In 2020, when the pandemic put our travels to a halt, my household purchased a 4-bedroom, 3,600-square-foot property in Golden Oak at Walt Disney Globe Resort in the vicinity of Orlando, Florida.
My mom and dad had been seeking to acquire a getaway household for some time. I have a now five-year-outdated daughter, and my brother was about to turn into a father, so we ended up looking for a spot to shell out good quality time together.
My partner and I dwell about 3 and a fifty percent several hours absent in Miami, but Golden Oak is our property away from dwelling. Considering the fact that we both equally do the job remotely, we’re able to visit at minimum twice a month with our daughter.
As a vacation and parenting blogger, I get a whole lot of queries from my followers about what it is like to have a home in Disney’s really coveted household group.
What is Disney’s Golden Oak?
Disney’s Golden Oak is a gated home of luxury, one-spouse and children homes, just 4 miles from Disney’s Magic Kingdom Park.
There are about 300 homes that variety from 1,800 sq. ft to 12,000 sq. toes. 1 property bought for $12 million this calendar year, and an additional is now mentioned at $9.5 million.
Sectioned into 8 neighborhoods, the houses ended up created by Walt Disney Imagineering, the Walt Disney Organization division that oversees the design and style and construction of its topic parks.
People have access to swimming pools, a exercise centre, dining establishments and other Disney resorts. They also have membership to the special Golden Oak Club, which gives “concierge-fashion providers,” which include private VIP park excursions and exclusive event tickets.
Buying a residence in Disney’s Golden Oak
Golden Oak very first started out listing households in 2010. But regardless of becoming a Disney normal, I would under no circumstances listened to of it right until my moms and dads frequented pals at their family vacation residence there in 2020.
All through their pay a visit to, they bought to tour one of the more recent homes. They FaceTimed my brother and me to display us the dwelling. We all fell in like with the position and place a agreement in at complete asking rate.
Residences in Golden Oak offer rapidly, but we acquired blessed with timing. The overall to start with ground arrived furnished, so we had been all ready to delight in Thanksgiving weekend there together just times after closing that yr.
A look inside our ‘princess cottage’
We stay in The Cottages at Symphony Grove community. Each individual house has its personal whimsical look. Ours was influenced by Belle’s cottage in “Splendor and the Beast.”
Every home in The Cottages at Symphony Grove has its have one of a kind theme.
One matter that all the Golden Oak households have in frequent are the little Disney-themed particulars. Our house, for case in point, has about 50 hidden Mickey Mouses. The young ones appreciate making an attempt to come across them each and every time they occur over.
Our property is styled as a French cottage, specially on the very first floor.
The entrance to the house is styled with a carved doorway and an elegant chandelier.
The kitchen and eating space are full with picket beams and other countryside accents.
Distressed picket information, intricate tiles and a towering kitchen hood give the space a French-countryside sense.
Upstairs, the household will become additional evidently Disney-themed. On the next ground, my bedroom has a quote from “Beauty and the Beast” higher than the mattress.
My brother’s space has “Winnie the Pooh” characters hand-painted on the walls.
The bunkbed room (a.k.a. the “Bambi” place) is tiny but whole of attractive details like wooden-paneled partitions and a tiny nightlight for each and every mattress.
The cozy bunk beds in this “Bambi”-themed home would make it a relatives preferred.
Image: Cristie Anne Cabrera
My favored attribute in overall residence is a spiral staircase on the 2nd ground that prospects to “Belle’s Looking through Home” on the third ground, which is now the girls’ playroom.
It has reclaimed wooden beams on the ceilings, hand-painted drawings on the partitions, a built-in bookshelf, and the similar railing as the staircase on the home windows.
At last, you will find a guest suite that connects to the household as a result of the outside patio. That entire space 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 tiny pool and jacuzzi. It can be entirely surrounded by the property, generating the place a lot more personal. In the patio space, you can find a dining desk for 6, a sitting area with a sofa and chairs, a fireplace and an outside kitchen area.
Within the Golden Oak neighborhood
We really don’t go to the theme parks also frequently when we’re in Golden Oak. Most of the time, we generally just take pleasure in the community and expend time at dwelling collectively.
We have golfing carts that we can use to pay a visit to Golden Oak’s playground, parks and resident-only clubhouse.
The young children really like seeing the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the dock at Disney’s Fort Wilderness. We also take my daughter there to journey ponies. In the summertime, we use their splash pad and pool that has an astounding slide.
For us, this genuinely is the happiest position on earth.
Cristie Anne Cabrera, a.k.a. The Traveling Pink, is a Miami-based mostly mom, social media influencer and vacation blogger. Stick to her on Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest and her blog for a search into her travels to Disney’s Golden Oak and highway visits in her school bus conversion.
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