We headed out to our bus stop and left Magic Kingdom. We had fastpasses for Wishes and Festival of Fantasy on another day so we decided it was time to go back to the hotel.
Our trip back to the Lodge was quick and uneventful. Soon we were inside grabbing drinks at Roaring Forks and getting ready for our evening out.
I have this photo from that time period but I'm not sure why I took it. =)
This next story is one of the times that we experienced some frustration due to the
scooter and rude bus drivers. There were two times that really upset mom. This one made me downright angry so skip if you want a happy story. Once we were all ready we headed down to the bus stop and oh my goodness the line!!! Upon closer inspection, I realized that ALL these people were indeed heading to Downtown Disney just like us. I told mom that we would just wait for the next bus. She agreed but did not realize that I meant we would just hang out over here away from the pickup point so she began scooting over to her "box" on the ground to wait. Along the way I could hear the people grumbling and complaining about how they had been in line for 30, 45, even one hour and here we were going to just get on before them. We had no intentions of doing that but I totally understood their frustrations because they didn't know what we were going to do and honestly that's how bus stops work. Within 10-15 minutes a bus showed up. Immediately the bus driver went to the ramp door and opened it up. We got his attention ahead of time and told him politely that we were going to wait for the next bus as we had only just walked up. For the purposes of this story, I will say that he was not the same race as us. He immediately began fussing LOUDLY (almost to the point of hollering), "WHAT?! You don't want to ride my bus? Just get on the bus!! Sure, fine, do whatever you want!" It was by far the rudest thing a bus driver has ever said to us. Mom was traumatized. We felt like he thought we were racist because we wouldn't get on the bus. Well let me tell you, after he closed that door and headed back to the front of the bus fussing away, people in the line began to thank us and to come over to tell us how much they appreciated it. We did it because it was the right thing to do and because so many times we are the family waiting in the long line. The bus driver should have NEVER reacted like that. Now, before you ask, no I didn't report him because honestly I never saw his name. We didn't get close enough to read it and we didn't ride the bus so I never caught it but it was an awful experience all the same.
ANYWAYS, a lot of people in the line never made it on that empty bus (that's how long the line was) so we felt better about getting on the next bus which pulled up just as the first one was leaving. We hopped on and were off to DTD.
Our first requirement of going to DTD was to eat at Wolfgang Puck Express. The line was the longest I've ever seen it but honestly we only waited about 15 minutes to place an order. When I went inside the building to order with hubby, mom pulled around and went in the exit to sit at a table. This restaurant is not very scooter friendly so I'm thankful that she could walk some. Dinner was delicious as usual!
I tried the bacon wrapped meatloaf on this trip. While I did enjoy it, I rather the rotisserie chicken.
Their cheesecake is heavenly!! I love WPE and always enjoy eating there!
After eating we went around looking at shops through DTD. The boys were itching to spend money so we visited the toy store.
They enjoy looking for video games in Once Upon A Toy. I know that's not a typical Disney souvenir but it's what they like.
However, on this day we didn't find anything worth buying so we headed out but first....
....a picture of Donald for DS2.
We also visited the new Marketplace but I have no pictures to prove it. =( After that we left and were home in time to watch the electrical boat parade. Mom was cold and decided to grab some hot chocolate and stay inside. We took the kids, our coats, and went out to the boat dock. It was cold. It was windy. It was worth it!
Here are three short videos from the parade. You can hear the wind in it. You can also hear me say, "I don't even know where our kids are." Before you call child protection on me, they were on the deck somewhere.......
And with that, we headed up to our room. Tomorrow was Epcot and a meal at a new restaurant for us. Thanks for reading along!