Thursday, July 02, 2020

Disneyland Hotel Garden Apartments, 1957

From the team of Lou Perry and his daughter, Sue B. we have these neat photos of the "garden apartments" over at the Disneyland Hotel. While some of the rooms did overlook nice manicured gardens, I admit that from this angle it doesn't look that different from the many motels that lined Harbor Boulevard. Still, I love these early views, check out the old cars!


These were originally color prints, but they'd turned to an eye-splitting red, beyond my abilities to restore unfortunately. I can't help wondering if Adobe doesn't have some crazy tech that could even bring old red photos and slides back to life? Anyway, here's a look at the parking lot. We love parking lots, don't we? Whoever designed this building made this side of the guest rooms with minimal windows (only some tiny panes to admit a bit of natural light during the day). I approve.


Oh yeah, the swimming pool! Olympic sized, that is (funny, it doesn't look that big here). Not a person in sight either, it must have been chilly. There were beautiful lily ponds nearby, and the Coral Club, where all the most fashionable coral gathered. I believe that the Sierra Tower was eventually built to the left of where this pool was.


THANK YOU to Lou and Sue!

17 comments:

MIKE COZART said...

Major:

I was perplexed by those tiny windows to the individual garden rooms - but I remembered all those garden rooms had an individual courtyard on the ground level or a private balcony patio - so I think we are just not seeing the “beauty” view of these rooms. Each patio/balcony also features an orange tree. In later years these rooms were called Oriental Gardens. In the 80’s and 90’s we would sometimes go over to the hotel for lunch and go look at the last surviving orange tree on the Disneyland Hotel / Disneyland property. The tree was along the pebble path in a planting area in front of one of the ground level room patios. To my understanding these orange trees were not the same ones that were once on each patio.

TokyoMagic! said...

It looks like Lou captured a smidgen of one of the high tension wire towers, in that first pic. Based on that, and looking at this photo from Don Ballard's F.B. page, I can tell exactly where Lou was standing when he took that pic:

https://www.facebook.com/DisneylandMagicalHotel/photos/rpp.394813723921361/2026737654062285/?type=3&theater

Thank you Lou, Sue, and the Major, too!

Nanook said...

Major-

Gee, I wonder if I stayed in any of the rooms pictured here-? Well anyway... that's a 1954 Mercury in the first image. In the next one, in the center facing-away from us is a 1956 Lincoln. The 'dark colored' car facing us could be a 1951 Chrysler Imperial. And next to it appears to be a 1953 Oldsmobile.

@ TM!-
Nice sleuthing work-!

Thanks to Lou & Sue, and The Major.

Melissa said...

I guess I assumed they were “garden level” (i.e. partially underground) but that wouldn’t really make sense in a hotel, now that I think of it. Some sweet rides in that parking lot!

I figured there was no level of color distortion the Major couldn’t correct! But these shots look great in black and white.

Whenever I see “Sue B.” It makes me think of Sue Bee brand honey.

Budblade said...

Race you to the pool! Last one in is a rotten egg.

"Lou and Sue" said...

Mike, yeah, these pictures truly don't do the "garden rooms" justice - since you can't see inside the private garden patio that each first floor room had. In the 60s, when I stayed there, I remember the patios being green and lush - like something you'd see in Hawaii - with beautiful flowering plants and, of course, orange trees. I still remember the beautiful scent in the air - both outside and in your room, when you opened your patio doors. Living in Chicago at that time, with all the busy hustle-bustle everywhere, lots of concrete everywhere, and freezing cold winters - made a trip to Disneyland (and staying at the garden apartments) feel heavenly!

Thanks, TM!

Nanook, did you stay in a 1st floor garden apartment?

Melissa, I wish I was that Sue B. "Her" honey is sold in our area, too. Good stuff.

Budblade, I'm already at the pool, and you're not here yet! Hurry up, rotten egg! ;)

DrGoat said...

