Mommy Bloggers' Holiday

The email came as a surprise: "Flying to the left coast." It was from my friend Liz Thompson (This Full House, Imperfect Parent, BlogHer, and I've lost count of all the other sites she contributes to!), who was one of the first people I met in the blogosphere -- and the most generous.

When I was first getting my feet wet blogging, Liz was one of the people I turned to often for advice. For instance, I'd never thought of embedding photos into my posts until I saw her do it regularly in hers. She always had the best programs and the best resources, and was never reluctant to share them with me.

Over the years, we've come to know each other and our families through our emails and posts -- but she's a "Joisey Gal" who doesn't like to fly, and I'm pretty much stuck here on the West Coast. She finally made it to BlogHer in July, but that was the first one I couldn't get to, so I missed that opportunity.

Thank goodness for the Walt Disney Internet Group, which owns Family.com. Liz and I are both members of their Parent Team Advisory Board, and on top of that, Liz has contributed to the site as a resident blogger. That relationship and her amazingly prolific output (did you know she has FOUR kids? How does she manage to get so much writing done??) are why Disney flew her out to Anaheim this week for some dialogue between prominent mom bloggers and their advertisers.

She told me that she would be free yesterday from about 1:30 on, and would it be possible to get together?

That was a no-brainer, even though it makes me dizzy to think of navigating through the traffic between the San Fernando Valley and Orange County. Megan doesn't have gym on Thursdays -- but she does have Hebrew school, and fortunately, one of her friends from our synagogue is in her gang of Midde School girls. So I had no trouble making carpool arrangements to get her from A to B -- which means that I wouldn't have to be back in Northridge until 6:30.

But I wanted a little insurance, so I told my husband there was a possibility that he would have to do the evening pick-up honors. As his company's headquarters is located down there, he's very familiar with the drive, and he readily agreed. "Make sure you take the 5, not the 405," he advised.

Well, of course. You ALWAYS take the 5 to get to Disneyland from the Valley.

I timed my drive to the Disneyland Resort yesterday so I would miss both the morning and lunch crushes, and arrived there around 12:30. I wasn't worried about being an hour early; I gambled that there would be wi-fi in her hotel lobby, so had tucked my laptop into the car, in case I needed to kill some time.

The road leading to Disney changed radically when they opened the California Adventure Park about five years ago, so I was a little unsure where to park (because it's been years since I've gone down there for anything but the park itself). I followed the signs to the Downtown Disney shopping area and parked there, noting that I would get three hours for free before a $6 an hour fee kicked in. That should be sufficient, I thought.

Fifteen years ago, another SoCal tourist attraction -- Universal Studios -- wowed the locals by adding a fantastical L.A.-themed shopping district (City Walk) to its compound overlooking the Valley. It was such a success that I should have guessed that Disney would do the same. And when they opened Downtown Disney, they showed that their design team is just as ambitious as the movie guys at Universal. As I walked through on my way to the hotel, I made mental notes on the restaurants available for lunch (that is, if Liz had not aready eaten). We would have lots of choices.

I was pleased when Liz told me the Disney folks had put her up at the California Grand. The name perfectly fits this place. It is a gorgeous homage to the Arts and Crafts style of Yos emite's famous Ahwahnee Lodge... but on a massive scale. The light fixtures, tiling, paneling, furnishings and impossibly high atrium are perfect.  It was hard to focus on writing, because everywhere I looked, I saw something I wanted to photograph. I'd finally fired up Word when I heard a voice call my name.

In person, Liz is every bit as warm and funny as she is on her blog. She had not had lunch yet, so I asked what she was in the mood for. "They gave me a couple of park hopper tickets," she announced. "Would you want to go with me?" Actually, they had offered her one ticket and she asked for a second for me.

Let me see. Disneyland is like, my favorite place in the whole world. My husband hates it, so I rarely get to go. Megan was taken care of, so I was in no hurry to go back to the Valley. What do you think I said?

We made a pitstop at her beautifully appointed hotel room so Liz could change and I could drop off my computer and then we wandered out of the hotel and into the California Adventure Park. I remembered visiting the restaurant in their Mondavi center when my friend Jim took me there last year, so that's where we went.

