Inside the Florida town designed by Disney – with its own hospital, school and 11,000 residents

IF you ever wanted to live in a place built by Disney, you can if you head to Florida.

The town of Celebration, near Disney World was originally designed in the 1990s by the Disney team.





More than 11,000 people currently live there with the first residents moving there in 1996 after a lottery, where wannabe locals had to pay $1,000 to be in with a chance.

Inside the town are more than 100 homes, as well as shops, restaurants and offices, many of which are painted in Instagrammable pastel shades.

There are also six churches, a library, a post office, a school and a dog park, as well as a former cinema turned into an ice cream shop.

Disney no longer owns most of the town, having sold it in 2005 for a whopping $6.5million, according to the New York Times.

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However, they still operate services such as Smart City Telecom and Reedy Creek Energy Services to provide for the residents.

The town is even connected to Disney World, with the street World Drive near the Magic Kindom.

Dan Rudgers, one of the first residents who still lives there, told the Guardian why he chose to move there: "I think it was because of the way Disney does things.

"You knew the parks and the streets would be clean, the grass cut, all the houses would look the same, it would be family-oriented and everything would work just right."

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Erin Ajello, whose family live there, told Insider there are perks to living there such as streets quickly being repaired and the roads being relatively quiet most of the time, although there are few shops for basic needs, which she said she has to go to Target or a nearby supermarket for.

She also said most of the town is full of elderly residents or those with health conditions, due to its proximity to nearby health service AdventHealth Celebration.

And Celebration has hit the media for a number of dark reasons in recent years.

In 2010, the first murder was reported in the city after a 58-year-old retired teacher was killed, while in 2020, a 44-year-old man was charged with killing his wife and three kids.

And people who want to visit might be left disappointed to see very little Disney memorabilia or design throughout the town, although there are tours of the town on Mickey-coloured red and black vintage cars.

Disney has announced plans to build another residential town which will have homes, a hotel and even a huge lagoon.

Disney Imagineers, who design everything at the theme parks, will be behind the huge project, although it won't be linked to Disneyland.

Cotino will be a 618-acre development near Palm Springs in California, as part of Disney's new Storyliving communities, which will be “infused with the company’s special brand of magic".

There will be 1,900 houses, ranging from single-family homes to larger properties, as well as a neighbourhood for residents over 55.

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Also onsite will be shops and a beachfront hotel with 400 rooms, along with a 24-acre lagoon which is open to the public to swim in.

And Walt Disney even wanted to build his own "utopian cities" – the land of Epcot was the prototype for this, which stands for Experimental Prototype City Of Tomorrow.



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