DL Hotel Pool

Originally Posted By tonyanton

It would appear there is space where the new slides are and that new lawn area (by the old fantasy waters) to create more of a rocky slide area at some point in the future (kind of like what they did at WDW's Grand Floridian). Outside of the towers, I think the central area of the hotel looks quite nice and they went with a fairly consistent look to all the buildings. The only thing that really doesn't fit is the monorail-theme slides, IMO.

 

Originally Posted By tonyanton

Perhaps if the towers themselves had received a better exterior retheme....perhaps more of a high-rise Polynesian/south seas theme to go with courtyard buildings (and the slides were different as I stated int he post above), people wouldn't be complaining so much. Afterall, the Grand Californian's pool's are fairly simple. From staying there, it is the surround of the beautiful hotel buildings which really make it great (and the slide is not bare metal as at the DL Hotel).

 

Originally Posted By TP2000

I love you guys, honestly I do, but would it kill us to just wait a few more weeks until this mega-project is actually finished before we judge?

I walked around the Hotel grounds yesterday after hopping off the monorail. They have a lot of work left to do with details, furnishings and furniture, artwork, lighting and light fixtures, and ground surfaces. The porte cochere area is still in heavy construction mode with pouring cement and such, and they had just started laying out the landscaping when I was there.

There are three big fountains out in front of the hotel now, recovered from the early Nixon era in what amounts to an archeological dig. The fountains have been refurbished, retiled, replumbed, and were being resurfaced in a metallic grey finish on Saturday. With all the lighting they've installed in the trees, and the LED uplighting on the towers, the arrival process for the Hotel is going to be quite dramatic and impressive.

Still lots of big holes in the ceilings where swanky chandeliers will obviously go. Massive swaths of blank walls in lobbies and along halls where artwork will hang, and furniture will be staged. And CM's on another board have said there is custom purple Mary Blair patterned carpet to be installed throughout the Fantasy tower lobby area. The carpet there now is reportedly remnants from Paradise Pier hotel rooms that they laid down throughout about three months ago to take the abuse through the construction process. It will be ripped out and replaced with the Mary Blair carpet shortly.

The E Ticket Pool, however, lacks pizazz. Unless there's something to be plopped in there in the next few weeks, the E Ticket tiles along the pool just aren't enough.

Overall though, you can see the direction they are headed in the home stretch here. But there's still quite a bit of detailing and furnishing yet to happen. I would say it should be done by Christmas, then I'll pass my final judgement.

 

Originally Posted By davewasbaloo

I hope you are right TP2000, I wasn't aware that things are incomplete.

 

Originally Posted By TP2000

Here's a picture of an older style Paradise Pier Hotel room from earlier in the last decade. (The rooms have since been totally redone this year, with different carpet.) <a href="http://www.startedbyamouse.com/graphics/Club33/Club33PPHRoom.jpg" target="_blank">http://www.startedbyamouse.com...Room.jpg</a>

Does that carpet look familiar? It should. The remants of it, pulled out of a Disney storage warehouse somewhere, were slapped down in the Disneyland Hotel lobby a few months ago to serve as the temporary carpet during the messy rehab.

Here's that same carpet on display this week, in the totally unfinished Disneyland Hotel check-in lobby. <a href="http://datelinedisneyland.smugmug.com/DisneylandResort/2011/11-12-11/20055505_RNrWBR#1581296604_zXhwCdv-XL-LB" target="_blank">http://datelinedisneyland.smug...dv-XL-LB</a>

In that latest picture above, notice the big holes in the ceiling for chandeliers, notice how the walls are bare, notice how the furnishings seem temporary and stop-gap while they finish the hardware work of electrical and structural items. The carpet stolen from a Paradise Pier Hotel warehouse bin, like much of the software also on display at the Disneyland Hotel currently, is only temporary.

I'm no expert at large-scale commercial reconstruction, but I would guess they are still at least two weeks away from full completion of this project. Lots of details and software yet to make their appearance.

Not to mention all new uniforms for the Disneyland Hotel CM's. Those still haven't shown up yet.

 

Originally Posted By FerretAfros

The PPH link isn't working for me, but I'd say that the carpet actually works really well in that location. The colors look nice with the other decor, and the pattern is modern, but not plain. Maybe there should be more furniture and stuff on top of it (it's a small pattern for that much open space), but it looks surprisingly nice for being leftovers. I can't wait to see what the 'real' stuff looks like!

 

Originally Posted By ImTempest

Again, I have nothing to say about the hotel - I'm just commenting on the pool. So I finally couldn't stand it and went to DLR yesterday to see for myself. We (me, husband, son) walked in from DTD, past the Christmas tree and the Hat, to check out the pool. My first impression was "It's smaller." Then I realized it has the exactly same footprint as before, but with all the decor, slides, and pirate ship gone, it looks...diminished. It looks like it belongs in a condo complex, not a resort hotel.
Then I thought it had to get better, so we walked around Tangaroa Terrace to get a view from the bridge that spans the "B" pool (is that really what it's called?). From there you can see the whole pool area. At that point I was thinking my first impression was right, but also that the "B" pool didn't really look like a pool. The bridge has plexiglas on both sides that remind me of the sneeze guard at a salad bar, and the pool looks more like a decorative pond, the way the bridge crosses it. Still, the monorail slides looked interesting. Until we got to the other side of them, that is. How long have the slides been up? Six months maybe? The first thing my husband said was "Look - the paint's all faded!" He was right. The paint on both monorails looks like it's been in the sun for YEARS. One side is fine, the other is totally washed out. It looks CHEAP. And that's the last thing I'm looking for when I spend that kind of money at a resort.

