Quote:
Originally Posted by coloradotim
My wife and I were at Disney World for a conference last month and we decided to try Del Webb's Explore Del Webb program for 3 nights at Del Webb Stone Creek. In August we did the Villages Lifestyle Preview which I wrote about in a previous post here:
our villages lifestyle preview report
We could see the benefits of both the Villages and Del Webb Stone Creek in our two stays. In scanning this board for comments about Del Webb Stone Creek most people had negative comments about it compared to the Villages. However in talking to some Del Webb Stone Creek residents they loved their community - and some had moved from the Villages! I learned that one size does not fit all when it comes to age 55+ communities - try out different ones and see what community fits best your lifestyle.
Comments about the Explore Del Webb experience:
1. I liked they assigned us a resident host couple (their "ambassador" program). We had dinner with our hosts on our night of arrival, and played 18 holes of golf with the husband the next day.
2. We didn't have to pay to rent golf clubs for our free 18 holes of golf - Del Webb provided that.
3. Speaking of golf, on another one of our visits to an age 55+ community in Arizona we were scolded for "slow play" on the golf course (we recently took up the game). After that experience when we played the Del Webb course we were careful to keep up the pace, even running at times. A course marshall drove up to us on one hole on the front 9 and we thought "uh oh - here we go again" braced to hear a warning about slow play. "There's no running in golf - take your time!" the marshall said. Whew! He was one of many friendly people we met at Del Webb.
4. You definitely can get more home for the money at Del Webb. Their model park was one of the best I've seen in visiting different age 55+ communities.
We've visited a number of age 55+ communities (including ones in Arizona and Las Vegas). Del Webb Stone Creek and the Villages top our list right now. We are several years away from a possible move but we find it helpful to do these "preview" stays to get a sense of each community. |
Hi there,
You are correct that, "one size doesn't fill all". We lived in Stone Creek for 3 years before moving to The Villages. Bottom line: it all depends on what you are looking for. In our experience, Stone Creek was a bedroom community with very little activity like we have here. Honestly, it would be like comparing up-state New York to New York City. They both have their benefits but in our experience, we needed more action than we had there. You are also correct that ex-Villagers moved there but we also know quite a few people who lived in Stone Creek and either preceded us or followed us down here. Before you decide, you might ask when and if they will be building their second pool. Because of the in-fighting, they've had to limit the hours that adults can visit the pool with children because a number of residents said they, "moved to an adult community to be AWAY from children" So, if your family visits, you'll be able to take the kids during designated hours. If that type of thing doesn't bother you, you'll be fine but things like that made us realize it wasn't for us. I could give you more examples but that isn't necessary. I'm not sure what it is now but the HOA when we were there was $175 per month and increases were not based on the COLA like it is here. (We've been here 3 1/2 years and our assessment(HOA) has risen $7)