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74-587: Downtown Disney connects the two Disneyland Resort theme parks with its three resort hotels, running from the western side of the property's Esplanade to the Disneyland Hotel . West Street, which bordered Disneyland's western side, was rechristened Disneyland Drive and lowered to accommodate a pedestrian bridge that connects much of Downtown Disney to the Disneyland Hotel and Pixar Place Hotel. A Disneyland Monorail System station sits adjacent to

148-481: A Disneyland resort in Shanghai 's Pudong district. The resort opened on June 16, 2016. California Adventure completed its overhaul in 2012 adding two new lands: Cars Land and Buena Vista Street . The overhaul also included a re-themed of several attractions plus a pair of classic dark rides. In July 2017, it was announced that Paradise Pier land would be replaced by Pixar Pier, with four neighborhoods, and

222-722: A Richfield service station for several years as part of Richfield's sponsorship of several Disneyland attractions, including Autopia . When Michael Eisner became chairman and CEO of Walt Disney Productions in 1984, he wanted to get out of Disney's agreement with the Wrather Corporation and bring the Disneyland Hotel under the Walt Disney Company's umbrella. Wrather refused to sell, just as he had refused Walt Disney many years before. Wrather died two months after Eisner took over at Disney, and in 1988, after Wrather's widow Bonita Granville died, Disney bought

296-472: A Starbucks location. Weeks after the closures took place, growing tensions between Disney and the City of Anaheim over the subsidy and the hotel's location led to the project being put on hold. Days after the announcement that the project was postponed, Disneyland requested that the tax subsidies be rescinded. The Anaheim City Council voted to rescind the tax subsidies days later. After weeks of inactivity at

370-534: A 15-year marketing contract on January 25: Coca-Cola products would be exclusive in Disney theme parks, and Coca-Cola would use some Disney characters in their ads. On March 16, 1990, Attractions president Nunis announced a 25-year plan for a 4,400-acre (1,800 ha) development in Osceola, Florida , with homes, shopping malls and industrial buildings. In 1990, the possibility of a West Coast version of Epcot Center

444-1027: A Japanese theme park. Tokyo Disneyland opened on April 15, 1983 on 200 acres (80 ha) in Urayasu, Chiba , Japan. With the retirement of Donn Tatum as Walt Disney Productions' Chairman and CEO on June 3, 1980, three divisions were formed, including the Walt Disney Outdoor Recreation Division, of which Disney Legend, Dick Nunis was named division president. Disneyland started using Disney Dollars on May 5, 1987, while Walt Disney World parks started with Epcot on October 2. A renegotiated Disneyland Japan royalty agreement in April 1988 by Chief Financial Officer Gary L. Wilson netted Disney US$ 723 million in cash in exchange for lower royalty payments. The steam railroad and monorail at Disneyland were purchased from Retlaw Enterprises , formerly WED Enterprises, in 1982. Bear Country

518-549: A U.S. traveling attraction, which premiered in September 1996. The fair was poorly attended and was pulled after a few stops. Disney Entertainment Projects (Asia Pacific) Inc., a new Disney Asian Pacific subsidiary, selected a renamed fair called DisneyFest as its first project, taking it to Singapore to open there on October 30, 1997. In November 1995, Disney announced the building of Tokyo DisneySea , to be owned by Oriental along with Tokyo Disneyland. Oriental and Disney signed

592-881: A corner of the Magic Kingdom parking lot, the Walt Disney World Speedway opened on November 28, 1995. In 1996, the Disney Institute opened on February 9, and Disney's BoardWalk opened on July 1. The first of the World of Disney stores opened in the Disney Village Marketplace on October 3. The Downtown Disney district opened in November 1997, combining Disney Village Marketplace and Pleasure Island. A fourth theme park, Disney's Animal Kingdom , opened at Disney World

666-456: A cost of $ 400 million. The Magic Kingdom had six themed lands: Main Street , Adventureland , Fantasyland , Frontierland, Liberty Square , and Tomorrowland. Additionally, Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort campground and two hotels, Disney's Contemporary Resort and Disney's Polynesian Village Resort , also opened. Disneyland expanded in 1972 with a seventh themed land, Bear Country , replacing

740-410: A gazebo and garden areas that are used for Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings & Honeymoons . A new Downtown Disney Monorail Station was built on the same site as the old Disneyland Hotel station that takes guests to Tomorrowland inside Disneyland Park along the same beamway that existed prior to the 1999–2001 expansion. The Disneyland Hotel started a major renovation in 2009, beginning with

