My colleagues over at the Orange County Register had the news last night. The hotel would be built on the site of the current Downtown Disney surface parking lot and would have 700 rooms, placing it third in size for the resort's hotels. The Grand Californian is the largest Disneyland resort hotel, with 1,019 rooms. The Disneyland Hotel has 990 rooms and the Paradise Pier 489. A new parking garage on the hotel site would replace the current Downtown Disney parking spaces and provide parking for hotel guests.
While there's no announced name or theme for the hotel at this point, "guests will dine in an upscale rooftop restaurant watching Disneyland’s nightly fireworks over Sleeping Beauty Castle. There will be two pools, a fitness facility, concierge service and a kid’s play area. The average nightly rate would be about $450," according to Disneyland officials cited by the Register.
The Register also reports that Disneyland will be applying for a tax subsidy the City of Anaheim made available to developer who build new four-star/diamond hotels in the city. The Grand Californian and Disneyland Hotels currently have that designation.
Disneyland is building a 14-acre Star Wars Land on the north side of the original Disneyland park, which should help draws millions more visitors to the resort, which posted strong attendance gains last year thanks to the start of its 60 anniversary Diamond Celebration, according to the latest industry attendance report. A fourth hotel would allow Disneyland to accommodate more of those visitors... while also earning more income from them by keeping them on site for the duration of their stay at the resort.
Construction on the new hotel would not start until 2018. The Anaheim city council won't need to approve the construction of the hotel, as Disney's already cleared for that, but the council will have to approve the tax rebate.
Tweet
Re. Great Wolf Lodge. I honestly don't think it will even be considered part of the conversation or seen as a real competition. No one who is going stay at this new hotel will care one wit about the GWL. It's all about location, location, location.
They haven't even decided on a theme yet. I wouldn't judge the hotel based on the footprint and a few sketches. I'd wait until they actually unveil the hotel. How can someone be judgmental about the "execution" when the hotel hasn't even been built?
The location is excellent because it is close to the monorail stop. If it was based on the South side, the walk would be too far. Especially for a hotel that is supposed to be on the same level as the Grand Californian.
As for the concept art, the theme possibly looks art deco, in which case the finished product could be amazing. There's really not much to comment on now though, and certainly not enough to start criticising Disney for (although I guess that's what we're supposed to do in the comments section).
Didn't Disney just buy a hotel too? Wonder what that is going to turn into.
Disney could make a deal with those small hotels in Harbor Blvd. and theme them (external décor and internal furniture) with Disney`s movies like Dalmatians, Nemo, Donald Duck, Toy Story, Princess Sophia, etc… Each one with a different theme. In exchange, Disney could take a % of the revenue (or profit).
By doing that not only, Disney would bite a piece of the low-end accommodation market, but also would put an end to the cheap looking of Harbor Blvd, and given it a Disney atmosphere.
"Mayor Tom Tait said he’s “very disappointed” with Disney for applying for the tax incentive."
'I don’t think Disney needs a subsidy,' he said. 'They do quite well without one. Our city needs that tax revenue to provide basic services to our residents. ... The council already voted to not tax them for 45 years, and that’s not enough. So, they want us to write them a check every year for 20 years. I think it’s outrageous.'
Why is Disney behaving like the neighborhood bully? It's no wonder that the rest of Anaheim looks like a war zone.
Why would Disney build a value priced hotel when the likes of Embassy Suites and Travelodge are right outside the gate and going for $150 a night? I'm stating the obvious here, but the local hotels fill the value role, leaving Disney to rope in more of the higher end market with its limited space. Makes perfect sense.
Tait opposed the hotel tax incentive, so it's no surprise that he doesn't like the fact that hotels want to take advantage of the tax advantage.
Any evidence that Disney is being a "bully" in this case?
I actually wish, the caselaw was against disney. But. I don't think it is. If is was, disney would be more inclined to leave the area, for future park expansion. There is just a little bit of area in disneyland and a little bit of area in the back of CA adven left. although, at some point, they could remove autopia, while could be a whole land of space.
This article has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.
The artwork looks rushed. The theming is non-existent. More modern contemporary. Maybe it's just preliminary, but they didn't even bother with any Disney touches. It is rumored that there may be a private entrance for these hotel occupants. Who knows?