We made it through the rest of the ride without incident (unless you counted the kid in back of me whimpering as we passed through the burned-out pirate town—which, I didn’t) and exited back into the blinding sunshine of day.

“Not to put a damper on anyone’s plans,” I said, navigating the streets of New Orleans Square back to the main thoroughfare, “but if Pirates has security cameras, doesn’t it stand to reason that Small World will, too?”

“One step ahead of you, peanut,” Aunt Sue responded.

“We already checked.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “How did you check?”

“Hidden Mickeys dot org,” Millie piped up.

“Hidden what?”

“Hidden Mickeys. See, Walt Disney had a bunch of likenesses of Mickey Mouse hidden all over the park, and it’s a game people play to try to find them all.”

I gave her a blank stare.

“Anyway,” she said, waving me off, “this website is the foremost authority on all things Disneyland. We checked. There are no security cameras, lasers, or any other sort of devices inside the Small World ride.”

“Apparently singing dolls don’t make people frisky the way pirates do,” Aunt Sue said, elbowing me in the ribs and waggling her painted on eyebrows up and down.

“There is a rumor,” Aunt Millie went on, “that there’s some sort of guard tower hidden in the ride, and employees can watch you from up there, but it’s unsubstantiated. And besides, it’s gotta be a real pain to climb down from it. I’m thinking no one’s gonna bother for a couple of old broads dumping their Coke into the water, right?”

For all our sakes, I hoped so.

“Great. Fine. Dandy. Let’s go ride Small World then.”

“You think I could get a pair of those mouse ears while we’re here?” Aunt Sue asked, watching a little girl in pink ones walk past. “I want my name embroidered on the back in gold.”

“I’m hungry,” Aunt Millie said, eyeing the Bengal Barbecue down the walkway.

I looked from her three-inch bifocals to the restaurant. “How can you even see that? It’s like fifty yards away?”

She gave me a blank stare.

“No, no stops. We’re on a mission,” I said, shaking my head.

“But I’m hungry,” she moaned. “My doctor says I have to be very careful about keeping my blood sugar levels even.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “And Sue has to take her heart medication. She can’t do that on an empty stomach.” Millie’s magnified eyes blinked innocently up at me.

I threw my hands up. “Fine! We’ll go eat.”

“Oh,” Aunt Sue piped up, “and after we eat, can we get mouse ears? I’d love some with my name embroidered in gold.”