Now even bridesmaids have to shed the tummy bulge and get some def in the arms before the bride’s big day because, as a stylish colleague says: “Good Lord, those strapless dresses just aren’t going away.”

To help the cause, the Desert Springs JW Marriott Resort & Spa in Palm Desert is offering special fitness-themed packages for the bride-to-be and four people in her entourage. The “Escape! Bridal Party” deal includes a two-night stay in a suite and a personal fitness and nutrition plan, personal training and yoga or Pilates classes, a scrub, facial and makeup consultation for each person in the party.

All this costs nearly as much as a cheapskate’s wedding (say, mine): $2,500 to $2,575, depending on dates and availability (valid through August). But who cares when you have to keep bridezilla happy and look good to boot?

To book, call (888) 538-9459 and ask for code “ZJ0,” or go to the hotel’s website and use code “ZJ0″ in the corporate code field in the online reservations form.

— Vani Rangachar, Los Angeles Times Deputy Travel Editor

[Image: Gary Kufner / JW Marriott]

Nutritional taboo

And what better place to begin a quest for sweet knowledge than San Francisco? The three-hour San Francisco Gourmet Chocolate Tour — a walk that takes in Union Square and the waterfront — is an expertly guided exploration of creations by “the new wave of artisan chocolatiers.” You learn about chocolate and its production, and of course get in a fair bit of sampling along the way (it’s recommended that you arrive with an empty stomach). It costs $48 per person.

But the chocolate craze isn’t confined to our favorite foodie city up north. As you might expect, Paris takes the chocolate cake; if you’re in France this month (or want to be) and can handle nearly a week’s worth of candied consumption, consider the Paris Chocolate Adventure May 18-24, 2008.

Following are other tours to think about. Remember, it’s for the pursuit of wisdom:

Tour de Chocolat Seattle

Chicago Chocolate Tours

New York Chocolate Tours

Boston Chocolate Trolley Tour
(NB: This one runs January through April.)

— Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Photo: GourmetWalks.com]

Pixar Play Parade adds “Bug’s Life” float
Mice Age’s Monday in the Parks column shows off the new “Bug’s Life” float featuring Flick and Atta in the Pixar Play Parade at Disney’s California Adventure.

The Pixar parade had to be temporarily suspended in March after a piece broke off the original “Bug’s Life” float.

Magic Mountain turns on Valencia Falls
The iconic Valencia Falls began flowing again at Six Flags Magic Mountain after several years of standing dry. (Check out pictures at Theme Park Review.)

The Valencia amusement park shut off the water several years ago during construction of Tatsu, which required the placement of massive support legs for the flying coaster at the base of the falls.

Meet the Disneyland Monorail Imagineers
Disneyland’s latest podcast explores the yet-to-open Mark VII Monorail, featuring interviews with Disney Imagineers Bob “Mr. Monorail” Gurr (who designed the Mark I) and Scot Drake (who designed the Mark VII).

Prince Caspian pre-parade at Disneyland
Disney Geek snaps photos of the “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” pre-parade running before the Parade of Dreams at Disneyland.

A gallant Prince Caspian on horseback is followed by a royal pooper-scooper.

Find the latest amusement and theme park news at the
Los Angeles Times Funland blog: www.latimes.com/funland

— Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

[Photo: Disneyland]

What’s follows are some ways that you can get away from Los Angeles via this departure point, without driving yourself.

Shuttles: As with the other major airports, plenty of shuttles out there offer door-to-door service. Approximate prices to the airport for one person are as follows, through Super Shuttle: $24 (including tax) from downtown Los Angeles; $17 from Van Nuys, California; and $28 from Venice, California. Each additional passenger in your party would cost $9.

Especially if you’re solo, those rates are cheaper than that of Xpress Shuttle, which charges $29/$52 (including tax) for shared ride/private ride from downtown L.A.; $33/$59 from Van Nuys; and $42/$68 from Venice.But if you’re a group, do the math and see what makes the most sense.

Contact: Super Shuttle, (310) 782-6600; Xpress Shuttle, (310) 323-7222

Taxis: Taking a cab is the quickest option — perhaps, unfortunately, it can be faster than driving yourself.

Through Yellow Cab, flat rates to the airport are as follows: from central and downtown L.A., it’s $42 (including tax); from Santa Monica, $30; and from West Hollywood, $35. Heading to the airport from all other L.A. area locations, the rate is by meter.

