When Marge notices Homer squinting and sitting only a few inches away from the television, she encourages him to have his eyes checked at the optometrist store at the mall. While Homer is with the doctor, Marge and Lisa go shopping for items Bart will need for his upcoming camping trip. With nothing else to do, a mischievous Bart changes the letters on Homer’s eye chart, prompting Homer to strangle him.

Later, when Homer cannot make up his mind about which pair of eyeglasses he would like, the optometrist suggests laser eye surgery. Meanwhile, Marge and Lisa finish shopping for camping supplies and decide to take in an Argentinean movie about a sexy tango dancer named Eduardo. When the film ends, Marge and Lisa encounter the actor who portrayed Eduardo outside the theater. Lisa is so taken with him that she begs Marge to let her take tango classes.

Marge brings Lisa to a dance studio run by Vicki Valentine, a former child actor who danced her way through many Hollywood films. Despite Lisa's interest in learning how to tango, Vicki steers her towards tap. Unfortunately, it soon becomes apparent that Lisa is uncoordinated and has no rhythm. She ends up stumbling into a potted plant.

Meanwhile, Bart and Milhouse eagerly await the beginning of the camping trip—seven days without parents or homework. But when Nelson makes it clear that he intends to spend the entire week making their lives miserable, the two boys exit the bus and make their way to the shopping mall, where they hide in an air vent until the mall closes for business. That night, the boys stuff themselves with candy, cookies and everything else at their disposal. The next morning, Chief Wiggum inspects the damage and concludes it is the work of a giant rat. He closes the mall to deal with the problem.

Chief Wiggum determines to catch the rogue rodent by setting a platter of cheese in the mall courtyard and rigging an anvil to fall upon the rat when it takes the bait. Unfortunately, Wiggum ends up falling for his own trap and is pinned beneath the anvil, as Bart and Milhouse, hiding nearby, stifle guffaws

Meanwhile, inside the dance studio, Vicki informs Lisa that her role in the upcoming dance show will be curtain puller. Lisa is crushed, as her parents are expecting to see her dance. Professor Frink overhears Lisa’s predicament and fits her with a dancing module taken from a novelty dancing Buzz cola can. When Frink claps his hands, Lisa’s shoe now taps in sync with the clapping. Lisa is overjoyed.

Meanwhile, when the rat trap fails,Wiggum unleashes a mountain lion in the mall, confident it will kill the giant rat. The lion corners Bart and Milhouse. Thinking quickly, Bart tosses a jumbo ball of yarn at the lion, which begins playing with it like a kitten. When the lion returns to the officers with a piece of yarn dangling from its mouth like a rat’s tail, Wiggum concludes the animal found and ate the giant rodent.

Back at the dance studio, parents gather to watch their children dance in a big show. Lisa tells Vicki she now knows how to dance, but Vicki brushes aside the suggestion. When Ralph Wiggum falls ill, Vicki decides to take his place. As the show gets underway, Lisa makes her way onstage, dancing up a storm. Unfortunately, the rhythm of Vicki’s tapping activates Lisa’s shoes, causing Lisa’s shoes to go wild. Unable to control her actions, Lisa dances wildly into the audience, where Homer deliberately trips her, bringing her gyrations to a halt. Later, Lisa apologizes to Vicki for what she has done…and thanks her family for being so understanding.