Florida’s Disney dream is OVER: Luxurious resort paradise where villas once fetched MILLIONS is now descending into ‘full-scale meltdown’

It was supposed to be a slice of Disney magic, but for nearly 1,000 homeowners in a luxury Central Florida resort community, the magic has fizzled at the luxe villas, once pitched as dream investments for House of Mouse fans.

Located just 11 miles from ‘the world,’ the 2,300-acre Reunion Resort in the city of Kissimmee is heaven on Earth for cashed-up Disney Adults and links lovers. Gated and manicured with large resort-style homes, three championship golf courses, a five-acre water park and pickleball courts galore. Reunion is also the toniest Orlando area suburb to allow short-term rentals.

Over the 25 years since Reunion broke ground, investors from around the world made a killing renting fairytale castles out for hundreds, even thousands per night. The area hit a high point during the pandemic, when blue state expats flooded Florida.

In 2021, 66 Reunion homes resold for over $1 million, more than in the previous eight years combined, according to local real estate firm Story Group Residential. Three homes sold for over $5 million and one for over $6 million.

Today, it’s a different story.

Just look at a swish pad like 761 Desert Mountain Court, a sprawling 3,326sq ft five-bedroom nestled behind the resort gate. It’s loaded with a pool and Disney bait – like a Pirates of the Caribbean theme that flows throughout the entire first floor, and ‘professionally themed kid sanctuaries’ inspired by Harry Potter and Star Wars. It sold in 2022 for $1.25 million. Today, it’s listed for $875,000 after sitting on the market for 133 days.

And it’s far from the only empty home. Reunion currently has some 950 homes listed – about 300 of those are within the resort itself – and only 20 homes under contract. That’s roughly 23 months’ worth of inventory at the current pace of sales, according to the brokerage firm Homa, which operates in Florida. For comparison, the average across Florida right now is about four and a half months.

Now, some fear that the bottom has fallen out of the rental market too, as economic conditions worsen for average Americans and the price of a Disney vacation soars.

‘I live near these massive Disney Airbnb communities and it’s a full-scale meltdown,’ local attorney Eric Pacific posted to X. ‘For years it was the dream for investors… buy a big villa, list it on Airbnb/Vrbo, and watch the bookings roll in from Disney-bound families. That dream is now unraveling.’

Atlanta-based Reunion Resort owner Kingwood International Resorts doesn’t publish vacancy data for the roughly 80 percent of homes within its gates that operate as short-term rentals. Still, in-the-know locals told the Daily Mail that it’s way down.

‘I think that smaller homes face a challenge with occupancy,’ said full-time Reunion resident Eric Waddell, the owner of Landmark Custom Builder & Remodeling who has built many of the largest and most desirable homes in the area.

‘Two years ago, it was at about 70 percent, it’s probably down to about 50 percent now. As a result, yeah, there’s a lot more inventory.’

Those ‘smaller’ three-to-seven-bedroom homes were once the backbone of the community, like 8912 Rhodes Street, which has kids’ rooms decked out with Princess Elsa from Frozen. On the market for over 130 days, it’s dropped to $490,000, having sold at $694,000 in 2023.

But as with the five-bedroom Pirates-themed home, no one is interested.

‘In a normal neighborhood, when investors head for the exit, families move in and buy at the lower price,’ said Arman Javaherian, CEO and co-founder of Homa.

‘At Reunion there’s essentially nobody to play that role, because the only realistic buyer for a nine-bedroom themed house carrying $20,000 a year in HOA, community district and club fees is another investor, and investors are exactly who’s trying to get out.’

But it’s not a total massacre, brokers say. Reunion’s richest are doing just fine. In fact, a new crop of mega-villas developed over the last decade is currently trading for Scrooge McDuck swimming pools of cash, with sports stars, celebs and execs clamoring to pay $4,000 to $5,000 a night in rent or tens of millions for an investment property of their own.

In October 2025, Villa Isole, located at 1297 Grand Traverse Parkway, sold for $14.24 million, a record for the resort. The 15-bed, 23-bath, sprawls over 23,000sq ft and is kitted out with amenities like a lounge exuding ‘the charm of a classic 19th-century London cigar bar’ and a private spa with a full Turkish steam room.

This May, another 17,581sq ft Mickey mansion hit the market at 430 Muirfield Loop asking $12.5 million. It too is kitted out with luxe amenities – like a bowling alley, a golf simulator, a private fitness center and a Harry Potter themed bedroom – as well as 13 bedrooms and 16 bathrooms.

‘For most of the high-end buyers, these are second, third or fourth homes,’ said Olliver Rodeblad Lowe, who is listing 430 Muirfield. ‘For example, this is my client’s [the seller’s] fourth home, I believe.’

Lowe says Reunion is a tale of two markets, where basic $400,000 investment properties are now struggling, while a new gen of super homes are enticing well-heeled wacky-for-Walt buyers and renters from as far away as Britain and Canada.

‘On the high-end, we’re having one of our best years ever on the rental side,’ said Lowe. ‘Over the summer there were rumors that a very famous Brazilian soccer player’s family was renting [430 Muirfield]. Obviously, we can’t confirm that. It’s very, very hush hush.’

Waddell, who built Lowe’s listing, adds that he’s seeing occupancy rates for the area’s largest homes surge as some families opt to pool funds for one big splash out, rather than making multiple small trips per year.

‘Put this way: If you’re going on vacation, you want to rent something that’s better than what you currently live in. You want to live out that dream,’ said Waddell.

‘So you vacation in a $2, $3, $4 million home with all the amenities — the theater rooms, the bowling alleys, the golf simulators. I don’t see the price dropping for that. What I do see is the price dropping for homes that don’t have those types of amenities.’

That’s why Waddell says he’s about to break ground on one of Reunion’s biggest homes to date: a 37,000sq ft mansion with ‘out of this world amenities’ yet to be announced. When it’s complete, he hopes to set yet another sales record for the area.

But for the thousand or so Reunion homeowners being eaten alive by high management costs, tough taxes and low occupancy, who bought high and can’t afford to sell for a loss, Waddell advises patience.

‘My personal opinion is that for those that can hang on, hang on – tourism will increase again,’ he said.

‘The economy will recover. The occupancy rates will go up. I’m convinced that people will always want to come to Disney.’