Chris and Jessica Johnson - July 2004

Day One- Friday, July 24, 2004:

We get on the road just after 5 pm. The trip down was uneventful, and we made our normal stop at Wendy's in St. Augustine for dinner.

We got to Disney, and to Pop Century just past 10 pm, and parked the car outside Classic Hall. Check in was pretty quick and easy, and after a quick stop in the food court to find out when they closed, we headed back out to the car, and off to find our room. We were put in the 80's building B, which thrilled Chris as he really wanted to be in the 80's buildings. Our room was on the 4th floor. We ended up parking in the 70's lot right behind the building, and it was totally packed. After gathering our luggage, we headed off to our room, taking the elevator up to the top floor. Our room was almost all the way down the hall from the elevators, so it was a bit of a hike, but we were in and had our stuff settled in just a few minutes.

Then we decided we'd head out to check out the general area of the resort and head back to the food court to grab some snacks. On the way back down in the elevator, I noticed a sign advertising some of the desserts in the food court, and one of them, the Twinkie Tiramisu, sounded really good. And then things started going wrong. We hadn't really looked at the map of the resort, but knew the general area that we had to head towards- so we set off. The 80's buildings have Pacman ghosts along the outside, Rubik's cubes on the stairwells, and giant icons in the courtyard. Our building had a huge walkman, and the facing building has a huge Roger Rabbit. In betwen the buildings is the computer pool.

We set off in one direction, and quickly found a huge Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head display along Hourglass Lake, and a sign pointing in the opposite direction of where we were heading for Classic Hall. So, we turned around and headed back the other way, and past the other 80's building, where we found a parking lot, and another sign pointing back the way we'd come to head to Classic Hall. And so we headed back and ended up by the Computer Pool in the 80's courtyard. Totally frustrated, we asked one of the lifeguards who told us to go through the 70's building. We set off for the third time to find the foodcourt, and this time headed into the 70's courtyard, where we found ourselves in the midst of a giant Foosball table. After ducking around the various "players" we found ourselves on our way to Classic Hall and the Hippy Dippy Pool.

Greatly relieved, we finally took a chance to look around and noticed all the little things tucked around the courtyards, like the giant Twister game built into the landscaping.

We finally arrived at Classic Hall in one piece, and first checked out the gift shop. Then we made our way to the food court which was a total and complete zoo. At this point it was 11 pm, and I couldn't believe how crowded it was! I figured that this late most people would be settled in their rooms, not looking for dinner.

Anyway, we managed to fight our way through the foodcourt only to find that there weren't a whole lot of options left. The one grill area was still open along with the "convenience store" section. Chris and I decided we'd just have dessert, and after finally getting our turn at that particular case, found that we didn't have many options. No tiramisu for me! I settled on a piece of lunar cheesecake and some fruit, while Chris went for a piece of peanut butter cake.

We paid, got a bag for our food and two cups to grab some sodas, and then headed over to the drink islands. They were in the process of shutting one of them down, so the other two were mobbed. It took a while to get the drinks, and even longer to track down two straw dispensers that were still stocked, but we were finally out of there.

After heading back to our room, we got settled in for the night. Chris made a quick trip down the hall to get a few bottles of soda to tide us over for the night, and then we started our snacking. The cheesecake, unfortunately, was awful. But, in the end, it wasn't that big of a deal, because after eating the fruit, I was pretty full. Chris loved his peanut butter cake though.

We straightened up the mess we'd made, gotten things laid out for the next day, and then settled in to bed. Chris called and arranged a late check out for the next morning, and then we watched Leno and eventually drifted off to sleep.


Day Two- Saturday, July 25, 2004

I woke up way before the wake up call, with a splitting headache. I tried whatever I could to get back to sleep, but it wasn't working. I do have to give Pop Century credit, as it was very easy to block the light from coming in the room. When they put the curtains on the window, they actually put them on two separate tracks, that overlap each other, so instead of pulling and trying to fold the curtains over each other like we normally end up doing, these you just pull shut, and that's it- no light gets in, and no one can peek in through the cracks.

Since I couldn't sleep, I ended up watching the last two episodes of the General Hospital marathon on SoapNet, until Chris woke up. We got dressed, and took our stuff out to the car, to head over to the Contemporary. At this point, I realized I was in trouble. I've had migraines since I was very young- and this headache was going south very fast. We had planned to drop our stuff off in the room, and then go out to one of the parks, but by the time we got to the Contemporary, I knew I wasn't going anywhere, and that I had to get to a room really quick.

