Mystery Solved

There are several mysteries I still cannot answer with regard to the history of the Disneyland Hotel. Most involve exact dates of when buildings opened or were torn down, or when shops changed names or signs were put up. I am happy to say I have solved one mystery. I saw the picture below and always wondered how they could list "first registered guests" when it was obvious to me that the shops were open at the Hotel with the buildings up and signs in place in the background. Those buildings were not built and signs installed until mid 1956 and the Hotel's first night for guests was October 5, 1955 even though only seven rooms were actually opened that first night.

 

Here is how I was able to solve this mystery. I found several pictures from the Hotel's first anniversary which were taken in August of 1957. The "official" grand opening of the Disneyland Hotel was in August of 1956 where a star-studded gala was held with over 400 invited special guests. The photo above was actually taken in August of 1957 where Mr. & Mrs. Arnone were brought back to help celebrate the first anniversary but they were indeed the first registered guest on October 5th, 1955....mystery solved!

 

The photo above features Mr. & Mrs. Arnone at the 1st anniversary with Jack & Bonita Wrather.

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We are also offering a project that was finished but never released called "Addendums." It's a beautiful publication that was never printed or distributed. This is "Addendum #1" and covers the very early details & happenings regarding the building of the Disneyland Hotel.

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Very Rare, Very Early Photos

While conducting research recently, I found the following photographs which are no doubt personal photographs and show the Wrather family (Chris, Jack III, undientified lady) at the Disneyland Hotel during construction and very early on (my guess 1955 or 1956). These are very unique and rare photographs and I hope to find more of them.

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Photo above shows construction on the restaurant/administrative wing of the Hotel which would have been late 1955 to early 1956. The station wagon that Chris and Jackie are standing next do is the same one that is on the Disneyland Hotel postcard which I will add at the bottom of this thread.

Photo above shows the electrical tower which was south of the Disneyland Hotel complex.

Photo above shows the very first guest structures from the Original Disneyland Hotel. These five structures had 100 guest rooms.

1965 Tower Annex Groundbreaking

A couple of photos from this 1965 event in which I don't think have been widely seen,

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The Tower Annex project would double the size of the first tower building at the Disneyland Hotel. The structure would simply "bolt-up" next to the existing tower...right where those folks are looking out the window in the lower picture. In fact, if you walk in the first floor hallway just past the main elevators, you can feel where the floor slightly rises/lowers where the two buildings were joined. Check it out!

1956 Opening Day Photo

Haven't posted in a while so how about a photo. This one is from opening day in August 1956. Can you name the people in this picture?

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1985 Oriental Gardens

Mid 1980's saw the Disneyland Hotel re-open 52 new themed rooms in 4 of the original structures to the Hotel. These rooms had earlier been converted to offices, storage and other uses including an arcade. The demand for rooms necessitated this change. The Christmas card featuring the addition of the new "Oriental Gardens" listed below is from a very good friend who was an executive at the resort for close to 40 years. A short time later, the Hotel would also begin a restructure of the North Garden units converting some units into two room suites with adjoining conference rooms. Next, I will post some pictures of this change in the North Gardens as well.

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E Versions Available

We now have an e-version (delivered to you electronically) of our first book Disneyland Hotel The Early Years 1954-1988 available for download. Additionally, we will soon be offering a never released e-version of a project we had created called "Addendums" which essentially were to be additions to our first book using new text and photographs supplemented with existing text and photographs. We only created one "Addendum" covering 1954 to October 1955 and again it was never released. For details, please contact us at donballard@comcast.net or see our website http://www.magicalhotel.com/ for contact information. E-versions are in PDF.

We are also getting an e-version of our second book, Disneyland Hotel 1954-1959 The Little Motel in the Middle of the Orange Grove shortly.

Milestones at the Disneyland Hotel 1967 & 1972

Check-In is my favorite magazine from the original Disneyland Hotel. It ran from about 1965 until around 1973, exact dates unknown. It contained so many articles, details and photographs from this period at the Disneyland Hotel. I used my copies (about 50 different issues) for many key pieces of information in my first book on the Hotel. Several pictures too. Here are two that show important milestones....the 3,000,000 and 5,000,000 visitors at the Disneyland Hotel on the Check-In covers.

And now a very funny story on the 5,000,000th visitor cover. The folks pictured were not the actual 5 millionth guests. Seems a gentlemen and lady checked in and the streamers were launched and the band played with a Hotel exec popping out with champagne and other goodies in hand. The gentleman quickly hushed the exec and informed him the lady he was with was not his wife and to choose someone else. They quickly cleaned up and gave the distinction to the next "actual" family who showed up. True story.

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1963 Overheads

Here are some 1963 overheads....some with "Hotel Disneyland" at the top of the building and some with it not yet installed. I am trying to pin down the exact date in which this project was finished. I do know a permit was issued by the city of Anaheim to install a sign at the top of the Tower building at the Disneyland Hotel in late August of 1963.

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