Wow. Great pics. In 1960 we were staying in places like the Peter Pan and Jolly Roger. We would occasionally walk to the Hotel and shop and eat, like Mike.
I just love Lou's photos. He's a local national treasure. He took all the photos my parents didn't back then.
Thanks for the link, Tokyo. Gonna save that photo for future reference.
Thanks, Lou & Sue and thank you Major.

stu29573 said...

You're right. That pool looks nowhere near as big as the RMS Olympic...

Omnispace said...

It may look a bit spare in some of the pics, though I'm sure that a huge feature was the convenience of parking outside one's room. What, no Studebakers in the lot!?

The buildings are very nice, understated mid-century modern design. I'm guessing the interiors had beam ceilings with tongue and groove boards over that.

I think my grandparents stayed here but my family was relegated to DrGoat's choices. In fact we finally settled on the Aztec Motor Lodge in Buena Park for our favorite lodging. It was within walking distance of Knott's. :)

JC Shannon said...

I am constantly kicking myself in the rear panel, that I never got to see the Disneyland Hotel except from afar. We lived in North Hollywood and so never stayed there. I am still a fan though, and love seeing photos of the old gal. As usual Lou and Sue come through with these great photos. I have a giant inflatable flamingo I will bring to the pool party. Marco...Polo. Thanks Major for sharing.

Major Pepperidge said...

Mike Cozart, I notice the lack of windows on the parking lot side (except for the tiny ones that are up high); I just assumed the the bigger windows would be on the garden sides of the rooms, and that the little windows just let in a bit of natural light. I’ve seen photos of the orange trees you mention - in fact I think Lou took some pictures that show them - I wonder if people picked the fruit? Probably! It seems strange that the Disney company would not have preserved at least a few of the original trees as a bit of history.

TokyoMagic!, I noticed that bit of the electrical tower, and was surprised that they were that close to the Hotel. Good detective work on that Don Ballard photo!

Nanook, I’m sure you stayed in the Presidential Suite. You’d get all the little shampoos you could possibly want, and a complimentary bathrobe. Look at those nice roomy parking spaces!

Melissa, I never thought about the rooms being partially underground! An interesting idea. When I was a kid I had a friend who lived in a house in which you walked down several steps to go to the den, so it actually was halfway underground. I thought it was neat. And I wish I really could restore every photo, but some are just too far gone.

Budblade, I need to inflate my water wings!

Lou and Sue, I’ll bet a lot of people assumed that a place called the “Disneyland Hotel” would be tacky or ugly, but obviously a lot of care was taken to make it a pretty and relaxing place. Just right for taking a break from the park in the middle of the day, whether you wanted a nap or a dip in the pool.

DrGoat, As nice as the Disneyland Hotel was, those nearby motels had a lot of their own special charm, so I envy your experiences staying at some of them. Of course a lot of them are either gone, or they’ve been updated - which makes sense except that I wish I could have seen them at their mid-century peak.

stu29573, I use “Olympics” as a unit of measurement. “My farm is 80 Olympics by 100 Olympics”. It doesn’t come in handy that often (because I don’t have a farm), plus nobody knows what the heck I am talking about.

Omnispace, I’ll bet parking was free, too! Nowadays you pay extra for parking your vehicle, almost everywhere. I like old Studebakers too. I hope you’re right about the beam ceilings with the tongue and groove boards, that would be better than the sprayed-on “cottage cheese” stuff, which I guess was more of a 60s “innovation”.

Jonathan, one of the negatives of living within a half-hour of the park was that we never stayed in ANY hotels nearby, either the official Disneyland hotel, or even the motels on Harbor Blvd. or Katella. Once when I was a kid my grandpa wanted to take us to Disneyland for two days in a row, and we were going to stay at the Disneyland Hotel, but then he got ill and it never happened.

Chuck said...

I wonder if those little windows were for the bathrooms. Putting them by the door makes sense so the living/sleeping areas could open onto the courtyards.

Major, I read your comment to Nanook too quickly and thought you said the Presidential Suite came with a complimentary brunette.