Chris stayed with the car to unload the luggage and get it parked while I headed in to get us checked in. Luckily the line wasn't long, but I barely made it through check in. I had asked the Cast Member if there was any way possible to have a Magic Kingdom view, and she told me that they had several MK views available, but they were not ready right then. She did say that some of the Bay Lake view rooms were ready.

Just as I was about to tell her to forget it, we'll take the Bay Lake view- I just need to lay down, a MK view room popped up on her screen. Great! We'll take it. It was ready for occupancy! Chris came up about this time, took one look at me and told me to go sit down, that he'd finish checking us in. I stuck it out, and we got through check in, and then headed up in the elevator to our tower room.

Migraines tend to blur my vision and make me disoriented, so if Chris hadn't been there, I'm not entirely sure how I would have found the room, but we got there, and dropped all our stuff. I went to kick off my shoes, and stepped right onto the wet carpet. Huh? Apparently they'd just finished shampooing it, and it was still wet. It also smelled a bit like cleaner, but I didn't care, I just wanted to lay down.

Chris settled our stuff while I basically collapsed on one of the beds. He set up the laptop and checked out some stuff before telling me he was going to head out to the Food and Fun Center to get some lunch, and would be back later. There was a bit of noise filtering up from the Grand Canyon Concourse, so I turned on the tv to try to cover it and basically spent the next four hours pretty out of it. I was half asleep/half paying attention to the "Sonnylicious" marathon on SoapNet. Not a fun combination. I finally pulled the extra blanket down from the closet and curled up and fell asleep on one of the beds.

Somewhere around 5 I just sat upright and just as quickly as it hit, the migraine was gone, and I was back to the land of the living. I looked around and saw that Chris had opted for a nap on the other bed. So, I got up and decided to check out the room.

The Contemporary is one of the original Walt Disney World resorts, so the rooms are larger than most of the others on property. As you enter the room to your immediate left is a very long closet. It has two sliding doors separated by a mirrored panel. Inside the closet is the usual iron, ironing board, safe, extra blanket and pillow.

There's a small hallway of sorts that funnels you into the room. On the right, as you walk in, you'll find the bathroom. The bathroom is pretty large, with a main room and then a small, closet like room off to one side that holds the toilet and a small vanity. The main room of the bathroom had a large curved vanity with just one sink. There's a large mirror over the vanity, and on the wall opposite the door sits the bathtub. The coloring in the bathroom is pretty much just black and white.

In the room there was two queen beds, with a nightstand in between them, on the right hand wall. On the opposite side of the beds was a chair with a foot stool in front of it. Everything was very colorful, the headboard, which ran the whole length of the wall had a purple zebra stripe print on it. The two lamps over the beds were different shapes, on sort of like a smile, the other like an artist's palette.

On the left hand wall there was a large dresser. On top of it was a tv, and the ice bucket. At the far end of the dresser was a day bed, with a small end table on the other side. In front of the day bed, there was a large oval table, with a brightly colored pattern. The carpet was unique, with a total of four different patterns, I think. One whole wall was windows, with a sliding door leading out to the balcony, which was tiled. On the balcony were two chairs and a small table.

From the balcony we had a wonderful view. We could see out across Seven Seas Lagoon, to the Grand Floridian and the Polynesian. And, of course, there was a wonderful view of the Castle. We could see much of the Magic Kingdom, from Space Moutain to Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Moutain Railroad. We could see the Train Station, and were able to watch the boats leaving the dock. There was also a clear view of the Astro Orbiter.

Since Chris was asleep, I figured I'd log on and check out my work email. After about half an hour, I'd made sure things were okay, and woke Chris up. We debated what to do, and decided that we'd head over to the Magic Kingdom for a little while, before coming back for our dinner at California Grill.

We headed down to the lobby, stopping by the shops on the fourth floor to see if they had a battery for my watch. A Cast Member was very adament that they did not have watch batteries anywhere on property. We then walked over to the Magic Kingdom. We made our way through security and into the pa rk, where we took our time heading down Main Street.

Our first stop was Casey's, since I hadn't eaten anything all day. Chris got the food while I found us a table. We each had a hot dog and split some fries. After our meal we set off, heading towards Adventureland. It was really hot, and the park was really crowded, so we were mainly just wandering around to soak up the atmosphere. We checked out some of the shops in "Agrabah", where Chris found a Jessica Rabbit beach towel that he liked, and then headed over towards Pirates.

