Friday, May 23, 2008

Kicking Myself

Want to hear something strange? I remember checking into the Disneyland Hotel (probably 1994-95) and getting a Garden Room in one of the original five structures. Of course, this was several years before I had the idea to write the book on the Disneyland Hotel. I was in the room for all of ten minutes when my wife called the front desk to request a new room because our room smelled badly like cigarette smoke. If I could only go back and cancel that request and savor the original room for a few nights (smell and all). If I had only known. At least I got to spend some time in one of the original structures at the Disneyland Hotel, dating back to October of 1955! I remember thinking how cool the room looked. Very 50's. Even better, when I turned the TV on during the brief stay, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was playing.
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2 comments:

  1. walterworldMay 23, 2008 at 3:38 PM

    Deja Vu---

    As an adult I wasn't able to afford to stay at the hotel with my big family (5 kids!) but always wished I could. One day in '94 or '95 I walked through the old Garden Room Area and the maids were cleaning, so I asked to look at a room and was permitted to do so. I spent 5 or so minutes checking out the place and felt right at home. It certainly felt like it was from another time. Now if only I had taken some pictures...

    One further note: When visitng Disneyland these days, we stay at the Anaheim Plaza (formerly Charter House) Hotel on Harbor Blvd. This place (coincidently?) shares a number of design aspects with the old DHotel, including an Olympic sized pool and the fact that it is a collection of two story structures with full balconies or patios. The grounds themselves are park like and feature a 40 year old collection of palm trees. I'm certain that when this place opened in 1960, the designers had been influenced by the Disneyland Hotel.

    Anyhoo, thank you for continuing to share your fabulous collection of photos...

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  2. walterworldJune 8, 2008 at 10:08 PM

    I loved the Plaza Building (well, actually the Magicland Toy Shop mainly).

    The third shot brings back some memories of the space. I really liked the fact that it was set one floor below the rest of the hotel. That made it seem more exclusive or something.

    Thanks for sharing---

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