Universal Passholder Night

Friday morning I went on a backstage tour of Tron: Lightcycle / Run with some cast members from MK Watercraft and Monorails. We got to walk in the gravity room while the Tron cast members cycled the cars getting ready for the day, and rode the coaster twice, once with the lights on and once in the dark with the effects on. 

On Monday, construction crews moved Floridian Way traffic onto the new configuration, and begun demolishing the old lanes. From Seven Seas drive south to the exit of the MK parking lot, both directions of traffic are on the new southbound lanes. 

Friday afternoon Susan and Jennifer drove to Panama City. They stayed overnight then did a book signing on Saturday at an independent bookstore. They drove home Saturday night.

Last night we went to the Annual Passholder Appreciation Night at Universal Studios. We arrived around 4:30 and walked the long way around to the New York area, where we got dinner and rode Mummy. Universal is preparing the park for Halloween Horror Nights, which start in two weeks. 

The event started at 7, and we walked around some more and enjoyed a few more rides. Universal had lots of characters out for meet and greets, but we didn’t wait for those. We left around 10. 

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, is being built 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. 

Bangor to Portland

Saturday morning, while Jennifer and Susan signed and sold books, I visited the Cole Land Transportation Museum. The Cole family started a trucking company in Maine more than a century ago and after they sold it in the early 90’s created the museum. I stayed about an hour and a half, seeing all the vehicles and reading about them and the Cole family.

After that I drove about a half hour south to visit Fort Knox and Penobscot Narrows Observatory State Park. Fort Knox was constructed in the 1800’s to guard the Penobscot River against incursions by the British or other nations, but never saw any combat. The Penobscot Narrows Bridge opened in 2006 to replace an earlier over the river and included a an elevator that goes up 40 floors for views of the river. 

I spent about two hours wandering around the fort and going up the elevator for the views of the river and the town of Bucksport across the river, then headed back to Bangor. 

Yesterday morning I dropped off Susan and Jenn at the book event then went back to the hotel to check out. The event ended at noon, and after we packed up we headed south on I-95 to Augusta, where we stopped so I could take a photo of the Capitol. 

I also visited Old Fort Western. It’s $15 for a guided tour that lasts about an hour, but I had a guide to myself so went through in about half the time. The fort was built in 1754 by the English to defend against the French and Indians, and became a private home and store in 1767. It remained occupied until 1919, when the Gannett family restored it and turned it over to the city as a museum. 

We continued another hour south to Portland, and after checking into our hotel, walked down to the harbor and had dinner at the Ri Ra Irish Pub. The food was delicious and the upstairs dining room had a nice view of the harbor. A storm came in while we were eating, so we took a Lyft back to the hotel.

Bar Harbor

From Sieur de Monts we drove north into Bar Harbor to look around and have some lunch. It’s a cute town but very touristy. There are no chain restaurants and most are pretty pricy. Plus all the street parking requires payment, although the cost wasn’t too steep. 

Last week I made a reservation to drive up to the top of Cadillac Mountain, and after lunch we did that. We walked around the summit enjoying the views, and could have stayed longer but it was cold and misty, so we finished driving the Loop Road and headed out. 

We stopped for an early dinner at the Bar Harbor Lobster Pound, and got dessert at the Ice Cream Boat next door. 

This morning after breakfast we drove around Bangor a bit. We stopped to see Stephen King’s former house. He still owns it, but lives mostly in another town in Maine, and in Florida. 

We then went to the Cross Insurance Center to set up Jenn’s table for the book convention. There’s a statue of Paul Bunyan out front. In the afternoon we went to lunch with another author and her husband. We ate at Mason’s Brewing Company in the town of Brewer, which is across the Penobscot River from Bangor. It was pretty good. 

Maine

On Sunday, Jennifer and a friend drove down to Fort Lauderdale for a book event. She and another author spent the afternoon selling and signing books at a brewery, while several other authors did the same at a few more. She drove back Sunday night. 

Yesterday morning Susan, Jennifer, and I got up early and headed to MCO and boarded a plane for a trip to Maine. We had a long layover at JFK in New York, so we had lunch and hung out in the Delta Lounge. In the afternoon we boarded a smaller jet headed to Bangor. We got upgraded to first class for that leg. 

We arrived in Bangor after a fairly short flight. Bangor is a fairly small airport, with only a couple of baggage carousels right next to the rental car desks. We picked up a rental car and drove a short distance to the Townplace Suites, our hotel for the next four nights. After checking in we had dinner and did a little shopping. Maine is the 46th state we have visited, and the first new one since 2015.

This morning after breakfast we drove a little over an hour southeast to Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park. Our first stop was the Hulls Cove Visitor Center, just north of Bar Harbor. This is the main visitor center for the park, but there’s no film here and no displays.

We then drove part of the Park Loop Road, stopping at Jordan Pond and Sieur de Monts. The nature center at the later doesn’t open until next month, and the Abbe Museum is closed for renovations, but it was interesting to learn that the spring there had a big impact on the area becoming a national park.