Disney Announces a New Flagship Luxury Hotel for the Disneyland Resort

Wow. So presumably this will be considered a step up from the Grand Californian? 2021 is probably about when I'll feel like heading back to the parks

 

Wow, I did not see that coming! There are certainly enough other high-end hotels being built in Anaheim that it appears that the market is there, but Disney hadn't shown much interest in expanding their hotel inventory before

When this new hotel eventually opens, I can't help but wonder if that will allow them to "fix" (rebuild from the ground up) the Disneyland Hotel and Paradise Pier Hotel, both of which are pretty mundane by Disney standards and have some unfortunate layout flaws

 

I think this hotel will be themed after superstar limo.

 

I can see either the Disneyland Hotel or the Paradise Pier Hotel being taken down once this one goes up and then replaced with another high end hotel.

As for the new hotel, I'm worried about what they are going to do for parking and parking for DTD.

 

I would expect that parking for the new hotel will be in an underground garage beneath the new structure. Given that it's not expected to open until 2021, that timeline is more than enough for the serious excavation required for that type of construction

I was also under the impression that the new parking garage on the Pumbaa lot is set to begin any month now, which would alleviate a lot of the concerns for theme park parking. DTD parking can move to the Simba lot, south of the PPH, which I've only seen reach capacity a handful of times; I'm sure there's some way that they could send overflow parking to the parks garages and do a reimbursement validation with purchases in DTD. It sounds like the hotel itself will be built largely on the Lilo lot and the unused bus & taxi drop-off areas, none of which get used in any meaningful way

What I'm more concerned about is the runDisney events, which have been using the (abandoned) Lilo lot and bus loop for the finish line area, medal/snack distribution, first aid, and reunion area. Given that race weekend logistics are always a mess to begin with at DLR (from the expo, to race parking, to the staging/finish areas themselves), it seems like this will just exacerbate those problems. Now that the nationwide running boom is starting to wind down the DLR races are getting less popular, so I wouldn't be surprised if they started to cancel some of them; Avengers seems like the most obvious choice from a popularity perspective

 

This is exciting news for sure, but I can't help but to think about the issue that has kept us away from the parks or the property in general....crowds. DTD parking and crowding in that area is so heavy anyway, that I hope that substantial parking and traffic flow solutions will be part of this new development. With no Peoplemover or other multi-stop transit options in the immediate Disneyland parks/hotels/DTD area, what will a new and exciting hotel experience do to this section of the property? Maybe it's a moot point once the new parking structure opens on the east side of the resort, but until that happens, I can't help but envision more crowding in an already overcrowded area.

 

Not at all excited. I can't afford the GCH as it is, so I can't imagine I'll ever be staying at this new hotel. I really want a mid-range hotel and would even be OK if it was similar in price to the PPH but with a real Disney feel. We stayed at PPH in October because I got an amazing deal but I even struggled to feel that it was worth it for a rather 'meh' hotel experience.

That said, I stayed at the DLH over Tinker Bell race weekend for two nights and loved it. I haven't stayed there since the remodel. Since I can't afford $350/night on 99% of my trips, I would love a moderate Disney-brand hotel (like Port Orleans or similar) in the DLR area.

 

My hope is that when the excitement over SWL fades after a few years, having 700 more high-end rooms MIGHT mean a price reduction in the older properties. It's all about demand, and right now I think the 3 Disney properties average over 90% occupancy most weeks, so they can charge what they charge. If opening a 4th Disney property reduces the occupancy rates of the other 3 a bit, the price might drop some. But that's a big "if."

 

You hit the nail on the head. Perfect description.

 

It's strange that Disney has announced this hotel when they haven't even got a design for it yet. Kind of the opposite of their normal approach of keeping projects buttoned up until they're ready to break ground.

 

That'll happen about the same time they drop the ticket prices...
But yes, we can always hope.

