Christmas in Disneyland

Well, not quite Christmas, but Christmas time. We traveled down to Disneyland, really thanks to Southwest Airlines. We hadn’t planned on going this winter, but when Southwest had $39 fares into Orange Co. it was just too tough to pass up. So as an early Christmas gift, we went to visit Mickey and friends.

Although things didn’t start off very smooth. Jerry dropped us off at the San Jose Airport and just as we finished checking in our baggage we realized that we had forgotten Ellie’s carseat (which she needs to ride in the Super Shuttle van from the airport to the hotel). Lucky for us, Jerry got a tad bit lost leaving the airport and hadn’t dropped our car (and keys) back at the house yet. So he circled back. Thank you Jerry!

Then it was on to the security checkpoint, which is always a challenge, add in kids, especially toddlers, and it gets a little crazy at time. So off came the shoes, belt, etc. Backpack, iPad, etc. in the bins and through the scanner. Thankfully they don’t make kids under 12 remove their shoes and such, so Ellie was able to just walk through. Got everything through, almost. Their little wipe test they do on things came back positive for something on the stroller. GREAT. So we had to step to the side while they did a full look at every hinge, bolt and lock on the stroller. Plus we had to have our hands checked, not sure for what.

Now all of this would have been just fine had we not just told Ellie where we were going. We wanted to make it a semi-surprise, not to mention we didn’t want to field questions about “when are we going” since our flight wasn’t until 2:30. So she was stoked, and she let the TSA guys know it. “Hurry up I’m going to Disneyland!” While cute for a YouTube video, I’m sure they weren’t all that thrilled to be berated for their lack of speed by an energized four-year-old.

Everything passed the bomb test (can you say bomb on a blog? I hope so) and we were off. Get to the gate for boarding, and we forgot to get gate-check tags for the stroller. Fail on our part. We’ve done this how many times? And we forgot that step. So slight delay, but nothing to worry about.

Finally in the air and everything was great. Lukas cried a little on the descent into Orange Co. but a bottle quickly made him happy. Then upon touchdown, Ellie proclaimed, “I farted.” Which made Steph break into laughter so hard she started to cry. So if saying it once was funny, twice was surely going to make things fun. So she said it again. She was so proud.

We stayed at the Carousel Inn and Suites right across the street from the Disney entrance, and it was really nice! Always hit and miss with new places, but it came with good reviews, and I concur. Looking for a nice, clean, close place to stay at a reasonable rate? Hit up the Carousel.

After the flight and check-in, we got into the park at 5:30. By sheer coincidence Jenn and Aunt Cathy were down in Disneyland for the weekend, and so was Mike. So we were able to meet up with them a couple of different times. Saturday and Sunday were pretty crowded, but we were still able to hit up plenty of rides, watch fireworks, etc.

Ellie waving to Santa during the parade

Ellie became a huge fan of the Matterhorn, which is funny because that was my favorite ride as a kid. She’s fearless too, refusing to hangon. She just wants to ride with her hands up in the air the whole time. Crazy kid!

Lukas did great too. We learned that he needs to see things. Anytime we closed the hood of the stroller to help him sleep or if it was chilly, he pushed it down. He just wanted to look around and see what was going on.

News and Notes – TSA at the Orange Co. airport was super nice and friendly, very helpful when we went through security returning to San Jose…The same can not be said of the Southwest ground crew which was quite rude while we were trying to board. Apparently they thought Lukas, was traveling by himself…Took an InDesign class for work. I’m ready to start my own magazine now...Jelf, our Elf on the Shelf is doing his job and keeping Ellie in line. If only he were around all year, and for the next 15 years.