814-622: A joint venture, Hong Kong International Theme Parks Ltd., between the Hong Kong Government and Disney Resorts. The Disney Wonder cruise ship began operation on August 15. Disney World's Discovery Island was closed on April 8, 1999. Walt Disney Attractions, LLC changed its name to Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, LLC on April 14, 2000, then to Disney Destinations, LLC on April 25, 2006. Tokyo DisneySea at Tokyo Disney Resort opened on September 4, 2001. The Walt Disney Company in selling its Japanese and US chains decided to keep

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888-534: A licensing agreement with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), giving Disney the right to use the MGM name, logo and movie library for this third park. Construction of the Disney-MGM Studios theme park began in 1986. Disney-MGM Studios opened on May 1, 1989, along with a Pleasure Island entertainment area; its second water park, Disney's Typhoon Lagoon , opened on June 1. In 1983, Walt Disney World Village's name

962-680: A replica of the original park signage at the top along with replicas of Mark I Monorails encasing both slides. A new four-foot pool was built between the former Never Land Pool and water play area. On September 28, 2023, Disney opened a new Disney Vacation Club property, The Villas at Disneyland Hotel, as part of the Disneyland Hotel complex. A 12-story tower, each of its 344 guest rooms feature various Disney films like The Jungle Book and Sleeping Beauty . 33°48′29″N 117°55′37″W  /  33.80806°N 117.92694°W  / 33.80806; -117.92694 Disney Experiences Disney Experiences , commonly known as Disney Parks ,

1036-639: A resort at Ko Olina Resort & Marina in Kapolei, Hawaii , featuring both a hotel and Disney Vacation Club timeshare units. The 800-unit property, named Aulani , opened in 2011 and joined the other resorts not associated with a theme park, such as Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort in South Carolina. With the Walt Disney World Millennium Celebration starting on October 1, 2000, sanctioned Disney pin trading

1110-531: A self-produced live arena show starting in 1969. Small World and its famous song lasted two years at the fair; it was then moved to Disneyland as an expanded major attraction in 1966 and later duplicated in the other Disney theme parks. In 1965, Walt Disney won a bid with the US Forest Service to develop Mineral King as a ski resort. The Sierra Club sued in June 1969 to stop the development, which

1184-540: A significant portion of the hotel was also demolished, all to make way for Downtown Disney and parking areas for the newly expanding Disneyland Resort. Most buildings east of the Sierra Tower and north of the Marina Tower were demolished, including the original hotel buildings from 1955. The only buildings remaining in these areas are the convention center and parking garage. Recreational facilities were built in

1258-582: A three land expansion: Mystic Point , Grizzly Gulch , and Toy Story Land . In June 2005, Disney Magic made the first cruise outside of the Caribbean, by moving its port for the summer to Los Angeles with a Mexican Riviera schedule. Disney Cruise Line ordered a new 2 ships class from Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany by February 22, 2007. The Magic in May 2007 transferred its homeport to Barcelona, Spain, for

1332-518: A tram. The Disneyland Monorail was extended from its original 1959 configuration and a station opened at the hotel in 1961 (pictured above). Recreational areas, attractions, and a convention center (1972) were also added over the years. On June 15, 1970 an adjacent recreation vehicle park called Vacationland opened (which had its own pool and clubhouse) which can be seen as a precursor to Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground which opened at Walt Disney World in 1971. The hotel also featured

1406-533: A trip to Florida for final site selection. In 1962, Disney Productions purchased Celebrity Sports Center (opened on September 17, 1960, in Denver, Colorado) from its owners, including Walt Disney, Art Linkletter , and John Payne , to use as a staff training center for its second resort. In 1963, Roy made plans to buy from 5,000 to 10,000 acres (2,000 to 4,000 ha), which was carried out in 1964, amassing 27,443 acres (11,106 ha) by October 1965 . Plans for

1480-487: Is Disney's largest business segment by employee headcount, with approximately 130,000 of the company's 180,000 employees as of 2015. In March 2018, Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media was merged into Parks and Resorts and renamed Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. In September 2020, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products laid off 28,000 employees in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic . Originally, entry into

1554-479: Is one of the three major divisions of The Walt Disney Company . It was founded on April 1, 1971, exactly six months before the opening of Walt Disney World . Led by Josh D'Amaro , the company's theme parks hosted over 157.3 million guests, making Disney Parks the world's most visited theme park company worldwide, with United Kingdom-based Merlin Entertainments coming in second at 67 million guests. It

