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. A couple months ago they cleared all the shoes off the nearby 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. 

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.