The standby line was showing as 10 minutes, so Chris went on while I went to my normal spot to wait for him. As I'd been sitting there for a few minutes, a Cast Member came over and started talking to me. At first it was fun, but then she just wouldn't go away. She kept arguing with me about why I didn't go on Pirates, telling me that I had to! I just kept smiling and hoping Chris would appear.

At one point, a guest needed her help, so I thought I was free, but she came right back. I guess it's better that they are too friendly than rude, though. Eventually, Chris came out, and we set off. I wanted to show him a few shirts I'd seen that I thought he'd like, and then we made our way around the back of Adventureland to Frontierland.

Traffic was a bit backed up, so we ducked into Pecos Bill's and cut through there, coming out by Country Bears. I then decided that I wanted to go to the Christmas Shop, so we set off in that direction. We made a tour through the shop, and then set back off for Liberty Square, heading towards Fantasyland.

Our first stop in Fantasyland was Tinkerbell's Treasures, because I always have to stop there. Once I'd found Tink, we headed out and across the courtyard to Sir Mickey's. There we looked for a hat for Chris, but didn't find one he wanted. Then we set off for Scuttle's Landing to get a frozen coke.

We wandered around Fantasyland a bit more, heading off towards Winnie the Pooh, which was packed. It was pretty hot, and I needed a bit of a break, so we found ourselves some seats in the shade by the Enchanted Grove, and spent a few minutes just chatting about things.

After my rest, we decided that we'd head back to the hotel, as it was just too hot. We slowly made our way back towards the Hub, passing by my favorite spot, the Storybook Garden.

We made our way down Main Street, this time browsing through the shops on the left hand side of the street. We stopped in the Watch Store, to see if they had a battery for my Belle watch, as it had stopped a week or so ago. A cast member told me that they did not have watch batteries, so we headed on our way.

Our tour of the Magic Kingdom complete, we made our way back to the Contemporary and back up to the room. Chris went and got us some sodas, and a Snickers for me, while I did a little bit more work. We opened the curtains as far as we could, so that we could just sit and stare at the Castle, and then Chris spent some time taking pictures.

At 9 pm, we made our way down to the second floor, to check in for our 9:20 priority seating at California Grill. Chris has surprised me with this dinner. We were told that there was about a 20 minute wait, but that we should be seated just in time for the fireworks. Then we were escorted up to the 15th floor in the private elevator.

Upstairs we found the area pretty packed, there weren't any seats in the lounge. We found a few chairs against one wall, and settled in for the wait. About half an hour later, our pager went off, and we were taken to our table. We didn't quite have a window table, but we had a good view of the Castle, so it was perfect for watching the fireworks.

Our waitress came by after a few minutes and took our drink order, and then came back and took our dinner order. We didn't see much of her from that point on. For an appetizer we decided to split the Spit-Roasted Chicken with Mango BBQ Sauce, Monterey Jack Cheese, and Mango Avacado Salsa. but we skipped the Avacado Salsa.

The flatbread came out just as the fireworks were starting, so we munched on it as we watched the show. Wishes is always incredible, and they pipe in the music, however we could barely hear it.

After the show, we sat and talked about a bunch of things while waiting for our main course. We had both ordered the same thing, the Oak-Fired Beef Filet with Three Cheese Potato Gratin, Green Beans, and Tamarind Barbeque Sauce.

We told her that we'd like to get dessert, and she took off to get us dessert menus. When she returned, we ordered dessert. Chris ordered the Fluffy Vanilla Spong Cake with Honey Scented "Peaches and Cream" and Crunchy Candy Crumble. I opted for the RichValrhona Chocolate Torte with Caramel Berries, Blackberry ICe Cream, and Hezelnut Florentine. Both of them were really good.

After a while, she brought our check, and we paid it, then headed back down to the Food and Fun Center to pick up some sodas for up in the room.

We headed back up to the room and settled in for the night. After taking a shower I asked Chris if we should put out the doorhanger for breakfast, but he told me to just wait and see what time we woke up- and then we could order food if we wanted. So, we puttered around for a bit, and then settled in for the night after a last look at the Castle!

Day Three- Sunday, July 26, 2004

It had taken me a while to fall asleep, as always, and I woke up to Chris calling my name around 8 am. I sat up and in front of me was a room service tray with breakfast on it. I was surprised, since he had told me not to order breakfast, but before I could ask him when he'd called, he handed me a card. I opened it and it turns out that it was a birthday surprise from Robin! She and her husband Vince had sent me breakfast in bed!! I couldn't believe she did that- it was too sweet!

After a yummy breakfast of french toast with a strawberry topping for me, and waffles for Chris, we settled back in to sleep for a while more. I woke up around noon, and decided to let Chris sleep in a bit longer, while I checked my email and got some work out of the way.

While I was working, I munched on the bowl of strawberries Robin had sent me with breakfast! (Can you guess my favorite food?) Chris woke up, and it turns out that I spent more time working than I thought I would. That was fine, though, because in the meantime, I could sit and stare at the Castle!!!

We got ready for the day, and decided to head to Epcot. We packed up our park stuff and headed down to get the car. We drove over to Epcot and parked, then decided not to wait for the tram, but walked up to the gates. After security, we set off to explore our favorite park. Our first stop, as always, was Spaceship Earth. This is Chris's favorite ride in the world, I think. After Spaceship Earth, we headed over to check out the Gallery Store. We took our time checking out all the treasures in there, and then decided that we were hungry. Rather than getting a full meal, we headed over to the FountainView Bakery, one of our favorite stops. Chris got a couple chocolate chip cookies and I got my usual Boston Cream. We sat and talked, watching the fountain outside, for a bit, and then decided that we needed to get going. From there we headed over to MouseGear, to see what they had. We wandered the whole store, but didn't really find anything we couldn't live without. (It's a sad day when you realize you have too many Disney things already!) Chris needed to get some cash for something, so we stopped at the ATM, and then decided it was time to head to the World Showcase. We wandered out there, and as we came to the World Showcase Plaza, we noticed that the character bus was out. I jokingly said to Chris, let's see which characters are there, and he told me that we always have all of them. This time though, he was wrong, as one of the Bears from Brother Bear was out. So, we made a quick stop to get Kenai's autograph, and then continued on to Canada.

Chris wanted to see the Falls, so we made our way down through Victoria Garden to the falls, which were running. Then we decided to see if the movie would be starting soon, as we had never seen the movie in Canada. It turns out that it was starting in 2 minutes, so we decided to stay, and headed into the theater to watch the show.

It was interesting, probably not something we'll do again for a while, but worth seeing. After the movie, we headed back out the way we'd came, through the Gardens. Then we headed over to the UK.

We have a usual path through the UK, which consists of me touring every shop. I peeked in the back of the toy store hoping that Mary Poppins and Bert would be there, but instead it was Pooh. So, we headed outside, and across the street to the other set of shops, and made our way out through them.

After we finished the UK shops, we started debating whether or not we should see the movie in France. It was another thing we'd never done, and we finally decided that we'd check it out- and if there wasn't a long wait, we'd go for it. And, again, we hit the timing just right. We literally walked in, sat down and the movie started. Both Chris and I agreed, afterwards, that we want to go to France.

Our next stop was Morocco, where we wandered through the one shop that's on the lagoon side. Then we headed on to Japan. I asked Chris if he wanted to go into the department store, and he said sure, so we headed in. We went through the store stopping here and there to look at different things. I usually have to run through the center of the store, as the incense and my asthma don't get along well, but today they weren't burning any. I briefly contemplated buying a pair of flipflops, as the sandals I was wearing were giving me blisters, but decided to stick it out. In the back rooms of the store we debated whether or not we should buy a sake set, but decided against it. Then we headed back outside to wander through the rest of the pavilion.

As we were heading out of it, I decided to get some Kaki Gori, and went to wait on the bench while Chris got it for me. Then we set off for the funnel cake stand so Chris could get a snack. We found a spot on one of the planters in the American Adventure where we settled to finish our snacks and listen to American Vybe. Chris and I saw them for the first time at the This Is Love event we'd attended in February and enjoyed them immensely. After we finished our snacks, we decided to go into the shop, to see what they had. There we found the Olympic pins, which reminded me that I hadn't told Chris about the Stitch one. So, I found it, and showed it to him, and he immediately took off for the register to buy it.

Then we headed out, to continue our tour around the world. We got sidetracked though, as I was going to have Chris put some moleskin on one of my blisters. I didn't remember until after we'd dug it out of the bag, though, that the little scissors in the foot care kit had been confiscated by security at LAX back in April. Oops. Oh well, add them to the shopping list.

Sucking it up, we continued on. We debated getting a glass of Rosa Regale in Italy, but due to the heat, we decided it probably wasn't the best idea. Then we debated whether or not we should buy a bottle of wine for that night, and if so, should it be Rosa or Eiswein? Finally we decided that we should get a bottle of Rosa, and that we'd drink it when we got back to the room, so we'd just pick it up in the hotel gift shop. When we got to Germany, we decided that we'd split a glass of Eiswein, since it's our favorite wine ever. So, we headed in and bought it, then drank it as we wandered off towards China.

In China we debated whether or not we wanted to get egg rolls, but decided neither one of us was that hungry, and, it was just too hot to eat! So, we continued on towards Norway, where we stopped for a while to rest, and figure out what to do for the rest of the afternoon.

At this point Chris told me that the plans for the rest of the day included a carriage ride at Port Orleans! It was my birthday surprise from him!! We had to be at Port Orleans by quarter to 8 for our twilight ride, and he wanted to know whether I wanted to stay at Epcot, go to another park, or head back to the hotel for a short break before we went over to Port Orleans.

We decided to go back to the hotel, to get out of the heat for a while. So, we continued on around the lagoon, passing through Mexico, and then made our way back up towards FutureWorld. I wanted to look in MouseGear again, to see if they had any cute pajamas, but they didn't.

As we headed out, we stopped at the Pin kiosk to see if there were any that we needed. There wasn't, so we made our way out of Epcot. Chris decided at this point that I couldn't make it back to the car on foot, so we took the tram back to the car. Then we headed back to the resort, left the car with the valet and headed back upstairs.

I settled in to check on some emails, while Chris got us something to drink. We spent some time relaxing and watching the Castle, until it was time to head to Port Orleans.

We drove over and parked the car and headed into the resort. We were very early, so we checked out the gift shop, and then settled on a bench outside the main building to wait for the appointed time. Soon enough, the time had passed, and the carriage returned with it's last group of passengers.

Chris introduced himself to the driver, and we climbed aboard and got settled. The driver took our picture and then asked us if we wanted to go to Port Orleans or French Quarter. Chris told her whichever was prettier, and she said they were both pretty, and we set off.

The carriage ride was great- we spent the half hour snuggled up in the back of the carriage enjoying the scenery. The driver took us along the Sassagoula River towards French Quarter, and then turned in and went down some of the streets at that resort. We passed by the pool, and then headed back down towards the river to make our way back to Port Orleans. The ride was a wonderful surprise, and a perfect way to end a day at the parks. After we got back to our starting point, we climbed out, and said goodbye to the driver. We headed back to the car, and then back to the Contemporary.

When we got back to the hotel, Chris and I set off for the Food and Fun Center to get something for dinner. We ordered cheeseburgers and fries, and were given a pager. Chris decided to stay and get the food while I headed upstairs to the shops to pick up a bottle of Rosa.

Turns out the timing was perfect, as I got off the elevator just after he did, and I followed him down the hall to the room. In the room were some balloons for me, and on the dresser was a card from Minnie, held open by a small Mickey figure!! We settled in, and ate, while watching the Castle. Chris was playing on the computer a bit, while I went to take a shower. After my shower, I kicked him off the computer so I could talk with Robin and a few others, to thank her for breakfast. I took a quick bathroom break, and while in the bathroom, I heard a knock on the door. When I came out, I found on the table a card from Chris, two wine glasses and a plate of chocolate covered strawberries!!!! I looked up at him and he told me that the strawberries were a birthday surprise from Deb!!! They totally spoiled me for my birthday! I couldn't believe it! So, at this point we had sparkling wine, chocolate covered strawberries, and in just a few minutes- Wishes, seen from our balcony. Chris and I headed outside, me in my jammies, with glasses of wine, to watch the fireworks.

Wishes is always incredible, and it was just wonderful to be able to relax, and watch it from a quiet balcony, totally away from any crowds! The show was beautiful, as always, and when it was over, we headed back inside- but leaving the curtains open so we could watch the Castle change colors from the room.

We spent the rest of the night just hanging out, finishing the wine and the strawberries. Chris called and was able to arrange a late checkout for the following day, so we didn't have to worry about getting up too early. We talked about adding another night to the trip, and debated it for a while, but decided that nothing could top this night, so we should let it stand as our last, perfect, night of the trip, and head home the next day. We spent a little while getting things organized for the next mornings check out, and then settled in to bed for our last night at the Contemporary.


Day Four- Monday, July 26, 2004

Today was our last day at the World. Since we had late checkout, we had set the alarm for around 11:30. When we got the wake up call, I headed to the computer to check the email and see what needed to be done, while Chris got things settled, and did most of the packing up. I took a break from work and got ready, then finished up what I needed to do, and just sat, staring at the Castle from the room.

Chris and I snuggled on the daybed for a bit, taking in the view, before we realized that it was about 12:45, and we had a 1 pm checkout. He called Bell Services to come and get our luggage, and we made our final sweep through the room. After Bell Services took our stuff, we took one last look at the wonderful view, and then headed out of the room, and off for our new adventure.

We had debated what we were going to do for the day, since Chris didn't have to go to work the next day, we didn't have to be home at any particular time. I wasn't feeling all that great though, so we weren't sure what we should do. Finally we decided we'd head to Downtown Disney and if we needed to, we'd head home after that.

So, we got the car and set off. We got to Downtown Disney and found a parking space and headed off to do some shopping. We made our usual progression through the shops. We started at Basin, but nothing really called out to me, so we left there and headed to EuroSpain. There wasn't a whole lot new there either, which, I guess is the downside to going frequently. After EuroSpain, we hit Once Upon A Toy, where there weren't any new Muppets for Chris. Then we went to the pin store, where we bought a Belle pin for me and the Mickey in the poncho pin for Chris.

Our next stop was Disney's Days of Christmas, where we looked for a new tree topper for Chris's father. (I admit it- we're running behind and needed a Father's Day gift for him. He has a Mickey tree topper that must be 300 years old. It's motorized, and you can hear it across the room, and Mickey is very jerky when he moves, so I figured if we got him a new one, he could retire that one) Sadly, though, there wasn't anything that would have worked for him.

So, we made our way across the courtyard to the Scrapbook Store, where we dropped off the two postcards I'd been carrying around to mail. We figured we'd get the Disney postmark on them, since we were there. It turns out though, that I hadn't been thinking when I put the stamps on them, the Tinkerbell postmark is also the postage! Ooops! Oh well, we paid for more postage and sent them on their way.

After a tour through the Gallery, we decided to head back to the Earl of Sandwich for some lunch. I had to stop, on the way, though at Disney At Home. There we found the Castle Coffee Set that I have been wanting since MouseFest of last year!!! Chris was all excited, and ready to buy it for me, until I realized that I had remembered it "better" than it really was. It just didn't look the way I had decided it would, after all this time, and it certainly didn't look worth the $98 price tag, so I decided against it. Just as we were about to leave the store, something caught my eye. I grabbed it and headed to the register, with my credit card out before Chris even realized what I was doing! I had found a little doorknob doorbell with Stitch on it. It's a little pillow that you hang over the doorknob, and it has a doorbell built into it, so you can ring before you enter. Chris is a huge Stitch fan, and it has Stitch embroidered on the pillow and says "You go away okay? I'm busy!" then at the bottom it has "experiments in progress" I told him I would use it to wake him up when he's working nights. He threatened me with death if I did, but loved the pillow all the same.

Then we decided to see if there was any new Piglet stuff in the Pooh store, but there wasn't. They've also taken the back portion of this store and turned it into a place to buy pet stuff. We made our way back over to Earl of Sandwich, and Chris got in line to order our food, while I found us a table.

A short while later, he was back with two Earl's clubs, and we sat and enjoyed our lunch. The food was very good, and we were both stuffed when we were done. After we finished, we decided to head over to the Lego store, to see what was new there, and set off on our way.

At the Lego store, Chris looked around at all the new Harry Potter sets, and then decided he didn't need any of them. Last year during Star Wars Weekend, he'd bought a lego Yoda keychain. He keeps his work keys on it, and poor Yoda has seen some better days. I think he was missing a hand, as well as having most of his face rubbed off. So, we've been on the lookout for another Yoda keychain for the last few months, and were disappointed not to find one at Star Wars Weekend this year.

I spotted them, though on this trip, and Chris picked one up. He also decided to get a Harry Potter one, and another Harry Potter character with a cape that I don't know. At the last minute, I made him buy another Yoda, so we have a spare.

After getting the keychains, we headed to our last stop, World of Disney. I'd been on the lookout for some cute pajamas, and still couldn't find any that I liked. We circled the store, looking at all the different stuff. I debated buying a new watch, since the one I had with me was dead, but didn't like any of them enough to buy it.

Our other mission on this trip was to replace one of my tee shirts. For the last few years my pajamas of choice have been a pair of boxers and a very oversized Peace Love and Mickey Mouse shirt. I've gone through two or three of them, and the current one could use some help, so Chris decided that he was going to get me a new one this trip. Sadly, they are no longer offered. Instead, (and you'll love this!) it's now Peace, Love and Winnie the Pooh!

So, we wandered the store a bit more, and in the end bought a Stitch pin for Chris and a WDW Scavenger Hunt book for me. That was the extent of our big spree!

We headed back to the car, and decided that we'd head over to the Magic Kingdom, as we hadn't gotten the beach towel Chris wanted, and more importantly, had missed the new Stitch store in Tomorrowland. We drove back over to the Contemporary, and then took the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom.

Chris and I decided that while I could probably handle the trip on my own, I'd be better off in the wheelchair, so we headed in through security, and over to the wheelchair rental. Just as we were getting me situated, my cell phone rang, and it was my mother. She asked if she was interrupting anything, and I told her no, we were just heading in to the Magic Kingdom. She said, oh, I guess I won't keep you, and then talked to me for the next 20 minutes.

That was fine, though, because as we were heading in to the train station, we saw a character we hadn't gotten before, the Sherif of Nottingham. Chris left me and headed over to get his autograph, and then we set off into the Magic Kingdom. We decided that our first stop would be the Stitch store, and we made our way over to Tomorrowland.

The parks were a total zoo again, so it was very slow getting over there. We checked out the Stitch store, and then decided to start the Scavenger Hunt. We answered the questions that were in Tomorrowland, and then decided to head to ToonTown, to answer those.

We headed back there, and then made our way back over to the area by Winnie the Pooh. Chris and I each got a drink and then rested for a few minutes before continuing on with the Fantasyland questions. Doing those questions required a trip to the Wishing Well, so poor Chris had to push me down to the Wishing Well, and then turn around and push me back up the hill towards the courtyard behind the Castle!

Finished with Fantasyland, we headed to Liberty Square to do those questions, and then proceeded on to Frontierland. We were able to get through those questions pretty quickly, so we headed on to Adventureland. There we answered the questions we needed, and also picked up the beach towel Chris wanted in the Agrabah shop, then made our way back out to the Hub to answer still more questions.

As we were heading down Main Street to make our way out of the park, the skies started getting darker. When we entered the Square, though, we saw two new characters- Rabbit was out!! So was Little John! Chris got in line for Little John's autograph, and I got in line for Rabbit's. Just as I was heading up to Rabbit, it started raining. I got the autograph, but Chris wasn't so lucky, he had been next in line, and a woman pushed her kid in front of him. Before he could say anything, the characters got pulled because of the rain.

We headed for the nearest cover, which was the Fire Station. After checking through the shop, we decided to hang out there for a few minutes, until the rain let up. We waited about 5 minutes, then decided we'd head outside, and stay under the covered area between the Train Station and Town Hall.

While we were waiting, Chris asked one of the Cast Member's if Little John would be appearing in the Camera Center because of the weather. The Cast Member just told him that he didn't know. So, he went to Town Hall, and they told him that they were waiting a bit to see if they could wait out the storm, and that if it didn't let up, then the characters would be moved to the Camera Center, but they weren't sure which ones would go there yet. So, he came back out to where I was, and we waited for another 20 minutes or so.

The rain had let up a bit, or so we thought, and we decided we'd head over to the Camera Center, and see if the characters were there. Halfway across the Square, we realized that the rain hadn't let up as much as we'd thought- but it was too late now to turn back.

We made it across the street, and up the ramp into the Camera Center. After making our way to the back we were dismayed to see no characters. We wandered all the way through the exhibits back there, and then I looked at Chris and asked him what he wanted to do. We decided that we'd see if we could get a seating at Tony's and just have dessert.

Chris went to the Podium and asked, and because we were a party of two, was told that it would be about a 20 minute wait. Parties of four had an hour and half wait. So, he came back out and told me, and we figured we'd just hang out there for a bit, to see how long it was. Not even two minutes later, they'd called our names!

