Richard S. Stevens dies at 80; had leadership roles with Disneyland Hotel and Queen Mary

October 26, 2010-From the LA Times

Richard S. Stevens, who had leadership roles with the Disneyland Hotel, Queen Mary and Balboa Bay Club during a wide-ranging business career, has died. He was 80.

Stevens died Oct. 14 in his sleep at his Newport Beach home, said his wife, Joan.

He worked more than 20 years for Wrather Corp. As president of Wrather Hotels, which included the Disneyland Hotel, he developed a plan for the company to lease the Queen Mary in Long Beach as a tourist attraction and display with it the Spruce Goose seaplane built by Howard Hughes.

Stevens was co-owner and president of the Balboa Club during the 1960s and '70s and was the Disneyland Hotel's president and chief executive from 1977 to 1982.

Stevens also was co-founder of the Bellport Group, which operated marinas throughout the world. He developed the Hamilton Cove project on Catalina Island, supervised a team that developed Marina Costa Baja in Mexico and was involved in developments in Arizona, Florida and elsewhere in California.

"He was just that person who loves the deal," said his daughter, Sandra Stevens Weston. "He always had irons in the fire."

Stevens was born July 4, 1930, in Long Beach to Margaret Virginia and Merrill Emerson Stevens. He attended high school in South Pasadena and in 1951 graduated from UC Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in business administration. In the early 1950s, Stevens served in the U.S. Army.

During the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, he was commissioner of the modern pentathlon competition held in the Orange County community of Coto de Caza. And in 1985 he was named president and chief executive of the Los Angeles Express, a United States Football League franchise.

Stevens was most proud of his work in Long Beach with the Queen Mary and the Spruce Goose. In the early 1980s, Wrather Corp. planned a development in Long Beach that included building a dome adjacent to the Queen Mary to house the historic aircraft.

"He was a visionary," his wife said. "He would come up with ideas, ways to do things that were unusual."

Wrather eventually sold the Queen Mary. The Spruce Goose was moved to a museum in Oregon.

For the last three decades, Stevens faced severe health issues. In 2009, he and his wife wrote a book, "Never Give Up! The Six Secret Steps You Must Take To Protect Your Own Life."

In addition to his wife and daughter, Stevens is survived by his son, Chris, and stepchildren Lisa and Brad Levine. Stevens was preceded in death by his first wife, Joyce Whistler Stevens.

1979 Wrather letter announcing Richard Stevens as President of Wrather Hotels.

Disneyland Hotel 1987

In my book Disneyland Hotel: The Early Years 1954-1988, I admit, I covered very little on the Disneyland Hotel in the later 70's to the 1980's. I just did not have that much information to use or share. Different story now. I have tons more to add from the 70's as well as the 80's and for that matter, for all years. Now I just lack time to put it all together....but if I could, I would have the definitive work on the Disneyland Hotel. I am working on it though, slowly but surely.

In the mean time, here are some picture ads from Disneyland Hotel establishments circa 1987.

Caffe Villa Verde

El Vaquero

  The Pavilion

California Wine Cellar

I don't ever remember personally going into any of these establishments however, for the Hotel's 55th anniversary celebration held on October 5, 2010, we presented at the Pavilion which is now called the Sleeping Beauty Pavilion. Here are some pictures from that event:

This was a poster created for the event. Wish I could have gotten one of these!

This was the cake designed for the event.

 If you haven't seen "World of Color", I highly recommend that you do. It was absolutely wonderful!

Please visit our website and help keep these pictures coming by purchasing our book: http://www.magicalhotel.com/

No Theme...Maybe Friday Fun Pics on Sunday

No theme today just some random shots to add. As always, hope you like them.

Pedal Boats which were free to ride the first few years then a fee was charged. I never rode these did any of you?

An interesting angle of the pool.

A suite at the Disneyland Hotel....a bit dated but nice even by today's fashions.

http://www.magicalhotel.com/

Happy 55th Birthday Disneyland Hotel on October 5th. Sadly, nothing remains from the first years of the Hotel. Of course you can always refresh your memory here.

Disneyland Hotel Visit

I will be visiting the Disneyland Hotel on October 5th and 6th celebrating the Hotel's 55th anniversary. If you are around at either the Hotel or Disneyland Park, I would love to meet you and say "hello". Please contact me through my profile page on this blog.

Overheads From The 60's

Overhead shots of the Disneyland area are certainly some of my favorite pictures to see. It's always fun to date pictures by what is present (or what is not) in the photographs. Certain features can be identified in these pictures which immediately tell you from what year the photo was taken. Today, I am posting some shots from the 60's which feature various areas around Disneyland Park. Hope you enjoy them.

Anaheim Convention Center is going up. What year is it?

Wilbur Clark's is just finished and Disneyland is in the upper right.

