Our Christmas Vacation 2015

Robert and I had the opportunity to go to California the first week of December.

We used our free Alaskan airmiles and stayed at the Hilton Anaheim for 6 nights.

It was fun to see the decorations and the poinsettia plants!

It was also Disneyland's 60th diamond anniversary.

I especially loved Sleeping Beauty's Castle.

This was December 2. We hurried straight there after dropping off our luggage for an early check in at 11:30 am. It was a hot day, so we had bare feet in sandals. Unfortunately, no selfie sticks were allowed into the park. Robert had his confiscated, but he got it back at the end of the day.

We had a reviving cup of hot tea and a cookie at the Jolly Holiday Restaurant once we entered the park and I snapped a few photos of the poinsettia plants. We got up at 3 am on this day, in order to leave the house by taxi at 3:30 am. Our flight left at 6 am.

It was worth it all!

By Loretta Houben

Our 3rd day in Anaheim, UFDC; Monday, July 25, 2011

Next morning bright and early we headed to Disneyland again, as there wasn't much happening at UFDC convention except boring meetings! We definitely were not interested in those. There were also Dolly Dialogues which sounded quite interesting, but truth to tell, I'd much rather go to Disneyland with Linda and Robert! Here we are waiting for the shuttle bus. We paid $4.00 each for the whole day; a really good price.

(although the shuttle bus used to be free in the 1990's, until Disneyland made the whole area into a resort)

I took many photos, but am choosing the best ones for my blog posts.

A professional photographer took this one, using my camera. He used the right settings on it.

We bought the professional photo too. Isn't this a great angle for the castle?

Linda and I spent some time in the Emporium, purchasing our souvenirs, using our 10% off coupon we'd received the night before on our dinner receipt. (which I alertly noticed before throwing it away) It was a special deal which expired on Thursday. I bought a lovely purse with Mickey and Minnie cartoons on it.

We met Robert at 12:45 for our lunch date at the Blue Bayou in New Orleans Square.

This is another of our traditions. I had made the reservation 3 weeks ago. It was just as wonderful an experience as the first time! We sat by the water's edge. Of course my photos from inside did not turn out, so instead here is a photo of a beautiful stained glass in a perfume shop in the square; Walt Disney and his wife picked it out while on a trip to Europe.

Robert mailing postcards home and to friends who had signed up for Yvette Marie to send them one.

We watched the parade around 4:00, which was magnificent.

We returned to our hotel to rest, and came back in the evening.

Me and Robert waiting for our shuttle bus in the evening. That evening was warm and balmy.

Look at those lovely palm trees!

Our riverboat tour guide. We had quite an adventure on this; the ride "malfunctioned" and when we were nearly finished the tour, with one boat ahead of us, the ride stopped, and the lights went out.

We sat there for quite a while, and finally had to GO BACKWARDS all the way to the beginning!

We were given a pass to bypass any ride, but it was already 9:30 and the firework show was just beginning, so on our way out, Linda stopped at the customer relations building and negotiated and got 3 ride passes for our next trip there.

After the frightening experience on the river, we consoled ourselves at the Gibson's Ice Cream Parlour.

Robert was also consoled.

One more picture of the parade which wouldn't load up above.

We got back to our hotel at 11:00 pm, and headed to the UFDC salesroom, which was finally open!

It was another full day.

Our 2nd day in Anaheim CA, UFDC.



I've already added Disneyland photos to a previous post, so here are a lot more!

Linda and I on the staircase in New Orleans Square; our Disneyland tradition.

Linda and I hurried back to the Hilton for a newcomer's meeting.
At 3:00 we hurried to the National Doll Festival at the Sheraton Hotel. It seems we were always in a hurry...

Here I am with Sylvie Bravot at her gorgeous booth. She is from France and her dolls and clothes are simply marvelous.



Linda's name was called and she won a door prize; a cute Madam Alexander doll.
(she won this on Saturday evening)

We met Ms. Cholong from Ruby Red Galleria. She was a real sweeite.
Here she is, ready to sign my edition of the doll magazine that had her Ruby Red Bleuette article in it.
I purchased the "Paris" Resin Bleuette from her first thing on Saturday night.
She is very different from antique or other repro Bleuettes, but her body is really unique and quite heavy.
I am enjoying dressing her. I bought the blue Marin outfit too.

Linda, myself, Ms. Cholong, and Judy, from the Doll Peddler.

We hurried back to Disneyland at 5:30 pm to meet Robert for supper.

This was dessert, served at The Plaza. (another tradition)

There is a new night show in Disneyland. Favourite photos from the day are chosen in Florida, and put on this illuminated wall at It's a Small World. It is quite dazzling.

The highlight of this show was OUR PHOTO ON THE WALL!

This photo was of Linda and myself, holding our Bleuette dolls in their Minnie Mouse dresses by the Walt Disney statue. It was a thrill to see ourselves on the wall!

This is where we sat to watch the show.

