Jessie and Chris Johnson – May 2004

Day 1 – Friday, May 14, 2004

Chris and I normally take a trip to Disney on the weekend of Mother's Day to celebrate our May anniversary (we were married twice, so we have a January anniversary as well as one in May) and also to see the Flower and Garden Festival. This year was supposed to be no exception, we had booked a three night stay at the Celebration Hotel, where we'd held our Vow Renewal in January, and everything was settled. Or so I thought.

Chris has a great job that he loves a lot, but sometimes it really, really sucks. This is one of those times, and just three days before we were supposed to leave an order came down cancelling all vacation for two months. That killed our weekend plans, and neither of us were very happy with it.

In the end, he was off the next weekend, so we decided we'd take a very short trip just to see the Flower and Garden Festival after all. We booked two nights at the Dolphin. We used the Annual Pass rate since it included an upgrade if available, and then set about making plans for the rest of the trip. Then it seemed like we would be able to stay three nights- so we added another. And then, just as quickly we couldn't. By this point we were both looking to get away just to get a break from all the changes! Friday morning Chris went to work and I spent the day tying up lose ends for work myself and then I packed. I had everything set and was ready to walk out the door as soon as Chris got home and showered. At the last minute I called to see if he thought we'd make it in time to eat at Jiko that night, and we decided to make a priority seating. I called and got one for 9:40 pm, and then settled down to watch tv while waiting for him to get home- and promptly fell asleep.

Chris woke me up when he got in, then showered, dressed and we loaded up the car and set off. We debated stopping to pickup season two of ER on DVD for me to watch, but decided we were cutting it close with the priority seating and just headed right to 95. The trip down was relatively uneventful, traffic slowed quite a bit at one point, and we made our usual stop at Wendy's in St. Augustine. We made it to the Dolphin just past 9 pm, and as we pulled up to the front of the resort we could see the finale of Illuminations go off over the top of the hotel. I headed inside while Chris found a valet to help unload the car.

I love the Dolphin- from the moment you enter it's cool dark foyer it just engulfs you and is peaceful. When you first enter you're greeted with the sound of waterfalls on either side of the lobby and the starry sky on the ceiling. If you watch closely you'll even see shooting stars! Then you enter a large rotunda of the lobby, with a dolphin fountain in the center and comfortable seating areas all around. The ceiling here is fabric covered to look like a large tent and the columns have vines growing up trellises. Around the edges you'll find the front desk, guest services and hallways leading off to the east and west wings as well as the restaurant area.

I made my way to the front desk and found that I had to go with the regular check in line as the Starwood Preferred Guest one was closed for the evening. No problem there was no wait, and we were quickly checked in. Chris joined me as we were getting our rooms keys and we decided to check out the room and have the luggage delivered before making our way to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner.

We were in a corner room again, as we had been at Christmas, though this one only had one balcony. We were on the sixth floor, and had a wonderful view of the boardwalk. I made a quick call to get the luggage sent up, and then checked out the room.

The room was very similar to the one we had at Christmas time, but had a daybed. As you enter the room there is a tiled hallway, with those large dark stone looking tiles that they tend to have in school lobbies. To your right is a doorway leading out to our corner balcony. If you are looking at the Dolphin from the outside, the balconies are the round extensions on the sides of the building. From the balcony you could see both the boat launch area and also Spaceship Earth.

To your left is the closet which also has the electronic room safe. Past the closet is another hallway, with a shelf built along the one side of it. This shelf makes up the vanity area and also houses the coffee maker. There is also a blowdryer in the area. The bathroom is tucked back down this hallway as well. Continuing straight on into the room you see of course, the King Size Heavenly Bed. I love these beds!

A Heavenly Bed is a Westin trademark. It has a pillow top mattress, three crisp, high threadcount white cotton sheets, a down comforter, a thick, soft white on white striped duvet and five of the most comfortable pillows I've ever found. Chris and I are seriously considering buying a Heavenly Bed when we need to replace the one we currently have.

To the left of the bed is a long, low dresser. In here you'll find the mini bar, both a fridge and snacks. On top is a large television angled so you can watch it from bed, as well as the ice buckets and glasses. The bed has a high headboard with artwork done by Michael Graves, the architect of the hotel. There are lamps built into the headboards as well as on the nightstands.

