We decided to take things slightly easier today by swimming, but started with breakfast at the usual time. I used the robe and slippers from my room, and we asked the concierge for kids's robes for the two eldest children. I took the children down to the pool, while my mother stayed in the room. We didn't need to show ID at the pool reception, and they gave us each a towel. The changing room was very nice, and had showers and two saunas, as well as the usual amenities. They had a bathing suit drier in the hall between the changing rooms. You have to cross a fairly cool hall from the changing rooms to the pool, which isn't ideal. I'm not a very good swimmer, and P and I decided the main pool wasn't warm enough to play in. It was fine for the older ones. As there was a lifeguard on duty, I didn't want him to question my letting them be in the pool by themselves, so I set them to doing 10 laps each, so he could see that they have no trouble in the water. P and I went into the jaccuzzi, which was very nice, although gentler than I'm used to. When we were ready to leave, the lifeguard came over and told me, politely, that I shouldn't have had the children in there because of the high chlorine levels. He had refrained from telling me earlier, as he had seen that I was on my own. I had seen a sign that said no 0-12 in symbols, but I thought that meant 0-12 months. I apologized, and the children and I went to shower. So a word of warning don't take your children to the jaccuzzi.
This leisurely start meant that it was after 10 by the time we got into DLP. There were much more decorations than earlier in the week, and characters were doing meet and greets in Halloween costume. Then I realized that I'd left my phone at the hotel, which was annoying, due to the long walk. I took the exit on the far right, and right behind it notice a door to my building with a keycard slot. I tried my card, and presto! Instead of the 5-minute walk, I was in my room in about a minute, and back in the park shortly after. I still had to go through the busy main entrance to the park, but this was a vast improvement.
We caught the end of the villain's promenade, and realizing that we hadn't done much shopping so far on this holiday, we decided to do the Main Street shops properly, and have our purchases sent back. This was fun, but it was strange not to be taking the time to go on rides. By the time we came out, it was getting close for Mickey's Halloween parade. Strangely enough, nobody seemed to be waiting for it, so we were able to stake out a good place on the sidewalk, and check with an employee that it was actually going to be happening. It didn't end up happening at the scheduled time, but about 20 minutes later, but we had a great spot. Typically, some people who turned up at the last minute decided to try to stand in front of my children and take photos, but I told them to move. A couple of others got in my way, so I just stuck out my elbows to keep my personal space intact. We had been waiting for 30 minutes, after all. It was a fun parade, and the children really enjoyed it.
After this, we decided to go to Maleficent's Court, and see what was happening there. We saw the dragon on the way. It was open again, and this time was spewing smoke, which was good. At the Court, several of the characters were standing around the thorn bush, and there was no organized line to see them. Maleficent herself was picking the children to come to her. I had to laugh when she picked a child dressed in the Maleficent costume and she said "You should all be wearing this!" There were also CMs handing out bags of Haribo candies to children.
Tempers were starting to get frayed, and it was clear that we were all tired from the past few days' walking and lack of time on attractions so far, so my mother took the children on to the Tea Cups.
Then there was no denying that it was lunch time and we went to Fuente del Oro. P had been eating virtually nothing so far on this holiday, so it wasn't worth buying him a separate meal, so we ordered two kids meals and two adult meals, and shared food with him. Service was fairly slow, and the CMs forgot to give us our side salads, which was a bit annoying but there was no point in trying to go sort it out. The food was OK, but only as a change from the usual other food. I don't think I'll return.
Finally it was time to get going. D really wanted to go to Phantom Manor, so he and I went and did that, while my mother went off with the other two children. D really enjoyed it again. We then went to Big Thunder Mountain, which supposedly had a 5-minute wait, but it took more like 15 minutes. We were both nervous, but had a fun time, and promised to go back.
We then went to Pirates of the Caribbean, did a bit more shopping, and D&E and I took the ride. It was fun, but the drops were very gentle. I seem to remember that there is only one drop at WDW, and that it's steeper. We had a good time, though, although D wasn't completely convinced. My mother had bought popcorn in the shop, and when I pointed out that it was sweet popcorn she tried to return it and exchange it for salted, and they refused, claiming that the bar code wasn't the same. If I hadn't been as tired as I was, I would have gone and sorted them out. Of course they have to take goods back with a receipt!
We went to Fantasyland, and did the Maze again, as well as the Tea Cups and the Carousel. We decided everybody needed a tea break, but I was having trouble finding a place to use the vouchers at the top end of Fantasyland, so we went to Toad Hall. Service was fairly slow, but mostly due to guests not knowing how to use their PG vouchers. According to the menu, they offered brioches or fruit cake, so I was surprised when I was asked if I wanted ice cream. I said no, which was a bad move. I had the fruit cake, which was fine, but the brioches were microwaved while I waited, and done so poorly. I went off in search of some salted popcorn and cotton candy for my tired children.
Next we went on Casey Jr., which we all enjoyed, especially P, then the Storyland boats, which was also fun. When we came back to our stroller, we discovered that someone had taken the salted popcorn, but left the sweet popcorn and the cotton candy. Leaving them there had been a calculated risk, but I wish they had taken the sweet popcorn instead. Next, P, E and my mother went on Dumbo, which P really loved. They then returned to the hotel, while E and D I and wanted to see the dragon first, and stop by a shop and buy my mother a gift, as well as some fudge for the group.
We returned briefly to the hotel, then headed to the Village, for our booking at Café Mickey at 19:00. We were placed in the lean-to, but we've sat there before, and didn't feel like we missed out on anything. Goofy came by almost immediately, followed by Minnie, Pluto and Mickey. They were the only characters throughout our meal, and came by our table about 3 times. I'm very careful with how I order, so my meal was fine. A bruschetta and mozzarella starter, and the seafood linguine as my main. I didn't like the Mickey cupcake I had for dessert, and only had a few bites. The chocolate case was fine. My mother's starter was fine, but she had the steak as her main, and it was unevenly cooked, and very dry and chewy in parts (she ordered it cooked medium). She had the coffee and small desserts after. We paid with our vouchers, and they really should have not taken all of them, but the restaurant did, charging Disney EUR200 for a EUR140 meal. Not a problem for us, but I was glad not to be paying such prices for a mediocre meal and so few characters. If I want character interaction, I'll be sticking with Inventions next time.
We ended the evening with a quick stop at the
Lego Store, where my son decided to buy the Eiffel Tower Lego set. Then we returned to the hotel, and stopped by the shop to pick up our purchases. After that, we all collapsed again, and fell into a deep slumber, too tired to pack for the next day's departure.
It makes me wonder how I will get everything done in our short (2 nights) very busy half term visit 
I think we'll need to prioritise 
