I visited the quaint town Disney developed in the 90s. Some homes now sell for 7 figures, but it's still got a small town charm.

• The Walt Disney Company developed Celebration, a residential community in Florida, during the 90s.

• Celebration's first residents arrived in 1996 after winning a housing lottery.

• Now, about 11,000 Central Florida residents call Celebration home.

The Walt Disney Company had an ambitious plan in the 1990s: build a picture-perfect community brimming with the charm and feel of America's small towns.

Until then, the company had primarily focused on attractions and entertainment projects when it developed Celebration, which is a residential community just 15 minutes from Walt Disney World.

While visiting family in Orlando, I decided to drive to Celebration to explore the community 29 years after the first families arrived.

Ahead of my trip, I also spoke with Joe Davison, one of the first postmen in Celebration. He began working at its post office in 1996 and retired in 2009.

"I wouldn't trade it," Davison said. "That was by far the best 13 years of work for me."

I also spoke with Celebration HOA President Don McDonald, who has lived there with his family since the mid-1990s.

"The first few years it was very tight knit," McDonald said. "There were only a hundred and some odd houses. We knew everybody and the kids knew everybody, and we felt relatively safe letting the kids run free and free range."

Disney broke ground in 1994.

The Celebration Company — a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company — developed the community with the help of several architects, including Robert A.M. Stern. Stern's firm helped create the master plan, which sought to build a picturesque landscape endowed with small-town charm and Southern flair.

"An emphasis on tree-lined streets, parks, and civic buildings will create a strong public realm, an essential ingredient to any real town," the company website says.

Community is the main focus in Celebration, so the architects created their designs to encourage that.

"Garages are located on alleys, opening the streets to views of houses rather than garage doors, and at the same time allowing for narrower lots which decrease walking distances and enhance the sense of community," the website says.

When I arrived on a balmy Saturday, the community appeared especially lively. A group of children performed a choreographed dance in a nearby park, where a cultural festival with booths representing different countries and a bouncy house was in full swing. Nearby, families strolled leisurely through the town center.

Disney hosted a lottery to choose Celebration's first residents.

Celebration's first residents scored their homes and apartments through a lottery hosted by The Walt Disney Company.

A 1995 article from The Orlando Sentinel reported that once potential homeowners were chosen, they made a refundable $1,000 deposit and an appointment with a sales consultant. The paper reported at the time that homes were worth between $127,000 to over $500,000.

McDonald and his family were among those who entered Disney's lottery. He and his wife wanted to live in Celebration for education options for their children.

"Disney was going to build a state-of-the-art school, so we wanted to get the kids in," McDonald said.

The first residents began moving moved into Celebration in 1996, but it wasn't a bustling town just yet.

"A lot of people moved there from all over the country, but we weren't really that busy then," Davison said.

Working in the post office during Celebration's early years allowed Davison to meet many of the new faces.

"At that point in time, the post office was pretty slow, so a lot of people coming in were residents," Davison said.

The atmosphere among residents in Celebration was welcoming, which he said was different from his previous post office job in South Miami.

"A lot of them would let you know you didn't live there," Davison said about Miami. "In Celebration, nobody ever treated me like an outsider, which is nice in that respect. You felt like part of the community."

Around 2,700 people called Celebration home by 2000, according to the census data.

Some modern Celebration homes cost millions.

Celebration has grown quite a bit since the first residents arrived in 1996.

Three neighborhood — or village — expansions were completed from 2000 to 2003. The most recent expansion happened in 2021 with Island Village, which is nestled into the west side of Celebration.

On my way to the town center, I noticed the idyllic, charming homes dotting the neighborhood.

Home prices in Celebration vary, but active property listings shared by local real estate agencies show a mix of six- and seven-figure residences. One six-bedroom, six-bathroom home in Celebration Village is selling for $2.5 million, and a four-bedroom, three-bathroom home in Island Village is on the market for $929,000.

Condos, townhomes, and rentals are cheaper. A two-bedroom, three-bathroom townhome in the South Village is priced at $440,000, while a one-bedroom, one-bath condo in Celebration Village rents for $1,550 a month.

The median household income was $97,654 in 2023, according to the US Census Bureau. The town's population has also grown since the first few residents arrived. About 7,400 residents called Celebration home in 2010, and the population rose to 11,100 by 2020.

The population is around 13,000 as of 2023, according to Census Reporter.

The town center attracts residents and visitors alike.

The town center opened in the fall of 1996.

McDonald said one of the perks of moving to Celebration was how accessible shops and restaurants were to residents.

"Everything was right here in town, so we rarely had to leave," McDonald said. "To this day, we call it staying in the bubble."

