Golden Oak at Walt Disney World Resort


Golden Oak at Walt Disney World Resort is an upscale residential community within the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. It was designed by Walt Disney Imagineering and is owned and operated by a newly formed Disney subsidiary, Golden Oak Realty. The first phase of development is located southeast of the Magic Kingdom Park in Bay Lake. The area was named to pay homage to Walt Disney's Golden Oak Ranch in California. The first few home sites were available for purchase in late 2010 and completed in late 2011. Later on, a Four Seasons resort opened due north of the property with the company purchasing several properties to serve in its "private residences" initiative on the WDW property.

Overview

The community was announced on June 23, 2010 through the official Disney Parks Blog. Most homes are listed as multimillion-dollar properties aimed at the highly affluent. Nightly fireworks from the Magic Kingdom can be seen, and heard, from all of the homes. There are multiple lakes throughout the community as well as a small river, meaning some of the properties are technically lake-front. A clubhouse was constructed in the style of a quaint Italian villa alongside the community containing a game room, a restaurant, and a pool all available for free to the residents of Golden Oak. It hosts many of the social gatherings central to the community, serving as a hub for the entire community to bond over. Its design and construction was overseen by project manager David Hulme, a Georgetown and UNC alumnus that has extensive experience in the real estate market. The clubhouse also has various scents pumped via the ventilation system, similar to many other Disney establishments.

Neighborhoods

Golden Oak has several neighborhoods dedicated to different eras of architecture.

Kimball Trace

Based on Tuscan architecture, with houses ranging in size between and.

Silverbrook

Houses here range from to.

Carolwood

Carolwood is located at the northernmost part of the development. The largest houses are located here. It was part of an old golf course.
The name Carolwood is taken from Walt Disney's private railroad, which was built before Disneyland and its perimeter railroad opened in 1955.

Marceline

Marceline includes two parks and houses ranging between and. The neighborhood is named after Walt Disney's hometown of Marceline, Missouri.

Kingswell

Named after the street in Los Angeles where Walt and Roy Disney started their animation business, houses in this neighborhood will range from approximately to. The initial homesites have half-acre lots.

Symphony Grove

An homage to “Silly Symphonies,” Walt Disney's animated short-film classics, this new neighborhood Is intended to be whimsical. Homesites are approximately one-quarter acre in size, with homes anticipated to range in size between and.

Notable residents