Lesson learned: When visiting a theme park as a single parent with young children, your great power as a decision-maker and tie-breaker is taken from you the moment you walk through the gate. You are, from that moment on, merely part of a collective. When there is a decision to be made, it must be brought before the collective. If all members of the collective do not agree on a particular decision, then no member of the collective may enjoy the benefits of that decision.

If one member of the collective decides that Pirates of the Caribbean is too scary, the collective does not go on Pirates of the Caribbean. If one member of the collective decides that The Haunted Mansion is too scary (even though it is in its less-threatening The Nightmare Before Christmas mode), the collective does not go on The Haunted Mansion. When you are part of a collective, you tend to go on it’s a small world quite a bit.