Great video tour of the classic Disneyland Hotel

[flynnibus]

I never experienced it in it's heyday... but this is a great video showing much of what made the Disneyland Hotel a resort upon itself through the early decades.



This shows so much more than I ever knew was there.. and that's after following the DL Hotel thread on micechat for years.

 

[Kram Sacul]

It’s pretty disheartening how much was removed.

 

[Little Green Men]

Seems like DLH had its own mini DTD complex

 

[flynnibus]

This video gives the best walk through the iterations I've seen. Plus makes it really easy to understand the dtd transition

 

[TP2000]

I never experienced it in it's heyday... but this is a great video showing much of what made the Disneyland Hotel a resort upon itself through the early decades.



This shows so much more than I ever knew was there.. and that's after following the DL Hotel thread on micechat for years.

That was a very interesting video. Most of the stuff I was aware of or actually remember, at least from about 1965 to 1995, but there were a few new pieces of information there. I was unaware of the New Zealand buyout aspect of how Eisner took over the hotel in the late 80's, as I was living on the East Coast back then and pre-Internet we had no access to local news like that. Some of the stuff from the 90's seemed a bit glossed over, but mostly jives with how I remember it playing out.

I was particularly interested in that apparently early 1970's sketch of potential monorail expansion to the Convention Center on Katella, with an apparent station built in front of the main entrance, that you can see at 17:30 mark in that video. Wow! I had never heard of that concept being considered before.

Also, I think @George Lucas on a Bench would be very proud to see that Titanic clip at the 20:30 mark.

I'm sure he can give us an analogy of how that chapter in Disneyland Hotel history translates perfectly to the rigid class consciousness of pre-iceberg cruising on the Titanic. And if he can't, he's not as clever as I assume him to be.

 

[TP2000]

Seems like DLH had its own mini DTD complex

It did in the 1960's through the 1980's. By the early 1990's, long before DCA or Paul Pressler arrived, it was already chipped away and very hokey.

Looking back on it all it's easy to have rose tinted glasses. But I remember the Disneyland Hotel during the Clinton years of the early and mid 1990's before demolition began in earnest in late 1997, and the hotel and its surrounding restaurants and shopping had become a joke. Especially when you consider the snazzy and upscale Irvine Spectrum opened in 1995.

I could make a case today that you could have restored it to its original 1960's graciousness and mid-century-modern coolness, but in the 1990's it was just sad and tired. It didn't age well past about 1985.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

I'm not a Disneyland hotel historian and I couldn't make it through that video with the annoying narrator's descending vocals. Is the hotel worse off now than it was before?

 

[TP2000]

I'm not a Disneyland hotel historian and I couldn't make it through that video with the annoying narrator's descending vocals. Is the hotel worse off now than it was before?

It kind of is worse off. It's not quite as bad as the mid 1990's, but it's getting there.

And according to this clip, it's because the rigid class structure of the mid 20th century simply couldn't make the jump to the more casual yet more oppulent 21st century with it's current infrastructure of aging 1960's cement towers looming on the horizon like sinister icebergs and snooty waiters.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

As I understand it, one of the major alterations to the hotel was the removal of various water features. While removing water would have benefited Titanic, it seems to have had the opposite effect on the Disneyland hotel.

 

[TP2000]

As I understand it, one of the major alterations to the hotel was the removal of various water features. While removing water would have benefited Titanic, it seems to have had the opposite effect on the Disneyland hotel.

See, I knew you'd come up with something.

 

[flynnibus]

Kids these days are only aware of removing the water feature as some battlefront... but have no idea of what it really originated from and kind of what it reminded people of. Take some medication that will give you an attention span and watch the video

 

[Curious Constance]

Kids these days are only aware of removing the water feature as some battlefront... but have no idea of what it really originated from and kind of what it reminded people of. Take some medication that will give you an attention span and watch the video

What about the possibility of the attention span medication stunting their growth?

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

Kids these days are only aware of removing the water feature as some battlefront... but have no idea of what it really originated from and kind of what it reminded people of. Take some medication that will give you an attention span and watch the video

I'm an old man.

The narrator of that video is too annoying to tolerate.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

I'm not a Disneyland hotel historian and I couldn't make it through that video with the annoying narrator's descending vocals. Is the hotel worse off now than it was before?

No, not by a mile. It was very evident that the place was not Disney owned.

My first stay at the DLH was in 1977 and the room rate was $110 a night, which seemed like a fortune to me back then. Our room was in the Sierra Tower and had a view of the DL parking parking lot. As a kid it was thrilling to watch the stream of cars file into the DL lot every morning, but I do remember being very aware that the DLH lacked the Disney sophistication and showmanship of the Polynesian and Contemporary resorts I'd seen a few years earlier at WDW.

