Rainbow Springs State Park, Dunnellon, Florida
But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” ~ Luke 10:41-42
Amazon bought Rolling Acres Mall!
For those of you who may not be familiar, Rolling Acres used to be a huge shopping mall with tons of shops and even a movie theater in the outlying portion of Akron, Ohio. It steadily declined and was eventually shut down. Part of the decline was due to the decline of the surrounding neighborhood. And the last time we were in that area, it didn’t look too good.
But now Amazon has bought the property. It’s going to be a fulfillment center that will use a combination of automation and labor to sort, store and route Amazon orders.
1,767 employee parking spaces
58 loading docks
303 parking spaces for semis
Now on to the rest of our day – – –
And we watched the 133rd appearance of Punxsutawney Phil on the Weather Channel. It was four degrees in Gobbler’s Knob. Brrrr . . . . And there was no sign of Bill Murray. And Phil didn’t see his shadow, which means an early Spring. We’ll see.
Once upon a time, a Prince of a man realized the frustrated and disappointed state of mind in his Fair Maiden. And because he was a Prince worthy of the title, he vowed to whisk her off to The Happiest Place On Earth (this side of Heaven) for a much needed attitude adjustment. A place where they would encounter magical things. A place where they would immerse themselves into the supremely joyous, enchanted culture and revel every day until they were totally exhausted.
That adjustment begins today!
But first . . . . .
We had to get there . . . .
We packed up and were almost set to go . . . .
And our full-wall slide wouldn’t go in . . . .
Now we’ve had this problem before, but Blaine found a way to bypass the system and it was working fine. We planned on waiting until May when we’re back in Ohio to get it fixed properly. Well, today, his bypass didn’t work. He fussed and fumed and read the electrical schematics, and tried to troubleshoot the problem as the clock ticked off the minutes – many minutes. He called people. No one could help, or they couldn’t even try to help until Monday. Not only were we due in Disney, but the Park already had our spot booked for someone else and they were full. What to do?
During all this, I stayed quiet and out of the way, offering up pleading prayers. After about an hour and a half, I received a text from my sister-in-law that also went to my mother. When I answered, I briefly explained that we were stuck. They answered almost immediately and said they were praying. And within seconds of receiving that text, the slide began to move! Talk about your God Moments! Thanks girls!!
Seems there are three motors for that slide and none of them were receiving power. He manually applied power to each of the motors in turn and creeped in the slide until it was tight.
We’ll not be opening it again until we take it to a repair shop; or ideally, find a mobile repair shop who can come out to our site, but not until after Disney.
And we’re off!
89 miles and about 2 hours later (which included a fuel stop), we arrived at 1001 Raccoon Lane.
Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground, Disney World, Orlando, Florida
The first time we visited Walt Disney World, it was the last week of March, 1995. Our boys were 8 & 10 (and a half), and the oldest, Chris, didn’t want to go when we first suggested it sometime in 1994. He thought it was just for little kids. But his Sunday School teacher at the time was also a travel agent and a Disney Specialist! When I told her about our dilemma, she made a book for Chris and talked to him about all the “big kid” things there were to do there. Praise God!
We saved for roughly a year, each of us putting ‘extra’ money into a sealed wrapped box with a slit in the top. At times we’d say “Do we want to order pizza or put the money in the box?” Sometimes we got the pizza, sometimes it went in the box. At the end of the year, when we opened the box? Over a thousand dollars! Enough to cover Blaine’s time off work (as a commercial electrician, you don’t work; you don’t get paid). And we had a grand time! So many wonderful memories! We stayed at Fort Wilderness campground in our van and pop-up. Our last day there was the day Blizzard Beach opened. April 1, 1995.
The next time, Blaine and I stopped by to see Animal Kingdom. It was recently opened in 1998, but we can’t remember when we visited for sure. We remember being really impressed with the Tree of Life and feeling like we were on safari! And the Mount Everest ride was a blast!
Wonder what memories we will take away this time?
As I researched Disney (which means reading Foder’s and Frommers Guide Books, and various information websites), I ran across a few things that I wanted to share. My original thought was to re-type, but I’m much too lazy and have no time this week for that kind of thing, so I’m inserting the pictures I took of the pages I wanted to use. I hope I don’t get in trouble for that …
Our new address is about a stone’s throw away from the bus stop. Really. A stone’s throw. By me. And my arm is so bad that when I played center field for summer softball, the short stop had to come out and get the ball from me and throw it in.
We were a little concerned about noise when we discovered where they’d put us, but it was fine. When we checked in, the guy told Blaine there was ours and one other available. Out of 847 sites. We think they assign them as you check in. As I said, no matter. We won’t hardly be here and everything stops pretty early. And this way, we don’t have far to go to catch the bus! Right out our back yard!
Disney also provides you with these things called “Magic Bands”. They get you into the Parks and also enable you to access your FastPass (You get three per day. You reserve an attraction and a time, and then bypass the line. Everyone has access to these.).
After dinner, we grabbed a bus and headed to the boat transportation and then to the monorail just to ride around and get a feel for how the transportation works around here. It took us an hour to get on the monorail.
There are sooooo many people here! We’re soooo not used to this! But we’re smiling because we’re in Disney! And it’s the Happiest Place on Earth!
As we waited for our boat to head back home, we talked to a couple from Seattle. This is their 17th time here! And they’ve stayed in a lot of the resorts, but like the Fort Wilderness Lodge the best. It’s only $456/night. But here’s where I counsel you that looks can be deceiving. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. Et cetera. This couple didn’t look like they’d have two nickels to rub together. And they’re staying for two weeks. Seventeen years in a row. Well, I don’t know if it’s in a row, but still . . . .
Anyway, as we talked the Magic Kingdom fireworks show began and we stood on the boat’s boardwalk and watched until our boat showed up. And the captain drove back really slowly so we could watch the show from the water! How nice! We thanked him when we left.
Time for bed and we’re tired. It’s been a really long day. It’s a little tight, but it works!
It’s not really as bad as all that. My bed is more than long enough. Not a problem. : )
Tomorrow morning, we go to Hollywood!
Oh. And the only reason you get this post is because I put it together during Super Bowl.
It may be a week before you get any more. 😊