwithstanding. Just not in my price range at the moment. I actually like that it's there - kind of a long-term goal. :) I'm surprised it hasn't become celebrity-central - an awful lot of celebrities are big Disney fans, and any read through the entertainment news stuff shows constant sales with properties in the millions, and tens of millions, of dollars. Perhaps some are already there - just we don't know about it (John Stamos, I am talking to you! LOL).

Im not surprised at all. I would think that most of the Celebrities would think of this as a slum compared to where they live.
First of all the size would be too small
second the houses too close together
and third they most likely get a comp suite at the resorts
 

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