The (Almost) Empty West Oaks Mall In Florida - Non Working Carousel & Unique 80s Style Food Court
West Oaks Mall in Ocoee
Transcript
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today's adventure brings me to the West
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Oaks Mall as the recording of this
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Tuesday February
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20th
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2024 I have never been to the said mall
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it's located in
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okoi right off of Highway 50 couple
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blocks off Highway 50 open to the '90s
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mid90s and has been in a
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decline for probably about 15 years a
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lot of the tenants pulled out there
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there are still business is open I don't
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want to give the impression it's
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completely empty but as I get closer
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you'll kind of see what I'm talking
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about welcome everyone Adam the woo here
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you can see there is traffic going by so
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there is populated area there a bus
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pulling in right over here I am walking
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through this little patch of trees
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foliage Etc the sign for the mall is
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right over there the mall itself is
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located right over there filming on my
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phone today sometimes when you go into
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malls they don't really want you in
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there with the camera so I figured heck
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it I'll do the I'll do the cell phone
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thing I'm inviting you to join me I
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don't know why this place is like was
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never really on my full radar I knew of
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it but never really thought about making
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the commute over here it's probably
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about 45 minutes from my place on
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celebration but I finally did it I'm
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inviting you to join me shall you speed
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bump well it be more technical four
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speed bumps four little speed bumps more
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humps right there oh this is
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interesting so you basically got even
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before you get on property you got a
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little towway Zone I guess there people
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think you can't park here but it's
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probably means for the entire the entire
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property but you can see there are cars
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where the main entrance is but over here
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no cars no businesses and over on this
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side no cars no businesses well there is
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a Dillards but this one's empty and
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there's a big 18wheeler truck parked
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over there every time I see a mall like
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this I think of
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georgo my favorite horror film da the
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dead take a look up here there's like a
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bird's
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you can also tell when a parking lot
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doesn't get a lot of
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usage as far as Shoppers there's always
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people that show up throughout during
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the day and at night do donuts with
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their
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car just because you have this expansive
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huge parking lot that only a very very
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tiny percentage is even being
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utilized there are more malls in this
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condition
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empty moderately empty 90% empty I
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should say across the us then there are
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thriving there's a handful couple dozen
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that I've been to that for whatever
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reason they have
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found their way to kind of get through
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the bad times when it comes to malls on
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the decline they have figured out
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whether it be marketing whether it be
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the stores that's in there sometimes
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you'll randomly go into a mall that's
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busy and tons of people in there but it
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doesn't happen too often this is not one
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of them there was even at a point where
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you had to remember which parking area
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you parked in this is parking Area 14
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with 15 right over there now you can
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just park towards the front entrance no
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problem finding a spot probably don't
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even have to
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remember where you
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parked this is a pretty interesting
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little front to this building all the
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building there was a Bed Bath and Beyond
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in
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there look like that was one of the the
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main stays here in this
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particular particular section
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like the architecture of it like the
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front of it over
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there again there are cars here so there
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are there are people here but this is
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the only kind this is the only
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chunk whether there's
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anyone looks like the main section here
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is used as like a bus stop too maybe
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that's why some of the people are parked
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here or probably not cuz they're taking
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the bus I don't know what I'm saying got
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some big plants here big pots almost
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seems like they probably at one time
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were in these this circle right here
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smoking a designated area
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only please use oh the front doors
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aren't even
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working yep got to go over
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here oh wow look at
