Islands of Adventure

 

On Tuesday, both Susan and I attended the Transportation Cast party. This year it was held at 5he Coronado Springs convention center and the theme was Hollywood. Because we attended on work time, we weren’t able to go together; I arrived right after she left.

Wednesday morning we went with Jennifer to Universal for early entry at Islands of Adventure. A new restaurant, Luke Combs’ Category 10, across from Margaritaville in CityWalk. 

During early entry, the rides in the Harry Potter area and Velocicoaster are open. We headed to them through the Last Continent, where the Poseidon walkthrough building is being demolished and the Sinbad amphitheater is already gone. We planned to ride Hagrid’s Motorbike, but the wait time was already over an hour, so we had breakfast at the Three Broomsticks instead. 

After breakfast we walked through Jurassic Park and Toon Lagoon and rode Spider-Man, then headed out. Over at the Studios, the new Fast and Furious roller coaster has gone vertical.

Tropical Americas

Saturday morning Jenn and Susan returned to the book convention. During their lunch break they went up to the Dezerland Mall for a Duffy Market. Saturday evening they packed up their booth. 

Sunday afternoon Jenn went to Magic Kingdom with some friends. They rode Big Thunder Mountain, and Jenn took photos of the work on Cars’ Piston Peak from the queue. 

Over at Lakeshore Lodge, they have added the start of a structure on the new dock, and palm trees around the second pool area. 

This afternoon a friend of Jenn’s came into town, and I got her into Animal Kingdom. She and Jenn went to ride the safari ride, and I walked around and took photos. The entrance of the new Tropical Americas area is taking shape, and Kevin from Up was meeting in front. 

Looking south from north of the new area, I could see some of the old Dinoland buildings being rethemed. The Encanto ride will be on the left. 

Monsteropolis

This weekend there is book convention near Disney World, and some of the authors and vendors came in early to enjoy the parks. Tuesday morning Jennifer joined them at Animal Kingdom. In the afternoon they visited Epcot, and stayed for the fireworks. 

Wednesday morning they went to Hollywood Studios, and after lunch at Hollywood and Dine spent the afternoon and evening at Magic Kingdom. 

Yesterday afternoon I helped Susan and Jennifer set up for the convention. It was held at the Orlando World Center Marriott, the largest Marriott hotel in the world. 

This morning, while Susan and Jennifer signed and sold books, I spent a few hours at the Studios. I rode Star Tours and made a loop around the park. There’s lots of scaffolding on the buildings of the old Muppets courtyard as they are being converted to Monsteropolis.

I rode the Friendship Boat from the Studios to Epcot and visited with some of the captains. Disney recently announced new experiences would be coming to the Boardwalk. There are construction walls in front of the old Jellyrolls and Big River Grille. 

On the way out of the parking lot, I took a photo of the backside of Monsteropolis at the Studios. The building for the future door factory coaster has started going vertical.

Disney Springs

Susan and I have been too busy in late June and early July to do anything fun, but Bryan spent time in Disney Springs with a friend the week of Independence Day and brought us back some Gideon’s cookies. Around the corner, the owners of Gideon’s are preparing to open a new restaurant, Six Ravens. 

Meanwhile Ghirardelli opened a temporarily location in the old Sprinkles cupcake building while their regular location is being refurbished. 

On the West Side, Level 99 opened at the end of June in the former NBA Experience building. It features games and challenges to be overcome by small teams. 

The Floridian Way widening and realignment continues, along with the revamped entrance to the Polynesian resort. This week they closed the Floridian Way & Seven Seas Drive intersection.

Minneapolis

While I was at Magic Kingdom and Fort Wilderness, Susan and Jennifer flew to Minneapolis. They stayed Friday and Saturday night at the Sheraton Downtown, next to the Convention Center. Friday night they set up for a book convention. 

On Saturday they signed and sold books, and Saturday night they went out to dinner with friends. 

Sunday morning they went to a local bookstore to sign some books, then spent a few hours at the Mall of America. They flew home that night.

This morning Jenn went into the Magic Kingdom with some friends to check out the new lounge next to the Pirates of the Caribbean, Beak & Barrel. 

Afterwards she came and rode my boat, then headed home.

Big Thunder Mountain

This morning I got up early to take Susan and Jennifer to the airport to fly to another book event, then went to Magic Kingdom to ride Big Thunder Mountain. It reopened last month after being closed for over a year for refurbishment. It was much smoother than it used to be and the theming elements all looked refreshed, but it’s mostly the same as it was before. 

The queue provided so decent views into the old Tom Sawyer Island work area, where Disney is constructing a new ride based on the Cars movies. After Big Thunder I rode Haunted Mansion. I wouldn’t have minded watching Hall of Presidents, but the first show didn’t start until 10:30 and it was already getting hot, so I headed out. 

I decided to head out to Fort Wilderness to get some lunch at Trail’s End. They are continuing to make progress on Lakeshore Lodge’s new boat dock. I get to see the workers adding stuff while at work, but can’t take photos. A couple months ago they cleared the “shoe tree”.

The cabins are coming along as well, and recently they planted palm trees around the future pool area. I was planning on having a beer with lunch, but when I got to the Fort I was disappointed to learn Crockett’s Tavern now doesn’t open until 3 pm. I ate then headed home. 

Portland

While in Portland, we stayed at the Westin Harborview. We picked it because we thought it had a concierge lounge we could visit, and that we might get upgraded. It didn’t, and we didn’t, so the room was a little cramped for three of us. 

Monday morning we went on a trolley tour of Portland. We drove around downtown and some of the nicer neighborhoods nearby while the driver gave us some history of the city.

It then took us out to Fort Williams park and the Portland Head lighthouse, where we got off and walked around a bit. 

After the tour we walked back to our room, and stopped to get some lunch and look at some stores. Yesterday morning we walked down to the bookstore that had sponsored the event in Bangor, and Jenn signed some stock and visited with the owner. 

Last night we flew home. We had a layover in Detroit, and had dinner at the Delta Lounge there. We got bumped up to first class on the flight from there, which was nice, but the flight was delayed leaving Detroit, so we got in pretty late.