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1628-841: Is renamed Disney's Hollywood Studios in January 2008. Pleasure Island 's core remaining six nightclubs were closed down in late 2008 to change the area to match the family friendly make-up of the other two sections of Downtown Disney at Disney World. Walt Disney Studios Park opened March 16, 2002, as the second theme park at the renamed Disneyland Resort Paris . The first park was renamed Disneyland Park (DLP). DLP Paris opened in August 2000 Toy Story Playland with three attractions. Construction on Hong Kong Disneyland began on January 12, 2003, then opened September 12, 2005. Groundbreaking occurred at Hong Kong Disneyland in December 2009 for

1702-690: The Disney Stores in Europe, along with the store in Manhattan, which was converted into a World of Disney store run by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts in 2004. Downtown Disney opened at the Disneyland Resort on January 12, 2001, between Disneyland and the future California Adventure. Disney California Adventure opened at the Disneyland Resort on February 8, 2001, with three major areas: Paradise Pier, Hollywood Pictures Backlot, and

1776-707: The Disney Wilderness Preserve . The Disney Inn hotel was leased starting February 1, 1994, by the US Army, then purchased on January 12, 1996, and later renamed Shades of Green. Planet Hollywood opened a location in Pleasure Island on December 17, 1994. The third water park at Walt Disney World, Disney's Blizzard Beach , opened on April 1, 1995. The Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland was completely refurbished and reopened in June 1995. Taking up

1850-836: The Queen Mary and Spruce Goose tourist attractions. In March 1988, Disney purchased Industrial Equity's half of Wrather Corporation. In 1985, Premier Cruise Line became the licensed partner cruise line with Disney. This allowed Disney characters on their ships and combined cruise, hotel, and theme park packages. The Walt Disney Outdoor Recreation Division was incorporated as Walt Disney Attractions, Inc. on August 10, 1989. In January 1990, Disney CEO Eisner announced plans to expand both Disneyland (by 20% in 10 years) and Walt Disney World (WDW). The plan would have WDW add another theme park and 16 new attractions in Disney-MGM Studios. Disney and The Coca-Cola Company agreed to

1924-474: The Walt Disney Company and operated through their Experiences division. Opened on October 5, 1955, as a motor inn owned and operated by Jack Wrather under an agreement with Walt Disney , the hotel was the first to officially bear the Disney name. Under Wrather's ownership, the hotel underwent several expansions and renovations over the years before being acquired by Disney in 1988. The hotel

1998-405: The 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) called for a 150-acre (61 ha) amusement park, a campground, a golf course, 2 million square feet (190,000 m ) of office/commercial space, and 2500 homes. With projections indicating that the park would operate at a loss and with opposition in the press, Disney canceled the project on September 15, 1994. Walt Disney Imagineering created Disney Fair ,

2072-730: The Bonita Tower and featured 1/10 scale remote cars that could be rented by guests. In 1985, The Queen's Berth remote control boat attraction opened in Marina area between the Marina Tower and the Sierra Tower and featured a scale replica of the Queen Mary that was owned and operated in Long Beach, California, by the Wrather Corporation at the time. Guests traveled between the hotel and the Disneyland Park main entrance via

2146-515: The DisneySea licensing agreement in November 1997; the theme park was scheduled to open in 2001 at a cost of $ 2.6 billion. In December 1998, Walt Disney Attractions added Disneyland Paris , Disney Regional Entertainment and Walt Disney Imagineering to its portfolio, which already held Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and Tokyo Disneyland. Chairman Dick Nunis retired at the same time. On October 31, 1999, Walt Disney Attractions, Inc.

2220-436: The Disneyland Hotel. Over the years, the hotel was expanded to include three guest room towers: Sierra (1962; expanded 1966), Marina (1970), and Bonita (1978). The third tower that was opened on the southwest side of the property was named after Jack Wrather's wife, Academy Award nominated actress Bonita Granville . A large waterfall was featured just in front of the tower where guests could walk through caves that were under

2294-528: The Disneyland park opened with five themed "lands" containing eighteen attractions with double the expected guests. WED owned Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad opened, too. On June 29, 1957, Disney Production exercised its options to purchase all but AB-PT's common stock outstanding. This allowed WDP to consolidate DLI into its 1957 annual accounting statements adding four months' worth of net profits, $ 511K. In June 1960, Walt Disney Productions completed

Downtown Disney - Misplaced Pages Continue

2368-763: The Dreams Tower. Renovation of the hotel included new windows, wallpaper, carpeting, and decor. The Dreams Tower, completed in 2010, became the Adventure Tower. The Wonder Tower became the Frontier Tower after its completion in 2011, and the Magic Tower became the Fantasy Tower in 2012. The Never Land Pool area also received a redesign which was completed in 2012. The transformation included six new cabanas and two new water slides, featuring

2442-711: The Florida project that would eventually become Walt Disney World were announced to the public in November 1965. Legislation forming the Reedy Creek Improvement District , the Reedy Creek Improvement Act , was signed into law by Florida Governor Claude R. Kirk, Jr. on May 12, 1967, allowing Disney to build the infrastructure for the second park. Ground breaking followed for the future Reedy Creek park on May 30. In Roy O. Disney's last act as CEO in 1968, he officially named

2516-602: The Golden State. In California Adventure on October 6, 2002, A Bug's Land area opened. Parks and Resorts chairman Jay Rasulo announced at Disney's D23 Expo in Anaheim, California on September 12, 2009, that Walt Disney World's Fantasyland would be overhauled and increased in size by 2013. A $ 1 billion expansion/renovation of Disney California Adventure was announced in 2007 to be completed by 2012. River Country water park closed on November 2, 2001. Disney-MGM Studios

2590-800: The Indian Village of Frontierland , and later renamed Critter Country. In 1979, the Disneyland crafts and maintenance union workers went on strike for 15 days, at first, rejecting and then accepting the park's contract. Space Mountain opens at Disneyland in 1977. Two more hotels opened in 1973 at Walt Disney World: the Golf Resort and the Gold Resort; Disney opened the Buena Vista Club golf club in Lake Buena Vista on November 22, 1974 . Lake Buena Vista Village ,

2664-552: The Simba parking lot. In addition, a pedestrian bridge linking the Pixar Pals and Mickey and Friends parking structures to the shopping district was opened on September 13, 2019. In 2017, plans were announced for a fourth resort hotel at the property. Situated in front of the Disneyland Hotel, the new hotel would displace much of the westernmost portion of Downtown Disney and would have featured 700 rooms. The cost of construction for

2738-545: The South Garden Rooms and even later as the Oriental Gardens) that rented for $ 15 a night ($ 171 in 2023 dollars ); shopping, dining and recreational facilities were added in early 1956. In addition, it had a doctor and a dentist on site, as well as a hairdresser and a beauty salon. On August 25, 1956, the hotel celebrated its "official" grand opening with many Hollywood stars and celebrities attending

2812-460: The WED concept designs and prospectus for Disneylandia, Roy Disney in September 1953 met with TV networks in a deal for Disney-produced TV show and Disneyland investment. American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres (AB-PT) agreed to the Disneyland, Inc. investment. Joining AB-PT as Disneyland investors were Walt Disney Productions (WDP), Western Publishing and Walt Disney . Walt Disney Productions had

2886-561: The Walt Disney World monorail line was extended to EPCOT Center from the Transportation and Ticket Center. The EPCOT Center theme park opened on October 1, 1982, at a building cost of US$ 1.2 billion , with two areas, Future World and World Showcase . Plans for a Hollywood-style theme park were announced in April 1985 for the Walt Disney World resort at a project cost of US$ 300 million. In April 1985, Disney signed

2960-491: The anchor for the expansion. The announcement also came with a reimagining of UVA Bar and Catal into separate restaurants named Centrico and Paseo, as well as a mid-century modern design for the district's new west end. In addition, Porto's Bakery is scheduled to open in 2025. Disneyland Hotel (California) The Disneyland Hotel is a resort hotel located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California , owned by

3034-461: The construction of the park. Initially he tried to interest his friend Art Linkletter in building the hotel, but Linkletter declined. At the time, Linkletter was hesitant about the prospects of the park (only ruefully years later to walk along the sidewalk in front of the property while telling himself with each step "And that's another million I missed out on"). Disney also contacted Hilton and Sheraton Hotels but because they had no idea where Anaheim

