Wednesday, July 16, 2008
When I last left you, we were just departing the Magic Kingdom in order to go see some more fun. Our destination--Downtown Disney.
We decided, instead of going back to the TTC and trying to drive to DTD on our own in the rain, we just headed over to the resort busses (yes, we abused the Disney system). Where to go…where to go? Hmmm… We thought about heading to POP (Grumpy said that it would make for some cool pictures) but as soon as I saw the sign for Caribbean Beach Resort, I pulled Grumpy and Sleepy along to the stop. They’d stayed there on their anniversary back in 2002. We were in luck—the bus arrived just as we got in line. Woo-hoo!
And we were off to CBR! The bus ride was nice—I could get used to this.
There was only two other families on there with us, one at the front of the bus and the other right across from me. The families (there were actually two, but the mom’s were sisters) had the cutest little kids. They had a three or four year old who apparently was very hungry because she ate about six Fruit Roll-Ups. And the boy had a meltdown about ripping his map (it’s funny the peculiar things you remember half a year later). We got off at the first stop—Martinique.
Grumpy and Sleepy were happy to be back.
Come on, say it with me…eeeeeewwwwww…
A few Disney busses came for the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Animal Kingdom… Not ours.
So we took some pictures of the signs (sorry it’s sideways).
Then some more busses—Blizzard Beach, two for Magic Kingdom, another EPCOT, and one in training.
Lalalala…. Oh, more busses. Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, EPCOT, Magic Kingdom, Training, Hollywood Studios, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios (not necessarily in that order).
By this time, a few other families had showed up, three of whom were heading to DTD. One family with little girls had the last reservation of the day at Bibbity Bobbidy Boutique and another had reservations at some restaurant and hoped to get into the Adventurer’s Club that night (may it rest in peace, the announcement for the closing had come the day before…very few at Disney knew
). I forget where the other family had headed to. Finally, someone called the front desk to make sure that a bus was on it’s way pronto because everyone had been there for at least 20 minutes (we’d been there for 45). And soon enough, one very crowded Downtown Disney bus was there. We crowded onto the bus—standing room only and were finally off. Of course, what we failed to realize was there were, what, seven more stops before heading to DTD.
We got off the hot bus at the Marketplace (of course, we didn’t really know the difference was at this time).
Ta-da!
Our first stop was the Scrapbooking/ Art store (I know it has a name but I don’t have the receipts on me). We considered some cool scrapbooking supplies and I picked up a bunch of postcards so I could send them off the next day. The line in the scrapbook store was huge, so I was smart and went to the connected art store and didn’t have to wait at all.
Next stop…Goofy’s Candy Co. This was a pretty cool store. We picked up some Mickey head pretzels and candy bars for some of the folks back home then I got chocolate covered marshmallows on a straw (yum) and the last pink hot chocolate for one of my teachers. While Sleepy and I did this, Grumpy went to go check the wait for the Rainforest Café. Two and a half hours. No thank you.
After escaping the store, we went to Once Upon a Toy (I think…) and I met one of my friends.
Nothing we really wanted so we headed to the poor excuse for a discount store in the back. Does Disney think that just because some people like deal hunting we should be stuck in a humid, claustrophobic room with only one fan twisting around slowly? Needless to say, we got out of there soon. Then Sleepy met some of her friends.
We were all a bit hungry, so we headed over to Wolfgang & Pucks Express. The line was out the door but we joined it anyway. It only took a little while to get to the front. I don’t remember what everyone else ordered, but I know I got the four cheese macaroni. It took a while to get our food but it was amazing. And no, I’m a bad DISer…no pictures.
When we finished, we headed out and were flagged down by one of those eager questionnaire people. This guy was probably about 20 or 25 and looked like a grown, overeager Boy Scout. Grumpy decided to accept his offer of taking a survey.
“How would you describe your experience at Walt Disney World? Excellent, Very Good, Good, Pleasant, or Unpleasant?”
“Almost excellent.”
“And how about your experience at Downtown Disney?”
“Good.”
“And your meal?”
“Very good.”
“Your overall Disney experience?”
“Very good.”
“Now lets go onto your accommodations. How would you best describe them…?”
“Dump!”
This was Sleepy. She spoke before he gave us options and Grumpy, Sleepy, and I all busted our guts. The overgrown Boy Scout just looked at us with that Disney smile plastered on his face until we had finished. It took us a while.
“Would they be best described as Apartment, Condo, Deluxe, Moderate, Hotel, or Motel?”
“Uh…motel.”
Up Next:
RUN!