 

[TP2000]

No, not by a mile. It was very evident that the place was not Disney owned.

My first stay at the DLH was in 1977 and the room rate was $110 a night, which seemed like a fortune to me back then. Our room was in the Sierra Tower and had a view of the DL parking parking lot. As a kid it was thrilling to watch the stream of cars file into the DL lot every morning, but I do remember being very aware that the DLH lacked the Disney sophistication and showmanship of the Polynesian and Contemporary resorts I'd seen a few years earlier at WDW.

Very interesting Hans!

I was able to make into about the mid 1980's until I started realizing the Disneyland Hotel was sort of a weird alternate universe version of the Disney experience. Before the Internet, we really had no idea that the hotel was actually owned by the Wrather Corporation, or how that agreement worked. But even before Eisner successfully bought them out in the late 80's, it seemed just a bit off.

It was a wonderful hotel, don't get me wrong, but something just seemed to be kind of weird over there as the 1980's rolled along. Maybe it was Eisner coming in and really sharpening the Disneyland brand and experience for the 30th Anniversary in '85 and beyond that made the disconnect seem more apparent around then?

But certainly by the early 1990's the Disneyland Hotel seemed to have drifted into a crummy place aesthetically and stylistically and operationally. And that was even after the Wrather Corporation stepped aside.

The big refurbishment a decade ago was overdue and much needed, but even now it's fading a bit. I honestly don't know how much longer they can soldier on with those three cement towers and still expect folks to pay through the nose.

And I wonder what the impact of the nearby Westin and JW Marriott will be on the pecking order of Anaheim hotels and where the Disneyland Hotel stands in that order?

The JW Marriott opens in May, and I think the Westin opens this Christmas.

 

[Communicora]

I will never understand why Disney is so slow to take advantage of trends that align with some of their aging properties. It seems like they gave a half hearted nod toward MCM, but didn't take it far enough. They could definitely renovate these cement towers to give them better theming and fit modern tastes. Just look at the guest rooms and event spaces at the TWA Hotel for inspiration. Or they could just turn over the creative reins to Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily. I'm sure they'd come up with something magical.

They even rethemed the hotel pool as a ski lodge lounge for the winter!

 

[Miru]

Very interesting Hans!

I was able to make into about the mid 1980's until I started realizing the Disneyland Hotel was sort of a weird alternate universe version of the Disney experience. Before the Internet, we really had no idea that the hotel was actually owned by the Wrather Corporation, or how that agreement worked. But even before Eisner successfully bought them out in the late 80's, it seemed just a bit off.

It was a wonderful hotel, don't get me wrong, but something just seemed to be kind of weird over there as the 1980's rolled along. Maybe it was Eisner coming in and really sharpening the Disneyland brand and experience for the 30th Anniversary in '85 and beyond that made the disconnect seem more apparent around then?

But certainly by the early 1990's the Disneyland Hotel seemed to have drifted into a crummy place aesthetically and stylistically and operationally. And that was even after the Wrather Corporation stepped aside.

The big refurbishment a decade ago was overdue and much needed, but even now it's fading a bit. I honestly don't know how much longer they can soldier on with those three cement towers and still expect folks to pay through the nose.

And I wonder what the impact of the nearby Westin and JW Marriott will be on the pecking order of Anaheim hotels and where the Disneyland Hotel stands in that order?

The JW Marriott opens in May, and I think the Westin opens this Christmas.

Their latest plans seem very... erm... “quantity over quality” in their approach. They want to accommodate as many guests as possible without making it all the worthwhile to have so many guests. Instead of just “adding more room”, add back some little elements that make being there all the more worthwhile, like the water show and the Jungle Cruise game.

 

[Mike730]

I will never understand why Disney is so slow to take advantage of trends that align with some of their aging properties. It seems like they gave a half hearted nod toward MCM, but didn't take it far enough. They could definitely renovate these cement towers to give them better theming and fit modern tastes. Just look at the guest rooms and event spaces at the TWA Hotel for inspiration. Or they could just turn over the creative reins to Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily. I'm sure they'd come up with something magical.

They even rethemed the hotel pool as a ski lodge lounge for the winter!

I can't agree enough. And apply the same treatment to the Contemporary while their at it.

 

[Communicora]

I can't agree enough. And apply the same treatment to the Contemporary while their at it.

Indeed! As long as they keep the Mary Blair mural.

 

[Little Green Men]

I can't agree enough. And apply the same treatment to the Contemporary while their at it.

They update rooms Atleast every ten years