More Disneyland Hotel, 1980
Let's check out four more 1980 views from the grounds of the Disneyland Hotel, taken by Lou Perry, and scanned by his daughter, Sue B! I don't think too many people would have taken photos of these features, but Lou did! He was ahead of the curve. As I've said before, my knowledge of the Hotel is limited, so if you (yes, YOU) have anything of interest to share, please do!
The California Wine Cellar sounds like a classy place to relax after a day at the park. I would feel very comfortable showing off my expertise. Here's a tip: just say that you detect "subtle undertones of dried cherries, some vegetal notes, and with some hints of Mountain Dew Baja Blast", and the sommelier say, "VERY good, sir". He knows he'll never be as cool as you.
Sea Port of the Pacific, judging by the sign to the left, this was another restaurant, and not a shop full of imported goods, which would have been my first guess. You know, knickknacks made with seashells and coconuts, hats woven from palm leaves, Aloha shirts, that sort of thing. November must have truly been the off season in 1980, somehow Lou managed to avoid any other people. THE DREAM.
Well. Here's a view from the other side of the Seaports of the Pacific, and it doesn't look like much of a restaurant. Maybe it was a place where nerds could play D&D? "I'm an orc with digestion issues!". "I'm a sleepwalking wizard!". "I'm an annoying elf!". Some fun.
As you can see, Lou set the timer on his camera, and tossed it up into the air. He knew how to toss it just so, and look at the picture he got! I threw my camera up into the air once, and a seagull took it. We're looking down upon the California Wine Cellar, which happens to have a British phone booth - a relic of the Wrather's ties to the Queen Mary?
THANK YOU, Lou and Sue, stay tuned for more from this series!
13 comments:
Major-
Seaports of the Pacific, to quote from the brochure... Our multi-million dollar waterfront playland features recreation, shopping, dining, entertainment and scenic wonders. You can walk under a thundering waterfall. Shop for handcrafted wares at an international bazaar. Gaze at a pond of colorful Koi fish. Or get the "Baha Bug" on a miniature off-road race track packed with hills, curves and thrills... You can sip cocktails by the Marina. Pick up a snack as you stroll. Belly up to an oyster bar. Sit down to a seafood dinner with a seaport view. Kick up your heels to country western tunes on the wharf. Sample boutique labels in a wine cellar. And catch free entertainment on our open-air stage. It sounds like every hotel guests' dream to me.
Thanks to Lou and Sue.
1) I would ask for a wine that tastes like red licorice. But non-alcohol (I don't like the taste of alcohol). Actually, Mr. sommelier, skip the wine and just bring me some red licorice. And what the heck is that red and white thing peering down from the roof? I think it's a space bug.
2) If I'm reading the sign right on that wheeled cart (which looks really nice), it sells sushi?
3) "I'm an orc with digestion issues!", etc. "And I'm a sleepy Junior Gorilla".
4) That phone booth is Dr. Who's TARDIS before he traded it in for a police box.
Thanks to Lou, Sue, and Major.
The Wine Cellar was actually at a "below ground" level. We can just barely make out a staircase railing leading down to it, on the other side of the metal fencing. The large windows that we can see, belonged to The Shipyard Inn restaurant. and the Wine Cellar was beneath that. The Shipyard Inn's space later became Hook's Pointe, and today it is divided into two spaces, occupied by Tangaroa Terrace, and Trader Sam's. The Wine Cellar space still exists, but I've been told by a cast member that it is just used as storage now. Oh, and at some point, they got rid of all that ugly metal fencing. Now I'm wondering why they ever installed any of that in the first place?
That official Sea Ports of the Pacific description that Nanook provided about the shops, restaurants, bars, waterfalls, etc., referred to the entire complex located between the DL Hotel towers. But Major, your first guess was right about that second pic. Once guests passed underneath that particular Seaports of the Pacific signage, they entered a gallery of shops. And most, if not all of the items sold in those shops were non-Disney. Can you even get a non-Disney item/souvenir anywhere on the Disney property anymore?
These pictures capture a special time within the DL Hotel's history. Thank you Lou, Sue, and Major!