On the two outside walls of the room were floor to ceiling double windows, so we had fantastic views. In the corner was a large desk with hispeed internet hookups. To the right of the bed was a comfortable blue striped couch that folds out into a double day bed and an end table. It only took a few minutes before the bell services guy had arrived with our luggage and then we were out the door and on our way back to the car. We quickly made our way over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge where we were stopped in a long line of people at the guard shack.

I realize that Disney is tight on security at their hotels, as well they should be, but this guard was ridiculous. We literally sat while he chatted with one car for over 5 minutes, and there were 6 cars waiting to go through. When he got to us, Chris had his id out and waiting and clearly told him we had a priority seating at Jiko and yet he spent forever looking for our names on the list of checking in guests, and finally after checking several times just waved us through.

We pulled up in front of the lobby and I jumped out to run down and get us checked in. It was now almost 9:45 and we were late for our Priority Seating. Chris wasn't far behind me, and we checked in just in time to be seated. We were told by several Cast Members that we were lucky and had just made it as they stop seating at 9:45.

This was our first time in Jiko, and we took a few minutes to check the restaurant out. Jiko is rated a four diamond restaurant with AAA. It has an open kitchen, and a a view of the grounds on the other side. The light fixtures in the area we were seated in were designed to look like birds. The tables were dark wood with a lighter center and the cloth napkins had the restaurant's name embroidered on them.

Chris and I turned our attention to the menu and began debating what to order. We decided to split the Kenyan Coffee Barbequed Chicken Flat Bread with Grilled Onions, Apple Julienne, and Four Cheeses as an appetizer. Chris was concerned about the Coffee as he doesn't care for it, but it wasn't really a flavor. The flat bread was crispy, spread with a sweet barbecue sauce, and then piled with chunks of chicken, shredded cheese and pieces of apple. It was a wonderful combination, and I plan to request the recipe for it.

I had wanted to try some of the African wines, and Jiko has an extensive wine list. Our server was more than happy to make some recommendations for me. My requirements were a sweet white wine that would fit with what I was planning to order. His suggestion was a Nederburg Stein, Paari 2003. It was wonderful- light and crisp, but still sweet.

After had had our fill of the flat bread, we were presented with a woven plate full of bread that was glazed with olive oil and pepper and a chutney butter. I didn't care much for it, but Chris loved it. I really liked the woven plate though. Right after that our entrees came.

I had ordered the Tamarind Braised Beef Short Ribs with Idaho and Sweet Potato Gratin, and Tamarind-Onion-Garlic Sauce. Chris opted for the Baked Buttermilk-Curry Shirmp with Crisp Jade Rice-Spinach Cake, and Sagh Dahl Drizzle.

My plate, which was more of a bowl, had two huge ribs, each had the equivalent of a filet mignon of meat on them. I could barely finish one of them, let alone two. The meat just fell off the bone, and the tamarind sauce was wonderful. Chris liked his shrimp, but unfortunately didn't care for the smell of the curry. It sort of turned his stomach and he ended up not being able to eat more than two or three of the shrimp, much to the dismay of our server, who offered to get him something else. We opted, instead, to go for dessert.

Chris chose the Apple Spring Roll- Shredded Granny Smith Apples and Crispy Baked Phyllo Dough Roll with Vanilla Bean Sauce, and Passion Fruit Ice Cream. I went for the Tanzanian Chocolate Candies- Dark Chocolate Filled Beggar's Purses with Two Sauces . . . Purple Hibiscus, and White Chocolate-Orange Van der Hum.

My dessert was interesting, basically melted chocolate in a wrapper and then sauce to dip them in. I didn't care for the purple hibiscus sauce at all- it just had a bitter taste to me. The white chocolate orange sauce tasted sort of like a powdered sugar glaze with an orange flavor and was very yummy with the chocolate. Chris's dessert was good as well. To pair with our desserts we asked our server which wine he recommended for each of us, and ended up getting two different ones. Chris got a Ken Forrester "T" Noble Late Harvest, Stellenbosch 2001. Ken Forrester named it for his wife, Teresa.