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this holy cow this is beautiful
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and whenever it rains here in Florida or
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any state for that matter you'll always
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see the wet umbrella bags that have
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those wow this is gorgeous some active
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vending machines here and if you
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purchase one of the items you can go
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surfing on the 20 oz bottles I think
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it's 20
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oz all right first impression there's a
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lot more going on in here than I
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expected when I pulled up there's people
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in here there's some shops open now for
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a moment I thought there was someone
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while standing over there with their two
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little young mannequins and I thought
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there was someone in the Storyteller van
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right here but there's no one behind the
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wheel it's a ghost Storyteller mobile
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but I love all these kind of like old
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timey things kind of things you can see
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in front of like grocery stores back in
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the day oh look at this there's a circus
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van right ooh this is good a circus van
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with a tiger some clowns and there's a
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space shutle over there and the food
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court is open for business take a look
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at this
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mural up here oh you movie fan and Ms
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movie
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fan Mrs regula movie fan because this is
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very very
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close there's a Philly cheese steak
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place here it's also a Jamaican Delight
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a Hees kitchen a
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smoothie oh there is a freaking Carousel
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down there look at that also keep in
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mind that this is a
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Tuesday Fridays and Saturdays and
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Sundays when usually m are a little more
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hectic and thriving it might be a little
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bit different in
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here wonder if this ever is open oh it
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runs off tokens over here there's also a
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public safety center right
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there this is a classic look at this
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it's an ice cream shop over here that's
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not open again as I'm filming this it is
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a Tuesday
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$2 per token exact amount only Carousel
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employee or Tok token machine does not
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give change I've never seen a carousel
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that runs on tokens I should get some
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tokens I can ride that Dragon right
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there man look at those sharp
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teeth okay fail out of service they
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would be open today till 700 p.m. it is
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between the hours and 1 and 7 but it
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says out off service out off off
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service out of service I don't think I
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think it's supposed to be out of service
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but this is a beautiful beautiful
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carousel
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right has to be a really good story on
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this whole thing they also have these
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Cruisers deposit money in the
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machine release stroller from the stand
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and these were like I thought these were
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like Electric vehicles but they're not
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they're just little strollers Cruiser
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locations man it would be fun it would
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have been fun to ride
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this not even a employee on
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duty just a token
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machine kind of gives me the Vibes of
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Griffith Park carousel where Walt took
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his daughters back in the day and Los
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Angeles also
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the Santa Monica Pier here Carousel
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where John Ritter and the the cast of
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Threes Company did that intro from the
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later
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Seasons where Don knot was looking very
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terrified riding on one of these but
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this kind of reminds me
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of ice cream shop not happening ooh look
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at this gentleman up here looks like a a
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Disney prince right there holding like a
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burger and some coffee or something and
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then the prize Vault you can't get over
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to the prize
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vault the prize vault is over here the
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only PRI oh there's a Nintendo switch in
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there that's very tempting they cannot
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go past the little Caution tape
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because I think that's
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working ice cream shop appears to have
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been kind of gutted out I don't think
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it's a day of the week that it's not
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here because there's nothing down inside
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there there's nothing in here obviously
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it would be melting today but you can
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tell over
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there this hasn't been active in a
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little a little while
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dang I really like this mall I really
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like the vibe of this place I mean I
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wish it was a little you know busier but
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you know what I'm saying just the style
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of it the architecture it's really
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cool very beautiful again like I said
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I'm using that word a lot but yeah and
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there is an active AMC playing a bunch
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of