 

It's a real possibility if the occupancy rates drop. It's all about the occupancy rates. There was that period after the 50th Anniversary, when DL didn't have much new going on and DCA was still several years away from the big Carsland/BVS additions, that attendance had at least a little dip in certain seasons, and I got a pretty decent deal or two at the Disney properties. That all went away after Carsland opened, and hasn't been back since. But if there's another lull like that (presumably after SWL loses its newness), AND they have about 20-25% more total (Disney) room inventory than before, that the occupancy rates could theoretically dip.

 

I'm not sure that Disney actually announced this. From what I've gathered, it seems like these images are from some sort of "official" submittal to the City of Anaheim, whether for zoning, permits, etc. I imagine that whenever Disney announces it officially, they'll have more details. That said, the other hotels in Anaheim (excluding the GCH) don't really have much in the way of theming, so perhaps they're keeping this one minimal to match (recent room renovations in WDW also follow this trend). If that's the case, I think it's a big missed opportunity, since it's very hard to justify the Disney price without some of the stuff that makes the Disney hotels special, especially since location isn't a huge advantage

It's hard to believe that it was just 10 years ago that it was pretty easy to find AP rates at the DLH under $100/night, and the PPH closer to $60/night. It seems like both hotels consistently command $250-350, which seems outrageous for what they are

 

It is, but that's capitalism. You charge what you can get. The Harbor places all bumped their rates up after Carsland too.

I'm guessing the new hotel will be nicely themed, and the artwork we're seeing is pretty generic because they haven't decided on the theme yet. The PP was originally built by someone else, and they were kind of "stuck" with it. They did go with the beach theme to the extent they could (even bothering to re-do the whole exterior), but there was only so much they could do. Even the DLH, of course, was originally built by someone else, but where they've created new elements, they have been highly themed (the monorail slides at the pool, Trader Sam's, etc.), and even the rooms have the Mickey glove light fixtures and fireworks headboards.

If you're going to start from scratch, it would indeed be a huge missed opportunity not to theme it nicely. The artwork now looks like it could be any contemporary design Hyatt or W. There's plenty of that near the Convention Center and in Garden Grove (and indeed, in America). I would think that starting from scratch they'd be able to theme it very nicely, and would want to do so, but we'll see.

 

If I start saving now I may be able to afford one night....

 

On our first trip, about ten years ago, when my daughter was just 2 years old and my son wasn't even born yet, we stayed at the DLH for about the same price we now pay across the street on Harbor. Blah.

I also can't get myself excited much for this kind of thing, other than the general excitement of the resort expanding, since I'll likely never stay there. If we really wanted to spend that kind of money on a hotel, we could, but I just can't make myself do it. It's such a huge chunk of money to throw down when we're not in the room much at all. It just seems irresponsible. That money could be used much more wisely on something else.

 

I should add, I'm not complaining, I realize they can charge that kind of money because of demand. I don't think they're evil or wrong for doing so, I'm just commenting on my own cheapness really preventing me from spending that much money, in the same way I wouldn't likely buy myself a piece of jewelry for several thousand dollars. It's just not worth it to me. But I know there are plenty others who do find it worth it, and I hope the hotel ends up being amazing. I've heard that one of the themes that they are throwing around is Star Wars! I doubt that's what they will end up going with in the end, but if that happens, I might have to take the plunge for a night or two

 

Hi Tasha!!!

 

This is very similar to my stance When I can get a room at the Hilton by the Convention Center for $100/night and Disney is charging over $300/night for the DLH, it's really just not worth it to me. Under the right circumstances, I wouldn't be opposed to spending that much on a room, but for what those rooms offer (arguably, less than the Hilton) and how little time I'll actually be in the room, it's really tough to justify

But if other people are willing to spend that much and we get a fancy new hotel out of it? Great! That's an exciting addition. I'm just a little worried about how many of the cheap hotels are being rebuilt into high-end places. My only hope is that they'll create some sort of pricing war to make very nice hotels available at good rates, but I know that's highly unlikely