Disneyland Hotel, November 1980
Not long ago, I shared some photos (scanned by Sue B.) taken by Lou Perry (Sue's father) back in 1980 as he explored the grounds of the Disneyland Hotel. Well, this is PART DEUX! As before, my familiarity with the hotel is minimal, so anything you can add would be greatly appreciated.
First up, an artificial beach area. White-sugar sand (shipped in from some tropical atoll?), and a fearsome tiki carving, along with some thatched umbrellas to complete the beachy aura. I've seen other hotels with fake beaches that border on a pool, and assume that's what is going on here as well.
The sun is mostly down at this point, so we won't be needing one of those classic pool loungers. But if you do use one, put down a towel first, or you'll have striped indentations. Unless you enjoy that?
A monsoon has washed a sailboat way up beyond the tide line, along with a surfboard. Lettering on the sailboat says "Beach Boutique" for some reason. Was it an advertisement for a nearby shop? Hopefully you could buy plush Disney characters there, you can't have too many.
Here's one last look at the beach. Being November, it must have been too cold for a swimming pool, even if you just wanted to sit nearby and enjoy a drink with a little paper umbrella in it. Some teenagers must have knocked over that umbrella, and they probably said a bad word when they did it, too.
THANK YOU, Lou and Sue!
16 comments:
Major-
You certainly have to give Jack Wrather a lot of credit for working in a number of themes at the original Disneyland Hotel, and this area was no exception.
Thanks to Lou and Sue and The Major.
While the sandy white beach was available for guest use its main purpose was for convention themed parties …..you could have Hawaiian luaus, Pirate themes … 50’s beach party …etc. there was a grassy area that separated this beach area that was used for western bbq and other themed convention parties. The cost for these themed parties must have been a fortune … Disneyland provided much of the entertainment …. I’m sure at a premium cost. I have a convention party planning kit from the Disneyland hotel and each section is removable with a list of available entertainment , decor , theming and props … within diagrams of where these parties are set up on the hotel property…. But no prices are listed ….
The Sandy beach and ship wreck remained until the Neverland pool had gone in ( now too since removed)
The tiki is pretty scantily clad. He's wearing some sort of waist belt, which doesn't cover very much. Then again, he probably doesn't have very much to cover. In the background, it looks like sailing ship masts and rigging. For a second I thought it might be the Columbia, but it's way too close to the hotel for that. Then, being the astute genius that I am, I figured out that they are the high tension power lines that we often see around the Park.
Major, that's not a tipped-over umbrella (although, if it was, I'm sure it would've been caused by teenagers, like you said). No, it's a trained two-toes sloth; Sammy the Sloth. And he's raking the footprints, and other imperfections, out of the sand. It takes him a looooong time to complete the job.
Mike, "But no prices are listed". Like the old saying goes, "If you have to ask, you can't afford it."
As usual, Lou's photos have really nice exposure, clarity, and good composition. Thanks, Lou. And thank you, Sue and Major.
I remember that beach with the sailboat well. Was on convention with my pop twice in 1981...great time to be 12-13. There were two great Arcades with the latest video games...
Thank you Major!
I have very faint memories of this area, and I always thought as a kid looking at brochures that THIS is the pool I would be hanging out at. The Disneyland Hotel was WAY cooler then than now. I would say that in general it's a underwhelming property in many aspects...and a former shell of itself from days gone by. It could be...and was...such an amazing property...with so many things/experiences...and always changing....like an underwater arcade...odd...but why not! To their credit, the valets today are really top notch....and the original lobby entrance (not the lobby itself) is pretty cool with the bubble skylights still intact. This looks like "morning at the beach"....and gives off some "cruise ship out-island". kind of vibe...and I suppose that was the point. The Tiki is a bit random, but who doesn't love a Tiki! The Tiki hut looks like it would ignite on a hot day...and it looks like there are some volcanic rock mounds or something there. To have a convention/corporate meeting/etc. at the Disneyland Hotel was probably the coolest thing ever...and when I see DIS CO touting convention space at WDW...my first thought is "WHO could afford all that...and WHAT Board of Directors would EVER agree to the expense?!" Obviously, deep pockets....but in my life I have found the deepest pockets the cheapest pockets. I once had to plan a 2.5M meeting with a 800K budget...and...I did it (800K sounds like a lot....but it DOES NOT go far with "intimate meals for 900 people for 3 days, hotel...transport...creative....I can go on....)...and I'll say it was probably the most memorable meeting the company ever had...with people still talking about it 15 years later. I think we went to neighborhoods and picked plants off the side of the road for flowers...(really)...anyway...I digress...thanks Lou and Sue for the memories. Thanks Major!
