I could live here.
How many times have I uttered those words? They usually come as I relax on a Walt Disney World resort balcony, cold beverage in hand, staring out at a peaceful Crescent Lake—or maybe the Arusha Savanna. Those words typically come on my third or fourth day of vacation. I could live here.
I admit that I’m never 100% serious when I say that. Deep down, I know I could never move in to the Boardwalk Villas or Animal Kingdom Lodge but it’s a pleasurable fantasy to entertain. How many of us have dreamed of living at Walt Disney World? How many of you also say I could live here?
Well…it’s a fantasy no longer—provided of course that you have the means to pony up the necessary $1.5M – $8.0M (and higher) needed to purchase your very own custom home in Golden Oak.
I recently attended a media event intended to showcase Golden Oak and provide a taste of the VIP services available to its current and future residents. In the interest of full disclosure, Disney provided several dining events and a park tour designed to give our small group a brief look at how the other-half (or is it the other 1 percent?) lives. I will tell you that this in no way influenced my opinion of the property—but I can say that the other half lives very well, thank you. I’ll sprinkle a few photos of the model homes we toured throughout the article to give a flavor of just how impressive these residences are.
Golden Oak
Welcome to the Golden Oak development. Photo by Steve Russo.
What exactly is Golden Oak? It’s a “luxury, master-planned community”, consisting of both residential and commercial properties, now being developed at Walt Disney World. Golden Oak is located near the north end of Disney property, approximately three miles from the Magic Kingdom and near the Osprey Ridge Golf Course. When completed, the community’s 980 acres will boast approximately 450 luxury homes as well as the largest Four Seasons Hotel/Resort in the world (444 guest rooms.) The community is set within a natural conservation area.
The Golden Oak site plan shows the Four Seasons Resort and the home site locations. Photo by Steve Russo.
The Four Seasons Resort construction – still a few floors to be added. Photo by Steve Russo.
Walt Disney Imagineering developed the master plan for Golden Oak and Disney has contracted with seven Central Florida custom homebuilders. The construction guidelines are very strict. If an exterior calls for stone, no veneers are allowed. Roof tiles are real clay and gutters are copper. You’ll find no asphalt or concrete comprising driveways and patios; custom pavers and/or tile are used throughout. The homes all feature custom touches that are just too numerous to mention and a level of technology that I’ve not seen in a home before.
A monitor and a lighting control panel help control the ambience of the home. Photo by Steve Russo.
What? Your home doesn't have a server room? Photo by Steve Russo.
Pick your area music from the control panel. Photo by Steve Russo.
As expected, there are only a few architectural styles to choose from. I suspect this limitation is there to provide and maintain the designers’ vision. The choices feature old-world Mediterranean and Caribbean architecture with Venetian, Dutch, and Tuscan design influences. Even though the architectural styles are limited, these custom built homes offer myriad design choices for their owners.
Each home has a personalized plaque – and I could easily convert this one to “Russo.” Photo by Steve Russo.
Home and lot sizes vary with each neighborhood. The lots range in size from 1/2 to 3/4 of an acre; homes range in size from approximately 3,000 sq. ft. to over 7,000 sq. ft. One of the residences we toured offered 5,900 sq. ft. in a one-story home.
As a Northeasterner, I was not aware that natural gas is typically not available for homes in Central Florida. If you prefer cooking with a flame, your only option is propane which involves an external tank. For Golden Oak, Disney has arranged for pressurized natural gas to be piped to each home.
The Disney Connection
The Disney connection to Golden Oak begins with the name. As the story goes… growing up in Missouri, a young Walt Disney would lie beneath the spreading branches of his “dreaming tree” and let his imagination run free. This “golden oak” inspired Walt’s talents for storytelling.
Years later, a scenic ranch in California's Placerita Canyon, was used for location filming for segments of The Mickey Mouse Club TV show—specifically “The Adventures of Spin and Marty.” I haven’t been able to confirm this but I’m speculating this ranch was the “Triple R” from that series (yes, I’m old enough to remember that.) At any rate, Disney continued buying up property around this ranch and it was eventually named “Golden Oak.”
This photo doesn't convey how huge this closet is…larger than many bedrooms. And it also offers…
…the only “tie closet” I've ever seen.
The connection continues with the naming of the four neighborhoods comprising Golden Oak: Carolwood, Carolwood Reserve, Silverbrook, and Kimball Trace. Carolwood offers a naming connection to Walt’s backyard railroad, the Carolwood Pacific. Kimball Trace is a reference to Ward Kimball, one of Walt Disney's team of animators known as Disney's Nine Old Men. Silverbrook is, presumably, inspired by Silver Lake, the location of Walt and Roy Disney’s first large studio in California.
Services & Amenities
The Disney Connection doesn’t stop with the naming, however. Residents of Golden Oak will receive the services and amenities one would expect from Walt Disney World, beginning with VIP park passes. The owner, and up to four guests, is entitled to a daily entry into any of the Walt Disney World theme parks. This VIP pass has no blackout dates and includes Extra Magic Hours and home package delivery. This pass is free to each homeowner for the initial three years of ownership. After that, it must be purchased—no pricing was available to us at this time.
The VIP park pass also includes free theme park parking but residents also have the option of door-to-park transportation, provided by Disney with a simple phone call to Resident Services. Not bad, huh?
Each patio boasts an outdoor kitchen.
Resident Services will staff stations in the central community facility, called Summerhouse. This staff will assist residents with transportation, dining reservations, special event tickets, pre-arrival and post-departure home services and much more.
The Summerhouse. Note the crane in the background for the Four Seasons construction.
Summerhouse is the private clubhouse facility for Golden Oak. It’s not yet completed so we were not allowed the opportunity to take photographs inside the facility. I can tell you it provides residents with a private dining area and lounge, family room with game area, a state of the art teleconference center, a demonstration kitchen, a fitness facility with locker rooms and a large heated pool. A visit to the private dining room revealed a very large circular table that could seat twelve. The table had a built-in lazy susan suitable for passing dishes (or business documents). I could easily envision a table like this hosting a dinner or meeting for world leaders. The highlight of the room, at least for me, was the wall adorned with original Disney art, including a very early crayon drawing of Walt Disney World, done by Walt himself.
Note the “Camps and Motels” in the upper right.
Current homeowner dues, which include external landscaping and the use of the Summerhouse facilities, is a little over $5,000 annually.
As I mentioned, we enjoyed a tour of four homes and the associated neighborhoods—also enjoying a catered breakfast in one of the homes. As part of the event, Disney also provided the door-to-park transportation I mentioned earlier and all too brief park tours with official Disney Tour Guides. All this was provided to give our group a sense of the VIP services available to Golden Oak residents. I’ll just say that I could easily get used to this type of treatment.
If you would like more information, I urge you to visit the official site for Golden Oak. If you’re truly interested, you can contact them and arrange a personal tour.
So…what did I think of Golden Oak? I could live there.