You know how when you meet someone for the first time (like on a blind date), there are all these awkward pauses? No, Liz and I didn't do that. We talked non-stop, like the old (virtual) friends we are. I found out that until this week, Liz had never visited any of the Disney parks. Her hosts had whisked her through the Pirates of the Caribbean ride on Wednesday night (on her way to a dinner) -- but that was it. So we started to formulate a plan. It helped that we have the same taste in amusement park rides: we both love roller coasters.

Our time was limited, so we started out with a classic: the Matterhorn bobsleds. We laughed and screamed joyfully as our little bobsleds careened though the ersatz mountain.

From there, we moved on to the ride I consider the ULTIMATE attraction at Disneyland: Space Mountain. And I was pleased to discover that Liz liked it as much as I did.

While we were in line, we dished -- about how nice the Disney people have been to both of us, about bloggers we both know, and about next summer's BlogHer in San Francisco. "Let me know where you're staying and I'll go there, too," Liz said.

Her Disney hosts had told her that she just HAD to visit the Haunted Mansion, and I had to agree. As it's October, the park is all dressed up for Halloween, and this ride has been refitted for the month with a "Nightmare Before Christmas" theme. It's the first time I've been to the park this time of year, so I was surprised at exactly how much they change the ride for the occasion! It really was like seeing it the first time (and this is a ride I have been enjoying for something like 40 years).

Actually, going to Disneyland with Liz and seeing the park through her eyes was a lot like going with Megan when she was little. And as we waited in line (the park was surprisingly busy for a Thursday night; I suppose that's because of the Halloween festivities this month), we talked about the twinge of guilt we felt over being there without the kids.

Just a twinge, though. I rationalized that we shouldn't feel bad. It wasn't as if we'd PLANNED to go to Disneyland without our children. We certainly didn't spend any family vacation money on ourselves instead of them. And I held that conceit through the last ride we sampled. Liz and her family are big Star Wars fans, so I KNEW that Star Tours would make the big finish.

I said goodbye to her at her hotel at 7:30, which gave me just enough time to get home so I could tuck Megan into bed at nine. Do you know how she greeted me?

"I hate you," she said. "How could you go to Disneyland without me?"

Oh dear.

The next school holiday is Veteran's Day on November 11. I have a feeling Megan and I will be spending it in Anaheim.

Comments

[Beth B]

You deserve a holiday! And hey, moms can have fun at Disney on their own...

[Your Nephew]

You didn't tell me about this! Sounds pretty fun. I wouldn't feel any guilt about it at all you are supposed to be a kid once in awhile. I will be until I'm 80! Thanks for all the food while I was there see you soon.
Love Alex

[Lorna]

Donna, I flipped over to Firefox, and now i can get on your site. Hooray!! Meeting blogger friends is the second thing I'd do if I won a lottery. Of course, buying the ticket would be necessary and I'm morally opposed to lotteries, so it might be a frustrated hope.

Disneyworld in Fla was a big deal for our family when Chris turned 16 and we realized he wasn't going to holiday with us again. We have such good memories of it that I;ve never wanted to go again for fear of disappointment. Now that I've written that, it seems lame, but still true.

[Lorna]

p.s. loved the photos on flickr.

[Liz]

Woman, I can't tell you how much I miss you...already!

Thanks for everything and tell your hubby my recipe for goulash is in the mail and I love, love, LOVE his accent!

[Donna]

Lorna - I'm delighted to see you here again!

You SHOULD go to Disney World. Or -- come to SoCal and go to the park here. That way, it won't interfere with those memories (and then I can try and meet you, too!)

Hey, Alex: I guess it was old news by the time you got here.

THANK YOU for your willingness to give up your weekend and help us out. It is truly a joy to have both you and Carly so close to us, and I hope you never feel shy about calling US when you need an HBO fix. (I'll let you know when they've got season 2 of Entourage on demand.)

Liz: I can't wait to see the recipe (now, if I can figure out how to eat it while I'm on this stupid diet...) Can't wait to party with you at BlogHer!

[Busy Mom]

How fun! I've never been to any Disney parks, either.

[Donna]

Hey, Busy Mom: If you EVER get to Southern California, give me a holler and I'll be happy to show you around (even WITH kids)

Or we can just go out for a drink ... :) After all, you're one of my all-time fave mom bloggers, too!