A theme park holiday — whether Disney, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens or Universal — is a bit like a forced march. You pay so much for your multi-day ticket, you feel like you have to go every day, all day.

NO. You don’t.

On our last vacation to Orlando, I took a sanity day and let everyone else go off to Disney’s Animal Kingdom while I stayed back at the timeshare, did a little work and got a massage. They all came back full of the new rollercoaster Expedition Everest, and while I am sure I would have enjoyed the ride, I enjoyed my day off even more.

Don’t be afraid to take a day off. Hang out at the pool, go shopping, visit some local attractions. Every day doesn’t have to be a theme park day.

Really.

An oddball attraction that we really enjoyed on a visit to Orlando in 2006 was the Reptile World Serpentarium in St. Cloud. We didn’t make it back on the most recent trip, but I highly recommend it. Don’t miss the twice daily shows when they extract venom from rattlers for use in various medicines.

Reptile World

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