The Golf Carts of The Villages, Florida
Billed as The World’s Friendliest Retirement Hometown, The Villages about an hour north of Orlando, Florida near Lady Lake is a lot like other retirement villages – and that means lots of golf carts. Everywhere there be golf carts.
When I first heard the name The Villages I pictured that M. Night Shyamalan movie The Village from 2004 — no electricity, folks in get-ups from olden times, hooded creatures, giant wall with blind ladies hopping over it — you know, that sort of thing.
I was in Orlando as part of the Aeroplan Welcome Aboard Event – a special flight exclusively for Aeroplan members/CIBC Aero cardholders, and when I got word my old school friends Sue and Simone (not retirement-age old by the way) were visiting relatives at the Villages during the same timeframe, I hightailed it north to meet up. And to get an up-close look at bonafide Florida retirement community.
And I have to say, I was a little surprised. I did not see anyone in olden time clothes.
In fact, The Villages seems to attract seniors as sun-soaked and well-manicured as its golf courses. And since most of the retirees I saw were of the well-to-do variety, the golf carts from front-end to back-end are…well, pretty high-end.
Many residents here have more than one golf cart per family – a his and hers type situation. And that makes sense. Golf carts are environmentally friendly, they’re easy on gas, and since there are golf cart lanes throughout the entire community, it’s generally a lot easier to get around too.
The village itself is a little piece of utopia carved out of the green – it’s got easy access to Orlando, has all the facilities you’d expect of a retirement village, and the town square has a happy hour each night with fixed-income friendly alcohol prices. In all, a pretty nice place to while away your golden years.
Hopefully still a few years away for this fella.
If you’re flying to Florida and are concerned about the environment, Aeroplan has a great Carbon Offset Program as part of their Green It Up initiative. But if you can, do try to use a golf cart while you are there – they’re a heckuva lot of fun.
America 
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Oman 
OMG! How cool is this???!!! Seriously! I want that car in the first picture…
They were the cutest golf carts I’ve ever seen!
Okay so umm… those are AWESOME and now I want one. Where I would put it? I don’t know. I’ll make up something.
There’s always room for a golf cart!
Ha! These are awesome!!
I so wanted one too!
Those are some fancy golf carts! They look like mini cars
They are the fanciest of the fancy!
Yay! We made it to the MOTL blog! Maybe we WILL be able to retire with the millions of coconuts we were promised for access to Les Villages. Next time we will give you a ride in the golf car!
Cheers!
Next time I will drive the golf cart from Orlando!
It was great to see you ladies! I hope you enjoyed the rest of your stay!!
I love golf carts, they are so much fun to drive. The island I used to live on had them as a primary means of transport – they are awesome for sliding round corners
Love the creativity of these ones!
They were some of the coolest golf carts I’ve ever seen. Would love to live on an island where they use them too!
I caught a TV show featuring these a few months ago, and I can tell you, it’s about the only thing that ever came close to inspiring me to move to a swamp world where the closest thing to a cool breeze is the air that comes out of the Safeway freezers as you reach for a frozen pizza.
Now you’ve got me craving pizza. And cool breezes.
Wow those things are awesome! i have not seen golf carts that look like they do…
It was the first time I saw golf carts that cool too!
So these are strictly for getting around on the streets, not on the green, right? Wonder how much one of these babies cost.
Dad, Mom, can I borrow your wheels?
I think they are allowed on the green as well. And they are EVERYWHERE in The Villages.
Hilarious. I never would have thought of golf carts like this. I bet the old guys are really proud of them.
Oh they were proud indeed — lots of folks were checking them out…
I’m not a golfer, but do admit that I’d love to ride around in a few of those. ;0
I’m not a golfer either, but a golf carter I could certainly be…
Thanks for commenting Bob!
I’m not ready for a golf cart yet, but they do look like a fantastic way to get around. I’ve been an Aeroplan member for ever. I wish they would do a promotion in Asia!
That would be fantastic if Aeroplan had more rewards for Asian destinations. I know you get tons of points for flying there though.
I love that you visited the Villages! My friends’ parents are preachers, and they moved down there–they’re 50 and about 20 years younger than the average age. Surprisingly, though, they say they perform just as many weddings as funerals =) I guess old people like to make it official just like the young!
Whoa, haha, I wouldn’t mind driving one of those around town!
Okay, some of these have to be more than the cost of anything I own!! Those are some sweet rides.
You got to be kidding me!?!? How old do you have to be to get one of these? Retirement is sweet!!!
I am so looking forward to retirement too if I get one of these puppies.