Santaland

Another one of the Very Important Things on our list of things to do before leaving New York City was taking Ellie to Macy's to meet Santa Claus. As it has been said, the Macy's Santa is the one true Santa, so we knew she just had to go before we left town. We decided not to waste any time with this matter and headed in to Herald Square as soon as we possibly could the very morning after Thanksgiving.

Sure, we knew it was a gamble - Black Friday crowds could be atrocious and make the line epically long. I was really hoping, however, that insanity would be on our side, in that no sane parents would actually bring their kids to Macy's Herald Square on Black Friday, so the line wouldn't actually be too bad. I'm not sure if that's what helped or if Santaland is just a well-oiled machine, but we really did move through the whole thing quite quickly, and it was every bit the magical experience we hoped for.

Santa is here!

Before you enter Santaland, the line snakes around in front of the Santaland Express. The Conductor pleasantly shouts instructions and the elves smile and chat with you as you wait. When you finally reach the train platform, you ring the bell and off you go!

The conductor shouting instructions to the passengers

Ellie dressed in her Christmas best and ready to board the Santaland Express to the North Pole!

Ring that bell, Ellie!

After ringing the bell, you walk through a train car, complete with the sound and feeling of the tracks rumbling beneath your feet (a rather nice touch, we thought). Then, you disembark at the North Pole and step out into a winding wonderland of fun, whimsical holiday creatures in all sorts of festive scenes.

Left: Ellie and Eric arriving at North Pole Station

Right: A fish-pop vendor

Snowman choir

Only 308 more gnome steps to Santa!

Detour!

The countdown to Christmas

In front of Santa's flight map

I have to say, Macy's did a good job of making waiting in line fun, and we were ready to meet the Big Guy in seemingly no time at all. The elves ushered us back into Santa's little room, where Ellie plopped down on his lap, totally unfazed, and posed for her very first picture with Santa:

I could tell Ellie was quite excited about the whole thing, and not only did we leave with a great picture as a souvenir, we also each got a button to prove we met the man himself at Macy's.

I met the man himself at Macy's Santaland 2012!

As I mentioned earlier, Macy's Santaland really is a well-oiled machine. I was impressed at how quickly everything moved and the great lengths they went to to make it (and made sure it stayed) perfectly magical for the kids (and adults, for that matter). It was a great Santa encounter!

And, it left Ellie all tuckered out in her adorable little Christmas outfit.

Sweet Christmas baby feet

However, Macy's has not been Ellie's only Santa meeting this year. We also hit up the mall with Achilles in tow to get a full family photo with the man in red:

And then, upon our arrival in Florida, we went to the annual Angelini Christmas Party (the Angelinis photographed our wedding and Ellie's baptism and have become great friends over the past five years), where Santa once again made an appearance.

(Photo by Jason Angelini Photography)

At this rate, Santa will be old news to Ellie by the time Christmas actually gets here! But so far, overexposure doesn't seem to have dampened her Christmas spirit one bit. I think she's ready to see what Santa will bring her for her first Christmas! And I suppose he better get it right, given that she's had three opportunities to tell him what she wants, right?

My Christmas sweetheart!

(Photo by Jason Angelini Photography)