Doing the Lifestyle visit next week!
 

Hi everyone! We are coming down next week for a 5 day Lifestyle Preview visit. We are curious to hear how others enjoyed their visit and what made your visit the deciding factor for you to move there. What things did you do while visiting? We are so excited about this upcoming visit!! Any advice or tips you can give us will be so appreciated. Thank you!

I have posted this before sometime ago and perhaps posting it again with some updates will help you out.

1. The best nights at Lake Sumter Landing are Tuesday and Thursday. These are the nights of the best entertainment and the Vendors are there those nights that is why they have the best entertainment.

2. The best nights at Spanish Springs are Monday and Wednesday. These are the nights of the best entertainment and the Vendors are there those nights that is why they have the best entertainment.

3. To me the best night at Katie Belles is Monday night. You need to make reservations so check with your host to find out how to do this. By far one of the best shows in The Villages and is a must. Also there is a good show on Wednesday night as well. Won't hurt to catch both.

4. If you have not been here before first thing is take a trolley ride to get a feel for the place. Then get a good map that shows the golf cart paths. Use your golf cart that is what this place is all about.

5. As you use your golf cart remember do not cross or drive on a 4 lane road it is against the law and you could get a ticket. If you find yourself in this situation stop and go back where you came from and look at all of the other carts and see where they are going and adjust you route. When in doubt pull out a map and look lost within 30 seconds you will be offered help.

6. If you are playing golf have your host schedule you on Palmer and be sure you play Riley Grove. When you see the videos you can say I was right there.

7. See what shows are at the Savannah Center and ask your host to make reservations for you if it is not sold out The Villages may comp you great seats. You have to ask!

8. Urban Flats has entertainment & dancing inside most nights. RJ Gators has great Karaoke (these people are good) & dancing on Wednesday and Saturday nights starting around 8:30 however you need to get there early to get a good seat. The Light House has entertainment many nights a week.

9. If you want to play golf other than the freebees that The villages offer simply call the courses after 6:45 AM on the day of play and ask about open tee times. They will set you up and you will pay the rate of a Villages Resident. Drop by any Pro Shop and they can supply you with phone numbers or check out The Villages Phone Book. Same for the Executive courses but don't waste your voucher on an Executive Course if you play both use the voucher on the Championship Course and pay for the Executive course.

10. Happy Hours at Cane Garden and Arnold Palmer start at 3:00 PM and are great prices. Cane Garden happy hour is done at 5:00 PM I think Palmer runs a little later but someone else may help us out there. Mallory Hill also has a good happy hour that runs till

I did the Lifestyle in January, Sookey. Make sure to take that trolley ride. Do you have a sales rep? Your rep should give you a good tour of the area and show you the various rec centers and all that TV has to offer. I got soooo lost in my golf cart........but EVERYONE was so very helpful. The nitely entertainment at the Squares is a must. My major problem was that I started drinking that KoolAid from the moment I arrived and ended up buying a lot within 24 hours of arrival. You'll love it.......enjoy every minute!:wave:

I can't add much to Indy-Guy. Great advice!

If you're into softball or pickleball or tennis please make sure you check out the facilities and watch a game or two.

SookeyJo:

Excellent advice from Indy-Guy. Have a great time.

Donna Moore performs at Katie Belles and is great enetrtaiment. The beauty of TV in the way it is kept and its friendly people. I met someone and he introduced me to someone who would give me a job to facilitate moving to TV. The people are soooooooooo friendly.

Indy-Guy:

You post had me tearing up drinking my coffee thinking how much I miss TV.

For a moment, I felt like I was there.

SookeyJo - If TV doesn't give you one as part of your visit, buy "The $5 Map" of TV. You can get them at a variety of places - the sales offices at LSL and SS are usually convenient. Or if your sales person is on the ball, they might just have one for you!

Even if you feel like there's no way in the world you'd ever buy a place in TV so quickly, bring the checkbook along.........just in case! :) Many many many (did I already say 'many'?) people have done exactly that - one visit, fall in love.......and whip out the checkbook!!

You'll find tons of feedback in various existing threads containing questions and feedback from people regarding their Lifestyle Preview visit. You can use the "Search" function on the tool bar towards the top of the screen: try searching on 'lifestyle' and read through some of the resulting threads. (The Lifestyle Preview visit goes by a bunch of different acronyms: LPV, LPP, LSV, and so on. Those search terms won't generate a search - they don't contain enough characters.)

Hope that helps!

Bill

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Make sure you get up early and go to Starbucks at Lake Side Landing get a drink then walk across the square and sit on one of the benches on the water...you can watch the ducks, alligator and turtles float around...they also enjoy The Villages.

Great post!!!!!!!!!!
 

We did the Lifestyle over Easter week. LOVED IT!! We did most of the things you recommended. They all are on target. Our salesman was dud! We got in his car, asked him it was a busy time? (we waited 35 min in the sales office for him to appear) Giving him a chance to apologize to for us waiting that long. His response was "Somebody has to take these!?!? I have no idea what "these" meant. We had made reservations over 2 months in advance. On our tour he took 4 phone calls. Two were of a personal nature. When it came down to getting tickets. We asked about a Polo match, "They were all gone!?!?" We were buyers,, and tried to make that clear to him, just didn't seem to want to sell. OH well,,, Headed back for an 8 week visit this summer... we have a home booked for June.. STILL looking for the month of July for that bargain, with pool or spa at the home. We cant wait to return to look for a permanent home.

we did the lifestyle in dec.
our sales agent was great, jean trueax, she spent lots of productive time with us, first asking our need and requirements and then showing us neighborhoods as well as homes. the neighorhood sold us first and then the perfect house, (unfurnished). we are now the owners of a house in tamarind grove. we are just visitors for the next couple of years, but hope to be snowbirds soon.