We folded up the wheelchair and left it out by the strollers, and then made our way to the back of the restaurant. We were seated directly in front of the window, at dusk, where you can see the shadows of Lady and the Tramp. To the left of us though, was a family with a child who needed some serious discipline. There was screaming and yelling, jumping on the seats, food throwing, etc. All the while they did nothing other than say, that's not nice.

In any event, our waitress came over and we ordered sodas and desserts. Our food came out relatively quickly, and both Chris and I loved what we got. I opted for the Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse Torte with a raspberry sauce. Chris got a Carmelized Apple Cake with cinnamon gelato and a sour cherry sauce. Both were really, really good.

After we paid our check, we headed back to the Camera Center, where we decided we'd buy ponchos, and then walk (very slowly!) back to the Contemporary to get the car and head home. We got the ponchos, and then headed outside to answer the last few questions on the Scavenger Hunt. Chris took a quick peek back inside to see if Little John was in there, but he wasn't. Rabbit was, so he got his autograph again, as the first one had gotten a bit wet. He checked with the Cast Members who told him Little John was done for the day, so he came back out and we got bundled up in the ponchos, and headed for the gates.

We returned the wheelchair, and after a really long wait, Chris got the Disney dollar, and we made our way out of the park. We overheard a Cast Member telling a guest that the monorail wasn't running, and something about lightning, but we didn't quite catch it all.

As we were walking back though, we saw a little track mobile come out towing one of the monorails around. This thrilled Chris to no end, and he was sad that he couldn't get a picture of it. A few minutes later, though, the monorail came back, in the other direction, this time being pushed, to be taken back to the "roundhouse" The weather had let up a bit, so he grabbed the camera and took a picture.

On the way back to the Contemporary, I started the same debate we'd been having for the last few trips. Should we buy a robe or not? Chris and I both adore the soft bathrobes that you get when you stay at the Grand Floridian, and we've been debating whether or not we should buy a pair for us at home. We went back and forth about it the whole walk back to the resort, and finally decided that we'd go ahead and get me one, as a birthday present.

When we got back to the Contemporary, we made a quick bathroom stop, then headed out to reclaim the car, and have our luggage brought around. We tossed the ponchos in the trunk, and Chris grabbed his sandals from the suitcase to change out of his wet sneakers, and then we were on our way, headed to the Grand Floridian.

As we were pulling out of the Contemporary's lot, I commented that it was strange, I'd just felt a drop of water on my arm, which was resting on the window ledge of the passenger door. You see, the passenger side window in my car got stuck sometime last year, and since I always use the AC, I've never had it fixed.

Chris pushed the power window button to see what would happen, because it's been stuck, and wouldn't you know it? The window went down about three inches. But- it wouldn't go back up! Did I mention it was still pouring? Now, those of you who have followed my trips for a while might remember that in June of last year we were driving down to Disney, again in a rainstorm, and suddenly the driver's side window just came down, and wouldn't go all the way back up. It was not a fun situation, and we had to "fix" it by buying a package of Pooh erasers and jamming them into the seal between the door and the window, until we got home and could have it fixed. So, we figured, no big deal, oddly enough, the erasers were still in the car, we'll fix it when we get to the Grand. On the way there, though, there was a really loud cracking sound, that came from my door. We got through security, and pulled up under the portico with the plan that Chris would fix the window while I bought the robe.

I finished my end of the assignment and came out to find Chris and one of the Grand Floridian valets standing there staring at the window, which was not fixed. It seems that even with the erasers, the window would not stay up. This was a problem, and we couldn't figure out what to do. There were no dents or damage to the outside of the car, so the cracking sound was something breaking in the door itself.

Finally, the valet came back with a roll of duct tape, and while the valet and I forced the window up into place, and held it there, Chris duct taped the window to the chrome strip on the door frame of the car. That in place, we set off for home.

The drive home was pretty uneventful. We got home in our usual 5 hours, and got everything unpacked and put away. Chris ended up calling the dealership in the morning (luckily, the car is still under warranty) and made an appointment to take the car in to be fixed.

So, in the end, that was our trip. A lot of stuff went wrong, but it was a lot of fun- and I wouldn't have traded a minute of it. I love Disney, and I love the time I get to spend there with Chris. We both get to be kids again, and can totally escape from real life when we're there.