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Vacations from Your Vacation
Part 2 of 3

This article appeared in the
Issue #98 August 7, 2001 of ALL EARS™ (ISSN: 1533-0753)

The warm tropical breezes play tag across your legs, as you lie on your back and bask in the sun's warm glow.

That classic book that you were supposed to read thirty years ago in High School English waits at your side, bookmarked at Chapter 9.

For the moment, you have no idea where your shoes are. You ponder if you have to wait an hour before you swim because you ate the celery in your Bloody Mary. You actually start noticing shapes in clouds.

Have you been miraculously transported out of your life and into a Corona commercial?

No, you're taking a vacation from your vacation, in Disney World!

Perhaps one of the longest running Internet debates, revolves around the question, "should I stay on site or off site?"

A savvy shopper, using all the resources of www.hotels411travelocitypricelinecondoswap.com, can indeed find a palatial suite just "2 miles from Disneyworld", that offers free breakfast, free bus service, and a complimentary coupon for free miniature golf at a variety of International Drive venues, for like eighty-five cents a night.

In our early years of Disney vacations, "She who must be obeyed" and I viewed the necessity of an on site location, akin to needing a large room on a cruise ship. "Hey we only sleep in it, why pay big bucks"? We found ourselves queued up at the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC) waiting for the first ferry. We spent a week of twelve hour days in the park. Returning to the hotel meant we MIGHT not see it ALL!

It meant taking the tram to Goofy 6 (or was it Dopey 8?), finding the white rental Taurus that our keys actually fit into, finding our way back to the hotel. All of this while there was sooooooo much going on!

Unthinkable!

In my first years of visiting The Mouse, I must say I saw no reason to stay *in* Disney World.

I must now tell you, fifteen years after my first visit, I have severely changed my viewpoint.

There is no greater luxury in "The World" than staying at a resort in it, and no better way to take a vacation from your vacation.

The parks lay at your feet, a mere stroll, bus ride, boat ride or monorail trip away. In the course of a week the urge to set your big wind-up alarm clock for 5:30am and start taking turns in the shower becomes less of a necessity. At high noon, when the sun is blazing at its zenith, and your long awaited vacation just seems like a sweat-blurred vision of fields of plush Poohs, you can take an two or three hour break from it and do something remarkable.

You can relax.

Having now stayed in a wide variety of resorts around the World, I've found each of them have been wonderful destinations unto themselves. Regardless of the price range you pick, there are themed pools to lounge by, entertainment to enjoy, treats to eat, and hot tubs to soothe those well worn tootsies. There are boats to rent, bikes to peddle and usually somewhere, a bartender who knows how to make a perfect martini.

In the Luxury resorts, there are some of the most magnificent lobbies you'll ever encounter. Lobbies that scream "sit down here for a while, you fool, this is REALLY nice."

Even if you don't stay in the park, the resorts are a great place to escape to for a nice lunch, a big comfy chair, and a brief vacation from your vacation. Don't worry, Mickey will still be there waiting for you, he always is.

When you've returned to the parks you feel new and rejuvenated. You'll find your pace has slowed a tad, and everything around you seems just a bit more magical then it did earlier.

You may even feel like you're on vacation.

John
Office of Midday Breaks
The Zamgwar Institute
www.zamgwar.com

Zamgwar will be practicing what he preaches this August 19th - 23rd in and about Disney World. He'll be easily spotted in one of his plethora of brightly colored "Zamgwar" tee-shirts, along with "She who must be obeyed" and the motley band of characters, that are his siblings and their families. If you spot Zamgwar, feel free to say hello, he's always looking for a good excuse to meet for a cool drink.