Contact: Yellow Cab Co., (877) 733-3305; City Cab, (800) 848-1000

Trains: Burbank Airport is a stop on Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner route, which serves 30 stations from San Luis Obispo to San Diego. Rates vary depending upon departure point, but if you’re coming from far away, it’s an easy, inexpensive alternative to other modes of transport. The 1-hour-and-45-minute trip from Ventura, for instance, is $16 (including tax). The 90-minute trip from Anaheim, California, is $14. A free shuttle bus will transport you the short distance to the terminals.

Weekdays, you can take Metrolink Ventura County line trains to the airport’s train station. From Northridge, California, to the airport, the fare is $5.75; it’s $5.25 from L.A.’s Union Station.

Contact: Amtrak, (800) 872-7245; Metrolink, (800) 371-5465

Public Buses: Metro Bus lines that stop at Burbank Airport are No.s 94, 394, 163 and 165. Burbank Bus also runs an airport route.

Contact: Metro Bus, (800) 266-6883; Burbank Bus, (818) 246-4258

— Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Photo: XpressShuttle.com]

Chivas soccer team at Disney’s California Adventure
The Chivas USA soccer club took its annual team photo at Disney’s California Adventure and then hopped on the California Screamin’ roller coaster for a quick spin.

Toy Story Mania spoiler video
**Spoiler Alert** Laughing Place tracks down a YouTube video that offers a point-of-view tour of Toy Story Mania. The interactive dark ride, which “soft” opened in Florida, debuts at Disney’s California Adventure in Anaheim on June 17, 2008.

The latest Inside the Magic podcast takes listeners on an audio tour of Toy Story Mania and offers a complete review of the attraction.

Be among the first to ride X2
Join fellow coaster enthusiasts for an exclusive X2 early ride time at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Find all the details at Theme Park Review about the overnight X2 Campout on Friday, May 23.

Indiana Jones stunt show coming to Disneyland
Mouse Planet reports that the “Aladdin and Jasmine Storytale Adventure” stage show at Disneyland recently took a final bow, stirring persistent speculation that an Indiana Jones show and/or meet-and-greet could wind up in the small outdoor theater venue in Adventureland.

A live-action Indiana Jones stunt show, timed to coincide with the fourth installment of the movie series, “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” will be performed on the balconies, rooftops and streets of Adventureland starting May 22, according to Original D.

Find the latest amusement and theme park news at the
Los Angeles Times Funland blog: www.latimes.com/funland.

— Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

[Photo: Disneyland]

Susan Spano’s Postcards From Rome

I had my first house guest in Roma, a friend’s daughter who is studying in Madrid but was on her way to see a roommate in Genoa, Italy. She showed me something wonderful, her little black leather Moleskine notebook, in which she keeps her own personal guide to Madrid, with notes, maps, addresses, etc.

You could use almost any sort of notebook for this, but there’s something special about Moleskines (which come in a variety of sizes and for 12 cities in Europe as well as four cities in the U.S.). They have maps of each city’s Metro system, time zone and international holiday information, distance converters, blank pages, calendar pages, a secret pocket and an elastic closure.

Moreover, the Moleskine pedigree is impressive. The notebooks were first made by a French bookbinder and used by luminaries including Van Gogh and Hemingway. You can even take a gander at Pablo Picasso’s notebook that’s now in a museum.

When the manufacturer in Tours was about to close in 1986, writer Bruce Chatwin bought up 100 Moleskines for an upcoming trip to Australia. Two years later, a Milanese publisher brought back Moleskines, hoping that some people would still prefer their own hand-made travel guides to Fodor’s and Frommer’s.

I’m certainly working on mine for Rome. And there’s even a city-by-city Moleskine blog.

[Ed.: Stay tuned for more updates shortly…in the meantime, here’s a link to Susan’s greatest Travel hits.]

— Susan Spano, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

[Image: From Moleskine’s website]

I had to wonder after flipping through the latest marketing tool of Homewood Suites by Hilton: a children’s book for first- and second-graders starring Lewis the Duck, mascot of the extended-stay hotel chain.

On a business trip, Lewis gushes in the book, “Wow, everyone is so nice here at Homewood Suites” and calls his wife to say, “Honey, you’ve got to see this place — you would just love it here!” Finally, he summons his whole family to “the best place he could imagine.” Guess where that is?

On the plus side, Homewood is donating proceeds from the book, which sells for $6.99 at its hotels, to charities, spokesman Brad Carmony told me. And the duck may have a point: Homewood Suites had the highest guest-satisfaction ratings in its category in last year’s survey by J.D. Power and Associates.

On the minus side: Isn’t this brainwashing kids? Not so, replied Carmony. “We don’t have blatant trademark phrases in the book,” he said. “We’re trying to explain business travel to children.”

