Toy Story Hotel Planned to replace Paradise Pier Hotel?

PiratesMansion

PiratesMansion

Well-Known Member
DCBaker said:
Concept art for the flagship restaurant, Great Maple, at Pixar Place Hotel.

View attachment 666096
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If this is genuine it's...fine I guess.

But if they want to sell people on eating there they need something truly distinctive, evocative. Something I can't get anywhere else.

There's nothing unique or especially interesting about this. It's like an upscale Baker's Square with nicer trimmings, but with Holiday Inn Express or Hampton vibes added.

I mean, look at the photo on the back left wall and tell me with a straight face you couldn't find the same exact photo at a Holiday Inn Express continental breakfast serving area, where the food is at least free!

This is embarrassing. They need to convince people to eat there, and this will just convince people they should have stayed at a cheaper hotel instead.
 
Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
PiratesMansion said:
RIGHT?!?!?

Not something I'd expect to see for the price I'd be paying.
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Exactly! And we all know they’re going to charge big bucks for this. I have to pay a bunch of money to sit in a restaurant with an actual portrait of a bacon maple glazed doughnut? Maybe that won’t actually make it to the restaurant.

I agree, based on the prices we will likely be paying, this is a no.
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Brer Panther said:
Great Maple... is that a reference to a PIXAR movie?
Click to expand...

It's a restaurant here in San Diego, near Hillcrest.

Is that really the Pixar Hotel lobby restaurant?!? They contracted it out to some hipster San Diegans?!?

I'm so confused. I've eaten at Great Maple a few times, and it's very good. Great cocktails and good chicken. I'm just so... confused.
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Wait, there's two Great Maples in San Diego, one is across the freeway at University Town Center. I forgot that. But I've only eaten at the location near Hillcrest.

Was someone in WDI sleeping with in a loving committed relationship with the owner of Great Maple?
 
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TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Okay, I looked them up. There's four of them now! Who knew?! I ate at Great Maple for the first time at their Hillcrest location about five years ago, and have returned several times in recent years. Their location at University Town Center is not La Jolla, it's merely a couple miles from La Jolla, and they're just lying about their address to sound tony. Which sets off alarm bells for me about their management, but I digress. 😒

There's also now a Great Maple at Fashion Island and Pasadena.

The Imagineers must have gone to lunch in Pasadena one day and decided to just contract out the food service for the Pixar hotel. This is also very likely related to the fact that the Japanese conglomerate who still owns the Pixar Pier Hotel gets a cut of the revenue from any sales at that property. So it's cheaper/safer for Disney to contract out the restaurant to a small hipster chain.

Locations – Great Maple

thegreatmaple.com thegreatmaple.com
 
D.Silentu

D.Silentu

Well-Known Member
DCBaker said:
Concept art for the flagship restaurant, Great Maple, at Pixar Place Hotel.
1662937013506.png
Click to expand...

I read this post too quickly and for a moment there I thought the restaurant would be called Modern American Eatery!
 
M

MoonRakerSCM

Well-Known Member
Centauri Space Station said:
Missed opportunity to put Harryhausen's
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That would require thought, money, and some care taken in presentation and food quality. Imagine Disney's take on a sushi restaurant drawing in locals but with enough disneyfication to get families and their kids to eat there as well...

But no, we get Holiday Inn Breakfast with 'Modern American Eatery' on it. Holy crap Disney is in a bad place.
 
CaptinEO

CaptinEO

Well-Known Member
Californian Elitist said:
Exactly! And we all know they’re going to charge big bucks for this. I have to pay a bunch of money to sit in a restaurant with an actual portrait of a bacon maple glazed doughnut? Maybe that won’t actually make it to the restaurant.

I agree, based on the prices we will likely be paying, this is a no.
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And most likely it will be a 60 dollar buffet only option. RIP Storytellers, a favorite lunch spot for me and my wife. I don't want to pay a lot of money then have to over indulge on food to get my "money's worth".
 
W

wowsmom

Active Member
CaptinEO said:
And most likely it will be a 60 dollar buffet only option. RIP Storytellers, a favorite lunch spot for me and my wife. I don't want to pay a lot of money then have to over indulge on food to get my "money's worth".
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Hopefully not a buffet. We used to eat at Storytellers for dinner almost every week (free valet parking for 3 hours, decent food with nice chefs who could accommodate my food allergies) before going for a walk in the parks. Only been back once since it switched to buffet. Chef walked me through to show me what was safe (and even cooked pork belly fresh for me) but it's way too much money for how little food I could actually eat.

There used to be a Great Maple in the Del Amo mall in Torrance. I ate there a couple times and the food was decent but the location was so noisy that you couldn't talk to your tablemate without shouting. It closed after maybe a year or two?
 
el_super

el_super

Well-Known Member
MoonRakerSCM said:
That would require thought, money, and some care taken in presentation and food quality. Imagine Disney's take on a sushi restaurant drawing in locals but with enough disneyfication to get families and their kids to eat there as well..
Click to expand...

LOL what? In a thread about the Pacific Hotel? Really?
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
I did some research on Great Maple. I honestly thought at first it was still just that one hipster restaurant near Hillcrest in an old converted Denny's or Sambo's, with a second location over the freeway at the University Town Center mall.

Great Maple was created and built by a successful San Diego restauranteur named John Rivera. He also owns and operates San Diego's Hash House A-Go-Go (not making that up). His first Great Maple was at Fashion Island, and the Hillcrest location was actually his second. I'm now remembering a brunch I had at the Fashion Island location almost a decade ago, but I didn't connect it with the Hillcrest location until now.

They do have good food at reasonable price points, and a darn good cocktail menu. I had no idea they'd grown like they have, I thought it was just a little San Diego thing. They've got financing and are doing a further SoCal expansion.

By contracting out to Great Maple, this is a cheap and quick way for TDA to get a functioning restaurant into their remodeled Pixar hotel. Of course, Great Maple has absolutely nothing to do with Pixar or anything Disney. But that no longer seems to matter to Burbank and TDA.

Storytelling? Showmanship? A coherent theme? Who cares!?

Great Maple – A Modern American Eatery

thegreatmaple.com thegreatmaple.com
 
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truecoat

truecoat

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
I did some research on Great Maple. I honestly thought at first it was still just that one hipster restaurant near Hillcrest in an old converted Denny's or Sambo's, with a second location over the freeway at the University Town Center mall.

Great Maple was created and built by a successful San Diego restauranteur named John Rivera. He also owns and operates San Diego's Hash House A-Go-Go (not making that up). His first Great Maple was at Fashion Island, and the Hillcrest location was actually his second. I'm now remembering a brunch I had at the Fashion Island location almost a decade ago, but I didn't connect it with the Hillcrest location until now.

They do have good food at reasonable price points, and a darn good cocktail menu. I had no idea they'd grown like they have, I thought it was just a little San Diego thing. They've got financing and are doing a further SoCal expansion.

By contracting out to Great Maple, this is a cheap and quick way for TDA to get a functioning restaurant into their remodeled Pixar hotel. Of course, Great Maple has absolutely nothing to do with Pixar or anything Disney. But that no longer seems to matter to Burbank and TDA.

Storytelling? Showmanship? A coherent theme? Who cares!?

Great Maple – A Modern American Eatery

thegreatmaple.com thegreatmaple.com
Click to expand...

I've eaten at Hash House in Vegas. One heckuva breakfast they have there. Giant pancakes or maybe their sage fried chicken and waffles.

Hash_House_chicken_and_waffles.jpg
 

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