The next meet we wanted to do was Belle in France, but she wouldn't come out until 12 and it was only just after 11. However, Winnie The Pooh was due to come out at 11:30, and even though we'd already seem him in Magic Kingdom and didn't need his autograph anymore, Myla looooves Pooh and friends, as most 3 year olds do I think, and we had the time for it, so we suggested it to her and she was all for it! He meets at the very back of the UK pavilion, in the back of the Toy Soldier shop, but the entrance to meet is outside, you step into Christopher Robin's bedroom to meet him, and then you exit through the shop. It's a really cute and well done setup, but it lead to a bit of a hilarious situation. There was a CM who went into Christopher Robin's bedroom about 10 minutes before Pooh was due to come out - she opened the door with a key, did some stuff inside, and then disappeared backstage again. When she came back with Pooh a few minutes later, she tried to open the door and realized it had locked again. She then patted all her pockets for her keys, realizing she must have left them inside! We were all laughing alongside her, as she apologized for being so silly this morning. The CM tried knocking the door a few times to get a collegue to let her and Winnie The Pooh in, but no one must have heard her inside, and eventually she had to walk the long way around to the main shop entrance, to open the door from the inside and let us all in. Winnie The Pooh was left standing beside us and the few other families in the queue this whole time, but he was making very funny 'oh no' and 'oh well' gestures, which were making Myla and the other little kids laugh. Myla still talks about it to this day, how Winnie The Pooh forgot his keys and couldn't get inside!
Second story about this queue - the 15 minutes we waited there, we kind of realized for the first time how much the coronavirus pandemic was starting to intrude. We were standing chatting to a few other people - one single lady from Washington DC and another family with 2 young kids from New Jersey about the virus. They were asking us about being from Europe, were we not scared going home etc (ironic in retrospect, as the US is now worse hit than Europe was), and when it came up that we were flying back with a stop in Washington DC, the single lady told us her son was with the United States Army and stationed in DC, and he'd actually sent her a text this morning, telling her to stay in Florida longer and not come back - apparently he'd said the situation in DC was pretty bad, worse than they showed on TV but they were trying to keep it under wraps a bit so people wouldn't panic.
From then on, it seemed everywhere around us, this was now the main topic of conversation, and it was ever harder to hang on to that Disney bubble feel where the outside big bad world doesn't exist! Anyway - back to meeting Winnie The Pooh. Once the CM had unlocked the door, we were straight in, and Winnie was just lovely as always. I've always had a soft spot for him as my mom used to read me the books as a child, and Myla's nursery was decorated entirely in Winnie The Pooh when she was a baby - we read Winnie books nearly every night. So it's always extra lovely to meet and hug him! She gave him a cheeky kiss at the end, which Winnie The Pooh acted all shy and over the moon with haha.
We had a little browse in the Toy Soldier shop - Myla immediately picked up these stuffed animals before being reminded she already has these at home so no chance!
I loved the Peter Pan stuff but we kind of decided to come back and maybe get something later - rookie mistake, as we never made it back here.
Michael also found this cushion, which he said was the personification of him. Totally would have bought that if it fitted in the suitcase!
So after a lovely hour, we left the UK pavilion and walked on to France - it was roasting in the sun now, and we were all looking forward to some pool time later.
There was 1 family already there where we thought the meet was supposed to be, and after checking that that's what they were there for too, we joined in behind them. I love the view from here, across the water to the International Gateway, and Myla and I spent the 10 minutes waiting for Belle to come out watching the Skyliner, shouting out any characters we saw on the wrapped carriages.
Belle was out at 12 exactly and we met her at 12:02. She was super nice and very impressed with Myla's 'big book', and even leafed through it, Myla loved that Belle loved her book!
After plenty of hugs and another autograph ticked off the list, we headed on in search for food. It was lunch time - Myla was hot, hungry, and tired, which any parent will tell you is not a good combo! She wanted to meet Donald now, but we put our foot down and said no - we needed to get lunch, and we wanted to go swimming, and we'd meet Donald tomorrow. She started kicking up at that, so I tried to cheer her up by treating her to a chocolate crepe from the little kiosk in France.
Myla was super happy with that - but the crepe was absolutely roasting hot when we got it, there was no way she could have eaten it. It was also very warm outside and we wanted to sit inside with some airconditioning. I decided that we should head to the Land pavilion - I fancied another vegan chicken korma, and there's usually plenty of seats in there. But I kind of overestimated the length of the walk, and even though we walked quickly, the crepe had gone dry, stale, and cold by the time we sat down. Michael sat down with Myla right away while I went to order food (he wasn't hungry yet on account of the wrap he'd had at 10:30), so when I came back with my Korma, Myla was crying. She didn't like the wrap and didn't want to eat it, and Michael was annoyed because we'd just wasted $6 and he felt Myla was being too picky. I told him to take her to pick something else (so I could sit and eat before my food got cold), but of course, because he had just told her off, she didn't want to go with him. I tried to be firm and told her she could either go with him and get something now, or else she would have to wait until I was done, and then I'd go with her.
Neither of those options appealed to her, so she turned the volume up and started absolutely whaling. In the middle of the Land pavilion. I know it's often noisy in there, but oh boy - it was definitely noiser than normal now! Michael decided that was too much screaming for an indoor place (poor people at the tables around us), and decided to take her outside while I rushed throwing my (lovely) meal down me.
When I caught up to them outside 10 minutes later, she was still crying, though not screaming as much. Michael had put her in the stroller and was really annoyed at her behavior - he finds it harder to realize that she's only 3 and you need to cut her some slack for being hungry and tired and hot. The long playground session this morning had been fun, but it also took its toll on her energy levels!
We'd planned on going back to OKW anyway so we headed for the bus as planned. Myla was still crying and acting like she was inconsolable for not meeting Donald. She crawled on my lap in the empty bus, and actually promptly fell asleep mid-crying.
Good, that's just what she needed! She stayed asleep on my lap the whole way home, and then Michael took over and carried her to the room where she slept in her own bed for another 90 minutes for a total of nearly 2 hours while I finished work and Michael chilled.
She finally woke up in a much better mood at 2:45, and after 2 peanut butter sandwiches and a whole apple, we headed to the pool just after 3.
She had a quick swim with Michael, then played for a while in the playground, and then headed back into the pool again - she was having the best time, and so were we, alternating with relaxing and playing with her.
