When we went to Los Angeles in January, we didn't have time to stop at Disneyland. We didn't tell Alex that we were close to the Land of Mouse, otherwise we would have never heard the end of it. In our travels, we've been to six Disney parks (Disneyland, California Adventure, Disney World, Epcot, Tokyo Disney and Disney Sea), and each one was a memorable experience.
I think my favorite has to be Disney Sea, the companion park to Tokyo Disney, with it's around-the-world sea coast theme. It's a truly amazing place, even though Alex threw the mother of all meltdowns at the turn-of-the-century Cape Cod attraction. Still, it's a place I'd recommend to anyone visiting Tokyo. I'd love to go back now that he's older and less prone to throwing popcorn out of a stroller at unsuspecting Japanese children.
We were fortunate to be invited to a Disney party this weekend, thrown by the wonderful women of the Silicon Valley Moms Blog and Disney. When I told Frank about it, he said, "What exactly does one do at a Disney party?"
I had to admit, I had no idea.
We arrived and were given goodie bags with cool mouse ears that light up. Alex put his on and was in the swing of it immedately. Waiters walked around carrying trays of kid-friendly hors d'ouvres like mini-grilled cheese sandwiches (crusts off, of course) and coconut-crusted shrimp. There were carving stations, salads, a pasta station, a delectable dessert station, and a kids buffet of Mickey-roni & cheese, chicken strips, and veggies. These Disney folks know how to put on a spread.
In another room, there were video games set up with Disney videos playing, an artist sketching Disney characters for the kids, and a Mr. Potato Head station with hundreds of different parts for the kids to assemble their own Mr. Potato Head to take home. There were huge castle cookies and a decorating kit to go with them, coloring tables, and other activities for the kids to occupy themselves with. Alex made a Mr. Potato Head (who ended up looking oddly like the McDonald's Hamburglar), then plunked himself down at the video games and challenged TechMama's three boys to some kind of Power Rangers showdown.
At one point, everyone gathered in the dining room for some
announcements by the Disney marketing folks, but there was no hard-sell for any particular
product. They were mainly there to welcome us and to introduce Mickey
and Minnie, who evidently traveled all the way from Anaheim for the
party. Cinderella was also there, along with Buzz Lightyear. All that
was missing was a red carpet for these luminaries to walk down.
I enjoyed mingling with my fellow mombloggers, luminaries in their own right, from fellow MOMocrats, CityMama and Xiaolin Mama, Lia from Freitas Family Follies and Robyn from Who's the Boss?, Janet of Go-Go Mommy, Alix of MedNauseum, and of course, Jill and Pamela, the gals who started it all. Kimberly told me that she couldn't believe that I just turned 47, and I think she is now my new best friend. I'm easy like that.
So, what does one do at a Disney party? Party like a rockstar, that's what. Seems like whatever they do at Disney, they do with style.
