Malcolm Jones said he fell in love with extreme sports when he was growing up in Tampa.
Now he is sharing his passion for hang gliding with guests near Disney.
His employees don’t have a very far commute. That’s because they all live on property.
“Everybody that works for me lives here. So, we are here 24/7 and we just live by the weather. When it’s nice, we are flying. When it’s not, we are mowing, and fixing tractors, and working on airplanes and stuff,” Jones said. “It is an unusual place, it’s a hang gliding commune, and it’s a hang gliding club and a hanging gliding school.”
The school allows people to experience the skies from about 2,000 feet above the ground.
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The cost for a single tandem flight is $175.
If you wanted to learn to fly by yourself, 20 lessons would cost you $2,000.
Jones said people from around the world have come to Wallaby Ranch to fly.
He said the location attracts everybody from plumbers to doctors who are looking to take a break from their everyday lives and see the world from a different perspective.
The list also includes celebrities like Mike Rowe and Kate Hudson. He said Hudson was there filming a rom-com called “A Little Bit of Heaven.”
When they are not hanging out with celebrities Jones said the people who live and work on his property are enjoying the simple joys of life.
“We have all kinds of fun out here. We have big parties, we have musical events and Boy Scout jamborees. Everybody that’s in the club, their family birthdays, it’s a community actually,” Jones said.
You can learn more about Wallaby Ranch on Florida’s Fourth Estate. You can download the podcast from wherever you listen to podcasts or watch it anytime on News 6+.
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