Lia's 3rd: Christmas at the Happiest Place on Earth

Two days before Valentine's day and I am still not over with Christmas. Last year was one of the most special Christmas days of my life. It was the day when God fulfilled another promise, the day I ticked off a country in my bucket list, the day our small family of three set foot on the land of the freeeee!! (Read about US Visa Interview experience here).

Our flight to the US was at 11am on Christmas Day. It was perfect because we were still able to spend Christmas eve at home with the fambam :) We took the Philippine Airlines' direct flight to LA for 13-long-hours (which made me realize that direct flights are better than the ones with lay-overs. It was long, yes, but less tiring). Little daughter was asleep from the time we left home up to a few hours after the plane took off. 

Thankfully, flight was smooth :) There were only few mild CATs and the PAL inflight service had definitely improved a lot. The Airbus plane that took us to Los Angeles doesn't have individual entertainment system for economy seats but it didn't became a problem at all. We had enough time to sleep and my daughter behaved well all throughout the flight. Prior to the flight, I have a scene in my mind of carrying my crying and bored child to the lavatory so as not to disturb the sleeping passengers. But no, she didn't make any drama :)

Here's what we did to entertain her:
1. Dad loaded her iPad with plenty of Princess movies. Mermaid Princess, Fairy Princess, Barbie Princess etc! She was glued to the screen and was amazed when I told her that we were inside an airplane.
2. We brought cookies and other snacks. PAL's meals are limited and they don't have kid's meal so I made sure I have something that's friendly to my daughter's palate.
3. I also brought a few books which she wasn't able to use a lot because the inflight magazines were a lot more interesting for her at that time.
4. I made sure I have water, milk and Pedialyte to keep her hydrated throughout the flight.

We arrived at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) at around 8am. It was a sunny and bright Christmas morning!

It was our first time in the US and was a bit worried because of some "airport-to-airport" horror stories I've heard before. Surprisingly, LAX was quiet that morning and passing through the immigration counters came in a breeze! Yes, we were asked to stop once by a ground personnel but only to give our girl a candy cane and then we walked all the way out of the airport! 

Welcome to California!
 

From LAX, we traveled all the way to Anaheim riding a Chrysler driven by a nice, middle-aged chauffeur. Per our chauffeur, travel time from LAX to Anaheim usually lasts for an hour but on that day, it took us 30 minutes only with 3/4 of the time spent on Freeway. 

 

We were welcomed by a bit of a crazy weather -- it was sunny yet the wind was cold and chilly.

Our room wasn't ready yet so after breakfast, we left our luggage at the hotel and head on for a walk. We left our stroller at home but made sure we buy one before going to Disneyland. It was good that a mini-mart was just beside our hotel, we were lucky to grab an umbrella stroller for US$22 only! It was a good buy and was reliable throughout our stay in the US :)

My daughter has been to Hong Kong Disneyland in 2011 and 2012 but she doesn't seem to remember so we really looked forward to this trip and scheduled more than a day to spend at the happiest place on earth. We purchased a City Pass (that includes a 3-day pass to Disney and California Adventure, one-day pass to San Diego Seaworld and a one-day pass to Universal Studios in LA) to make the most out of our stay. 

Coming from a long flight, hubs and I were really amazed and happy when we saw our little girl so giddy and excited after we entered the park. 

Our first meal in America!

She was so happy to see the photos of her favorites and started naming each character as we pass by a souvenir shop. And it may have been God's plan, she saw Goofy standing in one corner so we immediately queue for a photo op. We were so happy!

After this photo was taken, we gave in to our body's longing for a bed. We came back to the hotel and snoozed the whole afternoon till nine in the evening. Realizing that it was still Christmas, and that we haven't had dinner yet, we went for a walk on that chilly Christmas night.

That night's dinner was brought to us by the best pizza in Harbor Blvd -- Pizza Press. There you can create your own pizza, prepared right in front of you.

I actually like the idea of cleaning your table after you dine in a fast food in the US. My daughter was amazed and I made her helped me and her Dad most of the time. The food serving was huge so usually one serving and a kiddie meal were enough for the three of us. We didn't have to order extra beverage because refills are usually free of charge, and they didn't mind us sharing. Well, at least no one reprimanded us for sharing :) 

Dinner made us so sleepy so we went back to the hotel to rest and get ready for the days ahead of us.

Tired but happy. Our little girl in her US$22 stroller :)

I have so many stories to share about our US trip, some are really challenging for first time parents like us, that made that trip one of the most specials we've ever had. For the first time in my life, I've had the longest Christmas day ever (Anaheim, CA is 16-hours behind Manila) and I could say the happiest, so far. 

It was surreal, like a dream. And yes, dreams do come true!

#dreamsdocometrue