- April 23, 2024
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Rye Wilderness residents Aelish Carter, 3, Maeve Carter and Ronan Carter, 5, display prizes they won playing carnival games. Maeve's kids wanted to go to the carnival for the ferris wheel but decided they were too scared to ride.
Sarasota residents Carla Cruz, 10, and Aubrey Chu, 7, prepare to start a ride that Cruz later said gave her butterflies. They were both excited to eat funnel cake later.
Sarasota residents Sofia Selbeck, 12, and Sandra Selbeck came to the carnival because they were intrigued by the ferris wheel. Sofia said the zero-gravity ride was fun and more intense than she expected.
Tair Vergara, 2-year-old Alma Vergara and Omar Vergara came to the carnival from Venice. Alma had never been to one before, so she rode the teacups and carousel.
Those who attended the Winter Carnival on Jan. 24 at University Town Center in Sarasota discovered one advantage to the world of social distancing.
Lines were almost nonexistent.
"I don't want (the crowd) to be back," Rye Wilderness resident Maeve Carter said.
Sarasota resident Sandra Selbeck, for example, said she enjoyed the carnival more than usual.
"You get the whole park to yourself," Selbeck said.
Selbeck's daughter, 12-year-old Sofia Selbeck, tried several rides. At one point, she was one of only two people on a "zero-gravity" ride. She said it was cool to ride the attraction without many others with her.
Venice residents Omar and Tair Vergara agreed. They took their daughter, 2-year-old Alma Vergara, to the carnival for the first time. The lack of crowds made it easy to introduce Alma to rides such as the teacups and carousel.
"You get to do everything very quickly," Tair Vergara said.