I had a Fairview "La Beryl" Blanc, Paari 2002. This, I was told, is only available at the winery and at Jiko. Both wines had the more syrupy dessert texture, and were sweet. I liked them both, though preferred mine to Chris's, as it had a honey taste to it.

By this time it was past eleven, and we were ready to head out. Our server had graciously (though unasked) removed Chris's entree from the bill, and also given us copies of the menus, along with a website to order the wines in the future. We headed back upstairs, retrieved the car from the valets and set off for the Dolphin.

We got back up to our room and decided to order room service for breakfast. It turns out that we didn't have a door hanger, so we called the front desk to get one, and then raided the mini bar for some sodas. After getting the door hanger and deciding on breakfast, we settled in to read for the night. While watching an episode of American Chopper, we split a Kit Kat bar from the mini bar and then turned in.

Day 2 – Saturday, May 15, 2004

Before I start today, there was something I forgot to mention that happened on Day one. When we got back to our room and were settling in for the night, I happened to be walking by the window and noticed fireworks- it turns out that we were able to see the New Year's Eve at from Downtown Disney from our room.

We had decided to sleep in just a bit- but we couldn't stay in bed as long as we'd like to as we only had a day and a half at the parks. We had put out the door hanger with our breakfast order and it arrived at 9:45 am. Chris got the tray and dealt with the bill and then woke me up and we ate in bed. Chris had ordered pancakes for breakfast and I had ordered banana stuffed french toast with raspberry preserves and fresh berries.

After we ate we got dressed and ready, put on sunblock and set out for Epcot. Chris also made a quick call to order an amenity plate for later that night. We decided to walk, and made our way across the Boardwalk to get to the International Gateway. We went through security, and entered the park then made a quick stop to pick up one of the Flower and Garden Festival programs.

Chris and I had a quick conference and decided that we would head off to the right, starting in France, and make our way around the World Showcase, head into FutureWorld and then head back through to finish up Canada and the U.K. before we left for the day.

As we approached France I checked the program to see what they were showing this year. The first thing we encountered was the fragrance garden. Then we made our way to the park like area behind the pavilion- on our way we found three cute topiaries shaped like perfume bottles. After checking out the displays that show how different scents make up different notes of perfumes we headed into the wine shop to see what they offered. I talked for a minute or two with the Cast Member there, and learned that the sweetest wine they offered inside was one I'd already had and didn't care much for, but he wrote down the name of a sweet wine for me to get at the stand out by the Lagoon. Armed with that we checked out the rest of the flowers in the pavilion and made our way to the wine stand.

I checked the menu and found that they did in fact have the wine he sent me to get and bought a glass of it. The wine was Muscat Baume de Venise, very sweet, rather syrupy and I didn't much care for it. Chris, on the other hand, loved it. So, as we made our way on to the Ultimate Backyard Garden he took over the glass.

I held the glass while he took pictures of the different displays, and then we kept going to Morocco. The Moroccan pavilion doesn't really do a whole lot for the Flower and Garden Festival, so we sat for a few minutes and watched Mo'Rockin and then checked out a shop before heading off to Japan.

In Japan we first stopped in the department store to look at everything, as we normally do. When we reached the final room, all the way in the back, I convinced Chris that he should get some Pocky. After checking the different types, he decided to go with just plain pocky and made his purchase.

We looked at the koi pond for a minute or two and then made our way over to see the bonsai trees. Then I decided that it was time for some Kaki-Gori. Chris got it for me, and then we sat on a bench while I ate it, and he tried his pocky. Once I was finished we continued on our way, making the American Adventure our next stop.

Here we saw the America's Timless Trees exhibit, the Heirloom Kitchen Garden with the Donald Duck topiary and the Mickey and Minnie topiaries. Then we headed off to Italy, where we saw the Colorful Container Gardens and the Hanging Baskets before continuing on our way.

In Germany Chris spent some time taking pictures of the Garden Railway while I rested a bit. Then we took a walk through the toy shops and visited the dolls before heading into the courtyard to see the Snow White and Dopey topiary.

On our way to China we found the WaterFULL World display. I'm not big on gardening, so it's a mystery why I love this show, but I do like water gardens. We spent some time here looking at the different options and then continued on to China. There we found the Bromelaid Dragon Topiary. I found a shaded outside table and waited while Chris went inside to get us some egg rolls and a drink.

After our snack we headed off again, and saw the Panda topiaries on our way to Norway. In Norway I went to go to the Kringla Bakeri to get a rice cream and found that they were closed. So, we ended up seeing the Troll topiary and the Wildfrlowers and then continued on to Mexico.

Here we headed inside and made discovered a new area containing computers. It's an interactive area to help teach about Mexico. Since it was pretty crowded, we decided not to stop in, but added it to the list of things to do on another visit. We did, however, get on the boat ride- which is a must do for us on every trip.

After we got off the ride, I checked for some jewelry in one of the shops and then we headed back out into the sun. I backtracked to a restroom while Chris got his usual churro and a drink, and then we met back up and headed out to FutureWorld.

We headed up through the main walkway, with the Famous Floating Gardens off to our left. In World Showcase Plaza we found the different Fantasia topiaries. We headed further up into FutureWorld and in the Fountain Stage Bed we found the Lion King topiaries.

I was tired of the sun by now, so we decided to head into MouseGear and see what there was new in there. We didn't find anything to buy, so we headed off to East Future World where we saw the Dooryard Garden, the Wildlife Garden and some Butterfly topiaries. Then we wandered through Innoventions and back out into Innoventions Plaza.

There we found the Beauty and the Beast topiary and some rain. At first it was pretty light, so we opted to wait it out, but it quickly got much harder. Chris and I decided to go into Innoventions to see the Aibo dogs, as he loves them, but they had changed Innoventions all around, some of it appears to be under construction, and there were no Aibo's out. We wandered around and then headed back out into the rain to check out the Gallery.

When we were done in the Gallery we decided to see if it was still raining, and it wasn't. We headed back up towards the Main Entrance where we saw the Tinker Bell topiary, the Flower Towers and the huge Magical Gatherings in Topiary. This consisted of Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto and Goofy. Then it was time for Chris's favorite ride- Spaceship Earth.

The ride stopped several times, and we were on with a bunch of really rude people. They were all but climbing out of their cars each time it stopped and making a huge fuss about it. Eventually we finished the ride, and as we exited through the now deserted building, I finally admitted to Chris that I did need the wheelchair- there was no way I could keep going on my own for the rest of the day.

So, we headed back up and rented a chair for me, and then set off for West FutureWorld. There we saw Tip Top Turf, the Floating Sculptures and headed past the Nemo display outside the Living Seas. We stopped and got cinnamon sugar coated almonds and then we headed up to see the Sculpture Garden, before veering back to see take the path to see The Story of Roses and the DogGone Maze.

Taking a wheelchair through the DogGone Maze is a bit of a pain, but Chris wanted to see Stitch, so we perservered. At this point I realized that we had forgotten to check out the topiaries in both Italy and Mexico and so we were presented with a problem. We talked about it and decided to head back into the World Showcase, but rather than heading right to Canada, we'd head left and check out Mexico and Italy.

We found the Three Caballeros Topiary in Mexico, and after a quick picture, we headed off to Italy. There we actually headed into the pavilion this time and found the Pinocchio topiary. Then Chris decided he'd rather push me back around to Mexico and then on to Canada, so we set off in that direction.

We made our way back around and headed into Canada. There we found the Flying Geese Topiary, and after taking a quick picture, we set off for the U.K. In the U.K. we found Geometric topiary and then checked to see if there were any characters in the back courtyard. There weren't, so we made our way through the garden and back out to the main walkway. Then it was a short trip back over the bridge to the Internation Gateway.

We returned the wheelchair there and had a chat with the Cast Members about Savannah. Then we decided to take the boat back to the hotel. There was one waiting as we got to the boat dock, so we hopped on and settled in for the ride. It took about five minutes before we reached the first stop at the Boardwalk, and we decided to get out there and that I could make it back to the hotel if we went slowly.

We started our walk and stopped at a stand to get a pretzel and a cookie, as we both needed a snack. When we got back to the hotel, we made our way up to the room and settled in for a break. Chris started playing with the television and noticed that there was a $35.00 Transient charge on our bill. He called the front desk and found out that we had been charged for an upgrade that was supposed to be free, as part of the Annual Pass rate we used. The person at the desk told him that he'd remove the charge and dispute it with the reservations department.

Then we noticed that the housekeeper had not brought a door hanger for breakfast nor had they replenished the mini bar. We called the front desk to ask about that as well and then took turns showering and getting ready for our anniversary dinner at Todd English's Blue Zoo.

We had made an 8:15 pm reservation there, so we headed down about 8 pm and checked in. We were immediately taken to our table and presented with our menus.

The restaurant is very unique- the best way I can explain it is to say that it's a place that the girls from Sex and the City would go. According to Chris it's very "sprockets" taken from the SNL sketch. There is a bar area, and we were seated in the larger room behind it. It's dark, there are banquettes and booths scattered throughout the room as well as tables. On some walls are large plexiglass panels that house neon lights that make up wine racks. Others are large windows with a shimmery covering. The light fixtures have a collection of glass bubbles hanging down from them.

We checked out the wine list, and they offer a selection of dessert wines, so we decided to hold off until then to try a wine if we wanted it. We ordered our appetizers and our entrees and then just sat and talked. The bread basket was actually a metal bucket lined with paper and there was a large piece of a cracker style bread, some sourdough bread as well as an onion fococcia that I loved.

Our appetizers were brought out and the food looked as good as it tasted. Chris had ordered Teppan Seared Jumbo Sea Scallops Braised Beef Short Rib, Silky Cauliflower Puree. It was two scallops on top of a beef short rib that just melted in your mouth. My appetizer was a Crab Gnoccho, Soft Potato Pasta Crabmeat filled, Spring Asparagus, Black Truffle Aioli. The best way I can describe it is that they were three large crab filled pierogies- they were wonderful. The flavor was very subtle and faintly sweet.

The servers were very attentive- as soon as we were finished, they took the plates. Though I did get teased for only eating one and a half of the gnoccho- they were delicious, but that alone would have been plenty for dinner for me, and I couldn't wait for my entree.

I opted for the Flame Grilled Tenderloin of Beef Filet, Horseradish Fingerling Potatoes, Charred Frisee Salda Balsamic Veal Jus. The filet was absolutely wonderful, one of the best that I've ever had, and the balsamic veal jus was a perfect sauce for it. I don't care for horseradish, so I didn't eat the potatoes, and instead had ordered a Lobster Broccoli Stuffed Cheddar Potato to go with the meal. After eating the filet I could only manage a few bites, but it was incredible. Rather than a normal baked potato, as it appeared to be, it was a twice stuffed potato, with the broccoli and cheddar mixed in with the lobster, and then topped with melted cheese.

Chris had chosen the Simply Fish, which is their daily selection of finest fresh fish selected from coastal waters around the world, simply grilled on our teppanyaki grill, served with your choise of one of three exotic sauces. His choice was the grouper with a lemon butter baby shrimp sauce. The grouper was wonderful, though I didn't try the sauce. His meal came on a huge square plate and in the one corner was a small copper saucepan holding his sauce. Chris said that the sauce was good enough to be a meal alone, it was loaded with baby shrimp. In addition, as a side dish, he ordered Shake & Bake Fries, Grated Parmesan, Crushed Garlic. They had an interesting presentation- they were in a paper cone that was in a chrome spiral holder.

The meal went quickly- well paced. We weren't rushed, but at the same time never wondered when the next course was coming. While waiting for dessert we realized that we could see the fireworks from Illuminations from our table.

Our desserts came, and mine had Happy Anniversary written on the plate in chocolate. My dessert was Warm Chocolate Carmelizes Banana Cake with Fresh Chocolate Cream. It was a chocolate cake with bananas in it sitting in a nest of chocolate whipped cream and topped with banana sorbet. Chris's dessert was Peach Cobbler . . . Popcorn Sorbet . . . Coca Cola Sponge. He ordered it because he was curious about the popcorn sorbet part. What it turned out to be was a small piece of sponge cake, soaked in coke. Around and on top of it were peach slices. This was topped by a scoop of popcorn sorbet crowned with a chunk of caramel corn. And yes, it really was popcorn sorbet! I dislike popcorn, but tried it anyway, as the whole idea was strange to me. Chris, who loves popcorn, says that it wasn't an exact popcorn taste, but rather the buttered popcorn jellybean type flavor. Either way he categorizes it as a train wreck- he's not sure if he liked it or not but just couldn't stop eating it.

