Disneyland Hotel, 1150 W. Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802, (714) 956-6425
Disneyland Hotel connects smoothly with Downtown Disney, with no security checkpoints or obvious borders. This hotel complex used to be owned by The Wrather Corporation in the early 1980s, but is now owned by The Walt Disney Company. The changes after the change of ownership are most extensive outside of the marina area. All the garden apartments, shops, and administrative offices were torn down, and the main pool was removed. The marina with paddle boats in the center of the three towers was turned into a regular pool at one portion, Seaports of the Pacific was mostly removed, but several shops, restaurants, fountains, waterfalls, and ponds are largely unchanged since the 1980s.
The modern, huge Mickey sorcerer's hat by the Sierra Tower is too gimmicky for me, but photographers seem to like it, and it has become somewhat a symbol for the DLH, since Anaheim street banners show this hat. At night the hat seems to sparkle when tiny bright lights on its surface flash briefly all around it. Viewed from directly underneath the peak of the hat, a spiral pattern is seen.
Like Downtown Disney and Disneyland itself, I feel the Disneyland Hotel has lost its practical, appealing character and become a commercialized, less interesting place than it was in the 1970s-1980s. However, there are some compensations, and some of the old places remain intact from the early 1980s.
There are still koi fish ponds outside the Bonita Tower, one glass shop of the Seaports of the Pacific area remains, as do at least two restaurants, and the dancing waters stage. Although the marina and its paddleboats are gone, there is an attractive pool with a Peter Pan theme called the Never Land Pool. There is also a pretty cool remote-control boat pond called Safari Adventure with a strong Jungle Cruise theme.
The way it used to be...
 The car approach to Marina Tower.
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This pool area is attractive, with many flowers (e.g., Bauhinia, Hibiscus) and tropical plants (e.g., Rubber Tree, Lady Palms, ti plants) surrounding it. The eyes in the skull at the bow of the ship light up red at night.
In 1979-1980, Croc's Bits 'n Bites was a Mexican food stand with a different name that I don't remember. What I do remember is that it was run by an old, white-haired man, and their shredded beef burritos were the most delicious I'd ever tasted. Now the theme of most things around the marina is Peter Pan: Never Land Pool, Croc's Bits 'n Bites, Hook's Pointe, The Lost Bar.
I had their chicken sandwich here in April 2007. It was tasty, but my order took about ten minutes and was slightly expensive. The relatively high prices keep the line short, though.
I was really surprised to see Disneyland Hotel's Dancing Waters stage still intact. Old postcards from the 1980s show these colorful fountains in action at night, and controlled fountains like this are rapidly becoming outdated. According to MousePlanet, the show is no longer performed, even though it appears the machinery still exists. I believe the fountains were used in 1980 as a regular water show at Seaports of the Pacific, and I remember one part of the soundtrack to that show used Dixieland jazz music.
In Christmas season 1980 I was a member of a choir that sang Christmas carols on this stage for the public as the waters danced in front of us. We were warned not to fall off the narrow stage into the water because we might be electrocuted. (A recent acquaintance of mine who is a fan of and expert on dancing waters scoffed at this non-danger, however.) Some of the songs we sang in 4-part harmony on this stage were "Silent Night," "Good King Wenceslas," and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."
The way it used to be...
 The Dancing Waters show is no longer played, although the machinery still exists.
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The way it used to be... The Garden Apartments are gone now. They used to be located where ESPN Zone (in Downtown Disney) is now.
Disneyland Hotel [1978] |
Old address books imply that the shops area in front of Disneyland Hotel used to have the address of 1441 S. West Street, which is different than the address for the main hotel on Cerritos Avenue (now Magic Way). A sampling of those many shops with their addresses follows:
Created: February 24, 2007
Updated: May 6, 2007
