{"id":24801,"date":"2012-10-26T14:51:09","date_gmt":"2012-10-26T19:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/?p=24801"},"modified":"2016-12-15T02:39:24","modified_gmt":"2016-12-15T08:39:24","slug":"meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Walt, the Orbitz Vacation Party winner!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/videoseries?list=PLcGaB26gLBOzZPcoaD8wf7UNQFhYTIN2W&amp;hl=en_US\" height=\"281\" width=\"500\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Our favorite politician this election season isn\u2019t a Democrat or Republican\u2014it\u2019s Walt Arnett, the candidate of the Orbitz Vacation Party!\u00a0 The competition was steep, but Walt clinched our Facebook election with his hilarious campaign video and staunch pro-vacation stance. So far Walt\u2019s visited Miami, Las Vegas and Chicago on his cross-country tour; for a complete schedule (as well as thechance for you to win a swanky trip to one of his campaign stops), visit the Orbitz Vacation Party headquarters at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.orbitzvacationparty.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">www.orbitzvacationparty.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>We caught up with Walt to see how things are going on the campaign trail.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><strong>As you tour the country, what have been your most memorable vacation moments so far? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I had a lot of fun campaigning in Miami. I met a lot of great vacationers and vacationistas. I wish I had more time there. I love art deco and I had a chance to visit the Art Deco District. South Beach was a great experience. The only annoying part was during our video shoot people would come up and ask if I was a model. I\u2019m making a campaign video, people! I don\u2019t have time to model in your underwear commercial at your studio loft! I have babies to kiss and drinks to umbrella!<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d have to say my favorite memory was giving my stump speech in front of the exploding volcano in front of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/Las-Vegas-Hotels-Mirage-Resort-Casino.h15575.Hotel-Information\">Mirage<\/a>. Did you know they use real lava? At least that\u2019s what I just made up. I could feel the heat on my back from the molten magma (pyrotechnics) as I spoke my pro-vacation prose. Meeting the dolphins was really awesome as well. It took every part of my being not to jump in and swim with them. I did however smuggle one back in my carry-on. Don\u2019t tell anybody.<\/p>\n<p>I didn\u2019t think the experience at the Mirage could be topped, but then I had the pleasure of experiencing the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/Chicago-Hotels-The-Peninsula-Chicago.h581213.Hotel-Information.h160098\/\">Peninsula Chicago<\/a>, which is named after the world famous peninsula where Chicago was built. Keep in mind I vacationed here, I didn\u2019t take any geography books on the plane, so if this is incorrect please let me know via cocktail napkin and carrier seagull. I had a blast shopping at all the great stores on the Magnificent Mile. And my one back very much enjoyed the four-hand massage. A minimum 4:1 ratio of hand-to-back is really the only acceptable massage for me now.<\/p>\n<p>And the food! The food in each city was amazing. I highly recommend grabbing a filet mignon from STK in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/Miami-Hotels-1-Hotel-South-Beach.h1790087.Hotel-Information\">Perry South Beach<\/a> hotel. And the macaroni and cheese. To. Die. For. At the Mirage I baconed it up at Cravings buffet, I had a huge pastrami sandwich at the Carnegie Deli, and I had an awesome dinner at Stack with three beautiful women who by no means were told to sit with me just for the video. I had delicious dim sum at the Peninsula and I enjoyed the scrumptious room service in my white robe, which was white and fluffy, like a bald eagle\u2019s head feathers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What do you plan to spend your $25,000 winnings on? Where do you want to go and what do youwant to do?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>After meeting the dolphins at the Mirage I talked them into holding me a fundraiser in Fiji. They also invited me to swim with them after the election. I might just have to take them up on that offer. I\u2019d also like to scuba dive as well. So I definitely think a tropical island trip is in order. It is hard work encouraging people to take vacation back, so I must live up to my mantra and take vacation back myself.<\/p>\n<p>I have had a lot of supporters come out of the woodwork to support my campaign. My friend Michael wants me to campaign in Cancun, Mexico. I told him they can\u2019t vote down there, but then he reminded me that it is pretty much 99 percent American vacationers. So I ask all Cancunians for their support! If chosen I will work hard to add Puerto Rico and Cancun as official states. And we can add Hawaii too. Are they a state yet? If not, they should be, because I like pineapples.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do you think our Founding Fathers would have been pro-vacation too? Does itdeserve a Constitutional Amendment?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Our country is deeply rooted in vacation. The pilgrims took an extended vacation from England. Our Founding Fathers worked hard to establish a country that gives us the right to pursue beach parties, which in turn brings us happiness.\u00a0I can just imagine George Washington sailing off to the Bahamas on a wooden cruise ship and drinking Pina Coladas and doing body shots with Martha Washington. I definitely support passing a Constitutional Amendment to force Americans to use all their vacation days. It is for their own good. Trust me.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What advice would you give to would-be vacationers everywhere?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You must use your vacation! Whatever you do, do not let your vacation lapse. You work hard for your vacation, so use it! Also pack your sunscreen. Nothing can ruin a vacation quicker than a bad sunburn. Also, protect your passport. The safes in hotels are there for a reason. You do not want to lose your passport, it can make thingstough when you find yourself kite surfing in international waters.