Hi SookeyJo,
Indy gave you great advice.

As for "what made your visit the deciding factor," you'll see. It's not any one thing but everything. It's the people, the beauty, the squares, the community rec centers, the cart lanes, the neighborhood rec centers, the people, the pools, the country clubs, the oodles of fun things to do and the Kool refreshing drink served in a variety of flavors everywhere you turn.

The trolley no longer goes north of Rte 466 or Spanish Springs, so be sure to check out that area on your own if your sales rep doesn't take you there. It has Katie Bell's and a lot of other things including shops, bowling lanes, restaurants, Savannah Center, polo grounds etc.

Yep....Indy's advice is the best. And......don't forget to bring that checkbook! :)

SookeyJo, Enjoy your visit. I will be back in TV in July for visit #2. Wish I could move to TV tomorrow.

Indy Guy, Thank you for posting the tips for visitors...it helps to know which square has the best entertainment each night and which nights/locations the vendors are selling.

Be sure to get The Daily Sun every morning and check for the open houses - new as well as pre-owned. Visiting a few will help you learn about the properties that are in TV. And finding the properties (including getting lost) is half the fun.

Can't add to the great tips you've gotten about things to do during your visit. What did it for us was the affordability of homes and how well planned and organized things were, such as pools at rec centers, mailbox stations in each village. To be as large as TV is, everything is nicely dispersed so there are no mass crowds to get mail, or use a pool. When you add how friendly and helpful people were, you can't help but get hooked. The icing on the cake was getting to just about anything you need in a golf cart.

Enjoy your trip!:wave:

SookyJo,

Wife and I just returned from our LPP last week!

Looks as though Indy-Guy has covered mostly everything...wish I had seen it before we went down...although I don't think it would have changed our itinerary by much. It does, however, point out that the greatest source for you are THE RESIDENTS.

We wanted to see how my wife would be in a golf cart around in regular trafic as she is a non-driver...that looks to be workable.

Also we needed to get the "lay of the land" and that was accomplished by driving the rental car all around the various communities and even outside TV.

Make sure to leave time to "schmooze" in the pool, in the square, on the golf courses, at the bar. We were able to pick up several rental ideas that we may pursue next year while waiting for the right unit. (It is our understanding that the average villager makes at least one move again after moving down to TV! We need to avoid that at all costs!)

Driving down from Spanish Springs and into the newer communities will display for you how the designing of TV has developed over the years; it was a bit of a revelation for us!

The coupon booklet you get will give you a discount at the market for your $5 map and you should have one.

Get over, by golf cart, to GarVino's with your bruschetta coupon.

Don't bring the checkbook...too dangerous. Half kidding here, however our friends did not heed this warning a bought a new construction too quickly. In hindsight they would have preferred a pre-owned in a different area with certain amenities already completed...just food for thought.

We were not back in NY a proverbial NY minute then we wanted to go back down.

That community and those people are the way the world should really be.

Good luck!

But.....just in case you do find THE PERFECT LOT (as was my luck), it is a good thing to have that checkbook handy. :)
Enjoy, have fun...and do keep us posted.

As that kool refreshing drink flows into your mouth and quenches your thirst, it's magical quality will make you think of the palm trees blowing in the wind, the great music at the squares, the pristine streets and gorgeous flowers, the friendly people waving to you from their golf carts, the variety of restaurants and clubs and swimming pools filled with nice folks who will welcome you sincerely.

You won't be able to get if off your mind....and you will come back...just as we all did.

We were down for our Lifestyle visit in the first week of April. We loved every second. Get the $5 map as soon as you can. We spent our first half day on the golf car lost. But even lost on a golf cart in the Villages is paradise. Our agent (Jean Truax) was great, she got us the map which solved some of the problem but the community is so large we still spent time "exploring".

Swimdog, I'm surprised you bought a lot after 24 hours. You must not have much will power. We lasted 2 days before we opened the check book and put a deposit on a lot in St. James.:1rotfl:

My advice, talk to people, get an ice cream cone, dance to the music, get lost on the golf car, enjoy youself. Like us, it could be the first day of the best part of your life.

A big, warm thank you to all for responding to my post! Your advice and suggestions were very helpful and will go a long way to ensure we will have a fun-filled time while we are visiting. We fly down tomorrow morning and we are so excited! So much to do!!

We didn't do the Lifesyle Preview, but we rented a villa for the month of January. We explored a lot in the golf car (get the villages map which shows the golf car paths). Also, take the trolley tour. Check out the town squares... they have shopping, restaurants, and nightly entertainment. If you like chocolate, there is a great chocolate shop in Lake Sumter landing. We went to a lot of open houses (they have several spec homes open every day).
The villages is a beautiful place. Everything is well maintained, the golf courses are so scenic, and the rec centers are decorated to the nines. We learned how to play shuffleboard, and bocce ball (they had lessons at one of the rec centers); played some bunco, went to exercise classes, played some golf. We loved it, and went back home and put our house on the market.

If you are looking for a realtor, I'd highly recommend Tami Griswold, a village realtor. Even though we weren't in a position to buy during our visit, she was so helpful and took a lot of time answering my zillion questions. We went to the model homes, too. We ended up buying a lot last week. She is really a geniunely nice person who will go out of her way to help you.

I know you will enjoy your visit. You will wish you could stay longer.
Good luck and have fun!!

Take your time
 

Take your time. You will find what you want without rushing. When you find what you want talk to the neighbors. Find out what happens in your local area. I'm sure thousands of Villagers are happy with their lifestyle and don't live in an overly active neighboehood but a great active environment helps to make an easier transition.

The $5 map is a good idea. With 93 miles of golf car paths, getting lost is fairly easy but enjoyable. :crap2: