Time for me to continue my new modus operandi - more trips, shorter trips! I was just in WDW in December for the Christmas stuff, and I will be again in April for the Flower & Garden Festival (or what my favorite bartender in the World calls the Flower and Wine Festival!). So now it's time for my just-normal-WDW trip. With my work schedule of Sunday through Thursday, I thought that a Thursday through Sunday trip worked pretty well last time, so I tried it again. I'd love to stay longer, but again, I want to budget my limited time off and get the most trips in this year. We'll see how it works out.
I booked my flight with American out of Dallas, and this time that was a big problem. Even though I booked 2 months ago, they didn't assign any seat for me. I was repeatedly told that they'd have to assign my seat at the airport on the day of the flight, which really stressed me out. At the airport I couldn't even get a seat through the check-in kiosk, but was told to go to the gate to get my seat. There they put me in a window seat which turned out to have a food service bulkhead right in front of it, meaning no leg room at all. The flight itself was about 2 hours late cuz of a weather delay, which stinks but just one of those things. The guy sitting next to me on the plane had some kind of ADD - couldn't sit still, kept turning around, kept reaching for a magazine and putting it back over and over, etc. He finally settled in with a video game, which let me get about 30 minutes of rest. All in all, a very sucky way to start the trip.
Suitcase came out pretty quickly, great rental car from Dollar with absolutely no wait at the counter, and I was on my way. I was staying at the Coronado Springs Resort this time, my all time favorite moderate. No line at check-in, and they had my room in the Casitas ready. It was a bit further away than I was used to, but I had a great room with a beautiful water view (have I mentioned that this is my all time favorite moderate?).
First stop was, like always, Epcot!
I did my normal first ride on Spaceship Earth (why can't they get the green steam engine working???). I usually do a few more things like head up to the American Adventure for a Voices of Liberty show, but with the flight delays it was already time for dinner at the new Mouisseur Paul. 
To be honest, I didn't notice that much of a difference - no table cloths, and the waiters were in shirts and aprons instead of tuxes. I had an odd preparation of escargot with a pastry over and under it, and covered in some type of green sauce (sorry to be so vague, but I didn't really know what I was eating!). It was good, but hard to eat till I figgered out how those pastries worked. Then I had the filet with a mushroom patty on top, and some really creamy mashed potatoes that were so creamy you had to eat 'em with a little spoon.
Dessert was a warm chocolate cake with a pecan ice cream - just right!
After dinner I had time for a nice glass of pouilly fuisse from the kiosk in France, and then it was on to the Rose & Crown for some serious martinis. Gavan, my favorite bartender, was there, and took great care of me. I usually have a martini or 3 before getting up to sing with Pam Brody, but she jumped right on me as soon as I arrived, saying there were some ladies from Ireland who needed to hear some Irish music. So after a sip or 2 of my excellent vodka/frangelico martini I headed for the piano and belted out a rousing rendition of Danny Boy. Good crowd, and surprisingly, lack of inebriation made for a much better musical performance - we KILLED!!
And then came the drunks (how DARE they let drunk people into a pub!), who had pushed their way into my position at the bar while I was singing. I asked one of them, nicely, if I could have my spot back. He then told me that I could have it back in "TWENTY MINUTES", spraying generously in my face. Never argue with a drunk, I say, so I just moved on down and waited till he wandered off in 5 minutes or so. Still an excellent pub visit, followed by IllumiNations and my oft imitated but never duplicated cigar walk counter clockwise around the World Showcase Lagoon. A really excellent start to this trip!
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Springtime In The World - February 2013
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