Is that Melodyland in the lower right?

Look at those open fields around Disneyland and the Disneyland Hotel!

Here is a great shot of the Disneyland Hotel and all its amenities. The heliport, golf facilities and the first Tower Building can be seen. Can you guess the year?

Please visit our website at http://www.magicalhotel.com/ and help support this blog by purchasing your copy of Disneyland Hotel: the Early Years 1954-1988.

Friday Fun Pics

The following low resolution pictures (sorry about the low res) are from a contact sheet that was included in a late 80's, early 90's Disneyland Hotel brochure packet.

The Beach at the Disneyland Hotel

Mickey's Workout



Hooke's Point

The Lost Bar

Pavilion

Wine Celler

Marina Ballroom

Hotel Lobby

Please visit our website and support this blog.

http://www.magicalhotel.com/

Brochure Deviations: 1961 Brochure & 1961 Hotel Information

Many new, major expansions were added to the Hotel in 1961.

At a press conference in December of 1960, Jack Wrather and Walt Disney announced plans for the extension of the Disneyland-Alweg Monorail System to link the Park to the Hotel. This addition to the monorail would provide Walt with a working model.

In 1961, the Hotel comprised 16-percent of the Wrather Corporation's gross annual income. Based upon the strength of the Disneyland Hotel's operations, plans were already underway to expand all areas: rooms, restaurants, convention facilities, and recreation/entertainment. Two new Garden Room structures were added in the Northeast section of the property. The Hotel now had eleven guest accommodation structures (six in the Northeast section and five in the southern section of the property).

Built above the Hotel's shops near the main entrance on West Street, a 13,000 square foot convention and exhibition center was added. The convention hall became Orange County's first ballroom, the Embassy Room. [The original banquet hall (just to the south of the Embassy Room) would be redesigned and named the Magnolia Room.] It was able to accommodate more than 1,400 guests in a theatre seating formation and 1,200 guests for a banquet. Its "official" opening took place on November 28, 1961. More details will follow in this blog.

1961 Disneyland Hotel front cover

1961 Disneyland Hotel brochure backs

Yet even more major changes were on the horizon at the Disneyland Hotel in 1961. Soon, the Hotel would expand up rather than out. More to come..........

http://www.magicalhotel.com/

 

Brochure Deviations: 1957 1958

Here are brochures from 1957 and 1958 with their differnces. The front covers are identical but inside and back covers had differences.

1957 cover and inside

1958 cover and inside. Note the differences, mainly due to other services or features being offered.

Can you spot the differences in the backs of these brochures?

http://www.magicalhotel.com/

Brochure Deviations: 1980's & Seaports of the Pacific

In continuing with the brochure deviation theme, I am presenting the 1980's brochures and their deviations which featured the Seaports of the Pacific addition to the Disneyland Hotel. First, some text on Seaports of the Pacific introduced in 1980 at the Disneyland Hotel.

For the summer season of 1980, the 25th Anniversary of the Disneyland Hotel, the Seaports of the Pacific shopping area was added to the marina. Under construction since February, it replaced what had been the artisans market. Ed Ettinger, the project's supervisor, explained, "What we've developed is a living theater consisting of those special environments associated with exotic ports of trade in the Pacific Basin." Side by side were an Indonesian pagoda blue tile roof, an Australian weathered tin roof, a Polynesian bamboo roof, and a Latin American red mission-tile roof...a wide variety of colors and textures. Staffed by authentic personnel, the Seaports was a mingling of accents and cultures. In the International Bazaar were to be found an arts and crafts market and shops of imports from the South Seas. Mimes, magicians, and strolling musicians entertained at this international bazaar. Sausalito Sue, a rustic cocktail barge, floated close by on the marina. Entered by means of a wooden ramp, it offered drinks and snacks.

And now the Seaports brochure and its many deviations.

There were two covers to this brochure ranging from 1983 to 1987

The 1983, 1984 & 1986 brochure back covers

The 1985 back cover mentions the Hotel's 30th anniversary

The 1987 back cover

This page remained unchanged and intact in all brochures from 1983 to 1987

1983-1985 map section of the brochure

The 1986 & 1987 map section

1983-1985 interior brochure

1986 & 1987 interior brochure

1983-1985 interior brochure

1986 & 1987 interior brochure

While the brochures shared many similar pictures and text, there were also numerous differences. So when you think you may already have a brochure in your collection, make sure to double check that they are not different versions that just look alike to the casual eye. Happy collecting!

Please visit our website:  http://www.magicalhotel.com/

Friday Fun Pics

Just adding some fun pics which were taken from brochures.

Do you remember a time like this? I do and it was in the Monorail Cafe after a wondrous day at Disneyland!

The Olympic Size Pool. I broght my son in this pool when he was nine months old.

Hope you liked these pictures.