CKCK 3.0-June 5-10 Trip Report-"Best of Both Worlds"

[CKCK 45]

This is my 3rd WDW trip report, hence the 3.0.

However, this was my 5^th trip to the Fort.

And 5^th since December 2010.

That’s 5 trips in a year and a half. Before we hit our 2 year Fort anniversary we will have gone 6 times...at least.

We’re a little obsessed.

So here's the TR that includes adult time, food, drinks, rain, food, drinks, rain, rain, rain, two little redheads, rain, horses, parks, parades, and pictures...and rain.

If you are a fan of any of those, you are in luck.

If not, stop reading now.

This trip was in celebration of our 10 year wedding anniversary (June 15). Not only that, but I surprised my wife with this trip and ADRs to the Bistro in Epcot for Christmas this past year.

That’s what you call two for one.

Bam!

This was also the first time my wife and I had ever been to the Fort (or WDW for that matter) without our girls. My parents (MaMa & PaPa to the girls) came down to babysit for a couple of days while DW and I went down with the TT to enjoy some adult WDW time. They followed us a few days later with the girls and we still got to have family time at WDW.

That's the best of both worlds. Adult time with no guilt that the girls weren't there, (because we knew they were coming later) and then family time. Win win.

Back to the adult time. What’s that you ask? I didn’t know either. Apparently it’s time that adults get to go around WDW, eat lots of food, drink lots of drink…

and do the whole thing WITHOUT PUSHING STROLLERS!

So Tuesday am we left at our usual 5:00am. Okay, it was actually 5:20, but it was supposed to have been 5:00.

We arrived at the Fort around 12:30.

Notice all of the orange barrels. I'm not sure if they have been reported on here or not. I don't really care if they have, because I'm going to do it again anyway.

Deal.

This is looking from the check in lanes over towards the bus stop. You can see that the road is entirely blocked heading towards overflow.

This is looking to the left.

Apparently this Bob guy is storing his barricades at the Fort.

Weird.

I wonder if that's TN Bob. I'm not sure if TN Bob is a vols fan or not (I'm hoping not), but it would make sense since vols fans can go to a game, go hunting, and then go work on a DOT crew without ever having to change clothes. Maybe he has a lot of these if that's the case.

The CM told us that they were trying to fix the drainage problem over there on the road heading to the parking lots. Apparently it was supposed to have been a 2-3 week project, but all the rain was going to make it much longer.

This is back in the check in lanes. Notice the AC above the building. Looks like they stole it off an RV. If anyone is missing one, I know where it might be. Looks like TCD's favorite CM, the brown paint guy, tried to disguise it.

While "we" were setting up camp (by "we" I mean "I"), the weather thought it would be funny and start raining. Luckily it was just sprinkles and I was able to get everything done. As soon as I had unloaded the golf cart my wife headed up to Trails End for some "surprise."

Surpise? It was way too early in our trip for a GAG, and we actually were headed to our hoity toity tea reservations at the GF (more on that later).

So what could this surprise be?

Cake.

Not just any cake, but a re-creation of our wedding cake.

Did you know that you can contact the WDW Cake Hotline (did you know there WAS one?) and have specialty cakes made?

Me neither.

However, my wife is a little obsessed with food, particularly Disney food, so she already knew.

And she contacted them. They put her in touch with the cake man at the Contemporary.

And he made a re-creation of our wedding cake, on a smaller scale:

Yes, it's leaning. In fact, the CMs at Trails End pretended to not be able to find the cake when DW went to get it. They found it, they were just frantically trying to figure out how to make it not lean before they showed it to her.

When they finally gave it to her they held their breath.

My wife saw it and said it was perfect! Apparently she should have had a picture of the relief on their faces.

It was supposed to lean. Our real wedding cake leaned (not on purpose), so she had this one specially made to lean.

How cool is that?!?

Here's our real wedding cake (kind of hard to get the whole leaning from this angle):

I'd say the cake man did a pretty god job.

At this point we needed to leave for our hoity toity tea ressies at the GF.

I gave in and decided to go with my wife since this trip was in celebration of our anniversary.

Plus, this gave me the opportunity to finally settle the hoity toity tea/GAG debate once and for all!

We will see how that went in the next update!

[BouncingTiggers 98]

A TR that includes adult time, food, drinks, rain, food, drinks, rain, rain, rain, two little redheads, rain, horses, parks, parades, and pictures...and rain

sounds good to me.

What's with the barrels? Makes the fort look like Georgia

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

I like the redheads, so I'm in!! Love the wedding cake recreation, what a great idea! Now I can't wait to hear about your Tea experience. I'm pretty sure at least one of you really enjoyed it!!

Ready for more!!

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Cool!! Love the cake!!

[Brent... Just Brent 83]

Sounds like a great trip. I looped by a few times, but you guys were never at home. Hope it was great!

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

I'm in too. Much as I love our kids and grandkids, there's nothing like adult time at the World!

The cake is great.

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

I'm in. Hmmm. Tea vs. GAG? I have my guess which one you like better.

[stefa70 205]

I'm in. :popcorn:

I love CKCK reports!

Happy Anniversary, I love the leaning tower of cake. Very sweet of your wife.

Also very sweet of you to suffer through tea. :rofl2:

[SCTigerCock 171]

:jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy

Your report starts with Cake and Tea?

WHERE'S the BEER?! :panic:

:clint:

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

I'm in... I'm in. The leaning cake is just too good.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

OK, I'm here.

I like the cake too.

I knew that you could order a cake, but I didn't know that they would try to create whatever you requested. They did a really good job on this.

For the record, I would like to register my objection to a tea vs. GAG debate.

Even the thought of comparing the two is heresy.

You are at risk of losing both your Fiend and Man cards, so be careful.

TCD

[dblr....Rennie 224]

I'm in also and love the cake, we will be there for our 25th anniversary in Oct so I might be takeing notes to score some brownie points any other great ideas???

[SCTigerCock 171]

Oh, please share all the ideas you guys have. Once completed, I will print out this for Tony, highlight the best ideas and then, adn only MAYBE then, he will get a hint/idea for our 10th in November.

Carry On!!

:banghead:

Note, I do luvs my Mr. Unromantical :heart:

[Disneyzombie-Brenda 10]

I am in.......Love the Cake Idea! Happy Anniversery! Hope you got Anniversery buttons!

[CKCK 45]

A TR that includes adult time, food, drinks, rain, food, drinks, rain, rain, rain, two little redheads, rain, horses, parks, parades, and pictures...and rain

sounds good to me.

What's with the barrels? Makes the fort look like Georgia

We do like our barrels in Georgia...I just wish they weren't orange. Maybe red and black would be better.

I like the redheads, so I'm in!! Love the wedding cake recreation, what a great idea! Now I can't wait to hear about your Tea experience. I'm pretty sure at least one of you really enjoyed it!!

Ready for more!!

You are correct in your guess of how many people enjoyed it, though you might be surprised with the answer...or not.

Cool!! Love the cake!!

It was a cool surprise for sure. I didn't even know you could do something like that. It tasted good too, but I'll get to that a little bit later.

Sounds like a great trip. I looped by a few times, but you guys were never at home. Hope it was great!

I saw in a post that you were there, but I guess you don't have a sign yet so I didn't know where. We had a great time despite the rain. Did you find a way to stay dry?

I'm in too. Much as I love our kids and grandkids, there's nothing like adult time at the World!

The cake is great.

Had our girls not been coming down later in the trip, we wouldn't have been able to enjoy the adult time because we would have felt too guilty! This way we were able to do some things we normally wouldn't do with the girls and strollers!

I'm in. Hmmm. Tea vs. GAG? I have my guess which one you like better.

We will find out soon.

I'm in. :popcorn:

I love CKCK reports!

Happy Anniversary, I love the leaning tower of cake. Very sweet of your wife.

Also very sweet of you to suffer through tea. :rofl2:

Thanks! She was sweet. And so was I!

:jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy

Your report starts with Cake and Tea?

WHERE'S the BEER?! :panic:

:clint:

It is a little odd to start off with hoity toity tea.

That's how I roll. Keeping you on your toes.

I'm in... I'm in. The leaning cake is just too good.

It was funny, and the story gets funnier.

OK, I'm here.

I like the cake too.

I knew that you could order a cake, but I didn't know that they would try to create whatever you requested. They did a really good job on this.

For the record, I would like to register my objection to a tea vs. GAG debate.

Even the thought of comparing the two is heresy.

You are at risk of losing both your Fiend and Man cards, so be careful.

TCD

Objection noted.

We will put the debate to rest soon.

I think both of my cards are safe.

[CKCK 45]

I'm in also and love the cake, we will be there for our 25th anniversary in Oct so I might be takeing notes to score some brownie points any other great ideas? ? ?

Now you just put the pressure on me. Hope I don't screw up.

I am in.......Love the Cake Idea! Happy Anniversery! Hope you got Anniversery buttons!

I am anti-button. Buttons draw attention. And attention means it's harder for me to watch other people and make uncalled judgments on them.

That's how I roll.

Oh, please share all the ideas you guys have. Once completed, I will print out this for Tony, highlight the best ideas and then, adn only MAYBE then, he will get a hint/idea for our 10th in November.

Carry On!!

Note, I do luvs my Mr. Unromantical :heart:

More pressure.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I am anti-button. Buttons draw attention. And attention means it's harder for me to watch other people and make uncalled judgments on them.

That's how I roll.

Uncalled judgments on strangers that you see at the parks?

Woo Hoo!

TCD

[Lou... 3,118]

I am anti-button. Buttons draw attention. And attention means it's harder for me to watch other people and make uncalled judgments on them.

That's how I roll.

Uncalled judgments on strangers that you see at the parks?

Woo Hoo!

TCD

Are you two brothers from different mothers?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Are you two brothers from different mothers?

I can see where you might think that.

But CK² went to the GF for tea. There is no way any brother of mine would even think of doing that.

TCD

[Lou... 3,118]

There is no way any brother of mine would even think of doing that.

There is no way I'm buying that line.

Being the Dad that I know you are, if any of your daughters gave you that look, you would be there drinking tea and loving it.

[CKCK 45]

Ok, time for a quick hoity toity tea update before I need to be productive today (even band directors have to work in the summer).

You may think that updating a TR is productive.

I agree, but it doesn’t pay the bills.

Some of you may remember the debate that was sparked by my last TR in February regarding hoity toity tea (HTT) and GAG/beer. My wife and her friend (Fransesca) went to the GF for HTT, while my friend (Hector) and I stayed with all the little ones and ate cold GAG and beer.

My wife loved the HTT…I loved the GAG and beer.

Since this trip was in celebration of our 10^th anniversary, I succumbed and agreed to go to HTT with her.

I did not relinquish my FF card or my man card. I held onto them very tightly the entire time.

However, after experiencing it myself I now can report on it first hand, and then I will make my final decision on this controversy.

And since this is my TR, I have the final say. There will be no debates on the matter after this.

HTT is in the Garden View Tea Room at the GF. It’s right below the jazz combo that plays in the lobby.

I dig the jazz combo. They actually played while we were at the HTT, so that made it a little more tolerable.

For those of you who don’t know, HTT is like a traditional English Tea. What is that you ask?

No idea.

But you get tea, baby sandwiches, scones, and dessert.

Sounds like a meal to me, but a weird meal. And apparently English people do this quite often.

How are they not huge?

Regardless, the vibe of this room is such that I was afraid to mess up.

Mess what up? Anything. I was convinced that I was going to do something stupid and get in trouble by either my wife or the HTT police.

I’m not sure which would be worse.

This was our table:

Not very man sized. And what’s with the colanders on the cups?

Any guesses as to what those sticks wrapped in ribbon are?

Push sweepers. Even they are hoity toity.

That’s my happy HTT face.

This was mirror painting behind us. Can you guess what it was called?

Oil on mirror.

Duh.

I was not aware there would be nudity.

These were the people that were next to us:

Did you see what the one lady was drinking?

Chocolate milk.

Who goes to HTT and gets chocolate milk?

Talk about a faux pas.

I'm surprised the HTT police didn't come in right then and there and haul her off.

So it was time to order.

I have never been in a restaurant where I had such I difficult time ordering.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t decide, it was that I literally didn’t understand what it was that I was supposed to do. Luckily my wife did, so she held my hand through the process.

I had to choose my tea. I got some tea with pomegranate and other “essential oils.”

What the Fort?

Essential oils? Really? I don’t even know what that means. The main reason I chose it was because it was caffeinated and didn’t look too bad.

When the tea came the server poured it through the strainer thing. I’m not sure why, because there was nothing to strain, but whatever.

Then we got baby sandwiches. I do have to admit, they weren't bad. Different weirdo things on different kinds of bread with the crust cut off. I’m a big boy and can handle crust, but whatever. I don’t remember what was all on them, but things like cucumber, gorgonzola, curried chicken, pear, other weirdo things.

It’s nothing I would order on my own, but they weren’t bad.

The tea was pretty good as far as tea goes, but just not my bag.

Apparently that’s how you’re supposed to drink tea. Funny though, I didn’t see anyone else doing that.

Then we got scones and other things:

Basically it’s a biscuit.

Then you put stuff on it. Devonshire cream (aka creamy butter) and strawberry jam.

Did you notice the strawberry jam?

I would have expected some fancier jam at HTT.

Then we chose our desserts:

Yes, that is a swan.

I ate a swan dessert thing. I paid for the freakin thing so I was going to eat it all.

Luckily there was no one in the HTT that recognized me.

And that was HTT.

Am I glad I went?

Yes, because it made my wife happy.

And a happy wife makes for a happy husband. So I took one for the team and went to HTT.

Would I go back?

Definitely not. We paid over $50 for the two of us…for HTT.

Think of the GAG and beer I could have had for that amount.

So, final ruling:

GAG/Beer beats HTT any day hands down.

However:

HTT: over $50

Wife happy on 10^th anniversary trip: priceless

From here we were heading to the MK to explore some things and take some pictures that normally we wouldn’t take the time for with the girls with us.

On our way out of the GF we passed this:

Anyone know what it is? We’ll find out on the next update as well as see lots of pics from the MK!

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

There is no way I'm buying that line.

Being the Dad that I know you are, if any of your daughters gave you that look, you would be there drinking tea and loving it.

:rofl2:

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Your man card has increased tenfold, CK. You did something nice for your wife and that's all that matters!!

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Yummm at all the goodies at the tea!!

[Live4FW 30]

Am I losing it or didn't this thing originally start out as 4.0? Glad we got that HTT thing out of the way. But I have to confess, if DW or DD asks me, I probably would go as well! No judgement from here!