Celebration Disney is one of the nicest places to visit in the Disney area of Orlando Florida. If there’s one place that you plan to visit, make it this one.
So, what’s all the fuss about? It’s just another town with neon signs, right?
celebration disney lake
Wrong. After travelling through mile after mile of badly designed neon signs, probably along the 192, you will no doubt be tired of the same old advertising and street layout in Florida. You’ll be eager to get to the theme parks, and probably avoiding any sort of sightseeing after a week or so. Make a detour to Celebration and you won’t regret it. As you drift into the town you will soon see why it’s out of the ordinary, taking you back into an old style of the USA, with wonderful architecture and a welcoming feeling to every building in sight.
celebration disney architecture
The first residents of Disney Celebration settled in 1996. There are now over 4,000 buildings in the town and 9,000 residents. The town enjoys a great downtown section, with boutique shops and an open area to walk in – no cars jostling past you with beeping horns. Everyone just generally slows down and relaxes when they get to the town, and it’s a welcome break from the fast paced theme park attitude.
Be sure to take in the walking tour of Celebration, more information can be found here: Celebration Walking Tour. The tour starts near the Preview Center (Charles Moore) on the corner of Celebration Avenue and Market Street near the beautiful fountain. It’s a huge tower designed to show off the presence of the town. As you progress through the tour you will see:
- Celebration K-8 School
- Stetson University building
- Bohemian (Graham Gund)
- The lakefront
- The Celebration movie theater (Cesar Pelli)
- The lake and the interactive fountain
- Lakeside Promenade Fountain
- Celebration Avenue
- SunTrust Bank (Robert Venturi and Denise Scott-Brown)
- Welcome Center (Philip Johnson)
- Post Office (Michael Graves)
- Market Street
celebration disney lakefront seat
Venture further out by car and enjoy the wonderful architecture and resident’s houses. Walk down by the lake and along the boardwalk to other smaller lakes. Take it all in and enjoy the slow and friendly pace!
As of 2013, these retail shops live in the town:
- Carpet One
- Casa di Bella Bridal Boutique
- Celebration Hardware Company
- Celebration Nutritio
- Confetti of Celebration
- Downeast
- Evolve Bicycles
- H.H. Fine Jewelry
- Jewel Box
- Market Street Gallery
- Publix
- Sanrio Surprises
- Soft As A Grape
- The Celebration Store
- Unique Boutique
- Water Tower Shoppes
- Woof Gang Bakery
…and these restaurants:
- Bohemian Hotel Celebration
- Cafe D’Antonio
- Celebration Town Tavern
- Chick’fil’A
- Cold Stone Creamery
- Columbia Restaurant
- High Octane Cafe
- Imperium Wine Room
- Joe’s Crab Shack
- Kilwin’s Confectionary
- Le China
- Market Street Cafe
- Melia Orlando Suite Hotel
- Mulligan’s Pub
- Pandaisia
- Quiznos
- Seito Sushi
- Shannon’s of CelebrationStarbucks
- Sweet Escape
- Thai Thani
- The Windmill Restaurant
- Upper Crust Pizza