I agree with Bu on the point that the hotel has been toned down to a more standard luxury facility. I stayed there for a few days a couple of years ago, and although it was wonderful, it was mainly a "crash pad" and not a destination unto itself. There were convention glers there (although for what industry, I have no clue) and their perks seemed to be an extremely nice, fairly standard, corporate meeting room. Still, I certainly loved the experience and would do it again in a heartbeat!
By the way, the teens' bad word was "snicklefritz!" (Sorry to be so rude, but people need to know.)
"Glers" = "Goers." I gotta proff read these things...
I knew one of the guys who owned a company that would put on those "themed parties." He had access to tons of different props for different themes. I imagine the gigs were pretty lucrative--he had a large piece of property near San Diego, with enough land to have his own narrow-gauge railroad, a'la Ward Kimball. It was there that I fired and ran a steam locomotive for the first time--wood fired at that!
Well, I would never have guessed these were taken at the DLH.
I like the tiki guy, he resembles some I’ve seen in Hawaii, but with color added.
The umbrella was blown over in the same storm that beached the sailboat and the sand was eventually re-purposed to roll churros in.
I can imagine parties here would be crazy expensive, Disney is more and more all about the Benjamins.
My one and only stay at the hotel was fine, the accommodations are similar to any Marriott, Hyatt, or Hilton, but about 30% more in cost, and even more now. Sadly, the overall level of amenity didn’t match those big chains, for example, public spaces like lobbies are small and far apart, the only hotel bar was the tiki bar with a 45 minute wait to get in, slow room service, etc. So, I’m not impressed. The big benefit for the elevated price was proximity and early entry, which is now being eliminated. At least they can’t cancel location. I have my eye on the new Westin on Katella, hoping to stay there someday.
Thanks Lou, Sue and Major!
JG
JG – I stayed at the Westin on Katella a couple of years ago. It was fine but nothing special. Our room had a view of the backside of DCA (mainly the Incredicoaster) which was nice. The rooftop bar had a good view of the fireworks, but you had to book a table in advance to be ables to see anything. It's a long walk around DCA into the parks, though – one morning we even Ubered over so as to not tire ourselves out too early in the day. Last month I stayed at the Wilderness Lodge at WDW for the first time (we got a good rate) and was surprised at how pleasant it was. Much as I like staying on property, I find the hotels to be luxury-priced without the luxury amenities, but occasionally (as at the Wilderness Lodge) the atmosphere can make up for it.
Nanook, I honestly wonder how they came up with the “Marina”-Pacific Ocean theme for the hotel!
Mike Cozart, I love the idea of having a Hawaiian luau at the Hotel; imagine if you were there with your family for a random reason (grandpa’s birthday or whatever), and one evening was just for a big luau?? Awesome! I wonder if the cost was astronomical back in 1980? I’m sure it was very pricey, but maybe it was doable for mere mortals.
JB, if there’s one thing a tiki likes, it’s cool ocean breezes! And as everyone knows, the Disneyland Hotel has animatronic wind. If you’re seeing the Columbia at the Hotel’s pool, you probably ate some of those irradiated carrots from that episode of Gilligan’s Island. Two-toed sloths are great, but if you’re going to have a sloth, you might as well have three toes. If only there were still GIANT sloths, there would be no wars.
walterworld, it sounds like you have some really nice Disneyland Hotel memories!