Downtown Disney - Misplaced Pages Continue

3108-583: The entire Wrather company. At the time Wrather's company also owned the rights to The Lone Ranger and the Lassie TV series, and managed and operated the RMS ; Queen Mary and Spruce Goose combined tourist attraction in Long Beach . Though Disney kept the hotel, it has since sold the other assets that came with the purchase. In early 1997, Vacationland was closed and demolished. Then in 1999,

3182-560: The festivities. It was quickly expanded in 1956 with three North Garden guest room structures, one more North Garden structure in 1958 and lastly, two more North garden structures in 1960. The hotel now boasted over 300 guest rooms and suites. It was one of the first hotels in the region to offer accommodations for four persons per room. When the Wrather-Alvarez partnership ended acrimoniously in 1958, Jack Wrather bought Alvarez' share of Wrather-Alvarez Hotels, making him sole owner of

3256-561: The formation of its cruise line. The Disney Cruise Line launched with the Disney Magic ship in 1998 along with its exclusive resort island port of Castaway Cay. Disney reportedly had plans to build a park named Disney's America . The park was to have been located in Haymarket, Virginia ; 2,300 acres (930 ha) of property were purchased from Exxon in 1993. The history-themed park was announced on November 11, 1993. The plans for

3330-551: The former ESPN Zone building remains vacant. On March 14, 2020, the Disneyland Resort, including Downtown Disney, temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Downtown Disney remained closed until July 9, 2020. The district reopened with enhanced safety measures, including mandatory face masks, reduced capacity and temperature screening upon arrival. These measures were lifted on June 15, 2021, following California's reopening. From November 19, 2020, to March 14, 2021,

3404-424: The hotel would have been offset by up to $ 267 million in tax rebates over 20 years, allowing the resort to keep a percentage of the transient occupancy tax levied on Anaheim hotels. In Summer of 2018, several large Downtown Disney tenants closed in preparation for the new hotel's construction - an AMC Theatres cinema, Rainforest Cafe and ESPN Zone restaurants, and smaller tenants including Earl of Sandwich and

3478-464: The hotel's proposed site, Disney announced in October 2018 that the fourth hotel project had been canceled. In October 2018, Earl of Sandwich and Starbucks reopened. After several years of vacancy, Disney announced that the former Rainforest Café location would become Star Wars Trading Post, a retail location selling Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge merchandise, which opened on February 19, 2021. Today,

3552-473: The lines' first summer Mediterranean itinerary then returned to its permanent port in September. The Chicago DisneyQuest location was closed in September 2001. Disney Parks started the Adventures by Disney tour vacation business in 2005. Disney entered a float, "The Most Magical Celebration on Earth", into the 2006 Pasadena Tournament of Roses parade . In October 2007, Disney announced plans to build

3626-572: The option to repurchase the Walt Disney, WED and Western Publishing shares (31%) by May 1, 1959, for $ 562,500. With a need for the Disneyland Hotel nearby and no funding available for Disney to build it, Walt Disney approached Jack Wrather to build the hotel who agreed. Disneyland , changed from Disneylandia, was announced in April 1954 by Walt to be opened in July 1955 . On July 17, 1955 ,

3700-489: The park's projected high cost. That park was then replaced by plans for the California Adventure park, hotels, and a retail district. At Walt Disney World, Mickey's Birthdayland closed on April 22, 1991, then reopened on May 26 as Mickey's Starland. In order to expand Disney World on wetland, on April 23, 1993, the company agreed to form an 8,500-acre (3,400 ha) wilderness preserve in Florida, known as

3774-555: The pedestrian bridge. The area has featured several shops and restaurants, ranging from popular retail brands to many Disney-operated shops including a World of Disney store running beneath much of the Grand California Hotel. Downtown Disney has featured as many as 30 shops, but there have been changes due to announcements in late 2017. In July 2019, parking for Downtown Disney was relocated to south of Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel (known today as Pixar Place Hotel) at

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3848-487: The purchase of AB-PT's share of the company for nearly $ 7.5 million and its TV contract, and the theme park became a fully owned subsidiary of Walt Disney Productions. Beginning in 1958 with the contracting of Economics Research Associates (ERA) to find a location for another Disney resort, Disney Productions moved beyond a single park. ERA recommended Florida; another study in 1961 named Ocala or Orlando in Florida as possible locations. In November 1963 , Walt Disney made

3922-574: The quad between the three towers, previously site of the Water Wonderland, to replace those that were previously located east of the Sierra Tower. Streets previously used to access the hotel by car were regraded and/or outright eliminated, and a new street was built to access the hotel. Tram service from the hotel was also discontinued, leaving the Monorail as the only vehicular mode of transportation from park to hotel. The loss of hotel rooms

