Yesterworld: The Rise & Fall of the Original Disneyland Hotel

this episode of yester world is sponsored by audible the audiobook calm sloshed yester world or text yester world - 500 500 to receive one free audiobook in two free audible originals when you begin your free 30-day trial did I mention it's free plus you'll be supporting the channel so it's a win-win for both of us oh boy I can't believe I finally get to stay at the original Disneyland Hotel a home mark and your obsession with theme park history well who wouldn't be the Disney one hotel has roots within the very foundation of Disneyland itself and essentially evolved into a theme park with countless restaurants activities shows and so much more this is your captain speaking if you look over to your right we're now flying directly above the original Disneyland Hotel oh boy that's currently in the process of being completely demolished and leveled just look at all that history turning it to dust right before your very eyes as if it doesn't matter [Music] [Music] the story begins in 1954 with the construction of Disneyland as well initially the parks budget was around four million dollars but the time the park was being built it was nearly twenty million but this wasn't just money from investors as Walt Disney and mortgaged and sold virtually all of his personal properties and assets to help pay for the park and would eventually fall close to one 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 just seven motels and even when put together had less than a hundred rooms total at first Walt Disney approached the Hilton's about a potential Disney hotel but they passed on the proposal as did several other unspecified yet major hotel chains so he then approached his good friend Jacque rather who just so happened to be an incredibly wealthy oil tycoon and television producer there are only two ways of acquiring something either to buy it or to create it initially Jacque rather said no as the idea of building a multi-million dollar hotel in what was then essentially just an orange grove with no tourist destinations within miles was understandably a tough sell but Walt persisted and eventually convinced him of Disneyland's true potential and on March 18th 1955 ground broke on what was then known as the official hotel of the Magic Kingdom the hotel had a projected cost of nearly half of Disneyland's entire budget at around 10 million dollars however eventually it was decided to build the resort in phases instead of all once possibly so that if Disneyland was a failure as some were predicting they could cut their losses early on rehearsal time was slipping away fast and still no pictures on the monitors even rehearsing in sequence under these conditions was impossible for months after ground broke on the hotel Disneyland was officially open when any reservations about the park success quickly vanished as nearly 30,000 visitors showed up on opening day alone if you were one of those first-time visitors of which I imagine the vast majority of you watching were not once inside the park he would have been given a free promotional booklet and among other descriptions of the parks various offerings you'd find a tease of the upcoming Disneyland Resort along with its planned official opening of November later that year you're sort of interested in a hotel arrangement around here I guess we're billing the Disneyland Hotel which is right at the exit to Disneyland Park and you and Nancy got to bring the kids and come out and stay with it this turned out to be only half true as well a very small portion of the hotel did open as planned the vast majority of its construction was still going full speed ahead by the end of 1955 and on through winter spring and summer however finally in August of 1956 the Disneyland Hotel would have its official grand opening in a star-studded event very similar to a movie premiere when arriving to the Disneyland Hotel the first thing you would have probably noticed was the towering signage enticing visitors with its creative design in fact it was so impressive that it would be the sole inspiration for Disney Wayne's iconic signage a few years later at the front of the Disneyland Hotel you'd probably notice the Disneyland tram as this would take visitors to and from the theme park and would drop them off right outside the front gates near the parking lot once you entered the administration building and at the time incredibly luxurious hotel lobby here he could rent a room for 10 to 25 dollars a night although this would vary slightly once seasonal rates were introduced a few years later initially the rooms of the hotel were separated into a north garden section and south garden section with a total of 200 rooms when it first opened it looks very much like an attractive living room of course every room equipped with the lights screen television set completely air-conditioned each room came with a black and white TV which at the time was a luxury and rarity compared to other hotels and was also uniquely designed for families when it came to safety accessibility and comfort after you checked into your room you could head over to the hotel's Olympic sized swimming pool where oftentimes you could spot a celebrity working on their town or enjoy various bands and performances if you wanted to grab bite to eat or drink the restaurants buy gourmet were very popular featuring a dining room a cocktail lounge and a coffee shop open late into the night the dining room in particular was evidently home to the world's most exciting bowl of salad the hotel also featured over 17 shops and stores in what was called the patio arcade shopping area and could be accessed from outside the hotel individually store by store or by walking through the hotel from the lobby to the restaurants wait on to the restaurant but in order to get there we have to walk through this arcade where there are a lot of very attractive shops and I've just worn my pretend wife and my pretend son that we haven't got time to go in these shops we can do a little window shopping as we go five but within the shopping arcade guests could find a drugstore flower shop barber shop jewelry store clothing store camera store candy store and even a dentist in the doctor's office pretty much all the necessities