Less people will be seeing this in the next couple of weeksI have said in the past that I am not an alarmist, and that hasn’t changed. But I am also a realist, at least most of the time. I’m sitting here in Central Florida, watching my beloved home literally shut down. Not only that, tomorrow is my dad’s birthday, and I can’t be there. No one can be there, it’s just too dangerous for him and my mom. Coronavirus is taking a toll, even though there are currently no cases anywhere near where I live.
Yesterday I headed to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, to see how Walt Disney World was handling the current threat. It had not yet been announced that the parks would close. It was packed. Except for the things that I shared with you yesterday, everything was business as usual.
There’s a different feel in Central Florida today. With the Walt Disney World theme parks, as well as the parks at Universal closing, things suddenly became real. In the past couple of hours it was also announced that SeaWorld Orlando, Aquuatica, and Busch Gardens Tampa will close as well. Legoland will also be closed the same days. The theme park capital of the world is about to be without any open theme parks.
Today I headed out to buy a few supplies. There were some things that I needed anyway, plus Gardein is on Bogo at Publix. I started at Walmart. I don’t shop at Walmart often because the stores in this area tend to be a zoo, but there are a couple of things that I can only get there. The store was a madhouse! I had to check, there was no toilet paper to be found. People were rude, everyone was out for himself or herself. It was not a good demonstration of caring for your fellow man. Checking out took about twice as long as usual. I could not wait to get out of there.
Things were a bit better at Publix. All the shopping carts were gone, but another customer joked with me about hunting them down in the parking lot. There was still no toilet paper to be found, but there were plenty of other supplies. They were fairly well stocked on things like pasta, which Walmart was all but out of. I was even able to find several packages of Gardein. For those who don’t know, Gardein makes fake meats, and my family and I might enjoy them from time to time. Or pretty much daily.
Check out was also easier at Publix. They had added extra cashiers, and they had things under control. There weren’t any extra workers to pack the groceries, but that’s fine. I don’t mind packing my own groceries.
I don’t know what the next couple of weeks will look like. I’m sure that I will soon go back to talking about Walt Disney World, like I normally do here. I’m working on a document that will include closings and updates for the area. Once I am done, I’ll pin it to the top of the Disney Over 50 Facebook page.
Stay safe, my friends.