Thanks again, Lou & Sue!

Nanook said...

@ Sue-
I definitely stayed in a 1st floor garden room - but certainly can't remember the details. (It has been quite awhile...)

"Lou and Sue" said...

Major, 'living in California and not staying in a Disneyland hotel' - beats 'traveling from out of state to visit Disneyland and staying in a hotel.' My mom's sister and her entire family (from Illinois), and a girlfriend of mine (also from Illinois), all moved to California permanently, a few years after having joined our family on trips to Disneyland, during the early 1970s. We're still contemplating retiring there, too. (There must be a giant magnet in that Matterhorn, or something?!)

Thanks, Major and all, for today's fun pool party! Did anyone bring extra sunscreen??

Anonymous said...

What a nice crisp mid-century design. I really like these buildings.

Yes, I agree that the small windows are for bathrooms and maybe one in a closet/dressing area. Sometimes these old motels had the sink outside the bath, which was just a little room with a shower and the necessary. The windows might even be glazed with that "hammered" pattern glass like the old shower doors.

Having a garden patio on the ground floor is pretty lush for the era. At this time, we couldn't afford to stay at the Disneyland Hotel, even the Jolly Roger was a little out-of-reach, although in later years we moved up to it. I do like having a ground floor lanai for my tropical breakfasts.

Yes, the ceilings (on the second floor, at least) were undoubtedly t&g wood, the structural system of the roof is clearly visible in the first photo, where the 4x deck spans between the protruding roof beams, with the built-up roof right on top. In these days before energy conservation, there would be little or no roof insulation, which would allow the thin edge of the eave we can see in the photo.

Not sure if the ground floor rooms would have the same assembly. T&g wood will make a nice floor deck, but it squeaks and transmits impact sound (high heels, etc.) very well, so maybe not the best choice for a motel, unless the rooms were town-house style. But there are doors on both levels, so no townhouses. Maybe the ground floor ceilings had gypsum board with the "cottage cheese" texture and gold sparkles in it?

Guessing the interiors had pole lamps in the corner, with conical perforated metal shades, and the TV maybe on a metal bracket up in the corner. And danish modern chairs with orange or teal fabric cushions.

A nice, ample pool deck, with the plastic-webbing chairs. And palm trees everywhere. Very nice indeed! I love the old motel-modern, so many good memories.

Thank you, Lou and Sue, and Major.

Wishing everyone a good holiday weekend.

JG

Major Pepperidge said...

Chuck, I could see those tiny windows being part of the bathrooms - it makes sense the bedroom would be overlooking the gardens, as you said. A complimentary brunette! Now that’s service.

Nanook, come on, don’t be shy, you can tell US!

Lou and Sue, it is true, being able to drive to the park in a relatively short time was a luxury. I just meant in regards to staying (or not staying, in my case) at the hotel. As a former Chicagoan, I know quite a few people who left the Windy City for warmer climates - many of them wound up in Arizona, actually! A few are in SoCal though.

JG, I would bet money that those windows had the rippled (or “hammered” as you say) pattern. The garden patio sounds altogether pleasant, I assume you could order room service for breakfast. Mickey pancakes? 1957 might be a little too early for those. I’m imagining how hot those upper rooms could get on a hot summer’s day with no insulation. Brutal! And I doubt there was any AC. I associate those pole lamps with the conical shades with my mother’s old bedroom at my grandparent’s house, it was the only real trace of what could be considered “mid-century”. My grandma was very traditional, and liked “antiques”. She used to tell me that she could have bought Craftsman furniture for a song, but she didn’t like it because it was heavy, dark, and “ugly”. So she had lots of heavy, dark English and French furniture (that’s what she said it was anyway). Every table had cigarette burns because everybody smoked. Memories!

Melissa said...

”Sometimes these old motels had the sink outside the bath, which was just a little room with a shower and the necessary.”

That’s how the bathrooms at Walt Disney World hotels are generally set up.