Day 7 - Part 8
The hidden meaning of the title for this chapter (which wasnt all that hidden) should now be apparent since Ive included some capital letters. Tonight, its dinner for 3 at The Wave.
After our little indoor Kidani safari, we came back to our suite and started getting dressed for dinner. Well, those of us whod be going, which was me, Judy, and DSiL. The kids would be staying here and having a frozen pizza for dinner. We got the pizza started and then began looking through the kitchen cupboards for a hot mitt, so everythingd be ready to go for Lauren once the pizza was done. No hot mitt could be found, so we called for a replacement. As soon as that was delivered, we (Judy, DSiL, and I) left for the bus stop. Our ADR at The Wave was for 6:45, and we made it to the Kidani bus stop at 5:55. I had wanted to allow an hour of travel time, but the whole hot mitt thing put us behind schedule. We had to wait about 10 minutes for a bus, but I think the stop at Jambo House was relatively quick, so were soon on our way. Once we got going, DSiL said, Thanks for letting me tag along on your date night . We said, Oh, no problem, and it really was no problem, but I was a little shocked that she said that and called it our date night. I guess I shouldnt be
duh, before she joined us it was going to be just the two of us going out to dinner, sans kids. That kind of looks and smells like a date night. But I guess I was shocked because I had been very careful not to call it a date night when we were comparing schedules to try to find a time that she could visit us. I didnt want her to feel like she was intruding.
Anyway, when the bus dropped us off at the Magic Kingdom, we debated on whether to hoof it or monorail it over to the Contemporary. The ladies didnt feel like walking (but isnt it about the same distance from the bus drop-off to the monorail station or to the Contemporary?), so we took the monorail. We boarded, and who did we see in our same car? Judys PChef director, who we had dinner with at Boma the night before. They were on their way to eat at California Grill. I took this picture on the monorail at 6:45, which was also our ADR time, so obviously we were going to be a tad late.
Once we arrived at the Contemporary it took a little searching for us to find The Wave. I really dont know my way around the Contemporary very well at all. I think the only time Id been in it before this occasion was in 2009 when we went to the DVC presentation and got a tour of Bay Lake Tower. After a couple of escalator rides, we found the entrance to The Wave at 6:50 -- only 5 minutes late.
My notes say that we waited 10 minutes to be seated, but it seems like it was longer. We sat in this funkily-lit area across from the check-in podium.
We were seated and our server was Tiffany. I meant to ask for the server that Jenbear recommended, but at that point, I just wanted to eat. After our drink orders were taken, Tiffany brought us some bread. I remember it being pretty good, but my favorite is still the bread at Kona Café, easily.
I had to get a picture of the dining room. I hoped I didnt creep anybody out. By taking a picture, I mean. Hopefully, I dont creep anybody out by just being there. Hey, people Ive had DIS-meets with feel free to chime in here. As long as the news is good. Hello? Anyone?
I think my SiL may have skipped an appetizer, but Judy and I got this: The Wave Appetizer for Two. I had to look at the menu on allears.net to refresh my memory, but on the left are sautéed sea scallops and on the right are lump crab Florida rock shrimp cakes.
Judy loved the scallops, which have to be cooked just so
not overcooked, not undercooked. She declared these to be perfect!
I dont remember what I ordered, and I think the menu on allears.net has been updated since my trip, but whatever it was I ordered, its not what arrived. I think I ordered a less-expensive cut of beef, but the filet arrived.
Judy asked, Didnt you order something else? I said, yeah, but this is fine. Hey, Im not hard to please. Plus, by this time it was going on 8 oclock and had been a long time since Id eaten that sandwich for lunch, sitting in the auto showroom at Test Track. (Remember that? James waving his sandwich around saying, Are we allowed to eat in here?) Although I think I had eaten a few leftovers from Whispering Canyon in the suite after Marlene and I got back from our World Showcase tour.
Judys entrée, Todays Sustainable Fish. Her sister also got the fish dish. I dont remember what kind of fish it was, other than the tasty kind.
They both liked the fish, but they absolutely raved about the veggies and sauce. It looks like the menu is now calling that edamame stew.
Overall, The Wave was a fine meal, but considering the expense it didnt blow us away. I wont feel like Im missing anything when I move on to try a different restaurant for our next date night in Disney.
We paid-up, packed-up, and made our exit at 8:30. I took a much better focused picture of the sign as we left.
After dinner, I wanted to take care of a never done, and that was visit the Boardwalk. We walked over to the Magic Kingdom bus stop, more like a depot, and found a Boardwalk/Swan/Dolphin bus. We boarded, sat down, and the driver announced to the bus: Were just waiting for a relief driver. Oh no. After a few minutes, the new guy showed up and he was S-L-O-W. As in molasses in January, in a much different climate than Florida. And of course, he had to load a
scooter. The former driver offered to help him with the scooter (can you hear me imploring Yes! Yes!), but he declined.
The former driver tipped his hat and skipped off, happy to be done with his shift.
When we were underway, the new driver drove to the Swan, and nobody got off, but we loaded some more people. Then we drove to the Dolphin. There were lots more people waiting, like a whole mob. Theyd been waiting a long time and were not happy. The driver let a few people get off before he let anybody else on, but he forgot he had to unload the scooter hed loaded at the Magic Kingdom. The lady traveling with the poor guy in the scooter had to go around to the front door to tell him. When he finally got around to loading the mob that was waiting to board the bus, he asked everyone on the bus to squeeze back. But the people in the back yelled to him theres another Magic Kingdom bus behind you! (Numbskull! That went unspoken, but it definitely hung there in the air.) I said under my breath, Youre about to get lapped, dude.
Then he finally started driving again and we arrived at our next stop, which should have been the Boardwalk. He stopped, but made no announcement as to where we were. I tried to look out the windows, but with it being dark outside and having the lights on inside the bus I couldnt make out what I was seeing. Or, not seeing as the case may have been. I asked another rider if this was the Boardwalk, and he said yes, so we got off. We walked into the building in front of us, and once inside I realized that it was the Yacht Club! Are you serious?!
I was rather annoyed with the driver, but at least I knew we could walk to the Boardwalk from there. On our walk, we were passed by other people whod been on the bus with us and they were fuming. One guy sounded like Yosemite Sam, with all the ricken racken unintelligible cursing and smoke coming from his ears.
I took this picture of the Boardwalk on our walk over and the timestamp on it is 9:49, nearly an hour and a half after wed left the Contemporary.
We walked past the DVC model of the Boardwalk villas and decided to look through it before they closed at 10. The model looked very nice. I wouldnt mind staying there someday.
We went back out and walked a little further and saw a juggler who was entertaining the crowd. Although you cant tell from this picture since his juggling pins arent in the air. Maybe he was just parking an airplane?
We didnt watch for very long, since the ladies were getting tired and wanted to get back, so we started making our way to find the Boardwalk bus stop. (The
actual Boardwalk bus stop this time.)
One more Boardwalk picture.
We literally only spent about 15 minutes walking along the Boardwalk and then out to the bus stop. We called the kids, and they were doing fine. Theyd been to the pool and were now back in the suite.
Heres the Boardwalk sign as seen from the bus stop. This is what I
should have seen as we pulled up to the supposed Boardwalk stop earlier.
A Magic Kingdom bus was the first to arrive and we debated on taking it rather than waiting for a Downtown Disney bus, but the driver said that his next stops were the Swan and then the Dolphin, so the last guy should have stopped here first! We passed on that bus and got on a Downtown Disney bus a minute or two later. At Downtown Disney, we caught an Animal Kingdom Lodge bus pretty quickly, but it was FREEZING. The A/C was cranked and we were all shivering. When the driver arrived at the West Side of Downtown Disney, he announced that a relief driver would be taking us the rest of the way. Are you kidding me?!
The new driver walked around the bus and kicked the tires, wrote on his clipboard, adjusted the mirrors, and who-knows-what-else, and after about 10 more minutes we were finally on our way again, with the wonderful feeling that the next stop was our last!
We got home (I love calling Kidani home) a little after 11, said goodbye to SiL and DN, and hit the hay. Another day in Disney was done.
Up next: Epcot do over
Link to next chapter
I think we are getting close to that already with Jenna at age 10.
Good one! Hey, it's good to hear that it's a Romance language!
I just stood there and took a bunch of pictures, scanning the horizon. First, sky and roofs, then buildings, then trees and savanna, and finally the ground. Then, I let the software do the rest in stitching them together. It was that difficult. 
And then to encounter another bus driver change on the way back to AKL? I'm thinking that I like taking cabs more and more now!
I'm one of those who depending on my mood would have been fuming! 
. We love Boma so much, that we always go there, but we have to get to Jiko sometime.
