Indian Rocks Beach, Walt Disney World, Other Updates

Indian Rocks Beach

We left the house Friday for the first time ever on schedule, which made the drive down much less stressful. We stopped at Buccee’s and grabbed our road snacks and dinner, then off to the Hampton Inn in Fort Oglethorpe for our first stay of our trip. This is roughly a 1/3 of the drive, and being in Georgia, excludes the high occupancy tax of that state. They also have a good breakfast. We noticed the hotel received a recent refresh and the room seemed freshly painted. The next day we hit the road and really only stopped once to eat lunch at Ole Times Buffet in Valdosta, Georgia. We then arrived at IRB around 6:30, which is several hours earlier than our typical time. We made a conscious decision to push through the drive and it payed off. We got our traditional first night dinner at Pie12, which has a coal fired pizza oven. If you’ve never had coal fired pizza try it, it is quite different than gas oven pizza. We were glad we made the effort and passed our usual stop in Gainesville. We were able to do this mostly because the boys are older and didn’t need a break every two hours so it worked out for us. We were able to use the rest of the day to grocery shop and get settled, which gave us an entire beach day Sunday.

We stayed at our condo in 209. Everything here is as it was remembered. The pool was in good shape but you can see the changes from the Hurricanes. The dunes are completely gone which enables you to see the beach from the pool. I took a walk down the beach and could see some other damaged buildings. I talked to the property manager and found out about the Hurricanes and what it was like. There was 8 feet of sand in the hallway and the pool was filled up with it too. She talked about some of the damage to the nearby buildings and how many haven’t opened back up yet. She is saying they are done and will most likely retire and move somewhere else. Evidently this was their last storm and she doesn’t want to go through it again.

Magic Kingdom – Walt Disney World

There is much to write here so I’ll just type it out. We arrived at rope drop despite the construction traffic on I-4. We rode the ferry over and didn’t have any problems getting into the park. We made our way over to Small World then rode Peter Pan and Mine Train, which was spectacular. Then we grabbed an early lunch at Friar’s Nook, then Haunted Mansion. From there we went shopping on Main Street, saw the Dapper Dans (my fave), then met Mickey Mouse. From there we got a Dole Whip (Leslie’s fave), Tiki Room, Swiss Family Treehouse, then watched the Parade. Then Dumbo, BarnStormer (disappointment), then ate dinner at Be Our Guest (delicious). From there Jungle Cruise, Pirates, and Space Mountain (!). Then Buzz Lightyear, Speedway, Tee Cups, Winnie the Pooh, then Carousel. We were exhausted afterwards!

Thoughts? This was only my second time to Magic Kingdom so I don’t have much I can compare it to honestly. Everything seemed well oiled for moving crowds through, although the dark rides were really fast. I suspect they sped those up just to move people through quicker. Lines and waits weren’t too bad and no more than what Kings Island is on a busy day. The crowds weren’t that bad, I suspect the rain forecast (which never came) kept some people away. You could see how the wait times on the app would move crowds around, if we saw a short wait we’d grab it. But that short wait wouldn’t last. The app was incredibly helpful.

I thought about whether I would write this but something seemed off about the Cast Members. I remember all of them being gracious and friendly people, and they have the reputation for it. We talked to many and although they were all kind, they seemed a little short and direct with other people. We noticed many were kind of unkempt, long hair for men, facial hair, and exposed tattoos. I understand things are different now with young people but I was getting fast food worker vibes. Maybe that is just me. I am always fascinated with these people though, I know many are passionate about what they do and move from different parts of the country just to work there.

Other Updates

I am changing my cloud training to Azure purely from a strategic perspective. My understanding is Azure is more popular in my region than AWS, and given that AWS is in a long time hiring freeze, it might make sense to pivot.

I am almost completely read through the main Gospel. I’m hoping to finish it for Lent this year, so wrapping it up before Easter. I am really surprised how much is in there I did not know about. Although I grew up going to Catholic school I never read the Bible through until now. If I keep at it, it will have taken me two years to read the entire thing. I am a slow reader!

I am reading through David Goggin’s “Can’t Hurt Me” on the Kindle App. That’s led me down a path of learning as much as I can about the Navy Seals. That led me also into “American Sniper” by Chris Kyle, which I purchased on Audible and listened to on the way into and will finish on the way out of Indian Rocks Beach.