Disneyland Hotel (California)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Disney hotel or resort | |
| Disneyland Hotel | |
|---|---|
| Category |  |
| Rooms | 990 |
| Resort | Disneyland Resort |
| Theme | Various |
| Website | Disneyland Resort Homepage |
| Operator | The Walt Disney Company |
| Disneyland Resort |
|---|
| Resort Hotels |
|
Disneyland |
The Disneyland Hotel is a hotel in Anaheim, California, notable as the first hotel to officially bear the Disney name. It has been in operation since 1955, although it was not owned by The Walt Disney Company until 1988. When Walt Disney constructed Disneyland in 1955, the costs to build the park exceeded $17 million, and Disney did not have the money to build and operate a hotel. Walt Disney negotiated a deal with Jack Wrather to build and operate the hotel. The contract gave Wrather the rights to use the Disneyland Hotel name on any hotel in the state of California until 2054.[citation needed]
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] The Wrather years 1955-1984
Designed by the firm of Pereira & Luckman, the original Disneyland Hotel consisted of a two-story guest room complex (later known as the South Garden Rooms) with shopping, dining, and recreational facilities, including the Plaza Building and Restaurant Row. It was one of the first hotels in the region to offer accommodations for four persons per room. Guests traveled between the hotel and Disneyland Park via a tram between the hotel and the park main entrance. Over the years, the hotel was expanded to include another two-story guest room complex – North Garden – and three guest room towers: in order, Sierra, Marina, and Bonita. The Disneyland Monorail was extended from its original 1959 configuration and a station opened at the hotel in 1961. Recreational areas, attractions, and a convention center were also added over the years.
[edit] Disney takes over
When Michael Eisner became Chairman & CEO of Walt Disney Productions in 1984, he desperately wanted to get out of Disney's agreement with the Wrather Corporation and bring the Disneyland Hotel under the Walt Disney Company's umbrella. However, every time Wrather was approached by Disney, he said that he was happy with the contract. When Jack Wrather died in late 1984, The Walt Disney Company bought the entire Wrather Corporation. As a result, Disney owned the Disneyland Hotel, along with the RMS Queen Mary, The Lone Ranger and the TV series Lassie. In 1988, the hotel came under the ownership of the Walt Disney Company.
[edit] Resort expansion 1999-2001
In 1999, a significant portion of the hotel was demolished to make way for Downtown Disney and parking areas for the newly expanding Disneyland Resort. Most buildings east of the Sierra Tower and north of the Marina Tower were demolished, including the original hotel buildings from 1955. The only buildings remaining in these areas are the convention center and parking garage, and the second-level Monorail station, which was significantly renovated but still in its original location. Recreational facilities were built in the quad between the three towers, previously site of the Water Wonderland, to replace those that were previously located east of the Sierra Tower. Streets previously used to access the hotel by car were regraded and/or outright eliminated, and a new street was built to access the hotel. Tram service from the hotel was also discontinued, leaving the Monorail as the only vehicular mode of transportation from park to hotel.
The loss of hotel rooms was offset with the opening of Disney's Grand Californian Hotel in 2001, but many of the restaurants and amenities that existed prior to 1999 were never replaced.
[edit] The hotel today
Today none of the original hotel buildings from 1955 remain standing. Very little of the hotel other than parking areas and service facilities sit outside of the perimeter created by the three remaining guest room towers. Original signs and other artifacts from several of the stores and restaurants demolished with the Plaza are on display in the hotel's employee cafeteria.
ESPN Zone, Rainforest Café, and AMC Theatres - all Downtown Disney venues - now occupy much of the former hotel space east of the Sierra Tower. Mickey Mouse theming is employed in many interior furnishings and details. In 2007 the Marina, Sierra, and Bonita Towers were renamed Magic, Dreams, and Wonder, respectively. Other buildings in the sprawling hotel complex house restaurants, stores, offices, recreational facilities and convention and banquet facilities. The complex also features gazebo and garden areas that are used for Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings.
In keeping with the re-drawn hotel boundaries, the Monorail station was re-designated the Downtown Disney Monorail Station, and still takes guests to Tomorrowland inside Disneyland Park along the same beamway that existed prior to the 1999-2001 expansion. An exclusive entrance to Disney's California Adventure for guests staying at Disneyland Resort hotels is a short walk away. The property is estimated to start another renovation before summer of 2008 and be finished in 2010.
[edit] Hotel Facilities
[edit] Restaurants
- Goofy's Kitchen
- Steakhouse 55 (formerly Granville's Steak House, after Jack Wrather's wife, actress Bonita Granville)
- Hook's Pointe
- Captain's Galley
- Croc's Bits 'n' Bites
[edit] Bars
- The Lost Bar
- The Wine Cellar
- The Coffee House
- The Lounge at Steakhouse 55
[edit] Stores
- Disney's Fantasia Shop
- Donald's Gifts and Sundries (not signed, formerly Marina Sundries)
- Euro Gifts and Collectibles (leased by Arribas Bros.)