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pixel.newscred.com\/px.gif?key=YXJ0aWNsZT05YjhhZjIwMDU4YzljYTdhMDEyZTg0OTdiMzdjODUwMw==\" alt=\"\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" class=\"nc_pixel\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We caught up with our favorite pro-vacation candidate to see how things are going on the campaign trail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":25995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-las-vegas","category-midwest"],"acf":{"api_active":null,"api_title":null,"api_excerpt":null,"api_featured_image":null,"api_lob":null},"posts_api_cpm_point":"","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Meet Walt, the Orbitz Vacation Party winner! | Orbitz<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meet Walt, the Orbitz Vacation Party winner! | Orbitz\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We caught up with our favorite pro-vacation candidate to see how things are going on the campaign trail.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Orbitz\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Orbitz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-10-26T19:51:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-12-15T08:39:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/walt.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"330\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Antonia Davison\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@orbitz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@orbitz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Antonia Davison\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Antonia Davison\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b37305c38dbd7ca6b04ca5d25f11937\"},\"headline\":\"Meet Walt, the Orbitz Vacation Party winner!\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-10-26T19:51:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-12-15T08:39:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/\"},\"wordCount\":910,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/walt.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Las Vegas\",\"Midwest\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/\",\"name\":\"Meet Walt, the Orbitz Vacation Party winner! | Orbitz\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/walt.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-10-26T19:51:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-12-15T08:39:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b37305c38dbd7ca6b04ca5d25f11937\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/walt.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/walt.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":330},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Meet Walt, the Orbitz Vacation Party winner!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Orbitz\",\"description\":\"Travel Blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b37305c38dbd7ca6b04ca5d25f11937\",\"name\":\"Antonia Davison\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/orbitz-logo2-150x150.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/orbitz-logo2-150x150.png\",\"caption\":\"Antonia Davison\"},\"description\":\"Antonia Davison is a Senior Content Editor at Orbitz.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/author\/adavison\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Meet Walt, the Orbitz Vacation Party winner! | Orbitz","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Meet Walt, the Orbitz Vacation Party winner! | Orbitz","og_description":"We caught up with our favorite pro-vacation candidate to see how things are going on the campaign trail.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/","og_site_name":"Orbitz","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Orbitz\/","article_published_time":"2012-10-26T19:51:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-12-15T08:39:24+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/walt.jpg","width":500,"height":330,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Antonia Davison","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@orbitz","twitter_site":"@orbitz","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Antonia Davison","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/"},"author":{"name":"Antonia Davison","@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b37305c38dbd7ca6b04ca5d25f11937"},"headline":"Meet Walt, the Orbitz Vacation Party winner!","datePublished":"2012-10-26T19:51:09+00:00","dateModified":"2016-12-15T08:39:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/"},"wordCount":910,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/walt.jpg","articleSection":["Las Vegas","Midwest"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/","url":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/","name":"Meet Walt, the Orbitz Vacation Party winner! | Orbitz","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/walt.jpg","datePublished":"2012-10-26T19:51:09+00:00","dateModified":"2016-12-15T08:39:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b37305c38dbd7ca6b04ca5d25f11937"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/walt.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/walt.jpg","width":500,"height":330},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/meet-walt-the-orbitz-vacation-party-winner\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Meet Walt, the Orbitz Vacation Party winner!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/","name":"Orbitz","description":"Travel Blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b37305c38dbd7ca6b04ca5d25f11937","name":"Antonia Davison","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/orbitz-logo2-150x150.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/orbitz-logo2-150x150.png","caption":"Antonia Davison"},"description":"Antonia Davison is a Senior Content Editor at Orbitz.","url":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/author\/adavison\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/walt.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}