3996-530: The resort expanded the district temporarily into Buena Vista Street at Disney California Adventure. In November 2021, Disney announced a reimagining of the West Side of Downtown Disney with new shopping, dining, and entertainment experiences. Construction began with the demolishing of AMC Theatres, Starbucks, and Earl of Sandwich beginning in January 2022. On April 27, 2022, Din Tai Fung was announced to be

4070-592: The second park Walt Disney World . Disneyland International was incorporated on November 20, 1961. The next year, The Oriental Land Company contacted Disney about building a theme park. In 1959, the WED-owned Disneyland-Alweg Monorail System began operations at Disneyland. The first Audio-Animatronic attraction, Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room , opened at Disneyland in 1963. Disneyland's first new themed land, New Orleans Square, opened in 1966 . Tomorrowland

4144-749: The shopping area, opened on March 22, 1975 and was renamed Walt Disney World Village in 1977. Celebrity Sports Center, Disney World's training center, was sold on March 29, 1979. At Walt Disney World, the Treasure Island nature preserve pens opened on April 8, 1974, renamed Discovery Island in 1977. On July 1, 1975 , the WEDway PeopleMover opened in the Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland. The first water park, River Country , opened on June 20, 1976 at Disney World. EPCOT Center's groundbreaking occurred at Walt Disney World in May 1979. In 1979, Oriental Land and Disney agreed to build

4218-453: The stores and restaurants demolished with the Plaza are on display in the hotel's employee cafeteria. Mickey Mouse theming is employed in many interior furnishings and details. In 2007 the Marina, Sierra, and Bonita Towers were renamed Magic, Dreams, and Wonder, respectively. Other buildings in the sprawling hotel complex house restaurants, stores, offices, recreational facilities and convention and banquet facilities. The complex also features

4292-399: The theme park and travel business was a side project of Walt Disney himself. As the Disneylandia project started to become a reality, Walt Disney Productions at Walt's request set up Disneyland, Inc. (DLI) in 1951 and agreed to a design deal in March 1953 with WED Enterprises (WED) , Walt 's personal corporation, which then included what would now be called Walt Disney Imagineering . With

4366-455: The waterfalls. Just beyond the waterfall area was an area called Seaports of the Pacific that featured shops with unique products from around the world. That area also featured The Shipyard Inn seafood restaurant and The Wharf Bar with live nightly entertainment. At the Southwest side of Seaports of the Pacific was the Fantasy Water Show that had two 20 minute shows nightly, one at 8pm and one at 9pm. In 1982, The Off-Road Raceway opened in front of

4440-609: The week of April 20, 1998. The first Disney Vacation Club Resorts , Vacation Club Resort, opened on October 1, 1991, and was renamed Disney's Old Key West Resort in January 1996. These vacation club hotels were operated by Disney Vacation Developments, Inc. as vacation timeshares . The first off-resort vacation club hotel was Vacation Club Resort, which opened on October 1, 1995, in Vero Beach, Florida . In 1993, Premier Cruises discontinued its partnership with Disney for one with Warner Bros. After failing to reach agreements with Carnival or Royal Caribbean , Disney announced in 1994

4514-516: Was at the time, they declined. Disney then sought out and negotiated a deal with Jack Wrather and his business partner Maria Helen Alvarez under which Wrather-Alvarez Productions would own and operate a hotel called the Disneyland Hotel across the street from Disneyland. Jack Wrather was a Texas oil millionaire turned film producer who already owned hotels in Las Vegas and Palm Springs , and co-owned television stations in Tulsa and San Diego with Alvarez. The original Disneyland Hotel

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4588-422: Was changed to the Disney Village Marketplace. A new themed area, Mickey's Birthdayland, opened in the Magic Kingdom near Fantasyland on June 18, 1988. In 1987, Disney and Ron Brierley 's Industrial Equity (Pacific) Ltd., already a 28% owner of the Wrather Corporation , agreed to purchase the remaining Wrather Corporation stock with a 50% share each. Wrather Corporation owned the Disneyland Hotel and operated

4662-417: Was designed by the firm of Pereira & Luckman and opened on October 5, 1955, nearly three months after Disneyland. Various strikes caused the opening to be postponed from the August date advertised in pre-opening promotional materials, and the hotel only had limited capacity when it initially opened. The hotel originally consisted of just over 100 rooms in 5 two-story guest room complexes (later known as