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movies right
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there interesting doesn't really seem to
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be too many but I would imagine probably
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a good chunk of the people who are
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heading in here are probably going to
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the movie it would make sense all the
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cars out front but there are people in
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the food court too this is the guide map
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oh it has some dust mop Parts down below
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just three random dust mop parts right
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here West Oaks Mall this shows all the
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different looks like anything that has a
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blue sticker over it has been erased
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from existence at least since this has
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come out I was reading online it looks
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like half the
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major know the Staple stores there's a
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word for it those pulled out in the mid
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2000s like 20 2005 to 2008 these are the
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ones that are still here look at this it
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used to be a big big shop and now it's
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just a SunPass store okay that machine
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over there that when you put the quarter
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in still moving that ghost van going
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back and forth the little mannequins
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over there this looks like a
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crown right oh look that is cool looking
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I like the colors of that it kind of
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reminds me of like strange like the 80s
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stranger things era it's a massage
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massage chair here now we're getting
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into the area where it's kind of away
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from the food court look Bath and Body
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Works right here there's like no one in
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this section look at this nobody again
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though a lot of stores are open through
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here there's a shoe store place called
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Snipes bold culture
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Beauty Evelyn's Creations the man cave
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oh the man Evelyn's man cave is right
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next to Evelyn's Creations threads of
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life so with this end there is a JC
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Pennies down at the
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end when there's no more room in
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hell I always think of Romero when I
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think of Ms and JC Penny I stated that
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already but yeah reiterating it what the
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heck is going on over here they got a
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little fence around it it's a sweet
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114 lot of lot of the gates are pulled
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down over in this
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section grow your business with us here
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at the West Oaks
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Mall lot of empty shelving over in this
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spot right there this is and you see
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they pull down the side right there and
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there's something up here on the mural
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it almost looks like bowling pens or
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like juggling pens and a chef's cap take
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a look at that see there's a chef's cap
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bowling pins and like a conductor ball
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cap I don't know if this is still
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applicable but you'll have no no problem
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staying 6 fet away from the next person
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around you in here
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there a couple of tables over here you
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want to get something from the snack bar
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and walk all the way over here next to
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this was a radio station 13:40 a.m. I
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believe and here's another one of the
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Hub stores enclosed yeah another one of
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these quintessential 80 style tile work
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on I feel like this place called rainbow
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might have been a different store at one
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time just looks like a something all
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right here's an active prize vault
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unlock prizes and win I have a Nintendo
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switch in here too you can get turned
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into a ninja one obstacle at a time oh
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this place had his grand opening over
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here I would say half the businesses are
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open not a lot of people in them at the
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moment but it's kind of
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interesting yeah take a look over here
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so you basically got what was probably a
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big store at one time time is now just
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the SunPass dealer over here so you can
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go up here and you can renew or get your
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SunPass
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transponder over here in the corner the
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prepaid toll program which works for all
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the toll roads in Central Florida there
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a nice little Sunburst there with my
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phone even they have shifted their
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operations they are open at the front
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entrance to the opposite side of the
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office entrance at the front of the mall
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so this is no longer even though it is
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very very expansive and takes up this
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whole section the SunPass area over here
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is no longer open for business they've
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up they've rooted everyone to the front
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over by the food court which makes sense
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more people more people over there and
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that's where everyone kind of parks I'm
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basically a Mall Walker right now Mall
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walking is very very popular there's
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even little communities of it as well so
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here's another here's the Fun Bus got
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the chain I like this this kind of
