“So where are the kids?” the bellhop asks, placing our luggage in the room and peaking down the hallway as if he expects three children to come bouncing around the corner.

“Ah, that’s the beauty of it!” my sister says, a wide grin on her face. “They’re at home with their dads, and we have the whole weekend to ourselves!”

Admittedly, it does seem a bit strange to come to Walt Disney World Resort without our children. After all, my sister, Debbie, and I are very responsible moms. We cart our kids around to school and soccer practice, help them with their homework and work demanding jobs, as well. We’re not the kind to abandon our posts lightly.

Yet even moms need a break sometimes — and who says that Disney World is just for kids?

Opened in 1971, the Orlando-based attraction has grown into a world of its own, including four theme parks, six golf courses, two water parks, two spas and 22 resort hotels. In addition to the millions of families who visit each year, the park attracts many vacationing couples and groups.

The Grand Floridian harkens back to Victorian years.

Even if the kids are along on your trip, you can still sneak in an evening of grownup time. Disney’s themed childcare centers can entertain your little ones for a few hours while you enjoy a night on the town.

My sister and I actually have three luxurious days to ourselves, and the thought makes us as giddy as schoolgirls. The question is, where do we begin?

We must be young at heart, because the first thing we do is head to the Magic Kingdom. There is still something magical about seeing Cinderella’s Castle and all the hustle and bustle of Main Street — even if you’re well past legal drinking age.

At first, Debbie and I peruse the resort shops (not having to worry about any little ones getting lost), and then we ride all the roller coasters we want (yahoo!). Finally, we stop for an unhurried Italian dinner at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant near Main Street. After a tasty three-course meal, my sister tosses her arm over the back of her chair, leans back and sighs: “This is relaxing.”

Yet I’m only beginning to unwind. After our morning at the park, we head back to the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, a unique Disney property reminiscent of the Victorian years. With its turn-of-the-century design and high-buttoned style, the Grand Floridian offers the comfortable experience we’re looking for. Best of all, there is a full-service spa onsite.

So it should be no surprise that we spend the afternoon under the skillful hands of Disney massage therapists. My sister decides on a Swedish treatment, while I choose Shiatsu. Soothing music and calming aromas fill the candle-lit rooms, and my stress seems to melt away with each minute.

An hour later, Debbie and I walk out feeling like wet noodles. “Now this is relaxed,” I tell her.

But by now we’re hungry. While Disney World has plenty of child-pleasing restaurants, we want to eat somewhere that doesn’t involve intergalactic spacemen or anything with a line. Fortunately, Disney has more than a dozen award-winning restaurants in their unique themed resorts.

We decide to go South African. Jiko — The Cooking Place, is an upscale restaurant at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, an African-themed resort situated on a savannah, complete with giraffes and other animals from the continent. Although we don’t recognize many of the dishes, the cuisine is delicious, as are the South African wines we sample.

After a good night’s rest we’re eager for more fun, so it’s off to Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park to snorkel with sharks. The thrilling 56-acre (.23 km²) park has a manmade watershed mountain with eight twisting-and-turning water slides and roaring streams, plus a huge wave-making lagoon.

And the sharks? They can be found at Shark Reef. Since I’m a sucker for any kind of dare, I don a snorkel and fins and meet the leopard and nurse sharks up close. Being Disney sharks, they are quite well behaved, and I swim across their lagoon again and again.

Certified divers might want to dive instead at Epcot’s Living Seas, a 6 million-gallon (22 million liter) aquarium that’s home to coral, sea turtles and hundreds of other fish. Disney’s twice-daily DiveQuest program includes gear and expert-led tours. Guests without scuba certification can experience the Living Seas using scuba-assisted snorkeling gear.