Toy Story Hotel Planned to replace Paradise Pier Hotel?

TP2000

Well-Known Member
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Reminds me of some mid-range Scandinavian chain hotels I've stayed in over the years as they tend to go for the same kind of modern, minimalist aesthetic. Reads as a bit cold for a Disney hotel to me, but then I guess the old one was just ugly. 🤷‍♂️

That's it exactly! I was trying to think where I've seen this hotel aesthetic before, and your post nailed it. 🤣

Go to any standard 3 star airport business hotel in Stockholm or Oslo or Copenhagen, and you get the same look and vibe. Magical!

Stockholm Airport Radisson -

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At best, it's boring. At worst, I get distinct BART/train station vibes.

Hmm... it's been decades since I went on BART, but I'll take your word for it. I also get distinct "Suburban Corporate Hospital" vibes; you know the new kind of hospitals in the suburbs that are trying to make the experience of serious illness look stylish instead of scary.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member

PiratesMansion

Well-Known Member
I thought this was an interesting photo from Disneygeek.com...

The last remaining section of original paint scheme. It makes the black/white look even more... boring.

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I was never crazy about the previous color scheme.

That said, with the new paint scheme the exterior now looks like an old Nintendo cartridge.
 

Sir_Cliff

Well-Known Member
That's it exactly! I was trying to think where I've seen this hotel aesthetic before, and your post nailed it. 🤣

Go to any standard 3 star airport business hotel in Stockholm or Oslo or Copenhagen, and you get the same look and vibe. Magical!
I'm glad it's not just me! Honestly, if this revamp was called "Disney's Scandinavian Business Hotel Resort" it would be hard not to praise Disney for nailing the theming on this one!
 

josh2000

Well-Known Member
Everyone wants Disney to tear it down but it's been discussed many times on this forum that Disney is stuck with the current building because of legal restrictions from the previous owners (who still own a financial stake in the hotel) and zoning restrictions from the city that were put into place back in the 1990s.

If I remember correctly, the legal restrictions from the previous owners are only in place for a certain amount of time but the end date is not publicly known. Disney apparently has the option to buy out the previous owners' financial stake and gain full control immediately but it would be so expensive that Disney will never do it.

And regarding the zoning restrictions, DisneylandForward would erase that problem entirely.

So we all have to play the waiting game and put up with the Pixar Place hotel for another few decades in hopes that a 'real' Disney hotel will eventually be built there when all the restrictions go away.
 

the.dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
Disney apparently has the option to buy out the previous owners' financial stake and gain full control immediately but it would be so expensive that Disney will never do it.
Buying them out would be worth it in the long term. The issue is that it’s likely not that expensive to buy them out. However, like the second parking garage/Pumbaa lot issue, DLR presidents keep kicking it down the can because it would be expensive up front and they wouldn’t benefit from it.
 

choco choco

Well-Known Member
Buying them out would be worth it in the long term. The issue is that it’s likely not that expensive to buy them out. However, like the second parking garage/Pumbaa lot issue, DLR presidents keep kicking it down the can because it would be expensive up front and they wouldn’t benefit from it.

I'm pretty sure buying out that hotel would not be the DLR president's call. It would likely have to come from someone way above him.
 

choco choco

Well-Known Member
Video from the partially reopened Pixar Place Hotel lobby. Additional comments from the Twitter post below the video.







I don't understand the Mondrian squares or the linear strips on the ceiling. First of all, those are clashing aesthetics (bulk vs. long and thin, irregular/disordered vs regular/predictable). Then they throw some circle lights under it (why? this is now getting incoherent) and then there's a part of the ceiling where it's just large black drop ceiling tiles (to no real function that I can tell).

This is no design philosophy. This is stuff beaten out of you in any foundational 2-D design class. I don't understand what's going on here at all. And what's with the white. With the lighting you chose, that white makes everything way too harsh and allows no chance for atmospherics in any of the spaces. F for this semester project.
 

BubbaisSleep

Well-Known Member
Bummer that Disney doesn’t own the hotel. With how the Disneyfoward plans show an underpass heading that direction, it would have been great for the path to lead to a hotel and land similar in design to Disney Springs at TDL. DLR hotels just lack so much compared to WDW’s, including this new tower at DLH.
 
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lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
And regarding the zoning restrictions, DisneylandForward would erase that problem entirely.
DisneylandForward does not get rid of the zoning restrictions. Because the land is not owned by Disney and it is not within the Disneyland Specific Plan, the hotel’s rooms don’t count towards the maximum number of rooms Disney is allowed to build on their land.
 

josh2000

Well-Known Member
I'm pretty sure buying out that hotel would not be the DLR president's call. It would likely have to come from someone way above him.
We have no clue how much the former owners want but I'm assuming that if it was a reasonable price, Disney would have already paid it a long time ago. As it stands, the former owners are making a lot of money off the current hotel so I have to imagine it would cost a lot to buy them out.

I recall the story of how the Yamabuki restaurant at the hotel had to close permanently. Disney wasn't making enough money due to a substantial percentage of the restaurant's profits having to be paid to the former owners.
 

the.dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
I'm pretty sure buying out that hotel would not be the DLR president's call. It would likely have to come from someone way above him.
Not so sure there. Resort President could make the effort to advocate for funding to do the buyout, but that requires political capital and time.

With current managment, they’ll only tear it down if the minority investor wants to sell or bookings and guest sats went down and stayed low because it’s an overpriced product.
 

mlayton144

Well-Known Member
Not so sure there. Resort President could make the effort to advocate for funding to do the buyout, but that requires political capital and time.

With current managment, they’ll only tear it down if the minority investor wants to sell or bookings and guest sats went down and stayed low because it’s an overpriced product.
Would it be too crazy for Disney just to take their name off of it and let it rot for a few years (I assume the owner would make no money off of it in that scenario). Of course I’m sure there is more to this story
 

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