 

Originally Posted By juicer

I agree -
However, they were repainting the monorails while walking around the pool area last weekend.
The whole area looked blah - nothing that exciting.
Especially the front desk area of the DLH. Blah. Nothing that exciting.

I was expecting more.

 

Originally Posted By xrayvision

Juicer- That's great news that the monorail slides are getting a touch-up paint job!

ImTempest - I'm sorry that the newly refurbished pool isn't to your liking. It's too bad that Orange County hotels, in general, are not known for their amazing swimming pools, whether it's Disney, Hyatt, Hilton, Sheraton, Westcoast Plaza Hotel..or whereever. Hojos Anaheim seems to do the best job in offering a kids activity pool. Hojos or even Grand Californian might be your best bet. And there's always Knott's Soak City too. Regarding the conversation about Aulani and WDW hotel pools, Hawaiian and Floridian hotels, in general, ARE known for their fantastic pools and water features. Some of their pools/water features are pretty darn incredible. And, some of those pools are at hotels with higher price points than DLH (with the exception of WDW's Port Orleans which does have a nice pool for about $159 a night..give or take a few dollars). I'm not a big fan of the whimsical exterior designs and pools of WDW's value priced hotels like Pop Century or All Star Music Resorts. Back to DLH, I can see how a family with young children would miss DLH's former fantasyland style, fiberglass ship and croc. But, I also see the other side of the coin where the Disneyland Hotel's features need to appeal to an audience broader than just families with young kids. DLH is also a convention hotel where many occupants are attending meetings/events at DLH or at the nearby Anaheim Convention Center. Convention business is big business in Anaheim. Attendees are usually adults (traveling a lot of times without kids) who may or may not have free hours to visit the parks, based on their meeting/events schedule. But, they may have time do laps in the pool for their health, or enjoy the pool for relaxation. The features of the Neverland Pool did target the young family set, but weren't exactly as friendly or inviting to everyone like adult conventioneers/meeting attendees. I, for one, do love to swim but "never" swam in the "Never"land Pool because it really looked like a children's pool IMO, not a pool for everyone. So, for me, I will see more added value for my money when now staying at DLH because I can actually use the pool now instead of bypassing it. Does the new pool area resemble a condo pool? My answer is "maybe" as many condos are now built to offer hotel resort style living. Thus, condos communities and their pool areas look more like resort hotels. And, to enjoy their resort style living, including resort-like pool areas, the condo residents also pay monthly HOA fees that can be as high as or higher than a stay at the Disneyland Hotel.

Regardless of the pool area, old or new, I've always enjoyed my stay at DLH resort, whether for business or pleasure. I have no complaints about DLH.

 

Originally Posted By Dabob2

Just stayed there. The monorail slides looked fine. The main pool area just needs some more fleshed out vegetation, IMO, and it would work well too, especially with the new Trader Sam's next door.

 

Originally Posted By CuriousConstance

The GCH doesn't have much theming in its pools either does it?

 

Originally Posted By TP2000

Constance, so nice to see a post from you again.

The GCH has "themed" pool elements done as big redwood trees, with river rock and slate flooring. And now that the real trees planted around the pool have had a decade to fill in, it looks quite nice and very classy. <a href="http://www.hiptravelmama.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/disneygrandpool.jpg" target="_blank">http://www.hiptravelmama.com/w...pool.jpg</a>

I walked through the DLH a couple days ago. The monorail slide pool is closed for refurbishment, and they had guys up on cherry pickers fixing the electricals and wiring. The monorails themselves looked just fine, I couldn't see any paint damage at all.

 

Originally Posted By tashajilek

I agree that the GCH pool looks pretty nice.

 

Originally Posted By davewasbaloo

Yep, plus is has the little stone animal fountains, the arts and crafts fencing, and lovely vistas. The DLH is ugly and utilitarian, so I suppose the pool matches too.

 

Originally Posted By davewasbaloo

I am not asking for the Dlh to kiddy up per say, after all I am tired of Disney doing that. But a thematic approach with shaping, venturing, rocks and foliage would make a huge difference. Even better, a tribute to cascade peak would be even better.

 

Originally Posted By tashajilek

^ Hopefully they will figure out that most people hate the pool and it will change. I suppose having to pools is a plus, i walked by the GCH pool a few times and the thing gets jam packed.

 

Originally Posted By ImTempest

xrayvision - of course the pool is not to my liking. I live in So Cal in a townhome, and I have one of those pools a two minute walk away! When I go on vacation, I want a "vacation" pool. And if Disney is trying to "appeal to an audience broader than just families with young kids", then they need to tell their marketing department. I can't tell you how many times I've seen the Disney Resorts television ad since mid-November, with that nice Susan Sarandon voice-over talking about dreams and memories being made as they show extended families enjoying the resorts and the parks. I've yet to see one of those ads showing someone attending a convention, then being glad he can do laps in a pool next to a THEME PARK. As for conventioneers, when I've attended a convention I didn't spend a lot of time at the hotel; I was at the convention center. My spouse and child, however, were enjoying the hotel amenities (including an awesome pool). However, I did appreciate a real nice hot tub at the end of the day!

 

Originally Posted By CuriousConstance

"Constance, so nice to see a post from you again. "

I can't stay away too long, TP. I start missing you all too much

 

Originally Posted By tashajilek

"I suppose having to pools is a plus"

Two.

 

Originally Posted By danyoung

Is it me, or are people getting worse with to/two/too and their/they're/there?

It just makes for a not gooder Internet!