MARK MY WORD: EXCUSE ME, QUIT WHINING; I'M IN A DISNEY DAZE

You'll have to excuse me if I'm still in a Disney Daze.

Our family and a friend's family just returned from four days at Disney World, the sprawling mouse-eared entertainment park that has transformed Orlando, Fla., into the ultimate tourist town.

Our clan -- three adults, two 4-year-olds and two 9-year-olds -- flew to this oasis of vacation fun.

There is nothing Mickey Mouse about Disney. Everything is done on a grand scale, from Cinderella's Castle to the Spaceship Earth ride, housed in a structure that resembles a giant golf ball.

We stayed in one of those Disney resorts, which had plenty of pools, shrubbery and enough buses to carry a whole city of people to and from the three parks that make up Disney World.

In fact, a lot of a Disney vacation is spent riding buses to and from MGM Studios, Epcot and the Magic Kingdom.

You get to walk a lot too. If the whole nation was one big Disney theme park, Americans would be getting plenty of exercise.

Of course, since most of us are out of shape, our life expectancy wouldn't be long if we had to do that much walking for more than a few days.

Surprisingly, Americans who gripe about walking across a Wal-Mart parking lot think nothing of walking across acres and acres of Disney's dreamland for the chance to stand in maze-like lines of people, shuffling along like cattle to a slaughter.

Actually, you'd have to be a real Scrooge not to enjoy a place that caters to our childhood and that of our children -- where Cinderella, Snow White and other stellar storybook characters give out free hugs and autographs, and tourists delight in trekking through Mickey's and Minnie's fanciful homes.

It's a Mad Hatter's world of artistic animation and restaurants where the entertainment is more enticing than the food.

Take the Prime Time Cafe, where you sit in rooms decorated like those of a 1950s house, filled with snippets of black and white television programs blaring at you from TVs in every corner.

There, you have to mind your manners or be admonished by your waitress mom.

I made the mistake of planting my elbows firmly on the dinner table. As a result, I was called "Elbow Boy" by our charming waitress and made to wear a paper hat bearing that nickname.

This proved to be great amusement to my daughter, Becca, and everyone else in our party.

Naturally, I ate all my vegetables. I figured one hat and one nickname were enough for this trip.

Of course, when you are traveling with kids, you find you're always repeating yourself.

"Stay together, girls, "Quit whining" and "Don't run" are some of the phrases that come to mind from our trip.

You also have to schedule potty breaks and try to work in a nap now and then.

Still, no matter how well you planned your daily outings, you always end up with that Disney Daze.

You see it on the tired faces of moms, dads and children as they trudge back to the buses after a hot and humid day in Disney's parks.

Still, you'll return the next day and do it all over again for the sheer joy of being a child at any age.

~Mark Bliss is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.