Yesterworld: The Rise & Fall of the Original Disneyland Hotel

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s when you start your 30-day free trial. Did I mention it's free? I'll be supporting the channel, so it's a win-win for both of us. Oh wow, I can't believe I finally get to stay at the

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Disneyland

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, a local brand and your obsession with theme park history, well who wouldn't be Disney? The

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has its roots in the very foundation of Disneyland and essentially evolved into a theme park with countless restaurants, activities, shows and much more.

This is your captain speaking, if you look to your right, we are now flying directly over the original Disneyland hotel. guy that is currently in the process of being completely demolished and leveled, just look at all that history turning to dust before your very eyes like it doesn't matter, the story begins in 1954 with the construction of Disneyland and initially the park's budget. It was around four million dollars, but when the park was built it was almost twenty million, but this was not just money from investors like Walt Disney, who mortgaged and sold virtually all of his property and personal assets to help pay for the park and eventually Falling close to a hundred thousand dollars in debt, this posed a problem as Walt Disney also envisioned a first class hotel and resort to accompany the park, as at the time the city of Anaheim had only seven motels and even had fewer overall.

Walt Disney initially approached Hilton about a possible Disney hotel, but they rejected the proposal as did several other major but unspecified hotel chains, so he then approached his good friend Jacque Rather, who turned out to be a incredibly rich oilman. mogul and television producer there are only two ways to acquire something: buy it or create it. At first, Jacque preferred to say no to the idea of ​​building a multimillion-dollar hotel in what was then basically an orange grove with no tourist destinations in it. Understandably, it was difficult to sell miles, but Walt persisted and eventually convinced him of Disneyland's true potential and on March 18, 1955, construction began on what was then known as the official Magic Kingdom hotel.

The hotel had a projected cost of almost half of Disneyland's entire budget. With around $10 million, however, it was ultimately decided to build the resort in phases rather than doing it all at once, so that if Disneyland were a failure, as some predicted, they could cut their losses from the start, Rehearsal time was quickly running out and there were still no photos on the screen. Even rehearsing monitors in sequence under these conditions was impossible for months after construction of the hotel began. Disneyland was officially open when any reservations about the park's success quickly faded, as nearly 30,000 visitors showed up on opening day alone, if only one of the first.

During the time that visitors, of whom I imagine the vast majority of you saw, were not once inside the park, they would have been given a free promotional brochure and, among other descriptions of the park's various offerings, they would find a preview of the upcoming Disneyland Resort along with its The official opening scheduled for November of that year is more or less interested in a hotel arrangement around here. I guess we are billing the Disneyland hotel which is right outside Disneyland park and you and Nancy have to bring the kids and go. And keep this in mind, this turned out to be only half true, plus a very small part of the hotel opened as planned;

However, the vast majority of its construction was still proceeding at full speed in late 1955 and through the winter, spring, and summer. Finally, in August 1956, the Disneyland Hotel would have its official grand opening in a star-studded event much like a movie premiere. Upon arriving at the Disneyland Hotel, the first thing you probably would have noticed was the imposing signage that attracted visitors with its creative design. In fact, it was so impressive that it would be the sole inspiration for Disney's iconic signs Wayne a few years later, in front of the Disneyland Hotel you would probably notice the Disneyland Tram as it would take guests to and from the theme park and drop them off. right outside the entrance doors, near the parking lot, once you enter the administration building and at that time the incredibly luxurious hotel lobby here you could rent a room for 10 to 25 dollars a night, although this would vary slightly once that seasonal rates were introduced.

A few years later, the hotel rooms were initially separated into a north garden section and a south garden section with a total of 200 rooms when it first opened, it looks a lot like an attractive living room, of course, each room is equipped with a television with lights screen. All rooms had air conditioning and a black and white TV, which at the time was a luxury and rarity compared to other hotels and was also designed exclusively for families when it came to safety, accessibility and comfort. After checking into his room, he could head out. to the hotel's Olympic pool, where you could often see a celebrity working in your city or enjoy various bands and performances, if you wanted to eat something or drink, the gourmet restaurants were very popular and featured a dining room, lounge cocktails and a late-night café, the dining room in particular was evidently home to the most exciting salad plate in the world.

The hotel also had more than 17 shops and businesses in what was called the courtyard shopping area and could be accessed from outside the hotel. individually shop by shop or walking through the hotel from the lobby to the restaurants wait until the restaurant but to get there we have to walk through this gallery where there are many very attractive shops and I just used my imaginary wife and my pretend son not We have time to go to these shops, we can window shop as we go five, but inside the shopping arcade guests can find a pharmacy, a florist, a barber shop, a jewelry store, a clothing store, a camera store, a candy shop. store and even a dentist in the doctor's office, pretty much all the needs of a small town.

One last thing I will point out before we continue were the beautiful trails, perfect for an afternoon walk, we were able to find the last remaining original orange groves at Disneyland. was built before the Grand Tour began, we'll probably want to check in at the Disneyland Hotel. A warm welcome and the best of modern hospitality. The Disneyland Hotel, like the theme park, was an immediate success, so it should come as no surp

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that others. in the lodging business they wanted to take advantage of this as well, in just five years after opening, over 25 non-Disney motels and hotels were built around Disney property, much to Walt Disney's personal frustration;

However, this did little to compromise the success of the Disneyland Hotel which remained at 100 percent capacity during the summer and holiday seasons on a regular basis. The moment you arrive, you will feel the magical spell of this very special place. You'll quickly discover that your hotel room key will unlock a luxurious way of living and The casual California Manor By 1961, the resort had seen many improvements and additions, including Anaheim's first radio station. Kez and transportation also received a big upgrade, as the hotel now featured a helipad with services to and from Los Angeles Airport. Each trip took about 20 minutes and would eventually become the busiest hotel helipad in the world another major addition would become an iconic Disneyland Hotel the new monorail transportation system Disneyland's new monorail system covers two and a half miles no Not only is the monorail system an entertainment attraction, but the new extension links the park to the Disneyland Hotel.

Walt Disney's monorail system for the 1959 Disneyland expansion proved so popular at the park that it was extended more than a mile and a half to the hotel, offering guests rides to and from Disneyland in addition to the actual monorail system. It was the monorail lounge, which is what it sounds like as a monorail-themed cocktail lounge; However, even with the addition of a few more rooms on the north lawn, the entire complex now has 300 rooms, it simply could not meet the demands of visitors, so in 1961 the hotel's largest expansion yet was officially announced. : An 11-story hotel tower that was eventually named Sierra.

The tower would become the tallest building in Orange County and second house a man-made structure behind the Matterhorn and was completed in 1962, but the new tower had only one problem: there was not enough space on the Division. South to put the word Disneyland first, meaning the hotel was unofficially displayed as the Disneyland Hotel, but it was among the back signs where the Sierra tower had a real attraction and something like that. You'll find exciting nightly entertainment here at the Disneyland Hotel. The glass elevator to the top of the park hall will take you to a spectacular view of the Disneyland fireworks.

Both hotel guests and visitors staying elsewhere can take the glass elevator up to the The top of the park offers a truly incredible view on the way up, its 11 floors at the top of the elevator was an experience dining room called lounge at the top of the park, an elegant cocktail lounge with nightly entertainment and also offered an even more impressive view of Disneyland, especially at night when you could see the fireworks and how much it cost to stay in this new tower. Rates ranged from $20 to $30 per UI and just for fun, this is what it would be today adjusting for inflation. the prices are actually yes, let's just let that sink in from the back signage of the Sierra tower.

It was upgraded to the new tower annex in 1966, adding another 150 rooms, bringing the hotel's overall total to 600. The same year saw another major expansion, the plaza to three. shopping complex with office space, in some ways it was almost a precursor to Alki, as many of the stores offered various items and products from around the world. One of the many magnets keeping Jack Wrather on the West Coast instead of New York is the beautiful Disneyland hotel that borders Walt Disney's large amusement center. By this point, the hotel's owner, Jack, had purchased incorporated gourmet restaurants, so several new restaurants were opened along with expansions of the originals, such as the hotel's café, which now extended into West Tree as the café in the Also worth talking about is the Magic Kingdom Golf Course, a huge golf complex with eighteen full-size courses, a driving range in my personal favorite, a unique mini-golf experience, here you can find the attractions and grounds within the theme park represented in each.

For example, Sleeping Beauty's Castle, the Matterhorn, with the borderlands of the Seven Dwarfs mines and other Disneyland-inspired locations, from Los Angeles Airport to Disneyland, is a popular helicopter flight these days. The helicopter descends on the adjacent Anaheim Disneyland helipad and unloads its eager passengers for a day of fun In 1968, after nearly 10 years of operation, Disney One hotel air travel services were closed after two devastating accidents, a incident occurred on the way back from the park and another went to the park just four months later, resulting in the death of However, despite this tragedy, more than 40 passengers, the hotel's other services continued and by the end By the 1960s, the Disneyland Hotel was revered as the country's most comprehensive shopping and hotel services center, but this was just the beginning, as in 1968 the corporation rather announced the opening of the hotel.

The largest expansion yet with another tower called the marina; However, this was not just the name of the tower, but it would feature an artificial lake that would provide even more activities, exhibits, shops and restaurants to the complex. This time, the entire structure was built at once and the new hotel extension opened to guests in 1970. There is plenty to see and do. The only problem is deciding where to die. You will immediately be captivated by our fantastic new water world where adventure and adventure abound. Entertainment The Marina Tower added 300 rooms to the complex which brought the hotel's total available rooms to one thousand and each room contained a color television again, another luxury.At the time, the marina or Waterworld activities included rowboat fishing, as well as exhibitions of the latest yachts, motorboats and houseboats.

