Fantasy Flight 2011

What a whirlwind of a day! We woke early this morning to head to Dulles airport for a special flight to the North Pole. Yes, the REAL North Pole!! Of course, the excitement was palatable. Carson was up and dressed way before any light in the house came on.

The flight to the North Pole was courtesy of United Airlines, Children's Hospice International, and Believe in Tomorrow. We had VIP parking, a dedicated check-in and security counter, entertaining elves, and yes, a ride in a Boeing 777 to the North Pole to visit with Santa! This was a very special 777, so it only took us 30 minutes to get to the North Pole. Check out the photos:

At the North Pole we were greeted by choirs, musicians, elves, team mascots, princesses, and the Chick-fil-A cow. Santa (and Mrs. Claus) spoke with each of the children and provided Carson with a very nice bag full of presents. Santa even told Carson he'd be sure to bring the Lego Police Station with him on Christmas eve. Talk about service!

For those who are wondering...this was a real flight. We had real boarding passes - destination North Pole. The North Pole was listed on the departure status screens throughout the airport (see pics). Passengers from other flights were even taking pictures of the screens. We REALLY took off and flew for circa 30 minutes, with the exchanges between the captain and North Pole "air traffic control" piped over the intercom for the kids to hear. Oh, and our seats were in business class. Sweet!!

For the record, I'm not sure what the official ground roll-out for take off was...but with no luggage/freight, little fuel, and an average passenger weight of circa 80lbs, a near empty Boeing 777 can get off the ground in less than 5 seconds!! In speaking with the captain afterwards, he said they actually look forward to this flight -it's a lot of fun to fly!

A HUGE Thank You to United Airlines, Children's Hospice International, Believe in Tomorrow, and the other organizations that helped to put this event together. As far as single events go, this was one of the biggest we've ever seen.

And judging from the smiles on all the little faces, it was a huge hit!

Paul.