As castmembers we spent lots of time at the Wine Celler … most of my friends are drinkers … the location always had complimentary cheeses , olives , breads and crackers for those drinking wine.. there were two ( technically 3 ) entrances into the “cellar” one from above INSIDE Ship Yard Inn /Hook’s Pointe … and one from the view shown in this image. There was another location that had once been called THE CROWN & PILLOW …. It was connected to the “Cellar” by a vestibule at the bottom of the stairway from above . The space might have been used in later life for private affairs but I never saw it open … it was right on the lagoon and gave the feeling you were on a boat or on the water with floor to ceiling smoked glass windows … the interior was a British lounge … something classier than a pub. It also had the feel of a library room with tons of prop books … I think I’ve mentioned before they were all real books and some had very fancy looking covers - and one time we noticed they were all loose and the fancy ones when opened piped open to the book’s center .. with a fake inserted two faced page that had elaborate lettering and some told the story of Sleeping Beauty and some The Sword in the Stone!!! I assume they had once been used for Emporium window or other animated vignette displays … decorating just re-used them!!
Another thing about the Wine Cellar was the large selection of port and liquors …. The very valuable ones were displayed in corner locked cabinets near the cozy booth seats . The “Cellar” cast would share with us stories about certain liquors and what made them stand out . The most expensive I recall was a bottle of 80 year old Napoleon Brandy that was like 400.00 a glass …..one time the week before Christmas after the location had closed to guests , some off duty for the night cast and our group of employees had a impromptu party and the manager of the complex treated us to complimentary PIMS PUNCH made above from the Hook’s Point bar …. That whole period just before the DCA tumor opened was a glorious fun time.
Indeed avoiding other people was the whole point to the Cellar! It is now hard to imagine a time or place at DLR where one could escape crowds with a nice adult beverage, with as Mike mentioned...complimentary array of snack cheeses, crackers, fruits, served in peace and quiet. No special membership upcharges, no policy of keeping the riffraff away. The only trick was to know about it. In the early 0h0hs it was simply a great part of a Disneyland day to rendezvous there with friends. TRE
MS
I’m fascinated by the California Wine Cellar. If the photo dates really are 1980, they are only four years after a Napa California wine (Chateau Montelena Chardonnay) beat out French wines in a European blind tasting, an event that rocked the wine world and started off a huge industry. Having a wine cellar with “wines by the taste, glass, or bottle” is pretty cutting edge for that time. Good for you, Disney!
I wish I could have visited this Disneyland Hotel, it sounds like as much fun as the Park itself. Thank you Lou and Sue for the photos, Mike C and MS for the descriptions, and Major for the captions.
JG
Nanook, gosh, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a photo of the “Baha Bug”. It sounds noisy! Even remote-controlled cars can make a racket. Hmmmm.
JB, I’m not much of a drinker, but I don’t like red licorice either. Black licorice is even more offensive. I assume that red thing is decorative lighting, but it’s hard to tell. Sushi - can it be as delicious as gas station sushi? I’m sleepy too, I had to get up early for a dentist appointment, and now I want to go to bed again. No can do. It’s funny how Americans have a fondness for those British phone booths, maybe you could make big money reproducing them!
TokyoMagic!, it would be neat if the “below ground” Wine Cellar had a glass window so that people could look into the water. Of course they’d have to put some fish there, maybe a big aquarium just outside the window? Fill it with piranhas and feed them a live goat every half hour. That’s what I would do, anyway. You’d think that there are enough wine freaks that a Wine Cellar would do good business, but things are different at a Disneyland Hotel. “Used for storage”, the ultimate indignity. Somehow I imagine that the shops at the Sea Ports of the Pacific were very much like Ports O’Call in San Pedro, but really have no idea. I only remember one shop at Ports O’Call, it’s the only one my grandma ever went in. And I wouldn’t mind Disney-branded items, if they weren’t the same old junk ALL the time.
Mike Cozart, ha, it sounds like you could go to the Wine Cellar, have a glass or two, and not have to go someplace else for lunch. With all of the major changes at the Hotel in the last decade, I would not be surprised if everything in Lou’s photos has been removed (though it sounds like at least some remnants survive). Does the Hotel have any classy restaurants anymore? Based on some old paper items, it used to have eight or ten places to eat, ranging from cafes to more grown-up places with alcohol and live musical entertainment. Wow, I wonder how those books from the Emporium wound up in The Crown and Pillow, of all places?? I guess the idea of selling them hadn’t occurred to anyone yet.
Mike Cozart, those fancy liquors would have been wasted on me, though I like the idea of drinking $400 brandy. TREAT YOURSELF! And it’s nice for those who like such things, if you have the money you want to buy things that normal people can’t afford. Otherwise what’s the point of having money??
MS, I’m not much of a bar person, but a quiet hideaway like the Cellar sounds pretty nice. Did people not know it was there because it was “below ground”?
JG, before my sister and her husband had kids, they were real wine fans, and would love to share a rare bottle with the family. I usually declined, because as I said to Mike, it would have been wasted on me. I agree with you, this Hotel looks like a pretty nice place to spend your non-park time.
Major; a funny memory about the remote controlled BAHA BUGS: near the location of those cars - and they were noisy was a tropical garden area between the two towers and falls … there would be people having wedding pictures taken amongst the tropical landscaping … then just feet away , boys in the OP corduroy shorts with matching “sunset” OP shirts would be wildly driving their dirt buggies through the obstacle course while the wedding group tried to be dignified! Lol!!
SEAPORTS OF THE PACIFIC wasn’t EPCOT or PORTS ‘O CALL themed , but 70’s/80’s stylized -lightweight themed . Around the lagoon and shops were these great attraction poster like signs created by imagineers Julie Svendsen and Jim Michaelson for SEAPORTS OF THE PACIFIC : “meet the Australians!”, “meet the San Franciscans!”, “See Hong Kong!” … sort of small elegant travel posters.
MAJOR : friends and I are astounded at the reaction of humans to red British phone booths !! People GO APE SHIT OVER THEME! They LOVE them!! At EPCOT CENTER there was millions of dollars spent recreated far away countries at WORLD SHOWCASE . But guests WENT CRAZY over the red British phone booths. If guests had their choice of Pirates of the Caribbean or a British phone booth : the phone booth always wins! If Disney guests have a choice of the Matterhorn Bobsleds or watching a gaggle of baby ducks walking near the rivers of America : the ducklings always win! You could tear out ALL of EPCOT CENTER and replace it with a dozen red British telephone booths and Disney guests will come in droves!!! ( assuming they can can purchase a popcorn bucket and souvenir sipper cup of the Brit phone booth !!!) oh and allow the guests to spend an extra 100.00 to avoid the wait lines to see the red british phone booth !
Mike Cozart, those Baha Bugs sound like a terrible idea in general, unless you happen to be a 12 year old boy. Imagine having to listen to that noise when you’ve just spent a bundle for a Disneyland Hotel wedding! I’m genuinely surprised that they went ahead with the concept. I assume this was during the Jack Wrather days. Wow, I’d love to see those posters you mentioned, though I assume that they are rare. Amazing that they made posters just for that purpose.
Mike Cozart, ha ha, apparently Americans love those British phone booths even more than I thought! I mean, they are nice to look at, but I guess I am not the target audience. As for baby ducklings, it is no surprise that people would watch them. There’s nothing much cuter than a baby duck! It reminds me of when I was at the LA Zoo, looking at a rhino, and the kids nearby were losing their minds over a chipmunk who was taking french fries that had fallen on the ground. Chipmunks are vermin! Rhinos are endangered. But they like what they like.
The British phone booth thing is funny, because there are so few of them left in Britain. Lost to mobile phones and generally terrible public modernizarion.
I don't know if the ones at Epcot even work any more. I think they're just props now. Years ago, the podcast WDW Radio used to call those phone booths and ask random Disney trivia questions to the person who answered. They'd put the clip in the show and they'd mail the person a prize.
Thank you, everyone, for all the interesting [and funny] comments. All your shared experiences make these pictures come alive—which I appreciate because I missed this DL Hotel era. It sure would be fun to step back in time and all meet there, now.
Thanks, Major. Sorry you had to start your day at the dentist. I can think of better ways to start the day.
Post a Comment