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

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Two updates and they were both great!! The Bistro looks awesome, I can almost taste those scallops!

The redheads are looking pretty cute, can't wait to see more of them.

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

Love the Bistro pics and glad that you had such an awesome 10th anniversary!

Exploring the old railroad must have been fun!

LOVE the pic of the Redheads on the way. My gosh, they have grown! They are absolutely adorable and I can't wait to hear more!

[Lou... 3,118]

Everyone thinks that their kids are the cutest, in your case, they are.

Of course, luckily for them, they get their looks from their mom.

[alexwyattmommy 181]

They are super adorable! You are in so much trouble when they are older. Yes you are.

Wasn't that rain ridiculous that morning? We made the mistake of taking the boat to CR and walking over. Don't walk over in the rain. You were on proper side of the deluge that flowing down between the ferry dock and our dock. We had to wade through 3 - 4 inches of rain. It was well over ankle high.

Can't wait to see more of your girls.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Dave, from what I remember somebody saying, is the horse barn operations had some money to spend before their fiscal year ran out. Somebody remembered the calliope rotting away in a warehouse somewhere, so they said, Hey!! We have enough money to display the calliope here in the stables. So, they spent all their budget so it wouldn't be cut for the next year, and they saved the calliope from possible destruction!! Now the calliope WILL be in the new building. If they had waited, it might not have been in the new building and might have been disposed of in that warehouse somewhere. The joys of a fractured, stovepiped operation.

Sadly, that makes sense. I've worked in corporate America for too long. :rofl3:

[Disneyzombie-Brenda 10]

The girls are the cutest. Loving your report. Need one of those waffles this morning.

[AuburnJen 772]

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.

I don't care who you are...that is just funny right there... :rofl2:

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

CK²-

All kidding aside, I really must compliment you on the planning that went in to the anniversary part of your trip. It was brilliant to set aside some time for you and your DW before your girls joined you. Kudos to you on planning the meal at the Bistro. Honestly, I didn't even know that restaurant was there.

Amuse bouche? Really? I was confused about what that was until you shared the definition. I get it now. It's what you would call the Cowboy Beans course that comes with a GAG.

Interesting about your 8:15 SM Fastpasses. I have noticed that they tweak the machines on what they think will be busy days. It can be a pain, because it messes up your ability to maximize the use of Fastpasses. When I was at DHS on Saturday of the same weekend you were there, I got Toy Story Fastpasses at just a little after 7:30 am. The return time was for 8:05 am, and we were able to get more Fastpasses right after that. That is how it should be in the morning. I recall getting hosed with SM Fastpasses one Thanksgiving morning. We went to the MK early for the express purpose of gathering Fastpasses, and the stupid SM Fastpass eliminated the advantage of us getting there early. I guess this is all going to change once they get the new system up and running.

Good job on your FWRR exploration! I never noticed the cracked road over the old tracks- that is a good catch! There is definitely a lot more to see, but you are wise to wait until a cooler time of year for that.

Keep up the good work.

This is an excellent trip report!

TCD

[CKCK 45]

The redheads are looking pretty cute, can't wait to see more of them.

Thanks! There will be a lot of them coming up soon!

LOVE the pic of the Redheads on the way. My gosh, they have grown! They are absolutely adorable and I can't wait to hear more!

Thanks! Yes, they are definitely growing. Too fast!

Everyone thinks that their kids are the cutest, in your case, they are.

Of course, luckily for them, they get their looks from their mom.

See, you can't help but be nice sometimes.

And I agree with you that it's good they got their looks from their mom!

They are super adorable! You are in so much trouble when they are older. Yes you are.

Wasn't that rain ridiculous that morning? We made the mistake of taking the boat to CR and walking over. Don't walk over in the rain. You were on proper side of the deluge that flowing down between the ferry dock and our dock. We had to wade through 3 - 4 inches of rain. It was well over ankle high.

Can't wait to see more of your girls.

Thanks! I'm already making plans for when they're teenagers!

The rain didn't mess too many things up for us, other than getting us wet. Once we were wet it didn't really matter after that and we just had to go for it. Frankly I would take a little rain over 95 degrees and sunburns!

The girls are the cutest. Loving your report. Need one of those waffles this morning.

Thanks! Yes, as I write this TR I get hungry.

[quote name=AuburnJen' timestamp='1340110073' post='16

7992]

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.

I don't care who you are...that is just funny right there... :rofl2:

I knew you would appreciate that.

CK²-

All kidding aside, I really must compliment you on the planning that went in to the anniversary part of your trip. It was brilliant to set aside some time for you and your DW before your girls joined you. Kudos to you on planning the meal at the Bistro. Honestly, I didn't even know that restaurant was there.

Amuse bouche? Really? I was confused about what that was until you shared the definition. I get it now. It's what you would call the Cowboy Beans course that comes with a GAG.

