DVC-Landbaron,
With regards to your questions, I assume you wish to know what my thoughts are on the article in the Orlando Sentinel by Mike Thomas. Honestly, I could care less what he, or Mike Pino, (another Sentinel writer) say about Celebration. Those two have written many a negative article on Celebration and are the type of people who wait for you to fall on your face, just so they can say "I told you so". People like them can continue to live in their dull, cookie-cutter subdivisions and write all they want about the town.
I do think that many of the people who originally moved here in 1996 had been given a different picture of what Celebration was to become. As the town has grown, the vision has changed and evolved. Much of the change has been business-driven by TCC (The Celebration Company - "Disney") and much of it has been resident driven, but you would have to be naive to believe that it was not going to change and evolve. I personally would prefer not to see time-shares here, but don't have an issue with a Four Seasons Resort built on the edge of town. Either way, it does not have a significant impact on us, or our lifestyle. I think anyone who moved here and put their full faith in Disney had their head in the clouds. Just ask those who work(ed) for WorldCom.
One of the best things about Celebration is our neighbors, because they are very much like we are. I have neighbors from such a variety of places like England, Jamaica and Rhode Island. Most of us moved here for similar reasons, but for us it started with the feeling we got the first time we drove into town in 1996. Within ten minutes of driving around, we both looked at each other and said "someday we will live here". It just so happened that three years later I was offered a position in Orlando, which gave the opportunity to move to Celebration. Some residents are really upset about the time shares and the hotel, but that is just a small percentage. We plan to stay.
Anyway, that is my two cents for the evening. Thanks.
