Last year Kathryn and John planned a trip to Disney World for early March of 2020. They invited us to come along and we readily agreed. As the date of our departure approached we were watching the progress of the Covid 19 pandemic as it spread from China into Europe. Going to Disney World in the middle of a pandemic was somewhat risky at best and Topher advised us to consider postponing our plans. However, we decided that we would take plenty of hand sanitizer and wash our hands frequently and accept the risk. We had arranged lodging in the Caribbean Resort for three nights. The Keetons were also at the Caribbean Resort and we were able to get connecting rooms. We decided to travel to Orlando in the motorhome so we left Dallas on March 2 and spent the night at the Sams Club in Monroe, LA. The next night we stayed at the Big Biloxi Campground near Biloxi, MS. The third night we spent in Gainesville, FL.
On March 5th we drove from Gainesville to Alexander Springs Campground in the Ocala National Forest just north of Orlando, FL. This is a a place we had stayed the year before when we were here with the Graves. After we set up camp I took the scooter out exploring the area. There are several forest campgrounds in the Ocala National Forest and I checked out two of them, Clearwater Lake and Lake Dorr.
On March 6 Liz and I took the scooter to Blue Springs State Park where the manatees sometimes come in the winter. We came here last year with the Graves and saw them. However, this year the conditions on the day we came were not good and there were no manatees to be seen. So we headed back home, stopping to shop at Walmart along the way.
The next day I took the scooter up to Salt Springs, a campground/resort at the north end of the Ocala Forest. This was a very popular campground with full hookups and a marina and you need reservations to get in. On the way back I stopped at another campground called Juniper Springs. This site was developed in the 1930's by the CCC. It had a beautiful turquoise spring that is great for swimming. It also has a small museum that occupies what used to be a mill with a working paddle wheel. I was very impressed with this campground and decided we should come here on our way back home.
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| Juniper Springs |
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| Main springs with beautiful turquoise water |
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| Mill with paddle wheel |
On March 8 we drove from our campground at Alexander Springs down to Disney World and checked into our hotel...the Caribbean Beach Resort. That night the Keeton's checked into the room next door. We had a great time greeting the grandkids through our connecting doors.
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| Caribbean Beach Resort....our home while at Disney World |
On March 9 we all got up and walked to the new sky ride that goes from our hotel to Hollywood Studios. The sky ride was a great new addition to the park. It was so much easier and quicker than taking the bus and it was like being on one of the rides in the park itself. We spent our first day at Hollywood Studios and had a good time.
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| Akston with Buzz Lightyear |
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| The Keeton kids hanging out with Joy from Inside Out |
The next day we took the bus to Magic Kingdom. The crowds were huge and the lines were long for every ride, so we did out best with fast passes and a lot of patience. One particularly cool place was the new Star Wars world. Unfortunately, we were unable to get on any of the rides because the wait times were impossible without a fast pass which we couldn't get. By late afternoon Elynn and Ryder were wiped out so Liz and I took them back to the hotel and left John, Kathryn, Akston, and Reayen at the park to catch some rides with shorter lines in the late evening.
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| Watching a parade at the Magic Kingdom |
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| Star Wars Land in the Magic Kingdom |
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| Various robots in Star Wars Land |
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| Keeton's and Liz in front of the Millennium Falcon |
On the third day we took the sky ride from the hotel to EPCOT. EPCOT is always one of our favorite parks and we had a great time. A highlight was a wonderful hibachi meal at the restaurant in Japan. We had purchased the meal plan which covered a dine-in meal for each day. However, by the third day we had only eaten two dine-in meals, so rather than loose a meal we decided to have our third meal when we got back to the hotel. We ate at Sebastian's Bistro. The food was not great and we were already full, but we thoroughly enjoyed having the additional time together with Kathryn and John.
After the late dinner, Liz and I boarded the motorhome and left Disney World. We found a nice Sam's Club north of Orlando where we spent the night. On the morning of March 12 we got up and headed to Juniper Springs campground where we enjoyed swimming in the spring and hiking the local trails. We spent that night at the campground. By this time the Corona Virus was beginning to seriously spread in the U.S. and some places were beginning to shut down (Disney World closed 4 days after we left). We had originally planned to spend some additional time in Florida after Disney World but decided to head straight home before we got trapped in closures and quarantines.
So on March 13 we left Florida and drove to Spanish Fort, AL. The next night we spent in Monroe, LA. On March 15 we arrived back home and felt grateful for having a comfortable place to shelter while the Covid 19 pandemic swept across the U.S. We were concerned that we had been exposed to the virus at Disney World so we quarantined ourselves for two weeks and watched for symptoms. Fortunately we were both symptom free during that time. As the commercial life around us began to close down in response to the pandemic, we were doubly grateful that we had one last amazing time at Disney World with the Keetons before the world changed. Who knows when we'll be able to do that again?