Interesting about your 8:15 SM Fastpasses. I have noticed that they tweak the machines on what they think will be busy days. It can be a pain, because it messes up your ability to maximize the use of Fastpasses. When I was at DHS on Saturday of the same weekend you were there, I got Toy Story Fastpasses at just a little after 7:30 am. The return time was for 8:05 am, and we were able to get more Fastpasses right after that. That is how it should be in the morning. I recall getting hosed with SM Fastpasses one Thanksgiving morning. We went to the MK early for the express purpose of gathering Fastpasses, and the stupid SM Fastpass eliminated the advantage of us getting there early. I guess this is all going to change once they get the new system up and running.

Thanks! Once I surprised my wife with the basic plans of going to WDW and going to the Bistro, she took it from there. She's pretty much obsessed with WDW food so she knew where she wanted to get drinks, cheese, snacks, etc. My job was actually pretty easy!

Yes, now I also know what an amuse bouche is. I could have thrown in other fancy words like prixe fixe. I also now know what that is, even though I probably don't know how to say it correctly!

I'm a little scared about the new FP system. Just as we get one system figured out we're going to have to figure out a whole new one. I just hope it works!

[CKCK 45]

The first thing we did once my parents and the girls arrived was to take them to the stables.

I knew my girls would love it.

I knew my mom would love it. She used to be a horse freak when she was growing up. I actually was curious to see who enjoyed it more…my girls or my mom.

I didn’t take my camera with us, so these are all my mom’s pics.

Drummer had just gotten a bath and he and two other horses were getting suited up for work later that day. I found out that he and a Percheron were going over to pull carriages at Port Orleans, and another Percheron was staying at the Fort to pull the carriage…all in the rain I might add.

If you have ever been in the stables you know that each stable has a sign on it with the horse’s name and breed. They also have signs that ask guests to not feed or pet the horses.

My mom apparently can’t read.

All of a sudden we heard one of the cowgirls yell across the place at someone to not pet the horses.

It was my mom.

Fail.

I think it was one of the Belgians who had stuck his head over the wall while my mom was there. She thought he wanted to be petted (maybe he did), so she obliged. And got yelled at.

I think it’s really cool that guests can be hanging out in there while they are walking the horses around and everything. Especially since these are MASSIVE horses.

Luckily the cowgirl wasn’t too mad, because once she had Drummer ready she brought him over and let all the kids pet him.

You can see DD4 down there. DD2 was having nothing to do with him.

By the time we were leaving the stables it was raining pretty good. We made it back to the campsite where the plan was to grill steaks.

By the way, grilled food always tastes better at the Fort, and it’s one of my most favorite things to do while there. Grill some food, drink some beer, and do nothing.

Can’t beat it.

So I wasn’t going to let any stinkin’ rain ruin my fun. I had been looking forward to this since we had arrived.

We had to get creative lighting the charcoal.

What started as a good rain soon turned into a deluge.

I mean a lot of water. So much water that our site started filling up with it.

And we were in the 1600s high and dry…not in the 1900s.

Here is as the rain started:

And this is what it turned in to:

The water was running up on the concrete pad and had surrounded all of the tires on the TT:

If it kept going it would eventually cover the entire site.

Our patio mats were floating:

My DW and mom were both saying maybe we should just bag it and try this another night, but I wasn’t having it!

The girls just thought the whole thing was funny:

So while we were fighting the rain, my wife was trying to find everything in the cabinets.

This is how she finds stuff in the upper cabinets when I’m not around:

This is me trying to light the pilot on the oven while not blowing myself up:

When it was all said and done we pretty much rocked it:

Team CKCK: 1

Rain: 0

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

Awesome!!!! Love the creative cabinet searching :)

[SCTigerCock 171]

Awesome!

And we so look forward to "Grill some food, drink some beer, and do nothing." in September!

:camp1:

:beer:

And Ragland Road.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Yay Team CK²!

I totally would have done the same thing!

That meal turned out awesome.

Good job.

BTW, the "cowgirl" in this photo with Drummer is Lori:

She has worked at the barn forever.

How long, you ask?

She used to run the pony rides back when the TCD girls were the ages of the redheads.

We had Lori as our driver on a Haunted Carriage Ride a couple of years back. She is a good source of information about what is planned for the new barn. Oh, and Drummer pulled our carriage that night. He is not much of a gossip, though.

TCD

[MetalDad 33]

My DW and mom were both saying maybe we should just bag it and try this another night, but I wasn’t having it!

All I could think of was the Bishop in Caddyshack. "Rat Farts!" Then he get's struck by lightning as Bill Murray drops his golf bag and scurries away!

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

That was a lot of rain!! I'm glad you didn't let it win.

Can I borrow a redhead when I need to do a cabinet search? It does look a lot more fun then the way I do it! :)

[alexwyattmommy 181]

Love the cabinet searching helper. How cute!

Glad you didn't let that rain keep you from doing what you wanted. Didn't think to take pictures of the swamp area around our trailer. We did think it was going to cover the surge protector connection and fry our wires.