Our pass entitling us to bypass any line; we got this by chatting to a Disneyland employee near the rope where we were standing watching the fireworks show. I had never been on the Alice in Wonderland ride, so the employee, whose name was Danielle, I believe, went and got us this pass. We could bypass the lineup by going to the exit line. Isn't that neat?
Our second day in Anaheim was filled with many adventures and happy memories!

Where I've been!

Robert and I flew to Anaheim, California on Saturday, July 23, 2011.

We did not drive.

I had meant to blog but California does NOT have any free Wi-Fi, so that was out of the question.

I was disappointed that I couldn't blog, but it was just as well, as the days and hours were chock full!

I attended the UFDC doll convention at the Hilton Hotel, and Robert found enough relaxing things to do in Disneyland and by the pool. I must say, I was never bored for one moment.

The picture above was taken by Linda P, who also travelled with us. This is on Sunday, July 24; we headed to one of our favourite places first thing.

Me and Linda; our traditional photo.

Linda and Robert showing our free 3 day passes.

Linda and I brought our repro Bleuette dolls to the convention, as we were meeting many members from our online Yahoo Bleuette doll group. No one wanted to come to Disneyland with us, to take a picture, so we enjoyed it alone. We both adore Disneyland. A trip every two years is simply perfect!

We dressed our Bleuettes in matching Minnie Mouse dresses. Linda found the fabric at Fabricland in Canada. She even found tiny ears for Madeline, her Bleuette, this trip; I had bought Yvette Marie's ears in 2009.

We headed for Adventureland first thing! We really did have quite an adventure there the following evening; the river boat ride malfunctioned and we had to ride it backwards! That was quite interesting indeed.

Another favourite spot; the Enchanted Tiki Room.

We had pineapple Dole Whips before heading in to see the show.

These are just a few of the 1000 photos I took. Of course you cannot see them all!

I will be posting my absolute favourite shots over the next few weeks.

We had a BLAST!

An amateur movie of Disneyland in 1956.

No, this picture wasn't taken in 1956! This was taken in 2009, of myself and Robert.

However, in traveling through Blogland I came upon a fantastic site.

The Barstow Family won a trip to Disneyland in 1956.

Their adventure is 1/2 hour long, with vintage footage of California in the 50's and Disneyland, which looks rather bleak and bare compared to 50 years later. Some of the adventures don't exist anymore; such as the donkey rides into the mines, and the stagecoach ride in frontierland. I was very interested in Storybook land with miniature houses for Snow White and Cinderella, etc. I wonder what became of them?

Click on the link above for a neat view of life in the 1950's!

I LOVE Disneyland!

Favourite photos of our trip

These were taken on Saturday June 13, 2009. This was our first action packed day in the wonderful world of Disneyland! The theme for '09 is "Celebration!" If you have a birthday in 2009 and if you sign up on Disney's site before you arrive in CA, you will get a free pass into Disneyland. If you already have a pass, like I did, you will get a gift card worth $69 to spend in their gift shops. I spent mine in 15 minutes flat!

The Blue Bayou

While riding "Pirates of the Caribbean" in Disneyland, we'd always longed to be one of the people eating in the "Blue Bayou", the fancy restaurant by the water's edge, just past the trees with Spanish moss, and the flickering fireflies. We inquired if we could place reservations, and lo and behold, we could do so, days in advance! We'd wanted to eat dinner there on my birthday but they were fully booked, so we arrived at 1:30 on Tuesday afternoon, June 16, at the mysterious, lamp lit Blue Bayou restaurant in the heart of New Orleans Square. We were not disappointed. Because we arrived early, we were able to secure a table beside the river's edge. It was a magical moment and better than I could imagine. Linda and I ordered the "Monte Christo", an amazing egg bread sandwich, filled with ham and cheese and deep fried. It came with scalloped potatoes and green and white beans. It was the best thing I've ever put in my mouth; yes, even better than chocolate! (If you click on each photo, you will see a large photo; you can really see our food well if you click on the above picture!) Robert had gumbo soup, and jambalaya. He said it was superb.

My flash was too bright, but otherwise you wouldn't be able to see my plateful of food. I also had a delicious salad with it, and there was a raspberry dip for the top of the meal.

Mmm....yummy!

My birthday in Disneyland!

I had a fantastic time in Disneyland on my 49th birthday last Monday! Robert and I and my friend, Linda P, flew down on June 12th. We had quite an adventure together. Anaheim, California had strange weather. You'll notice I'm wearing a sweater in the 2nd photo. Never mind, we had fun anyhow. I'm glad it didn't snow or hail! It tried to rain, but in spite of a bit of thunder and some light spitting, it didn't actually rain at all.

We flew home yesterday, June 19, and I'll blog more, and post a lot more photos, but for now I'm headed for bed as I had a doozy of a migraine today, and am feeling rather limpid.

Disneyland gave me a $69.00 gift card on my birthday, to use in their gift shops. I spent it in 15 minutes flat! It was a day to remember, as we also went to the American Girl store in The Grove district in the morning. I was simply exhausted by the end of the day! My hubby bought me Emily, Molly's friend. She is darling. Stay tuned for more photos!