In 2020, when the pandemic place our travels to a halt, my spouse and children purchased a 4-bedroom, 3,600-sq.-foot household in Golden Oak at Walt Disney Planet Resort around Orlando, Florida.
My dad and mom had been wanting to obtain a holiday home for some time. I have a now five-calendar year-old daughter, and my brother was about to come to be a father, so we have been on the lookout for a place to expend quality time collectively.
My spouse and I are living about three and a 50 % several hours away in Miami, but Golden Oak is our residence away from home. Given that we equally do the job remotely, we are in a position to check out at minimum 2 times a month with our daughter.
As a journey and parenting blogger, I get a whole lot of concerns from my followers about what it is really like to have a household in Disney’s extremely coveted residential neighborhood.
What is Disney’s Golden Oak?
Disney’s Golden Oak is a gated home of luxury, solitary-spouse and children residences, just 4 miles from Disney’s Magic Kingdom Park.
There are about 300 residences that variety from 1,800 sq. feet to 12,000 square ft. One house marketed for $12 million this 12 months, and a different is at this time listed at $9.5 million.
Sectioned into 8 neighborhoods, the residences had been designed by Walt Disney Imagineering, the Walt Disney Business division that oversees the design and style and building of its topic parks.
Residents have access to swimming pools, a conditioning heart, dining establishments and other Disney resorts. They also have membership to the exceptional Golden Oak Club, which offers “concierge-design solutions,” which includes private VIP park excursions and exclusive function tickets.
Obtaining a household in Disney’s Golden Oak
Golden Oak first started listing properties in 2010. But despite getting a Disney regular, I might by no means heard of it till my dad and mom visited mates at their holiday dwelling there in 2020.
Cristie life in Miami with her spouse and their daughter, but they vacation to their Disney-themed holiday vacation dwelling close to Orlando, Florida twice a thirty day period.
Photograph: Cristie Anne Cabrera
During their pay a visit to, they received to tour one particular of the newer houses. They FaceTimed my brother and me to present us the household. We all fell in adore with the area and place a deal in at whole inquiring rate.
Houses in Golden Oak sell swiftly, but we obtained lucky with timing. The complete to start with floor arrived furnished, so we ended up all able to appreciate Thanksgiving weekend there with each other just days following closing that calendar year.
A appear within our ‘princess cottage’
We dwell in The Cottages at Symphony Grove community. Every house has its own whimsical seem. Ours was motivated by Belle’s cottage in “Natural beauty and the Beast.”
Each individual property in The Cottages at Symphony Grove has its very own one of a kind theme.
Photo: Cristie Anne Cabrera
1 thing that all the Golden Oak houses have in common are the little Disney-themed particulars. Our assets, for illustration, has around 50 concealed Mickey Mouses. The young ones appreciate trying to come across them just about every time they occur around.
Our home is styled as a French cottage, significantly on the initial ground.
The entrance to the dwelling is styled with a carved doorway and an elegant chandelier.
Image: Cristie Anne Cabrera
The kitchen area and eating space are total with wooden beams and other countryside accents.
Distressed wooden particulars, intricate tiles and a towering kitchen area hood give the space a French-countryside sense.
Image: Cristie Anne Cabrera
Upstairs, the house will become a lot more evidently Disney-themed. On the next floor, my bed room has a estimate from “Natural beauty and the Beast” over the mattress.
My brother’s room has “Winnie the Pooh” characters hand-painted on the partitions.
The bunkbed space (a.k.a. the “Bambi” place) is tiny but whole of wonderful details like wooden-paneled walls and a tiny nightlight for every single bed.
The cozy bunk beds in this “Bambi”-themed area will make it a family favourite.
Picture: Cristie Anne Cabrera
My most loved characteristic in entire home is a spiral staircase on the 2nd flooring that sales opportunities to “Belle’s Reading through Home” on the 3rd flooring, which is now the girls’ playroom.
It has reclaimed wooden beams on the ceilings, hand-painted drawings on the walls, a designed-in bookshelf, and the similar railing as the staircase on the home windows.
Lastly, there is a visitor suite that connects to the home by means of the outdoor patio. That whole area feels like you’ve got entered a princess suite, thanks to a number of Disney touches like the “Alice in Wonderland” doorknob.
We also have a compact pool and jacuzzi. It truly is completely surrounded by the home, generating the room additional personal. In the patio place, you can find a eating table for six, a sitting location with a sofa and chairs, a hearth and an out of doors kitchen area.
Within the Golden Oak neighborhood
We do not pay a visit to the topic parks also normally when we are in Golden Oak. Most of the time, we just enjoy the community and commit time at residence alongside one another.
We have golf carts that we can use to stop by Golden Oak’s playground, parks and resident-only clubhouse.
The children adore observing the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the dock at Disney’s Fort Wilderness. We also take my daughter there to journey ponies. In the summer, we use their splash pad and pool that has an astounding slide.
For us, this genuinely is the happiest place on earth.
Cristie Anne Cabrera, a.k.a. The Traveling Red, is a Miami-primarily based mom, social media influencer and vacation blogger. Adhere to her on Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest and her web site for a glimpse into her travels to Disney’s Golden Oak and highway visits in her college bus conversion.
Do not miss:
