Friday, December 25, 2009

1958 Disneyland/Disneyland Hotel Film

I had another reel of film converted to DVD and have posted some of the still images from it. I saved over 100 shots so I will be posting more. This was 1958 and depending on the time of the year (crowds were sparce at Disneyland in other shots) the Hotel had either a little over 300 rooms or a little over 330 rooms. A fourth Garden Structure was added in 1958 increasing the room total to 334.

http://www.magicalhotel.com


Guest leaving room


Administration Building 1958


Tram at the Disneyland Hotel 1958


Hotel Tram 1958

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Restaurant Ads 1970

The below ads came from a 1970 Disneyland Hotel Check-In magazine dated September-October 1970. The new Marina Tower had been open less than a year.

My website is http://www.magicalhotel.com

Monorail Bar ad 1970


1970 ad for the Top of the Park lounge


Coffee House Ad 1970 - The Coffee House would later become the Monorail Cafe.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

The Cove

An excerpt from our book The Disneyland Hotel: The Early Years 1954-1988 http://www.magicalhotel.com

The Cove (later called Papeete Beach) was a swimming pool that appeared to be a tropical lagoon with a beach of white sand (imported crystal silica), lined with palm trees. This 3,800 square foot pool was built on two levels. A rock formation in the center was both a waterfall and a slide from the upper to the lower level. Anthony, the world's largest pool builder constructed the pool. Next to the Cove was a tropical tidal pool. The Tidal Pool was a wading and splashing area for the younger set. The area had timing machines that created tides on cue. To achieve realistic rock formations for the pool, noted sculptor Greg La Chapelle spent months searching the California coastline from Laguna Beach to Santa Barbara to find interesting and unusual rock formations, many encrusted with ancient sea creatures. He would apply a plaster cast to an interesting formation and later reproduce the cast in concrete at the Hotel.

The Cove Early 70's - A view from the southwest corner of the Disneyland Hotel property.


Water World at the Disneyland Hotel

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

August 1970 Family Photographs

Today's entry features personal family photographs from Annette Brown (taken by her family) when she was just 6 years old at the Disneyland Hotel in August of 1970. She wrote and told me she only remembered one tower building (Sierra Tower) when she visited in the summer of '69, one year earlier, which was when construction of the Marina Tower had just begun. These 1970 photos were taken just six months after the Marina Tower and Marina had opened. Construction was still in progress on the Cove area in the southwest section of the property. Thanks very much Annette for sharing these treasures with all the blog readers.

Annette Brown at 5 years of age in front of the Cove at the Disneyland Hotel. Construction is still visible in the background of this photograph.


August 1970 view from the Sierra Tower - A full summer parking lot at Disneyland. The pool at the Hotel also looks pretty crowded.


August 1970 view from the Sierra Tower - The Olympic Pool down below and Disneyland off in the distance. The putting green is also visible at the bottom of the picture.


Nice view from the Sierra Tower showing the Plaza Building on the right and some of the Garden Rooms on the northeast section of the Hotel property. A golf cart is also visible taking guests to and from their rooms at the bottom left.


From the southwest corner of the Hotel property with the Marina Tower on the left and Sierra Tower on the right.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

1965 Tencennial Disneyland Newspaper Supplement

A couple of pictures which were contained in the newspaper insert for the tenth anniversary of Disneyland published in 1965.

Monorail at the Disneyland Hotel - The lone Tower Building in its earliest iteration at the Disneyland Hotel.


From the Disneyland Tencennial Guide in 1965. Plans were underway to double the size of the Tower Building at the Disneyland Hotel.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Plaza Building Shops

Mall and Plaza Shops - Cover of Mall and Plaza Shops Brochure from the 1980's