4736-464: Was downsized to its present capacity in 1999 as part of the Disneyland Resort expansion. At the time of its construction in the mid-1950s, Disneyland was in a remote area outside Anaheim, California . Walt Disney wanted to build a hotel for Disneyland visitors to stay overnight, since Disneyland was quite a drive from the established population centers of Southern California at the time, but Disney's financial resources were significantly depleted by

4810-412: Was formed under President Al Weiss in 2009. Worldwide Operations would take over various back-office functions previously performed by both Disney World and Disneyland including training, procurement, menu planning, and merchandise development. While its Walt Disney Imagineering subsidiary combined its three development units. In November 2009, Disney received approval from the Chinese government to build

4884-527: Was granted by the federal district judge. The Forest Service appealed and won at the appeal and the Supreme Court. This ruling opened the possibility of refiling to the club. In the next round of lawsuits, the same district judge blocked the redevelopment. The injunction and the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act led to Disney backing out. $ 40 million worth of Walt Disney Productions Convertible Debentures were sold in January 1968 to fund Disney World (WDW). The next year in February, an agreement

4958-416: Was made with multiple labor unions, in which the unions exchanged the right to strike for regular pay increases during the first building phase. By 1971, chairman of the Park Operations Committee and vice president of park operations Dick Nunis was appointed executive vice president of Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Walt Disney World began operation on October 1, 1971 , with the Magic Kingdom park at

5032-432: Was merged into Walt Disney Attractions, LLC. On June 19, 1998, Disney Regional Entertainment opened its first DisneyQuest, a location-based entertainment venue, at Downtown Disney West Side in Walt Disney World. The first DisneyQuest outside of a resort was opened in Chicago on June 16, 1999, with plans for more locations worldwide. In 1999, plans were announced for a new resort in Hong Kong , Hong Kong Disneyland , as

5106-465: Was offset with the opening of Disney's Grand Californian Hotel in 2001, but many of the restaurants and amenities that existed prior to 1999 were never replaced. Today, none of the original hotel buildings from 1955 remain standing. Very little of the original hotel (other than parking areas and service facilities) survives, sitting outside of the perimeter created by the three remaining guest room towers. Original signs and other artifacts from several of

5180-456: Was placed in development. This was announced as WestCOT in 1991, to be placed at the Disneyland Resort. On July 31, 1990, a new 350-acre (140 ha) ocean-themed park and resort, Port Disney, was announced for Long Beach. Port was to have a cruise-ship terminal, five hotels, restaurants, and shopping areas, costing $ 2 billion to build. On December 12, 1991, Disney selected only one California project to go forward with, Disneyland Resort, which

5254-490: Was renamed Critter Country on November 23, 1988. Tishman Company 's plans for two Walt Disney World hotels were rejected by the new CEO Michael Eisner on September 30, 1984, marking a change in Disney architecture. New plans for the Dolphin and Swan hotels were submitted by Michael Graves in July 1986; ground breaking took place on January 28, 1988. The first non-Disney owned hotel, Pickett Suite Resort, opened in Disney World Village on March 15, 1987. On June 1, 1982,

5328-533: Was revamped in 1967 with seven new attractions. The design and architectural group and the WED Enterprise name was purchased from Walt's corporation, renamed as Retlaw Enterprise. Disney expanded into attractions at the 1964 New York World's Fair with It's a Small World and costumed character appearances. When the characters proved a hit at the 1964 World's Fair, Walt wanted another outlet for "live" characters; thus, Disneyland put on Disney on Parade ,

5402-661: Was started. In 2001, the Themed Entertainment Association gave Disney Parks and Resorts the Thea Award for Breakthrough Innovation for the park's FastPass system. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. was incorporated on September 29, 2008, and took over the parks and resorts business segment. Disney Parks and Resorts reorganized in early 2009 which included layoffs in all units due to recession-induced falling attendance. 600 U.S. managers in January were buyout packages. Worldwide Operations

5476-531: Was to include the WestCOT Center, hotels, a shopping mall, and a lake. Port Disney was abandoned in March 1992, and Disney canceled its leases on the Queen Mary and Spruce Goose attractions picked up from the Wrather Corporation. Mickey's Toontown , a new themed land at Disneyland, opened on January 24, 1993. Disney canceled its plans for WestCOT in mid-1995 due to financial issues at Disneyland Paris and

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