MNSSHP (ie. Halloween) ideas?

Just tossing the idea out for mulling around, and killing countdown time
(just broke the 99 day mark):

I'm thinking of getting tickets for the Mickey's Halloween party (DCA,
this time) for the first time, and...well--
I sorta regretted not dressing up for the P^3 , and thought I should at
least non-poop enough to come up with SOME kind of unobtrusive costume fun.
(Teens who never bothered to dress up for T&T, just because they wanted
free Reese's cups, always offended my sense of holiday as a kid--If
there are any treats worth tricking for, my holiday ethics insist that I
should at least try to earn them.)

This naturally brings up the various problems of etiquette, for an adult
of game-but-not-showoffy spirits, who wants to seem a good sport but not
intrude on the experience for the other guests--
Particularly for the awkward triple-strike of (A) an adult (B) traveling
solo (C) at the *west* coast DLR, which's more local-regular oriented
and may not be as open-minded about tourist image as the Floridians...
(Meaning that we get more of the dirty looks over there. 6_6 )

SO--Bearing all that in mind:
Can anyone throw out some good "general" creatively Disney-related
costume ideas for a likable early-fortysomething *male* (whose
appearance would normally seem a good match for piracy, if I remotely
happened to be a POTC fan, and whose body type would be more suited to
the lower half of Mr. Incredible, if I wasn't trying to avoid tights)?
Since I'm not driving, and walking in from the "normal" outside
sidewalks, it would have to be something outfit-oriented that I could
slip into once *inside* the park and not require any excessive makeup,
and something that a "dad" would wear for the sake of the kids and not
necessarily for too much of his own interest, that wouldn't look too
embarrassing months later in album pictures.
(Going as one of the Princes, for example, I could do in character, but
not sure I'm the right physical cast for it--Probably my closest
physical match would be to get a Hawaiian shirt, carry a sketch pad and
Genie plush, and go as animator Eric Goldberg... ;) )

Suffice to say I don't *usually* go T&T'ing unless it's some nice
enclosed group party (I can buy my own Reese's cups).
Despite all the insecurities, just wanted to see what other people's
experience brought up. ^_^

Derek Janssen
ejanss1@verizon.net

Derek-
How about dressing all in black...once you get inside the park, pull out a
cape, put in some vampire teeth and voila! (the glow-in-the-dark kind would
be great!) You are now the count! You could slick back your hair (assuming
that your early 40's head has some) If you want to take this a step
further, powder your face, and bring in some very red lipstick or a
greasepaint stick for some blood effects around your mouth.
Happy haunting!
Ellen :)

Laura Gilbreath wrote:
>
> I don't really have any suggestions, but I wouldn't worry about
> appearing "out of place" if you go to Mickey's Trick-or-Treat party in
> costume - I've gone to it every year, and always in costume, and there's
> a fair number of adults that dress in costume. Waaay too many pirates,
> but I've also seen wizards a la Harry Potter, Star Wars characters,
> Renaissance Faire-type attire, ghosts, etc. My husband went as
> Indiana Jones a couple of times, which has the advantage that you
> don't really look all that "costumed" when you're walking around
> outside the park.

I was hoping to stick to more Disney-cosplay ideas, but I never know
what's in the bottom of the closet--
There may be some old Ren-faire traces that overlap with the POTC crowd,
but that's only an emergency backup.

(As far as dressing as Disney movie-related characters, I'd already
turned down the idea of slinging a coil of rope over my shoulders,
carrying a flashlight, leatherbound journal and cardboard-framed copy of
the Declaraion of Independence, going as Benjamin Gates, and claim to be
searching for treasure that the Castle had been built fifty years ago to
cover up:
"In this diary, you can see an engraving made 200 years ago by Paul
Revere--In which there is a *tinker*, and he's clearly working on a
*bell*...Ah believe these two items may be significant, somehow..." )

Derek Janssen (too subtle?) :-D
ejanss1@vrizon.net