A Pictorial Of An Abandoned Anaheim Resort District - How Does It Recover?

[Darkbeer1]

Lisa has Friday off, after working 10 hour days for the last few weeks.

My schedule is light, after a busy Thursday, I have the dreaded 6 AM conference call, then I am on call, and I can be anywhere to do that.

So I think we will go get my wife's FitBit steps at the Resort. I will use my UpWalker and get quite a few steps myself.

But while we have driven through the area, haven't had a chance to walk the area in quite awhile. Should be interesting to see if any construction workers are on the job on the new Hotels.

Hey, at least we won't have to worry about Social Distancing...

Even at the normally busiest 7-11 in the USA.

 

[Tinkwings]

Before you leave the house you should always take one thing off. Your point is well taken.

Just to be clear as long as we are talking fashion faux pas.... please ensure the item you were looking for in the garage is a mandatory part of your ensemble.....discard something else....

 

[TP2000]

This thread has garnered some interesting notes to me in private, and apparently this little picture tour has received quite a bit of notice among various people up and down the food chain.

I now fully expect that the Disney Neckbeard Bloggers will be inundating YouTube with breathless walking tours of an empty Anaheim Resort District, ordering Moons Over My Hammy to go at the sad Denny's, peering in through the crooked blinds at Captain Kidd's, wacky commentary on the GardenWalk menagerie, etc., etc.

You're welcome in advance, gang!

But while we have driven through the area, haven't had a chance to walk the area in quite awhile. Should be interesting to see if any construction workers are on the job on the new Hotels.

Check out the big Westin on Katella if you can. When I was there in late afternoon it looked like construction had been halted, and the site was being guarded by one lonely security guy and a Homeless Party Zone in the adjacent bus stop.

But most construction wraps up in mid afternoon, so maybe I was just a bit too late to catch them.

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

I see this and I call shenanigans... I'm amazed at how empty the resort area is... when the other day I drove from the 57 to Whittier and back and everything looked normal, same amount of cars on the road and in parking lots like a regular Sunday etc...

Freeway at 5p yesterday was not 'busy' but certainly not 'light'. We were all moving at a pretty good click, but I couldn't go as fast as I wanted to... too many cars on the road.

 

[Stevek]

I think the current CM's are OK, I think the bigger question is how many CM's return to work (having found other employment), and how many CM's do they hire for the normally busy summer season?

As for the non-Disney employees, good Question.

How many find other work?

I work in an industry adjacent to grocery and there are almost a million jobs open in the grocery and Amazon arenas. Unfortunately, much of that is temporary and hopefully that means that folks will be able to jump back to some of their former jobs.

 

[Darkbeer1]

My wife has a 6:30 AM to 5 PM shift now, leaving West Anaheim for Downtown Santa Ana, and she has had much lighter traffic than pre COVID-19.

And yes, traffic is lighter in much of the area.

But The Anaheim Resort Area is MUCH quieter than the areas around it. And why? No Housing, no real Grocery Stores, mainly Hotels, Restaurants, Shops, the Convention Center and Disneyland, all closed.

It is a weird and strange Ghost Town.

 

[mandelbrot]

My wife has a 6:30 AM to 5 PM shift now, leaving West Anaheim for Downtown Santa Ana, and she has had much lighter traffic than pre COVID-19.

And yes, traffic is lighter in much of the area.

But The Anaheim Resort Area is MUCH quieter than the areas around it. And why? No Housing, no real Grocery Stores, mainly Hotels, Restaurants, Shops, the Convention Center and Disneyland, all closed.

It is a weird and strange Ghost Town.

I live in the resort area and it is indeed a ghost town. It's surreal.

 

[TP2000]

I see this and I call shenanigans... I'm amazed at how empty the resort area is... when the other day I drove from the 57 to Whittier and back and everything looked normal, same amount of cars on the road and in parking lots like a regular Sunday etc...

Freeway at 5p yesterday was not 'busy' but certainly not 'light'. We were all moving at a pretty good click, but I couldn't go as fast as I wanted to... too many cars on the road.

I promise you I didn't PhotoShop all the humans and cars out of those photos. I would need to learn how PhotoShop works before I did that anyway.

Once I drove away from Disneyland and past the Santa Ana Freeway, traffic picked up again. And by the time I got into the City of Orange on Katella it was pretty much back to normal. But the Resort District was dead as a doornail. All business (and thus tax revenue) related to Disneyland and the Anaheim Convention Center is shut down and silent.

 

[Phroobar]

I wonder if the Butterfly Pavilion down in Buena Park will ever finish construction and open.

