Disneyland Hotel

At the time of its construction in the mid-1950s, Disneyland was in a remote area outside Anaheim, California. Walt Disney wanted to build a hotel for Disneyland visitors to stay overnight, since Disneyland was quite a drive from the established population centers of Southern California at the time, but Disney’s financial resources were significantly depleted by the construction of the park. Initially he tried to interest his friend Art Linkletter in building the hotel, but Linkletter declined. At the time, Linkletter was hesitant about the prospects of the park (only ruefully years later to walk along the sidewalk in front of the property while telling himself with each step “And that’s another million I missed out on”).^[1] Disney also contacted Hilton and Sheraton Hotels but because they had no idea where Anaheim was at the time, they declined. Disney then sought out and negotiated a deal with Jack Wrather and his business partner Maria Helen Alvarez under which Wrather-Alvarez Productions would own and operate a hotel called the Disneyland Hotel across the street from Disneyland. Jack Wrather was a Texas oil millionaire turned film producer who already owned hotels in Las Vegas and Palm Springs, and co-owned television stations in Tulsa and San Diego with Alvarez.

The original Disneyland Hotel was designed by the firm of Pereira & Luckman and opened on October 5, 1955, nearly three months after Disneyland. Various strikes caused the opening to be postponed from the August date advertised in pre-opening promotional materials, and the hotel only had limited capacity when it initially opened. The hotel originally consisted of just over 100 rooms in 5 two-story guest room complexes (later known as the South Garden Rooms and even later as the Oriental Gardens) that rented for $15 a night ($180 in 2025 dollars); shopping, dining and recreational facilities were added in early 1956. In addition, it had a doctor and a dentist on site, as well as a hairdresser and a beauty salon.

On August 25, 1956, the hotel celebrated its “official” grand opening with many Hollywood stars and celebrities attending the festivities. It was quickly expanded in 1956 with three North Garden guest room structures, one more North Garden structure in 1958 and lastly, two more North garden structures in 1960. The hotel now boasted over 300 guest rooms and suites. It was one of the first hotels in the region to offer accommodations for four persons per room.

When the Wrather-Alvarez partnership ended acrimoniously in 1958, Jack Wrather bought Alvarez’ share of Wrather-Alvarez Hotels, making him sole owner of the Disneyland Hotel. Over the years, the hotel was expanded to include three guest room towers: Sierra (1962; expanded 1966), Marina (1970), and Bonita (1978).^[6] The third tower that was opened on the southwest side of the property was named after Jack Wrather’s wife, Academy Award nominated actress Bonita Granville. A large waterfall was featured just in front of the tower where guests could walk through caves that were under the waterfalls. Just beyond the waterfall area was an area called Seaports of the Pacific that featured shops with unique products from around the world. That area also featured The Shipyard Inn seafood restaurant and The Wharf Bar with live nightly entertainment. At the Southwest side of Seaports of the Pacific was the Fantasy Water Show that had two 20 minute shows nightly, one at 8pm and one at 9pm. In 1982, The Off-Road Raceway opened in front of the Bonita Tower and featured 1/10 scale remote cars that could be rented by guests. In 1985, The Queen’s Berth remote control boat attraction opened in Marina area between the Marina Tower and the Sierra Tower and featured a scale replica of the Queen Mary that was owned and operated in Long Beach, California, by the Wrather Corporation at the time.

Guests traveled between the hotel and the Disneyland Park main entrance via a tram. The Disneyland Monorail was extended from its original 1959 configuration and a station opened at the hotel in 1961 (pictured above). Recreational areas, attractions, and a convention center (1972) were also added over the years. On June 15, 1970 an adjacent recreation vehicle park called Vacationland opened (which had its own pool and clubhouse) which can be seen as a precursor to Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground which opened at Walt Disney World in 1971. The hotel also featured a Richfield service station for several years as part of Richfield’s sponsorship of several Disneyland attractions, including Autopia.

Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa

The hotel was designed by architect Peter Dominick of 4240 Architecture Inc. (formerly part of Urban Design Group Inc.). It has 948 rooms, in addition to 44 suites and 71 villas.

Craftsman style buildings often use garden themes, which was Peter Dominick’s inspiration for the hotel’s forest theme. The reception hall is based on the interior of the Swedenborgian Church in San Francisco, increased in scale to accommodate the large reception desk. The central lobby has a large fireplace and arching beams overhead, and is furnished with chairs and sofas arranged around small coffee tables.

Many of the items found throughout the hotel have been crafted by modern practitioners of the Arts and Crafts style, and some early Roycroft items are on display in the lobby.

Some of the hotel’s rooms are tributes to various Craftsman-era architects and designers such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles Rennie MacKintosh, and the Gladding, McBean Company.

Its name is based on Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, its sister resort and Walt Disney World’s flagship resort hotel.

The Disneyland Monorail passes through the hotel on its way to the Downtown Disney Monorail station. The Monorail does not stop at the hotel.

The hotel opened on January 2, 2001, as a part of the parks expansion for Disneyland Resort.

On September 18, 2007, the Disneyland Resort announced an expansion of Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa that would increase accommodations by more than 30 percent and include the first Disney Vacation Club villas in Anaheim.

The 2.5-acre (10,000 m²) expansion on the hotel’s south side added more than 200 hotel rooms and 50 two-bedroom equivalent vacation villas and marked the West Coast debut of Disney Vacation Club, Disney’s vacation ownership program. During this expansion and renovation, a swimming pool was added as well as a 300 space underground parking garage. Peter Dominick designed the ambitious expansion to complement the existing hotel. The project was completed in September 2009.

With the completion of this major expansion, Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa became the fourth-largest hotel in Orange County.

The Disney Vacation Club villas, added as part of the hotel’s expansion, include kitchens, living and dining areas and other home-like amenities. The guest rooms feature the same decor as the hotel rooms in the original structure and continue the Californian Craftsman motif.