First Addendum is Finished!

The first addendum to the book Disneyland Hotel: The Early Years 1954-1988 is finished and at the printer. Please check the website for details on release date. It came out even better than I thought. The addendums will essentially be a complete rewrite of the book. These will contain new (old) photos, text and details not contained within the original book as well as the original photos we did have in the book. This will fill in many of the gaps we had while writing the book and will enable the enlargement of many of the pictures we had to reduce due to size constraints and time limitations, not to mention the new photos included we have since received. Each addendum will cover select sections of the book and go into much further detail on events and happenings. I am very happy with how this first edition came out. A limited number of copies will be available very soon. Again, please check the website http://www.magicalhotel.com/ for further details.

Plaza Building at the Disneyland Hotel

At the request of several viewers of this blog, I have posted some new Plaza Building pictures below. Thanks for your input and I hope you like these pictures.

Check-In Magazine - Pre-opening ad on the Plaza Building at the Disneyland Hotel.

Check-In Magazine - In the late 60's, the Disneyland Hotel magazine Check-In featured a story on shopping at the Plaza Building.

Here is a close-up showing a partial tennants list at the Plaza Building at the Disneyland Hotel. Does anybody remember any of these?

Back to Posting

My son asked me to start posting again. I have a bunch of new goodies to share and will be posting tonight. Some great overhead shots I had never seen before.

http://www.magicalhotel.com

1966 Overhead - Construction of the Anaheim Convention Center. This pic also shows the Disneyland South Gate/Katella Gate.

1960's Overhead - A very full Disneyland parking lot in this early 60's overhead. The Hotel is in the left center.

Happy Birthday Disneyland Hotel

October 5th, 1955 the Disneyland Hotel opens with 7 rooms while an 8th was used as the original office. Happy 54th birthday Disneyland Hotel!

Watch our website for some important announcements and updates:
http://www.magicalhotel.com

1988 Restaurant Brochure

Front cover of a Disneyland Hotel restaurant brochure from 1988, the year Wrather and Disney worked out the details to sell the Hotel.

Neon Cactus sure brings back some memories

Some of the many restaurants at the Disneyland Hotel

Early 60's Monorail Yellow

Monorail Yellow leaving the Disneyland Hotel station. I guess the guy in the second car didn't hear the message to keep your arms and legs inside. I used to love looking out my Garden Room at the Monorail going by. The distinctive sound of the Monorail horn was strangely not an annoyance. We would come back mid-day and take a relaxing break in our air-conditioned room or maybe head over to the Monorail Cafe for a burger and shake. This was probably the only place in the world I didn't mind to shop. Of course the Olympic Size pool was also very nice to cool off in. The Hotel was so fun in its original configuration and I sure do miss it. This photo is part of Bill Cotter's collection and I thank him for allowing me to use it.

Warning!!! - "Please keep your arms and legs inside the Monorail car at all times"

Hotel Tram

The Disneyland Hotel tram arriving to pick up guests. Again from Bill Cotter's won derful collection of photos available on Ebay.

Richfield became Arco and the station at the Hotel changed accordingly (middle right).

Marina at the Disneyland Hotel

Does anybody have any idea what that flying saucer looking device is on the right middle of this photograph?

Tower Annex 1965 and 1966

Today's posting features groundbreak photos from the Tower Annex project in 1965 as well as the completed building with Hotel owner Jack Wrather & Hotel exec Frank Bret. The project would cost $5.5 million and would include the Plaza Building complex. The Hotel now had over 600 rooms and suites.


The Tower Annex Building - Jack Wrather and Hotel General Manager Frank Bret pose with the new Tower Annex building in the background.

The Disneyland Band plus unidentified speaker at the 1965 Disneyland Hotel groundbreaking for the Tower Annex project.

Jack Wrather addresses the gathering at the 1965 groundbreaking ceremony for the Disneyland Hotel Tower Annex project.

Marina Tower Construction

Very early on in the Marina Tower Construction

1969 photo of the Marina Tower Construction