Butterfly Palladium faces legal, financial hurdles as Buena Park pushes for new developer

City leaders and developers believed that Butterfly Palladium would open in late 2018, with visitors strolling through a 17,500-square-foot recreation of a Central American rain forest and mingling…

www.ocregister.com

 

[Darkbeer1]

I wonder if the Butterfly Pavilion down in Buena Park will ever finish construction and open.

Butterfly Palladium faces legal, financial hurdles as Buena Park pushes for new developer

City leaders and developers believed that Butterfly Palladium would open in late 2018, with visitors strolling through a 17,500-square-foot recreation of a Central American rain forest and mingling…

www.ocregister.com

Simple answer, No. The city of Buena Park is taking back the land. Last I heard (earlier this year), The Butterfly Pavilion owners have not fought it, since they don't have the funds to finish it. And in the current economy, probably happy to not have to make performance goals.

 

[Californian Elitist]

This is what CM training at 5 in the morning at the parks looks like. Empty and quiet.

 

[Figments Friend]

All the other businesses have nice, tidy, papered windows. Captain Kidd's can't even be bothered to put down their blinds properly. That really tells you all you need to know about the place.

Seriously, when the current ecomonic apocalypse is over, i am truly hoping the ONE positive thing to result from this mess will be that 'Captain Kidd's' is forced to close permanently.

Please, for the sake of the gullible unknowing families lured in ....and for the hours of vacation time wasted by said family members being ill afterwards, please let it happen.
For all that is still right in the world....make it so.


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[Figments Friend]

I noticed that too!

If there's anything good that comes out of all this, it's that Captain Kidd's does not reopen if and when Disneyland does.

Great minds think alike!


May the Tiki Gods bless you, TP !

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[TheDisneyDaysOfOurLives]

Seriously, when the current ecomonic apocalypse is over, i am truly hoping the ONE positive thing to result from this mess will be that 'Captain Kidd's' is forced to close permanently.

Please, for the sake of the gullible unknowing families lured in ....and for the hours of vacation time wasted by said family members being ill afterwards, please let it happen.
For all that is still right in the world....make it so.


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Soooooooooo...

Don't take my kids to Captain Kidd's on our next trip? Just making sure I understand you. ;-)

 

[Figments Friend]

I used to have a few Mimi's in my area, but most of them closed in the mid 2010's sadly. I think there is one an hour or so away though, maybe a nice drive and takeout is in my future.

As your buddy Emperor Palpatine is fond of saying, "DO IT"..!

Sign up on their e-mail list online and they will send you all kinds of great meal offers.
They love to send me stuff...but sadly, i live 2,486 something miles away.

Breakfast is awesome.
Dinner options are excellent, too.

Oh no....we are talking about Mimi's again !
Now i'm craving their hot buttered muffins with a Earl Grey tea....




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[Figments Friend]

Soooooooooo...

Don't take my kids to Captain Kidd's on our next trip? Just making sure I understand you. ;-)

Definately DO NOT take them if by chance the Captain is still open for business.
NO....walk right by the front door heading to the left and keep going for about two minutes.
A short walk down the street and stop in at MIMI's CAFE instead.
YES !! Mimi's !!

They have a excellent menu for families, and a good kids menu.
Check out their website here -

Home

www.mimiscafe.com

You will LOVE IT there...!



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[TheDisneyDaysOfOurLives]

Definately DO NOT take them if by chance the Captain is still open for business.
NO....walk right by the front door heading to the left and keep going for about two minutes.
A short walk down the street and stop in at MIMI's CAFE instead.
YES !! Mimi's !!

They have a excellent menu for families, and a good kids menu.
Check out their website here -

Home

www.mimiscafe.com

You will LOVE IT there...!



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I've been there, but apparently during the 'bad' era that has been talked about in this thread.

 

[truecoat]

Yeah, Star Wars Land hasn't changed a bit. Maybe it's even a little bit livelier with more ducks around?

The white tarps on the ground in front of Tomorrowland and Frontierland are repaving projects. But it looks like they were put on hold because the construction crews have to obey Social Distancing rules that the Disneyland Security team is immune to.

GE isn't quite deserted. I see someone down there.

 

[Figments Friend]

We used to go to Mimi's until the food and menu changed. We haven't been back since. We didn't know they were bought by a different food chain. Maybe we should go back?

YES !!!!

DO give them a try.


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[Curious Constance]

GE isn't quite deserted. I see someone down there.

View attachment 460441

This is the kind of thing that keeps me going