Since those early days Celebration has grown in size with several new property phases being added, each with their own individuality and style. Names such as North Village, West Village and Evalyn Lake enrich the community with homes ranging from small condominiums to great mansions. Whether Disney’s original values still hold good is, I guess, a question for today’s residents to answer.

At first glance the Disney influence is very apparent, a hotel very much in the Floridian style, an Art Deco cinema that could easily have been transported from Hollywood Studios and a lake with walking trails reminiscent of Disney’s Boardwalk area. It is hard to come to terms with the fact that this is a working community with its own infrastructure including all emergency services and local amenities including schools, libraries and leisure facilities.

At the far end of Water Street, along a beautiful tree lined avenue is the entrance to Celebration’s very own championship golf course and back in downtown, just a ten-minute stroll away are the chic boutiques and elegant restaurants that can be found dotted around the lake.

Try Sherlock’s, which is a quintessential English teashop that also specialises in fine wines, or sit outside in the evening sunshine and enjoy Spanish tapas at the Colombia restaurant.  A tad cheaper is the Market Street Café, which does ‘the best breakfast’ in Celebration according to many reviewers. The Front Porch is an ice cream parlour with pavement seating, and is an ideal place to rest on a hot summer’s day with your favourite ice cream concoction in hand.

The visitor can be forgiven for thinking they have stumbled upon a perpetual movie set as Celebration is so far removed from the ‘real world’ yet only minutes from hustle and bustle of the US192 corridor. There are no chain stores or recognisable fast food outlets here and Disney has been clever enough to link Celebration Boulevard to World Drive so that residents can reach the theme parks and return home without having to venture on to any other major roads or thoroughfares.

So can the visitors…but don’t tell everyone!!