I've Bailed on Christmas the Last 2 Years and Gone Here Instead

Updated on Dec 15, 2018 at 5:50 PM

POPSUGAR Photography | Rebecca Brown

This is not your run-of-the-mill skipping Christmas story of the "over it" couple who just want to escape Frosty the Snowman and the like. I actually love the holiday and enjoy spending it with family — anyone's family! — but the last two years, I've ditched my own to create a special tradition with my husband. Instead of buying him a physical present, I've been whisking him away to Disneyland on Christmas Day, and it's a tradition I hope we can routinely continue.

Here's why . . .

We get an entire day just to ourselves and create our own memories.

We stay at my parents' house in LA so that we can be with everyone on Christmas Eve — we have a ton of Christmas traditions, plus two birthdays to celebrate — but the first thing we do after the kids open their presents on the 25th is leave and go straight to Disney, where we can create our own memories.

We absolutely love Disneyland, so we are at our happiest.

My husband grew up in Florida and went to Disney World often, so each time we go to Disneyland together, he takes a trip down memory lane, and it's special for me. We're also at our silliest at Disney, and that's something I cherish.

We return home to my family refreshed and more excited than ever.

More often than not, no one has even noticed we slipped out of the house for the day.

Somehow, going over Christmas helps justify the exorbitant cost.

It doesn't matter how spendthrift you are; Disneyland is just an expensive place. Pile on a hotel room and food, and you could've easily flown across the country. The last two years, I've set up Disneyland as my husband's Christmas gift, so it helps me make sense of the cost.