After our dinner was done we headed back upstairs and decided we'd check out the shops. While Chris headed to the Disney one- Daisy's Garden, I made my way to the front desk. I wanted to check and make sure that my Starwood Preferred Guest number was attached to the reservation, as our check in paperwork didn't mention it. I also wanted to make sure that we would not be charged the $35.00 again for that night.

While talking to the employee at the front desk I mentioned the other irritations, the door hanger and the mini bar not being restocked, and she apologized profusely. She told me that the number was on the account, checked and made sure that we would not be charged, and then went on to tell me that she had credited our account $50.00 for the inconvenience. I was totally awed, as I had not expected that at all and thanked her, telling her that.

I then went to find Chris and tell him about the credit. He was still in Daisy's Garden so we checked out the shop together. I decided to pick up the Where the Magic Lives DVD I had planned to buy, and we charged it to the room. Then we headed back upstairs to change.

Our original intention was to head to the pool, but once I got to the room, I just didn't have it in me to leave again. We instead decided that we'd just spend a quiet night hanging out and reading. I checked and our amenity plate had arrived, but when Chris checked we still did not have our door hanger, and the mini bar had not been restocked. He made another call to the front desk, and this time they were upstairs with the stuff within five minutes.

After getting things settled and deciding on breakfast for the next morning, I called to arrange a late checkout. The latest they could do was 1 pm, which was fine. Chris and I went out to see the view from the balcony at night and discovered that we could see Spaceship Earth. I love this resort!

I went back inside and got settled on the bed to read, while Chris stayed outside and played with the night vision features on the camera. After a while he came back in and we settled in to watch tv. We watched an episode of American Chopper, one of our favorite shows, while we ate the goodies on the amenity plate.

On the plate it had Sweet Dreams written in chocolate. There were three chocolate chip cookies, all bite size, and three sugar cookies that were bite size as well. There were four pieces of chocolate- two had coconut in them, the other two had an orange filling. And then, the best part, were four chocolate covered strawberries.

After we finished the plate, we settled in and read until we fell asleep.

Day 3 – Sunday, May 16, 2004

Today was our last day at Disney for this trip. We had arranged for breakfast to be delivered around 10:45 am, since we had until 1pm to check out. Chris got the door as usual, and brought the tray in. We split the continental breakfast, and he had ordered a side of toast.

After we finished eating, we just took our time getting ready and packing things up. Then we headed downstairs so that I could check us out, while Chris dropped our stuff off with bell services. I let the front desk clerk know what we had used from the mini bar that hadn't appeared, and we were refunded the extra money we'd put on the room, and then it was time to head out.

We decided that we'd head to MGM today, because we hadn't been there in a while, and so Chris could see if there was anything that interested him at the Star Wars Weekend. We also decided on the way over that I'd spend the day in a wheelchair again, as I wasn't really up to the walking.

After parking the car, we headed over to the tram, which luckily was waiting, as it started to rain when we were getting out of the car. By the time the tram was at the front gates of the park, the rain had stopped. We made our way through the bag check and into the park, and then headed over to rent the wheelchair. Then we set off, with Chris making race car noises. It started drizzling again, so we decided that we'd check out some of the shops, and headed right towards Tower of Terror. We wandered in and out of the shops on this "street" and then made our way back out to the center of the park.

After checking out which characters were around the base of the big hat, we headed off towards Star Tours, stopping to pick up a time guide for the Star Wars Weekend Events. Right about this time I noticed some StormTroppers walking by and I asked Chris if he wanted their autograph. They were doing a meet and greet, and they were sort of tucked back out of the way, so there was no wait, so he opted to go for it.