The book, illustrated by “The Buckets” cartoonist Greg Cravens, is penned by Bill Duncan, identified at the end as “a duck admirer” and first-time book author. Unmentioned: Duncan is vice president, brand marketing and sales, for Homewood.

Also in the works: “Lewis Goes to Canada,” plus an online interactive game on Homewood’s website. No kidding!

— Jane Engle, Assistant Los Angeles Times Travel Editor

[Logo: Homewood Suites Hilton website]

My cousin was having trouble finding decent-priced flights between San Diego (SAN) and Cancun (CUN) (Dec. 28–Jan. 2), and asked for my help. The best she found was $500 with a few stops and departure on one day and arrival on the next. So, my job is to try and beat that price or at least find her a flight for the same price that left and arrived on the same day. No red-eyes. She is willing to drive to Los Angeles if it’ll give her a decent edge. Here’s a roundup of fares I found around the Net today.

Do you regularly travel to Cancun for the holidays? Share your booking tips.

Sample fares:

Los Angeles (LAX) to Cancun (CUN) — Departing from Los Angeles (LAX) makes all the difference. I checked Kayak and found what I was looking for immediately. Two tickets departing Dec. 28 on Mexicana at 10:25 a.m. and arriving in Cancun at 4:55 p.m. There was one stop in Mexico City on the return trip Jan. 2, 2009. Leaving at 11:25 a.m., stopping in Mexico City at 1:40 p.m., departing at 3 p.m. and arriving back in Los Angeles (LAX) at 4:45 p.m. came to $789 after taxes.

San Diego (SAN) to Cancun (CUN) — Leaving from San Diego cost a lot more. The cheapest price that Kayak could give me was $685 per person; that included an overnight layover in Los Angeles, coming and going. Two tickets through CheapTickets came to $1,371.

— Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel Deal Blogger

[Photo: Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times]

In Quebec’s largest city, you may not get the Tour Eiffel, but you will find a Notre-Dame (pictured) and plenty of unique attractions. And the “Sweet Deal” package offered by Montreal Marriott Chateau Champlain could certainly persuade me to give the city a go.

Deal: You have until May 31, 2008, to get 50% off of your second night’s stay with this promotion. In addition, you’ll receive a full buffet breakfast for two, free cookies and milk for the kids, discounts for various local attractions, two Passport Privileges for Casino Montreal (a $10 value), and a mystery gift from Montreal Tourism valued at $20 (maybe it’s something sweet?). The regular room rate at this Marriott starts at $199 per night (pre-tax).

Come summer, the deal is still on, but it’s just a tad less spectacular: From June 1 to Oct. 15, 2008, you get your third night’s stay for 50% off, rather than the second. You also receive the same aforementioned discounts and gift, but instead of the cookies-milk combo, the kids get ice cream upon check-in. Use promo code “i26.”

NB: I tested out this deal for dates this month, and I couldn’t understand why the online booking system wasn’t registering the discount. The “aha!” moment came when I read the fine print on the promotion page, which explains: “For software reasons, the 50% rebate on the second night will appear only on the final invoice you will receive upon checkout and not on your confirmation.”

What are your recommendations for a weekender in Montreal?

Contact: Montreal Marriott Chateau Champlain, (800) 200-5909

— Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Photo: Notre-Dame Basilica; © Tourisme Montréal, Stéphan Poulin]

I have a friend who asked me to celebrate Pangea Day with him. I had never heard about it, and since the word Pangea connotes something intestinal for me, I thought I’d do a wee bit of research before I said yes. After checking out PangeaDay.org, my impression is that it looks like a cool global event where you can see the world and get a sense of other cultures and individual stories through film.

The aim of this massive cross-continental shindig is to help melt borders and differences through film, live music and speakers. According to definr, the word Pangea means “a hypothetical continent including all the landmass of the Earth prior to the Triassic period when it split into Laurasia and Gondwanaland” — which now makes total sense to me.

When: Pangea Day is Saturday, May 10, 2008

How to participate: Starting at 11 a.m. (PDT), 24 films will be showing over four hours at various locations. You will be able to watch the films at an event, over the Internet, on TV, on your mobile phone and in some movie theaters. Use the map and look for events with a white dot to find locations that are still accepting guests.

Who’s onboard: The Pangea Day channel on YouTube includes support from celebrities such as Cameron Diaz, Forest Whitaker, Tony Robbins, Robin Williams and more.

— Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel Deal Blogger

[Image: PangeaDay.org]