He recalled being able to travel to Celebration's downtown, where he could grab a bite, get a haircut, and pick up groceries with ease.

"It was like living in a small town, but we certainly had the amenities of a bigger city. We kind of got the best of both worlds."

Now, after a private equity firm purchased Celebration's downtown in 2004, the town center has nearly 60 businesses, shops, and restaurants. Among them is the Downtown Diner, where Max's Cafe & Coffee Shop used to be. Other businesses in Celebration include a Mexican grill restaurant, a martial arts academy, a hotel, and a Starbucks.

While walking through the town center, all I could think about was how it perfectly encapsulated the nostalgia of small American towns. Couples enjoyed fudge treats — courtesy of Kilwins Chocolate and Ice Cream Shop — while friends darted in and out of boutique shops. The streets were lined with pastel-colored buildings, including restaurants that overlooked Lake Rianhard and Lakeside Park.

Although Celebration seems almost artificially perfect, McDonald said his community is very real.

"This is not 'The Stepford Wives' or 'The Truman Show,'" McDonald said. "We don't have artificial birds in the tree. Every one of those birds is a real bird. They wake me up in the morning."

Some shops are still in Celebration decades later.

Photographs from the 1990s offer a glimpse into Celebration's early years, when shops and stores lined Market Street, including Market Street Gallery.

I ventured inside, where they sold everything from sparkling Christmas ornaments to home decor. Items based on Disney characters were displayed around the shop. A website for Celebration's Town Center said the shop acquired new owners in 2019. It's family-owned and operated by Celebration residents.

Davison said retailers settled into Celebration, but some struggled to remain in business due to rent prices and what he considered a lack of publicity from Disney.

Celebration is only a 15-minute drive from Magic Kingdom, meaning it's part of a competitive tourism market where retailers are trying to attract tourists and locals alike.

"Businesses didn't stay very long because they weren't making it, to say the least," Davison said.

McDonald, who used to own antique map store in Celebration, said it was "hard to compete."

If Celebration ever got a makeover, McDonald said building the downtown closer to U.S. Highway 192 could benefit the retailers because they'd be closer to the broader community.

Celebration's iconic movie theatre is now defunct.

Davison said the AMC Theatre in Celebration opened its doors in 1996. He said the community gathered at the movie theater one evening to watch a showing of "The Preacher's Wife," starring Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston.

"That's where a lot of people that were living there met each other for the first time," Davison said.

The movie theater became integral to the Celebration community. It doubled as a church and held Sunday services before a permanent place of worship settled in Celebration. The theater was also the site of Celebration's first high school graduation.

However, the two-screen, 527-seat theater closed in 2010. A resident told BI in 2018 that the theater's final showings were "Megamind" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1."

Unfortunately, Celebration's AMC theatre is still shuttered 15 years later.

The theatre's doors were locked and the lights were off when I found it during my trip in February. Posters advertising Celebration — not films — were stuck on the darkened windows.

Although the theater stands empty, the building feels like a landmark highlighting Celebration's early days.

The fountain has kept residents cool for decades.

Most Americans are still bundling up in winter coats and scarves in February, but not Florida. The temperature was about 70 degrees Fahrenheit when I was in Celebration, where most folks wore warm-weather clothes.

The fountain proved to be a popular spot for families and children passing through Celebration's downtown. Many of them stopped to take in the scenic landscape or splash in the water.

The Inn at Celebration opened at the turn of the century.

A stroll down Bloom Street will lead to The Inn at Celebration, a 115-room hotel built along Lake Rianhard.

The hotel, built in 1999, was previously called the Bohemian Hotel Celebration and the Celebration Hotel. Renovations were completed in late 2024.

Davison said the hotel was a pillar in the community, and at one point, residents used it to host charity bingo games.

It also became valued by the larger Central Florida community, including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in the 2000s. The NFL team hosted its camp at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and housed players at The Inn at Celebration for seven years.

Now, there are several schools in Celebration.

Celebration School welcomed its first students in 1996. A website for the school said students previously attended school in the Town Hall building before the current campus opened in 1997.

"At the time, there was only one school and it was K through 12," Davison said. "In fact, the first graduating class it was only four kids."

Davison said the locals threw a small parade on Market Street to celebrate the graduating class, which is just one example of how residents tried to foster a tight-knit community.

As Celebration's residents grew, so did schooling options for families.

Celebration School pivoted to K-8 education after Celebration High School opened nearby in 2003. Additionally, local children can also attend the Montessori Academy of Celebration, Creation Village World School, and Island Village Elementary School.

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