The boat is a better option, because the bus will drop you at the Outpost, then you'll have to take an internal bus to Pioneer Hall. The boat lets you off very close to Pioneer Hall and will be much quicker than the bus.
Actually the bus from WL drops off at Settlement, about the same distance from T.E. as the boat dock. In the AM(before 3pm) the boat route will be WL,CR,FW,WL after 3pm it will be WL,FW,CR,WL.
So all other things being equal(waiting for the bus/boat) the boat and bus will be about the same getting to T.E., the bus would be faster going home.
The bus is part of the internal bus system, it is actually the Orange one. So it also makes a very easy trip from WL to the campfire show.
The route(starting at WL) would be something like this....WL to Settelment, to 600/800 loop(campfire show), to 900/1000 (also Meadows Trading Post, walkway to pool), to 1100/1200 & 1300, then to Outpost, then back to 1100 and so on all the way back to WL. The buses(usually 2) make this loop from 7am to 2am everyday.