Day 2 continues
We (I) decided to book the
DDP when I got a good room discount that pretty much equaled what we would spend on the DDP. I knew that DD#1 and I wouldn’t really eat enough to make it worth it, but DH would easily make up the difference. I also knew that DH would be able to relax if he wasn’t pulling out his wallet at every meal. As someone else reported in their trip report (sorry, I read so many of them that I can’t remember who posted this) it feels like you are eating for free because you have already paid for all of the meals. Anyway, I know some folks love the DDP, and some folks do not. All I can say is that for our family, it pretty much was the difference between a miserable vacation and a good time. I could not have predicted how much DH was going to LOVE the DDP.
I left off with our sad little trek from Philharmagic to Liberty Tree Tavern. When we got there, I went in (past the numerous people without ADRs – what are those people thinking?) and checked us in. I found out that they do not have the infant highchairs there, but they were more than willing to let us keep DD#2 in our stroller. Just be warned, we had to carry it up three steps. Not a big deal for us, but could be an issue for some people. DH and I were both very happy that we wouldn’t have to hold DD#2 and we sat down to wait in the lobby. DH thought the theme was pretty neat and kept commenting on how nice the place looked. (I decided not to strangle him at that point.) We were seated very quickly at a table in a great location.
And then it happened. The magic arrived.

I mention to the server that we are on the DDP. He gave us our menus. DH asks me if we have special menus because we are on the DDP. I say nope and tell him that he gets to order an appetizer, entrée, and dessert. He stared at me in disbelief and confirmed that this was all “free.” Then he got a huge smile on his face and commenced his ordering. We both got the salad for our appetizer and DD#1 got the kid’s chicken noodle soup. DH got the turkey sandwich, I got the pot roast, and DD#1 got the mac and cheese. All of us loved our entrees and had no complaints. DH got the chocolate thing (can’t remember the name), I got the berry shortcake, and DD#1 got the ice cream for dessert. Wow, the desserts were fabulous! DH didn’t stop talking about that chocolate thing for the rest of the trip. I knew that no matter what, at least we were going to have happy meals.
After lunch we (I) decided to head over to MGM. This turned out to be a great decision as MK was now very, very crowded. Also, DH had told me that we really wanted to see the stunt show at MGM. I am normally not a huge fan of MGM because I don’t do thrill rides and I have never really taken the time to watch many of the shows, but in the interests of selling WDW to DH, I was willing to do whatever I had to.
We exited MK and went to wait for the ferry. DH loved the ferry and thought it was one of the best parts of the trip. I contemplated leaving him there to ride the ferry back and forth for the rest of the afternoon, but decided against it. For all I knew, we might never see him again. DH was a little bummed that we couldn’t take the monorail to MGM, but with a promise that we would ride it later in the trip, he cheerfully headed for the MGM bus.
Once we got to MGM, I went to
rent a stroller for DD#1 because I was getting a little tired of carrying DD#2 in her sling. With each of us pushing a stroller, we headed all the way to the back of the park to secure fastpasses for the stunt show. As we walked, I tried to explain the concept of the fastpass to DH. He just didn’t get it and I eventually left it at “just trust me on this one.” When we got to the fastpass machines, we ran into a cast member who just handing out the fastpasses to anyone who wanted them. I thought this was pretty nice because that meant we could have picked up fastpasses for another attraction without waiting. Because we are whimps, we didn’t need fastpasses for anything else, but the thought was nice.
We had a little time to kill before the show, so DH and DD#1 went to do the Great Movie Ride while I pushed a, now sleeping, DD#2 around in the stroller. This ride got a big thumbs up from DH. Clearly we have different tastes as I find the ride somewhat “bleh.” Anyway, we went back to get in line for the stunt show and as we dump the strollers and I put DD#2 back in her sling, a very nice cast member warned us that the show is very loud and DD#2 might not be able to handle it. He suggested sitting at the very top of the bleachers (which I already planned to do because I knew that we would have the best view from there) and told us we could leave during the show. I thanked him for his advice, but inside I was laughing because I knew DD#2 was going to love this show.
How did I know? Well, you have to understand that I am a HUGE Indy car race fan. (Not NASCAR, Indy cars. The ones that race during the Indy 500 and don’t look like taxi cabs. No offense to any NASCAR fans out there.) So huge that I actually became somewhat upset when I found out last January that I was pregnant when I was planning to attend my very first Indy 500 (The Greatest Spectacle in Racing!) that May. My first question for my OB was “Can I still go to races this season?” I was concerned that the loud engines would somehow hurt my future child’s hearing. Silly me, he told me that the baby would be just fine, and with his approval, I not only purchased tickets for the race, but I got a special pass that would allow me in the garage area during the entire month of May. We live less than 2 hours from Indy and I spent every spare minute in May at the track. I can see your eyes glazing over from boredom, so I’ll try to get to the point here. I just knew that all that time at the track, attending the Indy 500 (what a finish!), and the Indy car race in Milwaukee (less than 4 weeks before DD#2 was born, thank you very much) meant that DD#2 was more than used to the sound of loud cars.
I was right! DD#2 was a little fussy during all the talking parts of the show, but as soon as those cars came out she went right to sleep. I think that I need to start taping races so that I can play them for her when she can’t fall asleep. Anyway, the show was awesome and all of us absolutely loved it. All of us were happy and life was good.
We were getting a little hungry again and decided to head to Pizza Planet for dinner. Because I am not as familiar with MGM as I am with the other parks, we managed to walk right past Pizza Planet and ended up in the neighborhood of the big hat. This turned out to be a good thing because we ran into my sister and her family, who were also headed to Pizza Planet. We did a few minutes of “are you sure you don’t mind if we join you” and then went off to eat together.
We all got the veggie pizza combo with Mickey rice crispy treats for dessert (because we could save them for later). DH was again very happy with the amount of “free” food and we had a great dinner. I spent a few minutes feeding DD#2 while DH took DD#1 downstairs to play some of the arcade games. Now, I would have never taken the time to let DD#2 play the arcade games and this was one of the best parts of the evening for her. I made a mental note to remind myself that sometimes DH has good ideas and it was okay if we slowed down and didn’t see everything. The important thing was to allow for some unscheduled fun. I am so glad that I learned this little lesson early in the trip, because it would later serve me very well.
After dinner, we enjoyed the now dancing Osbourne lights, which we all loved (especially DD#2 who was just kicking her little feet like crazy with the music) and went back to Pop. Late nights just weren’t going to happen on this trip and we were all ok with that.
Next: Epicot, some family disharmony, and more lessons learned…