[Brent... Just Brent 83]

My site also had a slight flooding issue that night. And by slight flooding issue, I mean my mat was literally floating, then it lost the battle. I think it might have finally dried out.

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

So glad y'all won! Love the pics especially the triumphant meal at the table!

[caveat lector 181]

Wow. CKx2 really does an excellent trip report. The pics are all awesome, but I like your narrative of the FWRR the best. OK, it's my second favorite. My favorite is you calling out mad props with the CARDS hat while riding tower. Our mutual appreciation for the storied baseball franchise, is not our only athletic convergence. It seems to me that you "may" be a Georgia fan. As a follower of Mizzou, I am very anxious to see what all the xcitement is about in the SEC. As I understand it, there maybe 1 or 2 other Fiends that follow other SEC programs.

Thanks for the margarita bar tip. It's now on my list :)

[TnBob 311]

Cute Girls, great pictures, comment on the Vol's fans, not so good.

Can I get a GO VOL's!

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Sure you can...Go VOL's!! Now will you tell what that means?

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

Great Updates! The helper photo is priceless. The steak looked good and I assume the beer was good too. It doesn't get better than that! Glad you were able to beat the rain without summoning Noah to bail you out.

[CKCK 45]

All I could think of was the Bishop in Caddyshack. "Rat Farts!" Then he get's struck by lightning as Bill Murray drops his golf bag and scurries away!

Glad the end result was different for me!

That was a lot of rain!! I'm glad you didn't let it win.

Can I borrow a redhead when I need to do a cabinet search? It does look a lot more fun then the way I do it! :)

Well, I don't know how successful they were!

Love the cabinet searching helper. How cute!

Glad you didn't let that rain keep you from doing what you wanted. Didn't think to take pictures of the swamp area around our trailer. We did think it was going to cover the surge protector connection and fry our wires.

Thanks!

Glad you didn't fry.

My site also had a slight flooding issue that night. And by slight flooding issue, I mean my mat was literally floating, then it lost the battle. I think it might have finally dried out.

I'm sure with that amount of rain everywhere flooded. That was just ridiculous.

So glad y'all won! Love the pics especially the triumphant meal at the table!

Thanks! And by the way, Team CKCK always wins!

Wow. CKx2 really does an excellent trip report. The pics are all awesome, but I like your narrative of the FWRR the best. OK, it's my second favorite. My favorite is you calling out mad props with the CARDS hat while riding tower. Our mutual appreciation for the storied baseball franchise, is not our only athletic convergence. It seems to me that you "may" be a Georgia fan. As a follower of Mizzou, I am very anxious to see what all the xcitement is about in the SEC. As I understand it, there maybe 1 or 2 other Fiends that follow other SEC programs.

Thanks for the margarita bar tip. It's now on my list :)

Thanks!

I have a cousin who wen to to Mizzou. I used to live in STL so I'm familiar, but was never a fan.

And don't worry, we'll give you a big SEC welcome this season!

And go Cards! As you can see that hat is generally my park hat. I couldn't get over how many cardinal shirts and hats I saw while on this trip. More than any other team. It was weird, but good!

Cute Girls, great pictures, comment on the Vol's fans, not so good.

Can I get a GO VOL's!

Sure you can...Go VOL's!! Now will you tell what that means?

Ok, if this nonsense keeps up I will stop this TR and turn it right around and go home.

Great Updates! The helper photo is priceless. The steak looked good and I assume the beer was good too. It doesn't get better than that! Glad you were able to beat the rain without summoning Noah to bail you out.

Thanks! And yes, the beer was good as well!

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

Watching Tigers beat the Cards right now BTW.......have no fear the Tigers closer will probably blow this game in the 9th!

[CKCK 45]

My parents (aka MaMa and PaPa) were only staying two nights before they headed to the beach, so they only had a one day park ticket.

MK rope drop it was.

On the way there:

The sun was trying, but not having much luck.

I was sad that their rope drop festivities were a little low key today. I’m not sure if it was because of the weather or not, but the train was already parked there. The characters and family of the day just walked out, did their little thing, and off we went.

The one thing I don’t like about rope drop:

The plan was to head to Fantasyland first. One, because the girls love it (duh). Two, because my mom probably loves it more than the girls.

However, we wanted to do BTMR early, so my job was to grab some FP’s for that while they went straight to new Dumbo.

I LOVE the MK early!

Those of you with strollers know what this will look like around lunch time:

By the time I made it over to Dumbo they were nearly up. While I was waiting I decided to take a bunch of pics of the new ride, as this was the first time I had really seen it.

I took pics of the scenes around the entire bottom of the ride.

Here you go:

They’re all images from the movie (for those of us who have actually seen the movie).

My wife, DD2, and mom took an elephant right next to where I was standing. I rattled off about 5 pictures before they ever knew I was there.

They are really observant women.

PaPa and DD4 were behind them:

They are more observant.

I had a fun time too: