DAY 3
April 26th, 2015 - Sunday
The Worst CM Ever, and Shenanigans at Epcot!
Oh boy. Okay, time for the final tale of rudeness, the one I've been dreading telling...
So I happily made my way out of Animal Kingdom after my great morning. I got to the bus stop for Epcot, and the line had probably 20 people or so in it. I pulled up to the little area where ECVs and Wheelchairs wait, and as usual I ignored the "Oh, great" looks that some people were shooting at me as I pulled up. I'm used to it. Not worried about them.
Of course as I'm sitting there, the line grows longer. The bus finally comes, and pulls into place, letting off it's current passengers. And I'm watching the doors. Sometimes the bus driver will say something to the people waiting about needing to load the ECV guest first, then close the front door so nobody can get on. Sometimes he or she will just shut the front door after the last person gets off, then head to the back and open the back door and drop the ramp. The point being... for safety reasons, they are required to load wheelchair and ECVs onto an empty bus. That's one of the reasons we wait for the bus where we do, so the driver can see us first thing as he pulls up.
So I'm waiting for the above sequence of events... And instead, the front door just opens, and people all start climbing onto the bus.
I start to panic, and think that he didn't see me as he pulled up for some reason... even though that's impossible, really, but I was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. But since so many other people seem to think I'm invisible, maybe I was to the bus driver also, right?
So I start waving my arms over my head, hoping he'll see me in the review mirror or something. People continue getting on the bus. So now I'm STANDING up, frantically waving my arms around, imagining myself being left to sit there and wait for the next Epcot bus to come along. (I'm sure the ugly look shooters from earlier are now looking at me and thinking all kinds of ugly thoughts about how I CLEARLY don't need the scooter and am just too fat and lazy to walk.) Finally I see a guy stop at the foot of the steps and say something to the bus driver, while pointing at me. Suddenly the doors close in that guy's face, but everybody already on the bus stays on it.
Can you feel the awkwardness mounting?
So then the backdoor opens, and the bus driver is standing there lowering the ramp... and GLARING at me. At least that's what it looked like. I told myself surely that's not the case, that I'm just being over-sensitive because of how embarrassing the whole situation was. Surely, he's going to come down and apologize for not seeeing me, and then help me maneuver the ECV on up the ramp and into it's little parking spot, especially with people already on the bus causing a safety concern. Right?
So very very wrong...
He stands there, staring at me. I hesitate, and he gestures for me to move forward and says "Well come on!" I am in complete shock over what's happening, so I just do as I'm told. I get to the top of the ramp, everybody on the bus staring holes through me. Usually at this point the driver will ask me if I want to park it myself, or if I want to take out the key, have a seat and let them quickly slide the ECV into the parking spot. I always let them do it, because trying to parallel park the thing into that tight little spot on the bus is a freakin' nightmare, and takes much longer than just letting the driver do it.
Well, you can probably imagine what this ****** did. Yup. Just stared at me. So I said gently "Should I go ahead and get off, or..." and he cut me off, "No, you need to park it" and starts barking instructions at me irritably. So I'm trying to follow them, and I suppose I'm slowly making progress, but what's mostly happening is a whole lot of crashing into the seats and the walls, as I try to maneuver and squish the scooter into the spot, him barking more instructions at me "Go forward, now back, cut the wheel, no, do it again!" etc... while 20 people who didn't want me there to begin with watch me struggle and hold them all up.
It took every ounce of self-control in me not to start screaming at him in sheer frustration and humiliation. Finally I just stood up and cried out "Will you just finish this, PLEASE?!" and stumbled over to the nearest bus seat, and sat down hard. And stayed there, curled up against the metal bar beside me, and staring straight at the floor because I couldn't bear to look at anybody. So he dealt with getting the ECV it's last few inches over into the spot, stomping and slamming things as it did, making his anger clear. Finally it was secured, and he went back up front and let the rest of the people on, and off to Epcot we went.
I didn't look up the entire trip. I was too busy holding back tears.
At this point, it was 110% clear to me that he didn't overlook me at that bus stop. He was going to actually pretend not to see me, and just leave me there. We all have parts of our jobs that we hate, I get that, but you suck it up and do it because that's YOUR JOB. In this cast member's case, it was painfully obvious that he doesn't like dealing with ECVs, or the guests who need them. And when I refused to be ignored and left behind to wait for another bus, he took it out on me and humiliated me.
When we finally got there (and it felt like the longest bus ride ever), I stayed frozen in my seat while everybody else got off the bus. Then he came down and didn't say a word to me as he released the restraints holding the ECV secure, and turned it a bit for me to drive it off the ramp. While he was working, I was staring at his CM name tag. His name was Ron, but I couldn't make out where he was from. It was a very long name, wherever it was, and as I'd been blinking back tears, I just couldn't clear my eyes enough to read it. When he finally did speak, his tone was a little bit softer, but not much. He just said something like "There you go." And as I went down the ramp "Have a good day." This time it was my turn not to speak, because at that moment if I allowed anything to come out of my mouth, it would have started off by rhyming with "Duck Hue" and followed by lord only knows what other unkind words...
I know I should have figured out a way to report him. In retrospect, I wish I had, so that he won't continue treating people that way. But in that moment, I just needed as quickly as possible to put as much distance between myself and him and the whole situation, both physically and emotionally. This was NOT going to ruin my day.
Not to mention, I'm at EPCOT finally, my favorite park! And I'm on my way to lunch, where I can do what us fat girls do, and eat my feelings!
The closer I got to the entrance, the more I could feel the horror of what just happened sliding off my shoulders. I just kept looking up at Spaceship Earth and getting closer... and closer... and closer...
Until finally...
I was over it.
I was here and I was happy, and going to have a GREAT day!
The lunch I came for was calling my name, so I headed straight to the Land. It was the perfect place and perfect timing, because my silly butt had actually forgotten to charge my ECV the night before.
Total rookie mistake.
But in the Land pavilion, I know exactly where to park it to find a wall outlet that I can hook it up to. And just my luck, the spot was empty! So I pulled up, plugged it in, and then headed downstairs on foot to...
The inside of the Land is so pretty...
I walked around a little bit and peeped the menus at the different stations, but went ahead and ordered what I figured I would be having, since I'd already checked out the various menus online...
Pork Chop with BBQ Sauce (on the side), Cheddar Mashed Potatoes, and Strawberry Shortcake! (As usual, the complete review of my experience here can be found over
HERE on my Dining Report!)
I actually got to Sunshine Seasons and finished eating about half an hour earlier than I planned on, so I just hung out for a bit, people watching and Facebooking, while waiting for my first FP+ to open up... and finally, it did!
It's time to go Soarin' ya'll! It was a great flight, Patrick always CRACKS ME UP no matter how many times I've seen the video, and I was seated in the front row, almost centered. SCORE!!!!!!! I love love love loved this attraction. I think it might be my favorite overall in all of the parks, not just Epcot
If just BEING in Epcot, and a then a delicious lunch, hadn't already cheered me up, then Soarin' DEFINITELY would have! And did!
I don't know how my Minnie ears got crooked, but it amuses the crap out of me.
Then I headed back upstairs and grabbed my scooter, unplugged it, and said a silent prayer in hopes that I'd given it enough juice to get me through my late night! Onward!
I headed on over to the next thing on my agenda... The Seas! Skipping the Nemo ride and Turtle Talk this time, I had one real purpose here... A visit to my favorite plus-sized friends...
If the Animal Kingdom tigers are my land babies, then these chubby cuties are my aquatic babies.
I sat watching them for ages on this day. I was more fascinated than I ever have been before. In the 15 years I've been visiting them, they're usually just eatin' dat lettuce, hanging around, chillin' out, floatin' about, and eatin' more lettuce.
This was the first time I'd ever seen them truly ACTIVE. They were both swimming all over the place, doing flips and twirls in the water, playing chase with each other... Oh, and eatin' dat lettuce.
But it was AWESOME, and I just loved sitting there with them for so long!
Finally, I pulled myself away and headed out, as it was time for my next FP+... Spaceship Earth!
Let me tell you... It's impossible for me to ride this without it getting stuck somewhere along the way. On my last trip, it was right by the scene of Rome burning. (If I really concentrate, I can still smell it...)
Well, on this go-round...
Yep... stuck. Everytime, without fail.
From there I headed over to Test Track, and hopped on into the Single Rider line! I should have taken more photos, but this is about when I started slacking on taking pictures of anything that wasn't food.
As I exited, I took a moment to lust over all the shiny new Chevrolet cars that I can't afford.
After Test Track, it was time for my final FP+, for Mission: Space! Team Green, of course... Because Orange is just not friendly to my tummy, and ain't nobody got time for dat...
It was a successful training mission, as always!
And that concludes the first half of my Epcot visit!
Up Next... World Showcase!
Your tiger pics are awesome...such amazing creatures!
) until our boat got stuck. Then this one guy stood up and started yelling at.....whoever, to get us moving NOW b/c he had to pee. His friends found this hilarious, especially after a CM told the guy, over the loudspeaker, to please remain seated. Well we were stuck for 20 minutes and these guys kept standing up yelling stupid things, rocking the boat, and getting yelled at by the CM who eventually walked over to our boat to yell at them. DH whispered to me that he wanted to hit this one kid. I was like, "We're in Disney, you CAN'T want to HIT someone!!!!" (he does not go around hitting people BTW lol). But you know what? Disney or not....we both really wanted to hit some of them!!!
Just had to get that out!
You girls keep making me blush like crazy.
Eventually we said good night, and he went on his way, and I briefly considered running after him and forcing him to add me on Facebook or something...
Thank you so much for commenting!
you poor thing! *Virtual hugs*
