Shaking off the effects of the singing dolls (though Melneth may have breathed a sigh of sadness) we (well, I, since I carried it) whipped out the Ziploc-enclosed Touring Plan, which instructed us to head over to the Haunted Mansion. Head over we did, and though Melneth and I had read about CMs trying to scare you by tapping you on the shoulder when the lights go out in the elevator, none did.
Of course, I made sure to stand toward the middle of the room, which is more like a safe zone. Not that I can't handle people tapping me on my shoulder, but I have an overactive imagination, and knowing what to expect often isn't enough to stave it off. So I get a shoulder-tap in the dark and my mind shrieks "Someone's trying to kidnap, rape, and/or dismember you!
Flee!"
Yes, I too am amazed that I am able to function normally in day-to-day life.
Melneth may have sat alone for HM, but I say that only because it seems like it's been a while since she sat on anything by herself. It could've been Nevi. But I know it wasn't I since I looked to the carriage behind me during that part where you or your companion is made to be all spooky-looking, and I confirmed that the ride is not smart enough to identify single riders and adjust accordingly. Though I suppose it doesn't matter; the point is that you have a spectre sitting next to you.
But that doesn't freak me out since it's not tangible. If you've seen
Amelie and recall the scene where she's in the spook-house and the love interest-dressed-as-ghoul is going "oooh" and fondling her ear,
that would freak me out. I don't care how cute is the CM who works the HM (fun with rhyming initialisms, huzzah!); if he jumps in my carriage to fondle my ear and whisper "ooh," he's getting an immediate deck in his southern regions and Disney is getting a nasty e-mail as soon as I'm back at a computer connected to the Internet.
But none of that happened. See? Overactive imagination.
Which, considering that I'd love to support myself as a novelist, stands me in good stead. So I'm not complaining.
What
did happen is that I kept looking around for the "new" stuff and at last admitted that I didn't remember enough of the pre-refurbished ride (remember, it'd been sixteen years) to identify the newness. Alas. Weeping and gnashing of teeth.
From HM, it was time for Splash Mountain. Nevi remained adamant that, after the soaking she experienced during Kali River Rapids, she would not ride another water ride. So Melneth and I donned our ponchos and joined the queue, which, at 10 minutes, was one of our longer waits.
No, I'm not complaining about that, either. Since I haven't mentioned it in this post, I'll just say again that
The Unofficial Guide's Touring Plans rock.
With the Power of our Matching Ponchos--
Wait, that's not right. Our ponchos didn't match. But they still proved powerful enough to save Melneth and me (and yes, that is the proper use of "me"; "I" would be incorrect as the subject of the sentence is "they" and "Melneth and I" is the direct object) from getting too wet on Splash Mountain. And I never had the urge to sing
Zippity Doo Dah. Though it was a wonderful day.
We reunited with Nevi, and I suppose a nice CM at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad sensed that we had been separated, because when we revealed that we were a party of three, he waved us to the front of the queue, which placed us at the back of the train.
Bless that beneficent CM. He didn't think we were too hipular for the three of us to fit in one row. And we did. But it was tight. Very tight. So tight that we concluded God had given us hips not for the purpose of childbearing, but instead to ensure none of us would fall out on the day when the three of us were crammed together on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
Or maybe it was a "if one goes, they all go" type of deal, because I, who sat in the middle tended to drag Melneth and Nevi with me every time I slid forward.
Anyway. We didn't fall out. Nor did we ever quite forget that our hip bones were all rammed into each other. But we did enjoy ourselves. Mostly. We were wearing our Matching T-shirts, after all, which makes it difficult to not enjoy oneself.
From BTMRR we headed for Pirates of the Caribbean. I knew quite well that here I'd be able to recognize the new bits, because how can one not recognize Jack Sparrow? His presence almost made up for the soaking I (yes, only I, since I was the lone rider this time and in the back row with Nevi and Melneth in front of me) received during the small, infinitesimal drop.
I got wetter on that ride than I had on Splash Mountain. I hadn't suspected that I would require the Power of my Non-matching Poncho.
When we exited Pirates, we strolled around a bit in the shop. I think that it was at this point Nevi and I bought our mouse ears. (Pictures of which will appear during the MPPP installments.) We lingered a smidge too long, however, since Captain Jack's Pirate Tutorial had already started by the time we left.
And I had already stated that we would be watching the Tutorial.
It was so crowded with the chilluns, however, that in order to get any sort of picture of Jack, I had to hold my camera aloft, hope that it was more or less focused on something pertinent, and then take the picture. These are the best, sadly, of the lot.
My favorite is the last one. It's yet another 123, and I fear that if Captain Jack tutorials are still around by the time I have a child old enough to participate in such things, I'm going to be one of Those Mothers shoving Little Progeny forward and saying "Go on, dear, go meet Captain Jack" while smiling widely to show off my professionally whitened teeth and blinking rapidly in Jack's direction. Not fluttering my eyelashes, oh no. The sun is in my eyes. Definitely the sun.
Our Touring Plan next told us to eat lunch, but we had ADRs for Crystal Palace (and lest you get your hopes up for a character meal, we ended up canceling. Details at 10:00. Or whenever I get to that point of the trip) at a later time. So we ignored that portion of the TP. We also ignored the two steps immediately following the lunch step, which were to take the train from Frontierland to Mickey's Toon Town Fair, and then to tour Mickey's Toontown Fair. Instead we passed Go and proceeded directly to Jungle Cruise.
What can I say about JC? It was corny, as expected. And the fake animals certainly don't compare to the real ones at Kilimanjaro Safaris.
And yet I felt compelled to take pictures. But I feel compelled to post only one.
And now it was time for lunch. We did head over to Crystal Palace, but simultaneously balked at the price of the buffet. The only issue was that Eeyore would be there, and Nevi wanted to meet Eeyore. But she proclaimed that she could find him somewhere else, and so I went to stand in line to get to the desk so we could cancel our ADR and free up the table for someone else.
But then
I realized I had my cell phone and could just call the WDW-DINE number. So I did. The CM who took my cancellation thanked me for my courtesy, which made me feel all warm and fuzzy.
Maybe that warm fuzziness lasted through the long queues at Cosmic Rays (which Nevi and Melneth had decided upon whilst I was on the phone; and let me just say now that trekking across MK is much less tiresome at 26 than it was at 10. I think having longer legs helps) to get and consume my burger with apple slices, and to our return to the Castle, and that is why I'm smiling so hugely (despite the squintiness from the bright sun) in this picture:
Or maybe it's because I knew I was going to put cheesy hairy-eyebrows-large-glasses-big-nose-with-mustache stickers on my friends' faces, and that amused me.
Or maybe it's because I was wearing my Matching T-shirt and felt powerful.
Or maybe it's because I was standing in front of Cinderella's Castle in the Magic Kingdom on a bright, sunny day in Florida with my two good friends.
Yeah. That sounds about right.
And I'm sure photo-me would look even happier if I can figure out how to photoshop Miss Bra Strap out of the picture.
Oh well.
It was a bright, sunny day in the Magic Kingdom, and I stood in front of Cindy's Castle with my two of my favorite people in the world. It was a good day.
Up Next: Nancy the Safety-Conscious CM, the afternoon parade, and animatronic naptime.
They are such non-judgemental friends. There is Pooh with his eating disorder, Owl with his narcissism, Piglet with his anxiety, Rabbit with his OCD, and Eeyore with his depression -- all very accepting of each other!
3 straight years!!! You definitely deserve a Disney vacation every year!!!
Much rarer than the non-huzzahing INFJ, and of course INFJs are among the rarest personality types. So we're, like, uber-rare. 