Bu, I’m sure this pool was very nice, but there’s a part of me that thinks that I’d rather not have to deal with sand. I know, I know, it’s dumb. I wonder if they had a special machine that could sift and clean the sand of stuff like leaves, gum, insects, and dropped gold coins? I think there used to be a Skull Rock in the pool area of the Hotel, or is that some other park’s hotel? The Monorail waterslides look kind of fun, but they are only fun if you are in the pool, really. Whereas some of this old stuff was a pleasure to look at, even if you were just passing by. I’ll bet Lou was an early riser, which is how he got these guest-less photos… as you said, the pix do have a “morning” vibe. Wow, crazy that you would actually go to the effort to pick flowers and plants from the side of the road for your company meeting! But it sounds like people appreciated it, so that’s cool.
Stu29573, I feel like the Hotel is SO crazy expensive that I will likely never stay there. Even Pixar Pier (formerly Paradise Pier), which was the “affordable Disney option”, has skyrocketed, though I did stay there once. It was perfectly fine, nice enough though I would never describe it as “luxurious”. Ha, my dad used to use the word “snicklefritz”! Is that from The Katzenjammer Kids?
Steve DeGaetano, it’s funny to think that there are still wealthy guys out there who want to have their own backyard railroads. Must be nice! I kind of like the idea of a scaled-down version so that you could have things like tunnels and trestle bridges, a la the Carolwood Pacific. Very cool that you got to first run a steam loco on that guy’s property!
JG, I always wonder if tiki items that are at Disney were from the now-defunct Oceanic Arts? The blown-over umbrella makes me wonder if Lou was there during Santa Ana winds, which might also explain the absence of people by the pool? Probably not, the tiny glimpse of water make it look like it was pretty calm. I think that 75% of the “value” of the Hotel is being close to the park, being able to take the Monorail directly into Tomorrowland, and if you pay for it, having a view from your room. Otherwise it’s just a perfectly fine hotel, nothing that special. I have to wonder about the elimination of early entry - my last visit, I watched hundreds of people walk into Tomorrowland early, only by answering “yes” when a cast member asked if they were staying in the Hotel. My guess is that half of them were lying!
Pegleg Pete, I stayed at a Marriott at the south end of DCA across Katella. It was actually pretty nice, very quiet and clean. The walk didn’t seem like such a big deal in the morning, but by the evening, when I was pooped (AND it was raining!), the walk seemed very far. Plus one of my shoes started falling apart. Can you hear the fireworks music from the Westin rooftop? I know that some places pipe it in. I could see that being a nice way to finish your evening, if (as you said) you had a reservation.
Major, I honestly can't remember if they piped the music in or not at the rooftop bar. I just checked my photos from that trip to see if I had any video of the fireworks with sound, but I didn't take any – at some point I think I realized that I never look back at fireworks pictures so what's the point in taking them?
Pegleg Pete, the reason I asked is that I once stayed at a hotel where we could see the fireworks at night, but there was no music; the lack of a soundtrack really diminished the total effect. Of course the fireworks themselves were still beautiful, but I compare it to watching a great movie with no score. And yes, photos of fireworks are generally not great!
"Sammy the Sloth"! I love it! He could be the pool mascot.
Yep, my dad would get up in the wee hours of the morning and take pictures before the rest of us were awake. Now, I'm really glad he did.
Thank you for all the nice--and fun--comments! Thanks, Major.
I did indeed Major. My pop went 'on convention' there 3 times in the 1981-82 period and took me along. It was a fun place to roam around and had a very cool vibe in those times when Disney didn't own the Hotel...
Thanks Pete, I appreciate the update. I’ll try to remember rooftop reservations!
JG
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