NobodyElse
Well-Known Member
It was built as the Emerald Hotel in 84(?). After a few more name changes, the facade was altered a bit and the name changed to Paradise Pier Hotel to fit in a little better with the newly adjacent DCA.
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Disneyland Resort Buys Even More Property
- Thread starter Dead2009
- Start date
It was built as the Emerald Hotel in 84(?). After a few more name changes, the facade was altered a bit and the name changed to Paradise Pier Hotel to fit in a little better with the newly adjacent DCA.
NiarrNDisney
Well-Known Member
So that's why it reminds me of a Holiday Inn! Though some of the HI's I have stayed in were nicer and had more appeal!
TP2000
Well-Known Member
I'm going to play a game with myself and see if I'm right, not checking the Google until after I post this paragraph...
I think the hotel was actually built in 1986. It was called the "Emerald of Anaheim", and it was owned by some Japanese firm. Then it changed hands in the early 1990's and became the Pan-Pacific Hotel. Disney bought it around 1996-ish and it was "Disney's Pan-Pacific" before it was branded as the Paradise Pier Hotel just before the 2001 opening of DCA. It has to be the least attractive and least themed hotels in the Disney Empire since the Hotel Plaza Blvd. hotels of the 1970's built adjacent to WDW's Lake Buena Vista development.
Doh! I checked the Google and the Wikipedia page offered this info that is closer to the @NobodyElse version of obscure Anaheim history than my own.
"The hotel was originally built and owned by Japan-based Tokyu Group, and opened in 1984 as the Emerald of Anaheim. It was renamed Pan Pacific Hotel, Anaheim in 1989 when Tokyu merged its Emerald and Pan Pacific hotel divisions. Disney purchased the hotel from Tokyu in 1995 and renamed it Disneyland Pacific Hotel. The hotel was rebranded as Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel on December 15, 2000, named after the waterfront land in Disney California Adventure Park that the hotel tower overlooks."
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Phroobar
Well-Known Member
I've stayed at all three Disneyland hotels. The PP isn't anything special. The theming inside screams DCA 1.0 but the concept artwork is pretty cool. The pool on top of the parking structure is just a regular pool with a water slide. The rooms are nicely furnished and the view of DCA is a great place to watch WOC. The rooms on the other side have a really bad view of the city. There isn't anything special about it.
NobodyElse
Well-Known Member
"Emerald of Anaheim" does sound somewhat familiar, and might have been the official business name. I'm trying to remember what the sign said on top of the building facing West Street, but here's apparently a postcard from the north side:
NobodyElse
Well-Known Member
Here's a picture of the parking garage construction from MiceAge:
I had made my original post because I noticed they were finishing vertical demo on Sunday on my way up to a concert in Hollywood. I didn't realize there had been a MiceAge update. I now see that they have some interesting details:
"The first office building at 1515 Manchester Ave has been demolished, and that northern piece of the property will become the new hotel shuttle bus loading area capable of handling dozens of buses at a time, replacing much of the existing loading areas that were built back in 1999. The new bus loading zone will lead to a landscaped plaza that becomes a broad walkway through what is now the Carousel Inn, before it heads over the skybridge across Harbor Blvd. and then winds along the very northern perimeter of the existing East Esplanade loading area."
When the parking structure/sky-bridge idea came to light, I had sort of envisioned the bridge meeting the structure somewhere around the bridge's max elevation. I assumed parking on a lower level meant taking an escalator up to a main concourse level and continuing across the bridge from there. I had hoped for a level surface crossing Harbor, continuing to a gently curved slope down to the Esplanade. Now it sounds like we may get a bridge more comparable to a dressed-up version of those Las Vegas intersection overpasses.
Perhaps walking through a parking structure, down an escalator, past the buses, through the landscaped canyon between hotels, up and over Harbor, then back down past Wardrobe will distract you from the fact that you're still just "walking from Pumba" like before.
sponono88
Well-Known Member
MouseInfo posted this cool infographic of the rumored long-term changes for the resort and how they all fit into place:
http://www.mouseinfo.com/new/2016/0...isneyland-resort-projects-will-be-in-anaheim/
http://www.mouseinfo.com/new/2016/0...isneyland-resort-projects-will-be-in-anaheim/
GrizzlyAdams
Active Member
Cool infographic, but the Fantasyland expansion is suppose to go north and into part of the cleared out backstage area
I also doubt the DCA expansion for Marvel Land will go that far north into the bus/entry area.
I also doubt the DCA expansion for Marvel Land will go that far north into the bus/entry area.
sponono88
Well-Known Member
Yes that was mentioned in this week's MiceChat update. Just a rumor of course but it's interesting to see what it'd look like and the possible layout of things.
"The plans for DCA now include a total thematic rethink of the northern flanks of Hollywood Land that would take over Monsters Inc., Stage 17, Stage 12, the Sunset Showcase Theater, and beyond the park into some of the adjacent bus loading areas of the East Esplanade.
The first office building at 1515 Manchester Ave has been demolished, and that northern piece of the property will become the new hotel shuttle bus loading area capable of handling dozens of buses at a time, replacing much of the existing loading areas that were built back in 1999. The new bus loading zone will lead to a landscaped plaza that becomes a broad walkway through what is now the Carousel Inn, before it heads over the skybridge across Harbor Blvd. and then winds along the very northern perimeter of the existing East Esplanade loading area."
http://micechat.com/132030-disneyland-rumor-update-one-disney/
"The plans for DCA now include a total thematic rethink of the northern flanks of Hollywood Land that would take over Monsters Inc., Stage 17, Stage 12, the Sunset Showcase Theater, and beyond the park into some of the adjacent bus loading areas of the East Esplanade.
