I’ve won plenty of contests over the years, but none felt quite as special as scoring tickets to the KOST 103.5 private holiday party at Disney California Adventure. All it took was a couple days of casually clicking the contest section on their website—easily the lowest-effort win of my life.
It was, without question, the emptiest we’ve ever seen the park. And since it doubled as our first real “date night” since Kai arrived, it became this rare chance to rekindle old sparks while also enjoying a night out with friends.
The highlight of the entire visit, of course, was getting free photo ops with some of our favorite characters—especially Mickey and Santa Claus. Santa chatted with us about how they apparently have boba now at the North Pole. Absolute weirdo, but entertaining nonetheless.
We did manage to squeeze in a few rides: Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree, Toy Story Mania, and the Incredicoaster. The park was open exclusively for us from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., giving us a chance to move at a relaxed pace. Somehow, Cars still sat at a 45-minute wait which was a bit disappointing to have not been able to enjoy. Oh well, next time!
We got the chance to witness the KOST 103.5 parade, which just so happened to be very simultaneously anticlimactic and short lived. The dancers themselves appeared to be more amateurish and most likely unpaid interns.
Though we would have liked to have brought Kai with us, a disruption to his routine would most likely have resulted in a tragic trip of crying and sadness. Luckily we were able to enjoy some fleeting moments of joy without him – despite of course checking in with him on the ring camera every hour to see his progress.
Cheers to more needed date nights in the future! And we’ll have to take Kai back sometime in the future while it’s still free, probably right before he turns 2 to maximize his memories.