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reminds me of the former acola Square
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Mall the small I used to call it this
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kind of like little little Archway right
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here
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little fire department you got the
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change right there oh you got a little
15:04
helicopter nice oh Barney look at Barney
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over here Barney on a
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tractor oh and a little futuristic
15:14
looking boat and a
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truck tow truck oh that tow truck's
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about to tow that that boat that silver
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boat one thing you'll see a lot of in a
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lot of these malls that are
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kind of changing over their format of
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what brings people in you'll see a lot
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of like sports type stuff so there was
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like a couple places down below that had
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some sporty type like a trampoline place
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there was a pingpong place this is like
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a MMA type of thing so they use up all
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the old
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storefronts which is kind of nice you
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could probably get a pretty good
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deal look at that punching bag over
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there
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it's not an active regular Dillards it
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is a Dillards clearance right there I
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think the majority of people that are
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over here are going to the tax collector
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to figure out yeah Diller's clearance
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pretty much to get their licenses and
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things like that in order you can see
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right over there there's quite a few
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people going into that that right there
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and this entrance over here is very busy
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people going in and out going to the tax
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collector I think I've pretty much
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walked all the Interiors
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of the West Oaks Mall I think I have
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there's an area over here that has a lot
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of the Frozen characters kind of like a
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school of some sort there's also a mad
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scientist laboratory there must be two
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of these I didn't realize there was a
16:41
mad scientist laboratory laboratory East
16:45
but evidently there is this is the this
16:47
is the West mad s mad science
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laboratory indoor playground right there
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and party place over here at tradition
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and they have pictures of people robbers
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Etc here posted on the wall so keep an
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eye out if you see them in this area a
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lot of stores will do this sometimes if
17:09
they can't catch someone that is a
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sticker I don't know if I've really even
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seen on any type of Machinery like this
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we got the again the circus van and just
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to show Even after a half hour of
17:21
walking around or more the Storyteller
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still working why is that cat on the
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front of this the Bob the Builder thing
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you all right cat get scooped up
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hopefully that cat's
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okay okay going to head out let's try to
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head out this entrance westos Carousel
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is
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closed will these
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open will these nope it's locked look at
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that can't go through there maybe
17:47
through here we got some rules here all
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individuals 17 years of age or under
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must be accompanied by a parent or
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Guardian 21 years or older all
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unaccompanied comped will be escorted
17:59
off the
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property open every day till 7:00 except
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Sundays are open till
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6: all right that was the interior now I
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think I'm going to walk back over to my
18:21
vehicle then drive around the full
18:23
exterior to show how many parking spaces
18:26
there are in this place and how very few
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of them percentage wise are filled
18:31
up I'll walk from here I went out a
18:35
different entrance so I got a pretty
18:35
good walk back to my car not too far but
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a little bit of peruse around the
18:39
exterior I do like the I do like the
18:42
building though it looks
19:14
go so over here I thought the sound of
19:14
the bird was coming from another bird's
19:20
nest it's out of the
19:20
nest that's probably not a seagull Nest
19:23
either yeah I really do think a majority
19:25
of these cars are here for the Wen
19:28
County Tax Collector which is at this
19:42
entrance this entrance
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closed dang it's a pretty nice little
19:45
Archway here
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too doesn't look like it's closed like
19:58
that door is a
20:24
jar bags are sealed at the point of
20:24
purchase unsealed and open merchandise
20:25
bags are subject to receipt verification
20:36
well whatever it is it does not have an
20:36
escalator they have the escalator all
20:37
blocked off there is no second FL that
20:40
was just a big box around the front of
20:42
the escalator there and over here this
20:44
is one of the entrances the exits you
20:47
can't go out inside the clearance door
20:49
all right they do have some munsing wear
20:51
right here kind of similar to eyes off
20:52
it has a little penguin instead
20:54
originally $90 it
20:57
is3
20:58
that's like what 60% off a lot of lot of
21:02
msing wear stuff through
21:49
here's an old car care facility over
21:49
here too back when they lot of these
21:52
malls that have the car care
21:54
places they're usually a couple hundred
21:56
yards or 100 yards from the main
21:59
property they're usually sitting pretty
22:01
empty know now that I look like it
22:03
there's a place called dealer
22:04
alternative car so it might be maybe
22:07
just not today this might be
22:11
open not as it was originally created
22:14
looks like it's still getting some use
22:16
out of it even though no one in there
22:18
today and that's going to do it for
22:20
today just a little walk around a mall
22:22
that
22:23
is a shell of what it once was again
22:27
just want to reiterate that it is not
22:29
closed it is still open food court had
22:32
some people in it the shops didn't have
22:33
a whole lot of people in it but the sun
22:36
pass area and the tax collector area
22:39
seem to be the driving driving force
22:42
behind this place thanks for
22:46
watching see you in the next video the
22:49
Vlog is
23:14
interesting so I was told years
23:14
ago when you have these fire hydrants in
23:16
the snow and you'll have this long stick
23:19
that usually comes up to about here I
23:21
was told that's way you could find the
23:23
fire hydrants in the snow this one has
23:24
been snapped off
23:26
obviously but why would that be on there
23:29
doesn't snow in Central
23:32
Florida huh look on top of the
23:52
right it's a little symbolism above the
23:52
empty