I can see your questions have been answered but wanted to add my two bobs worth in too as we've just got back
Re the meets - it took me 3 goes to meet Marie. They alternate every 30 minutes and it's a very, very slow moving queue. My advice is to join when the opposite character is there. EG if you want to see Marie, then join when Pooh is there. The CM's were very good about telling you how long the characters had left before changing. I also noticed that the timings were not adhered to exactly as per the schedule. For Marie and Pooh it said it ended at 15.30 yesterday. I got in line at 15.15 and asked when Pooh would finish and she told me Marie would be out at 15.30 and then Pooh would be back again at 16.00. There were also some people in the queue who stood to the side and let others go in front to meet Pooh, so that they could wait for Marie to come out.
Goofy was better as he was there the whole time (obviously with changes). If you really want to see Jack then I'd suggest being at the meet area for 10.30 which is when the schedule says it opens. There will be others there, but at least you won't have the build up of the day.
We didn't watch the promenade, but did catch Maleficent's Court. It was of course a scrum. The characters all stand around the bramble (not sure if that's the right name) in a circle. I think the idea is that no matter where you are standing there will be a character nearby, but everyone just pushed in. I took some photos but we really were not bothered about meeting anyone.
The Harvest Halloween parade was fantastic
We picked our usual spot just outside Bella Note, near Small World. Once it passes you can nip into Fantasyland the back way to get on some rides.
Hope you have a great day out