As a place to buy fancy new art, it also featured a state-of-the-art video game arcade, one of the first of its kind, as video games were still in their infancy for the general public, but perhaps one of the most exciting. of the century. The additions were dancing waters, one of the most advanced and high-tech water shows in the country, dancing water, beautiful music with a changing pattern of multicolored fountains, dancing waters or waltz waters, which debuted in Germany in 1948, was a spectacle traveling aquatic that gained tremendous popularity. at the 1964 New York World's Fair, like many of the World's Fair attractions, and eventually found its way to Disneyland or at least the Disneyland Hotel, which offers nightly performances for both hotel and non-hotel guests.

Each performance required an operator to direct the live show. on a large console where powerful water jets were synchronized to classical music and popular songs like Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Okay, it may not be as impressive now, but at the time it was pretty groundbreaking. The hotel's marina expansion also included several new themed restaurants. experiences like the shipyard with its nautical displays and decorations, there was also the new restaurant row which was essentially another expansion of the nearby cafe and restaurants only on a much larger and more elaborate scale and finally also worth mentioning the Convention Center. a $7.2 million resort that opened in 1972 now Coming to Disneyland Hotel Anaheim California, the Disneyland hotels' marina expansion became the resort's new hot spot and often featured special events and Christmas celebrations on the same level as Disneyland, but it was still not done growing rapidly a few years later. 1970s, when the Disneyland Hotel would see a final, massive expansion with a third tower called Bonito, bringing the total number of rooms at the resort to nearly 1,500 when it opened in 1978, the Bonito Tower expansion actually Wonderland of the marina with water

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s was built over the water. water

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s intricate rock work in beautiful caverns with the craftsmanship of the surrounding atmosphere on par with any of the lands found in the nearby Disney park, this extension of Waterworld also expanded the hotel's nightlife activities and stunning landscapes, like a modern laser show that could be seen from miles away or dining near dancing waters, talk about dancing waters, the show received a quarter of a million dollar upgrade with new lighting and fiber optic effects that really elevated the presentation and again it was free for both hotel guests. and visitors passing by beaches and boats adil two dancing waterfalls we have it all we have it all Disneyland Hotel 60 acres of resort delights and the only hotel on the monorail to Disneyland In 1980, the Disneyland Hotel was one of the country's premier resorts larger and more popular and had become almost a theme park in itself.

By now it's probably more than clear that the resort was in a constant state of evolving change, especially the numerous show offerings, daytime experiences, outdoor activities, and many restaurants and eateries. experiences, heck, I even mentioned how at this point the massive golf complex had almost been replaced or the expansion of the marina pavilion restaurant or the tennis court, which sounds a lot more exciting than it actually was, so while I did my best to cover the most drastic aspects. changes, honestly, it would take an entire video series to cover every aspect of the hotel's history in detail and believe me, I was tempted, so if you want an extremely detailed overview of the hotel's evolution, I will include some links in the description. below for further reading because now we come to the end of the original Disneyland hotel and it really began with the death of Walt Disney in 1966.

I would give anything to be there with you, but this seems to be one of those times where I'm tied. Down here in the studio, day and night, you see that Walt Disney himself never made any attempt to buy the Disneyland Hotel or claim the property leased to Jack, rather because he owed him a lot of gratitude for taking a chance on the park, yet, After his passing, Disney executives made several attempts to purchase the Disneyland Hotel because it had the Disney name on a hotel on Disney property, but without legal control over it was frustrating for the executives.

The first attempt was in the early 70s due to the oil and energy crisis in the United States. The company was facing serious financial problems, although the deal ultimately fell through in 1984. Jack Rather died of cancer and that same year Michael Eisner became CEO of the Walt Disney Company and made the acquisition of the Disneyland hotel a primary goal. Excuse me, I'm alone. finishing a small job, you can see it from that first offer. Disney continued to try to buy the hotel, but the corporation refused to sell to Disney because they found their offers to be too low, so Disney found a small loophole. complicated, but essentially the Disneyland Hotel was being prepared for several renovations and expansions by the 1990s;

However, the hotel's monorail lease was about to expire and Disney was more or less clear that they were planning to increase the cost of the lease by an unreasonable amount; they knew that without the monorail, the company would rather not be able to secure the bank loans. for planned expansions and would make it nearly impossible to sell the hotel to anyone other than Disney, but they still refused, so instead of purchasing the hotel they proposed a joint purchase with a New Zealand company. company that already owned 20% of Rather's company bought the entire company with 50/50 ownership six months later, Disney bought the other 50% as owned by the New Zealand company and in 1987 officially owned the Disneyland Hotel and of all its properties, the Disneyland Hotel, where you can relax, work out, dine alone, oh, we bring you the original Disneyland Hotel, which has remained largely intact for just over a decade, at least as far as the numerous activities go, resort restaurants and shops, but there were some changes that were worth it.