The first office building at 1515 Manchester Ave has been demolished, and that northern piece of the property will become the new hotel shuttle bus loading area capable of handling dozens of buses at a time, replacing much of the existing loading areas that were built back in 1999. The new bus loading zone will lead to a landscaped plaza that becomes a broad walkway through what is now the Carousel Inn, before it heads over the skybridge across Harbor Blvd. and then winds along the very northern perimeter of the existing East Esplanade loading area."
http://micechat.com/132030-disneyland-rumor-update-one-disney/
NobodyElse
Well-Known Member
Time will tell what turns out to be fact v. fiction. There does appear to be conflict between that mouseinfo graphic and the micechat info.
The first issue I see is that the mouseinfo map shows the corridor between new parking and Harbor encompassing both the Carousel Inn as well as the Camelot Inn properties. If Disney acquired Camelot, this is the first I've heard of it. If they still only have Carousel, that pathway will be half the width that the graphic shows.
The labeled phases of the parking structure seem to be opposite of what was reported via micechat. Depending on the actual design of the Garage/Toll Booths/ Bus terminals, I'm not sure which order makes the most sense. One school of thought says build on the newly-demo'd area first while keeping the Pumba ground parking, then fill the new structure with cars while building out the rest of the structure on the Pumba site. The other is to suck it up, park cars elsewhere, and start vertical construction on the Pumba site while clearing out 1515 )and the USCIS sites), then continue on those. We'll see.
Regarding the DCA expansion north, I think that's always been in the cards. I just don't know to what extent. Obviously, the old turn-around area for the Timon parking trams seems to make sense. If the bus area moves to Manchester, that opens up those three turn-arounds, but I would think that area will be used for foot traffic to and from the bridge (as well as whatever money-making kiosks they can cram along the way).
Since it seems like mouseinfo (and @VashSky) are "Armed with info from the latest update on MiceChat.com" we'll see if the make any revisions that make more sense.
The first issue I see is that the mouseinfo map shows the corridor between new parking and Harbor encompassing both the Carousel Inn as well as the Camelot Inn properties. If Disney acquired Camelot, this is the first I've heard of it. If they still only have Carousel, that pathway will be half the width that the graphic shows.
The labeled phases of the parking structure seem to be opposite of what was reported via micechat. Depending on the actual design of the Garage/Toll Booths/ Bus terminals, I'm not sure which order makes the most sense. One school of thought says build on the newly-demo'd area first while keeping the Pumba ground parking, then fill the new structure with cars while building out the rest of the structure on the Pumba site. The other is to suck it up, park cars elsewhere, and start vertical construction on the Pumba site while clearing out 1515 )and the USCIS sites), then continue on those. We'll see.
Regarding the DCA expansion north, I think that's always been in the cards. I just don't know to what extent. Obviously, the old turn-around area for the Timon parking trams seems to make sense. If the bus area moves to Manchester, that opens up those three turn-arounds, but I would think that area will be used for foot traffic to and from the bridge (as well as whatever money-making kiosks they can cram along the way).
Since it seems like mouseinfo (and @VashSky) are "Armed with info from the latest update on MiceChat.com" we'll see if the make any revisions that make more sense.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
MouseInfo posted this cool infographic of the rumored long-term changes for the resort and how they all fit into place:
http://www.mouseinfo.com/new/2016/0...isneyland-resort-projects-will-be-in-anaheim/
My gosh that map is helpful. The only thing they forgot to put in was the "Expansion Pad" that will be left between Star Wars Land and Toontown, that is rumored to be the location of the Frozen ride's warehouse building. Thanks for linking that for us! I thought Mouseinfo died five years ago. I used to post there in the early 2000's when "Marcie" was the anti-Lutz and we all assumed she was Cynthia Harriss in disguise posting from her Laguna Beach lair trying to claim DCA 1.0 was "fabulous!".
Bus loading plaza moves to the purple "Parking Structure Phase 1" site. The light blue USCIS block is future expansion of the parking structure itself.
A few years ago that entire Esplanade area was rumored to be the site of a fancy new Disney hotel, accessed via Harbor Blvd. They obviously moved that fourth hotel concept over to the Downtown Disney surface parking lots, freeing up that Harbor Blvd. land for park expansion. A brilliant move, really.
The only area needed for foot traffic is already noted on that map above and in the Miceage Update this week. It's the pink "Guest Access" corridor that leads from the Harbor skybridge directly to the theme park entry plaza.
The walk from the new parking structure does indeed appear to be as long as the one would be from the existing big structure. I wonder if there will be trams.
D
Deleted member 107043
There were plans back in the late 90s to tear it down and build the Westcot Lake Resort Hotel as part of the original DLR expansion plans. I've always assumed (hoped) that the property and the neighboring parking lot were earmarked for a future hotel project.
NobodyElse
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't count on trams. They would probably offer a limited amount of disabled-friendly shuttles, but I wouldn't anticipate much more. (Just my guess.)
NobodyElse
Well-Known Member
I'm not sure where I read it (probably around here somewhere) but original plans called for moving walkways. Those plans were modified to eliminate the moving walkways (presumably to save money).
Jiggsawpuzzle35
Well-Known Member
Sorry I'm a little confused here. Is all of Hollywood Land going to become Marvel Land? With that updated map, it doesn't make sense to have the Animation Academy and Hyperion Theatre separating the Tower of Terror from the rest of Marvel Land.
D
Deleted member 107043
The prices are special. They charge $300-$400 a night for a hotel that's basically the Disney equivalent of a Courtyard by Marriott. It's rare that I feel ripped off by Disney, but on my last trip I definately felt like I was being jacked by The PP Hotel.