of a small town one last thing I'll point out before we move on were the beautiful walkways perfect for an afternoon stroll we could find the last remaining original orange groves that Disneyland was built upon before we start the Grand Tour we'll probably want to register at the Disneyland Hotel a warm welcome and the finest in modern hospitality the Disneyland Hotel much like the theme park was an immediate success so it should come as no surprise that others in the lodging business wanted to take advantage of this as well within just five years of opening over 25 non-disney motels and hotels were built around the Disney property much to the personal frustration of Walt Disney however this did little to compromise the success of the Disneyland Hotel which stayed at 100 percent capacity during the summer and holiday seasons on a regular basis the minute you arrive you will feel the magic spell of this very special place you will quickly discover that your hotel room key will open a luxurious way of life and the casual California Manor by 1961 the resort had seen many upgrades and expansions such as Anaheim's first radio station kez y transportation was also given a huge upgrade as the hotel now featured a helipad with services to and from the 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 icon of the Disneyland Hotel the new monorail transportation system the new Disneyland monorail system covers two and a half miles not only is the monorail system an entertainment attraction but its new extension links the park with the Disneyland Hotel Walt Disney's monorail system for the 1959 Disneyland expansion had proved so popular in the park it was lengthened over one-and-a-half miles to the hotel offering visitors trips to and from Disneyland in addition to the actual monorail system was the monorail lounge which is just like it sounds a cocktail lounge with the theming of a monorail however even with the addition of a few more north garden rooms the entire complex is now 300 rooms just couldn't meet the demands of visitors so in 1961 the hotel's largest expansion yet was officially announced an 11-story hotel tower eventually given the name of the Sierra the tower would become Orange County's tallest building and seconds hosts man-made structure behind the Matterhorn and was finished in 1962 but the new tower had just one problem there wasn't enough space on the South Division to put the word Disneyland first meaning the hotel was unofficially displayed as Hotel Disneyland but it was between the backward signage where the Sierra tower had an actual attraction and sort of you'll find exciting evening entertainment here at the Disneyland Hotel the glass elevator to the top of the park lounge takes you to a spectacular view of Disneyland fireworks both guests of the hotel or visitor staying elsewhere could take a ride in the looking glass elevator to the top of the park offering a truly incredible view on the way up it's 11 stories at the top of the elevator ride was a dining experience called the top of the park lounge a stylish cocktail lounge with nightly entertainment it also offered an even more breathtaking view of Disneyland especially at night when the fireworks could be seen and just how much did it cost to stay at this brand new tower rates ranged from 20 to $30 an IU and just for fun here's what that would be today adjusting for inflation for is what the current prices actually are yeah just let that sink in the backward signage of the Sierra tower was fixed with the brand new tower annex in 1966 adding another 150 rooms which brought the hotel's grand total to 600 the same year saw another major expansion the plaza a three-story shopping complex with office space in some ways it was almost a precursor to Alki as many of the stores offered various items and goods from all around the world one of the many magnets that keep Jack Wrather on the west coast rather than New York is the beautiful Disneyland Hotel which borders Walt Disney's great amusement Center by this point the hotel's owner Jack rather had purchased gourmet restaurants incorporated so a number of new restaurants were opened alongside expansions of the originals such as the hotel's coffee shop which now extended towards West tree as the sidewalk cafe it's also worth talking about the Magic Kingdom golf course a massive golfing complex with a full sized eighteen parcours a driving range in my personal favorite a very unique miniature golf experience here you could find the attractions and lands within the theme park represented at each par such as Sleeping Beauty's castle the Matterhorn featuring the Seven Dwarves mine frontier lands and other locations inspired by Disneyland from Los Angeles Airport to Disneyland is a popular helicopter flight these days the helicopter alights at the adjacent Anaheim Disneyland heliport and discharges its eager passengers for a day of fun in 1968 after almost 10 years of operation the Disney one hotels air travel services were shut down after two devastating crashes one incident was on the way back from the park and another was to the park just four months later resulting in the death of over 40 passengers however despite this tragedy the hotel's other services pressed on and by the late 1960s the Disneyland Hotel was revered as the most complete hotel service and shopping center in the nation but this was only the beginning as in 1968 the rather corporation announced the hotel's largest expansion yet with another tower called the marina however this wasn't just the name of the tower but would feature a man-made lake getting even more activities displays shops and restaurants to the resort this time the entire structure was built at once and the new hotel expansion opened to guests in 1970 there is so much to see and do the only problem is deciding where it is died you'll be immediately captivated by our fantastic new water world for adventure and entertainment abound the marina's tower added 300 rooms to the resort which brought the hotel's total rooms available to a thousand and each room contained a color TV again another luxury at the time the marina's marina or Waterworld activities included paddle boating fishing as well as displays of the latest yachts of motor boats and house boats as well 