A few years after the change of ownership, many of the hotel's interiors underwent a massive $35 million renovation, such as the hotel's various lobbies, hallways, and the Convention Center. Also worth mentioning is the Monorail Cafe, which was merely a brief expansion goal. from the original cafe, but the new theme attracted even more customers and was loved by countless park visitors over the years. The plaza had also seen many changes to its shops, restaurants, and vendors, but remained an incredibly popular destination for both hotel guests and passing visitors. to the parks, eventually the original dancing water show received another update, becoming fantasy waters and now featuring iconic music from several Disney films and rides in the park, unfortunately, not all of the changes were well received as Disney He soon closed the top of the park elevator. and lounge at least for the average visitor and most hotel guests, as both were now strictly reserved for higher paying concierge guests.

Sadly, the original hotel's iconic signage was removed and replaced with nothing, so in the late '90s it was a no-go. Blamed for mistaking the Disneyland Hotel for just a generic hotel and shopping mall from the countless others near the park, but that was all about to change from the dream-makers at Disney, an exciting new theme park is coming to town. Southern California, the true beginning of the fall. The original hotel came with a preparation for Disney's California Adventure in the transformation of Disneyland into a tourist destination. We will now cover the incredibly troubled multi-million dollar expansion of Disneyland in an upcoming episode, but as far as this episode goes, part of this was to include the Disneyland Center, of course, it was eventually given the name Downtown Disney and this marks the true Beginning of the demise of Disney One hotels, which began in 1999 and continued into the early 2000s, the hotel underwent a major demolition process in which essentially everything in front of the Sierra tower was razed, this it included the original monorail station.

The lobby, the shopping arcade, the monorail row of cafes and restaurants, the shopping plaza, the North Lawn Rooms, the South Lawn Rooms and, of course, the original swimming pool - in a matter of months, virtually all traces of the The original Disneyland hotel was 50 years of history erased and reduced to piles of scrap and rubble. Soon the construction of the ESPN Zone Jungle Cafe multiplex cinema and additional parking spaces rose from the ashes of the hotel with the official opening of Downtown Disney to the public in January 2001, located in the heart of the Disneyland Resort, there is no entrance fee here, you and your family simply enter and start the fine;

However, the wrecking ball of progress continued further into the hotel as the marina is Water Wonderland along with all of its original shops, restaurants and activities. Completely demolished in its place was the Neverland pool, the Lost bar and, no doubt, an incredibly charming remote-controlled adventure boat safari attraction. In fact, the only remains of the original hotel were the beautiful Towers caves and fantasy water falls and the marina pavilion restaurant space, but Disneyland Hotel. It's so full of magic that it's hard to know where Disneyland Park ends. The hotel begins. There's a sprinkle of Pixy dust on almost everything, including the magical Neverland-themed pool.

Over the next few years, the only major changes to what little remained of the original hotel were various theme and name changes until 2007, as with the aforementioned change in making the mirror elevator only available to concierge guests, It was far from the popular attraction right away and was completely phased out soon after with the arrival of the world. of color in California Adventure Fantasy Waters was deemed unnecessary and was closed and abandoned to be reclaimed by nature in 2010. What many saw as the last remains of the original hotel was demolished as the popular Waterfall Caverns and Kwai Pond in the former beautiful tower were closed and paved on the bright side, the new water park was reimagined into an homage to the original monorail entrance to the Disneyland Hotel and eventually the abandoned fantasy water stadium was converted into a garden of sorts that can still be visited today. in day.

Moreno's initial replacements were eventually replaced again with other experiences like the Trader Sam's bull, so as far as what the future holds, massive changes are planned at the Disney Wynn Hotel and Downtown Disney and only one planned to leave the three towers, the last 30 of the original complex. untouched for now talking about the three towers, okay, I don't really have a good transition for this one and last time many of you didn't particularly enjoy my attempt at humor with the little Star Wars work, so this time I'll jump right to the point . I love books about filmmakers, creative visionaries, and the entertainment industry, and although I said it as a joke in the introduction to a previous episode, I was legitimately curious about Bob Iger's writing on my life.

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They don't like it, change it for something else without problems. What does it mean if they don't like it? . Uyghur I'm sure you'll love it just go to audible.com cut yesterday's world or text yesterday's world to 500 500 and remember every signup supports the channel plus it's free so really There is no excuse, as always, thank you all. A lot to see and I really hope you enjoyed the episode and weSee you next time in yesterday's world.