Carter Gaddis, Writer & Editor

Our boys are not Disney deprived. This is the first thing I would like you to understand. Our family splurged on Walt Disney World seasonal passes last year, and our Year of Disney was a triumph.

We love spending time as a family at all four Central Florida parks. We look forward to having many more fun times and making great memories there in the years ahead.

Yet, as much as we love visiting the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom with our sons, there is much to be said for the Disney experience when it is just me and my wife.

It had been two years since she and I took a couple of days for ourselves. In fact, it had been a little longer than that. She and I actually went to Disney World the last time, too, taking advantage of the relatively affordable three-day ticket offered each spring to Florida residents.

With generous babysitting help from Beth’s parents, we made plans to “escape” for two days and a night. We needed this. I’m convinced every married couple with kids needs it to maintain perspective. For us, leaving the kids in a safe, caring, familiar environment and dedicating time exclusively to one another is wonderful marital maintenance. We need to do it more often, and we will.

I’m also convinced that the boys could use a break from us now and then. Even though our home is a warm, loving environment where they know they are safe and are given the freedom to be themselves, they could use a day or two occasionally to stretch it out with someone else in charge. Besides, grandparents are fun.

This time, Beth decided we should do two things to mark each special moment during the weekend at Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios. We would take many, many selfies together in front of the various Disney landmarks. And we would kiss while we were in line for every attraction we took in and every ride we rode.

Both activities turned out to be a lot of fun.

I figured out why Walt Disney World is such a different experience when it’s just us. It’s fun with the boys, of course, but we never shed our roles as caretakers. Whereas when it’s just Beth and me, alone, we are partakers rather than caretakers. We immerse ourselves in the manufactured fun, allowing our plans to shift with the moment.

If we want to stop for a minute to watch the Village People sing and dance at Epcot, we do. If we get an unexpected email from Disney inviting us to dine at the impossible-to-book Be Our Guest restaurant, we accept that invitation. If we want to stay late for fireworks or do anything parents do that doesn’t involve kids … we do it.

I know Disney isn’t everyone’s thing. When I’m there, though, with or without our boys, a sense of contentment and — yes, I’ll admit it — happiness fills me, and all of the cares of the outside world fall away. This is not a new thought; it has been voiced by other parents, other dads I know. Maybe it will begin to pall one day, or maybe it will simply become too expensive for us to afford. Until then, we’ll go there and make memories. (With and without the boys.)

Here is a look at our selfies and a few other photos from this weekend, set with two Disney musical favorites. (Yes, yes. I know there’s nothing more cliched than Disney selfies. And be warned — this is, perhaps, the most sentimental thing I’ve put on this blog. Know what, though? I love my wife, I love my sons and we all love Disney World. Sentimental? Sure. Sincere? Absolutely.)