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 additions was dancing waters one of the most high-tech and advanced water shows in the nation dancing water beautiful music set to a changing pattern of multicolored fountains dancing waters or waltzing waters as debuted in Germany in 1948 was a traveling water show that gained tremendous popularity in the 1964 New York World's Fair like many of the attractions of the World's Fair and eventually found its way into Disneyland or at least the Disneyland Hotel offering nightly performances for both hotel guests and non hotel guests every performance required an operator to direct the show live at a large console in which the powerful water jets were synchronized to classical music and popular songs such as somewhere over the rainbow okay it may not be that impressive now but at the time it was pretty groundbreaking the hotel's marina expansion also featured several new themed dining experiences such as the shipyard in with its nautical displays and decorations there was also the brand-new restaurant row which was essentially another expansion of the coffeehouse and nearby restaurants only on a much larger and more elaborate scale and finally it's also worth mentioning the Convention Center a 7.2 million dollar complex that opened in 1972 now arriving Disneyland Hotel Anaheim California the Disneyland hotels marina expansion became the new hot spot of the resort and often featured special events and holiday celebrations on the same level as Disneyland itself but it wasn't done growing quite yet fast forward a few years to the late 1970s as the Disneyland Hotel would see one final and massive expansion with a third tower called the bonito would bring the total number of rooms at the resort to nearly 1500 when it opened in 1978 the bonito tower expansion actually built upon the marina's water Wonderland featuring cascading waterfalls intricate rock work in beautiful caverns with the craftsmanship of the surrounding atmosphere on par with any of the lands found at the nearby Disney park this extension of Waterworld also expanded the hotel's nightlife activities and breathtaking scenery such as a state-of-the-art laser show that could be seen from miles away or dining near dancing waters speaking of dancing waters the show was given a quarter of a million dollar upgrade with new fiber-optic and lighting effects that truly elevated the presentation and again was free to both hotel guests and visitors passing through [Music] beaches and adil boats two dancing waterfalls we've got it all we've got it all Disneyland Hotel 60 acres of resort pleasures and the only hotel on the monorail to Disneyland by 1980 the Disneyland Hotel was one of the nation's most popular and largest resorts and had become almost a theme park in and of itself now it's probably more than clear by now that the resort was in a constant state of change in evolution especially the many show offerings daytime experiences outdoor activities and many many restaurants and dining experiences heck I even even mentioned how at this point the massive golfing complex had all but been replaced or the marina's pavilion restaurant expansion or tennis land which sounds far more exciting than it actually was so while I've done my best to cover the more drastic changes it would honestly take an entire video series of its own to cover every single aspect of the hotel's history in detail and believe me I was tempted so if you want an extremely detailed account of the hotel's evolution I'll include some links in the description below for some additional reading because we now come to the end of the original Disneyland hotel and it really began with Walt Disney's death in 1966 I'd give anything to be there with you but this seems to be one of those times I'm tied down here at the studio night and day you see Walt Disney himself never made any attempt to buy the Disneyland Hotel or reclaim the leased property from Jack rather as he owed him so much gratitude for taking a chance on the park however after his passing Disney executives made several attempts to buy the Disneyland Hotel as having the Disney name on a hotel on the Disney property but with no legal control over it was frustrating to executives the first attempt was in the early 70s as due to the oil and energy crisis in America the rather company was facing severe financial troubles though ultimately the deal fell through in 1984 jack rather passed away from cancer and that same year Michael Eisner became the CEO of the Walt Disney Company and made acquiring the Disneyland Hotel a primary goal excuse me I'm just finishing up a little work you see ever since that first offer Disney continued to try to buy the hotel but the rather corporation refused to sell to Disney as they found their offers far far too low so Disney found a bit of a loophole it gets a little complicated but essentially the Disneyland Hotel was preparing for various renovations and expansions for the 1990s however the lease on the hotel's monorail was about to expire and Disney was more or less clear that they plan to increase the leasing cost by an unreasonable amount they knew that without the monorail the rather company wouldn't be able to secure the bank loans for the planned additions and would make selling the hotel to anyone but Disney almost impossible but they still refused so instead of buying the hotel they proposed a joint buyout with a New Zealand company that already owned 20% of the rather company to buy the entire rather company with a 50/50 ownership six months later Disney then bought the other 50% as owned by the New Zealand company and by 1987 officially owned the Disneyland Hotel and all of its properties the Disneyland Hotel where you can relax work out dine alone oh we bring the original Disneyland Hotel was left mostly intact for a little more than a decade at least as far as the resort's many activities restaurants and shops but there were a few changes worth covering a few years after the change in ownership many of the interiors of the hotel underwent a massive 35 million dollar renovation such as the hotel's various lobbies rooms hallways and the Convention Center it's also worth mentioning the monorail cafe which was simply a brief aiming an expansion of the original coffee shop but the new