I guess at this point I should note that I have no interest whatsoever in the Star Wars movies. I haven't seen all of them, and I have no plans to. Chris, on the other hand, loves them. So, when we went to see a character, I hung back, took his picture, while he got autographs. I'm not sure if it was the wheelchair or what- but all of the characters kept coming up to me, and I couldn't have been less interested. Most of the handlers found it amusing, especially when we'd gone through their lines a few times. So, Chris got his picture taken with the Stormtroopers, and we set off to see what else was in the area. There were several different character locations set up with various people rotating in and out of them all day. We headed back and found some Ewoks, but Chris wasn't interested in them. There were a few other characters that he couldn't identify, and so he wasn't interested in them.

There was one guy walking around- I have no idea who he was, I think Chris might have said a Palace Guard? Anyway, he was very impressed with his costume because it came complete with fake drool.

After making a tour of the Star Tours area, Chris decided he was going to head into the shop to see if there was anything he wanted. The shop is relatively small and was definitely packed, so I told him to just park me off to the side while he went in, that way he didn't have to worry about squeezing me through with him.

He came back empty handed, a short while later, and we set off to see what was going on elsewhere in the park. As we were making our way back towards the Muppets, we could see some character feet below a divider that was set up. Turns out that Kermit and Miss Piggy were out, but by the time we got to the area, they were on their way back in.

We headed back up towards Star Tours, to see if new characters were out, and on the way found Boba Fett. Chris decided that he was worth waiting in line for, so we got in line and waited until it was time to meet him. It was quite a production by the time we actually got to the characters, as he'd park me off to one side, then grab the autograph book, and I'd try my best to take a picture (I'm a lousy photographer at best) Boba Fett grabbed the autograph book from him, pushed him face first into a wall, and then signed it leaning on his back. Then he posed for a picture, still with Chris pushed up against the wall. And then it took a little while before I could convince him to actually let Chris go.

After Boba Fett, we decided it was time to eat, and that we wanted some hot dogs. But, it's very hard to find a hot dog in MGM. We all but circled the entire park before settling on cheesesteaks from the stand outside Indiana Jones. Chris and I each got one, which was a mistake, as they were huge!

We settled on a bench in the shade (well, Chris did, at least) and we ate. As we were finishing up our meal, Princess Leia came out, so we headed over to get a picture and autograph with her. Then we made another circle of the area, to see who was out. Darth Vadar was just going in as we hit the area, so Chris asked the Cast Member when he'd be back, and he told him in about 40 minutes.

With some time to kill, we made our way back to the Muppet Courtyard and Chris found a bench and we just sat and talked for a while. Then we made our way back to the area, and got in line for Darth Vadar. The line didn't take long, and Chris noticed that Chewbacca was out, so we headed over to get a picture and autograph from him.

At this point Chris decided that he was done, and it was time to start thinking about heading home. On our way to the front of the park we passed Luke Skywalker, so we stopped and got one last autograph. Then we headed up front and returned the wheelchair, before taking the tram back out to the car.

We always end our trips with a stop at Downtown Disney, so we headed there. After finding a space, we headed in and started our normal circuit of shops. We went to Basin, where we picked up some bath salts. Then it was on to EuroSpain, so I could look at the damascene. After that, we decided to check out the Pin Traders and Once Upon A Toy. Next up was Disney's Days of Christmas, and then the Gallery. I'm not sure how we managed to make it through all those stores without buying anything, but we did.

Then we started making our way back, as I was really wiped out, and we had a long drive. We stopped in at Goofy's Candy Kitchen and picked up two chocolate covered strawberries and a drink, before grabbing some hot dogs from the stand. We settled down in the shade to eat the hot dogs and take a short break.

Our last stop was World of Disney, where we made a quick tour through the different rooms. I debated buying a new watch, but none of them really jumped out at me, so I decided to wait on it for a bit. We did pick up a charm for Chris's mother, as well as a couple pins for Chris. Then we headed outside where we agreed that I'd sit and wait while he ran back to get a Stitch pin that he saw at the Pin Traders.

After he got back, we headed out to the car, and back to the Dolphin. He retrieved our stuff from bell services while I ran inside to use the restroom. When I came back out, he set up the tv and DVD player for me and then we headed home.

The trip was relatively uneventful, no major problems, other than being stuck for about half an hour in traffic by St. Augustine. Other than that, though, it was a quick trip, and we made it home with enough time to stop at Wendy's and grab some dinner. After getting unpacked, we had dinner, settled in for the night and then ate our chocolate covered strawberries.