theme drew even more customers and was beloved by countless park goers over the years the plaza had also seen many changes in its shops eateries and vendors but was still an incredibly popular destination for both hotel guests and visitors passing through to the parks finally the original dancing water show was given another update becoming fantasy waters and now featured iconic music from various Disney films and the tractions in the park unfortunately not all the changes were welcomed as Disney soon closed the top of the park elevator ride and lounge at least of the average visitor and most hotel guests as both were now strictly reserved for higher paying concierge guests sadly the iconic signage of the original hotel was taken away and replaced with nothing so by the end of the 90s you couldn't be blamed for mistaking the Disneyland Hotel for just a generic hotel and shopping center of 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 Southern California the true beginning of the downfall of the original hotel came with a preparation for Disney's California Adventure in the transformation of Disneyland into a resort destination now we'll be covering Disneyland's incredibly troubled multi-billion dollar expansion in an upcoming episode but as it pertains to this episode part of this was to include the Disneyland Center of course this was eventually given the name of Downtown Disney and this marks the true beginning of the Disney one hotels extinction beginning in 1999 and continuing into the early 2000s the hotel underwent a major demolition process where essentially everything in front of the Sierra tower was leveled this included the original monorail station Lobby shopping arcade monorail cafe and restaurant row the shopping plaza north garden rooms in south garden rooms and of course the original swimming pool within a matter of months virtually all traces of the original Disneyland Hotel were erased 50 years of history reduced to piles of scrap metal and debris soon construction of the ESPN Zone rainforest cafe multiplex movie theater and additional parking spaces rose from the ashes of the hotel with Downtown Disney officially opening to the public in January of 2001 located in the heart of the Disneyland Resort there's no entrance fee here you and your family just walk right in 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 were completely demolished in their place was the neverland pool The Lost bar and admittedly incredibly charming safari adventure remote-control boat attraction in fact the only remnants of the original hotel were the bonito Towers caves and waterfalls fantasy waters and the marina's pavilion restaurant space but Disneyland Hotel is so full of magic it's hard to tell where Disneyland Park ends Hotel begins there's a sprinkling of Pixy dust in just about everything including the magical Neverland theme pool over the next few years the only major changes to what little was left of the original hotel were various theming and name changes that is until 2007 as with the previously mentioned change in making the looking-glass elevator only available to concierge guests it was far from the popular attraction at once was and was completely removed a short time later with the arrival of world of color at California adventure fantasy waters was seen as unnecessary and was closed and abandoned left to be reclaimed by Nature by 2010 what many saw as the last remnants of the original hotel was demolished as the popular waterfalls caverns and kwai pond at the former bonito tower were closed and paved over on the plus side the new waterpark was reimagined into an homage to the original monorail Disneyland hotel entrance and eventually the abandoned fantasy water stadium was turned into a garden of sorts which you can still visit today the initial Moreno replacements were eventually replaced again with other experiences such as the bull of Trader Sam's so there's that as far as what the future holds the Disney Wynn Hotel and Downtown Disney are planned for massive changes with only the three towers the 30 last of the original resort planned to be left intact for now speaking of the three towers okay I really don't have a good segue for this one and the last time a lot of you didn't particularly enjoy my attempt at humor with the little job of Star Wars so this time we'll jump right to the chase I love books about filmmakers creative visionaries and the entertainment industry and while I meant it as a joke in a previous episode intro I became legitimately curious about Bob iger's the write of a lifetime look at that handsome devil now I won't lie to you I do legitimately love reading from a physical book the audible just makes it so darn easy and convenient with their fantastic narrators which are perfect to listen to while driving at the gym or if you're like me and suffer from insomnia keeping you away from screens and light when you're trying to go to bed so well I haven't finished it yet I'm personally finding uyghurs biography incredibly fascinating even if I don't particularly agree with all his decisions okay and you can download it for free right now with audibles free 30-day trial which includes one free audiobook and two free audible originals don't like it swap it for something else with no hassle what do you mean if they don't like it calm down mr. Uyghur I'm sure they'll love it just visit audible.com slash yester world or text yester world to 500 500 and remember every sign up supports the channel plus it's you know free so you really have no excuse as always thank you all so much for watching and I really hope you enjoyed the episode and we'll see you next time on yester world

Channel: Yesterworld Entertainment

Views: 609,744

Rating: 4.9113083 out of 5

Keywords: yesterworld, the disneyland hotel, the original disneyland hotel, original disneyland hotel disneyland, history of the disneyland hotel, disney hotel history, disneyland hotel resort, history of the disneyland resort hotel, Yesterworld: The Rise & Fall of the Original Disneyland Hotel, the history of disneys hotel disneyland, the disneyland hotel monorail, the history of downtown disney, disneyland hote downtown disney

Id: rctkG-VUbDc

Length: 25min 58sec (1558 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 30 2020