On April 30, Disneyland celebrated one year since its reopening. While the resort has several big-ticket construction projects underway inside the parks — including the highly-anticipated West Coast version of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway attraction (accompanied by a renovated Toon Town) and a reimagination of Tarzan’s Treehouse to a yet-to-be-announced new theme — there are also several exciting projects taking place outside the gates.
Paradise Pier Hotel Will Become Pixar-Themed
All three Disneyland Resort hotels — Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, Disneyland Hotel and Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel — are within easy walking distance to both theme parks and to the Downtown Disney District (and the Grand Californian even has its own entrance into California Adventure).
At a recent state of the resort presentation for Anaheim community leaders, Ken Potrock, president of Disneyland Resort, announced a renovation and re-theming of Paradise Pier Hotel that includes the return of that hotel’s private park entrance (which closed in 2004).
“Paradise Pier hotel has great bones, but it's in need of a story,” Potrock said on the D23 Inside Disney podcast on April 28, 2022. “We don't have a name for it just yet, but what I can tell you is that it’s going to be a Pixar-themed hotel — and when I talk about Pixar-themed, I mean from exterior to rooms to restaurants to lobbies. We're going to tell many, many Pixar stories [and] we're doing it in such a way that when new Pixar content comes out, we have the ability to infuse that into this hotel.”
Sign Up for Our Monthly Family Getaways Newsletter
I accept the T&C and Privacy Policy.
Paradise Pier hotel has great bones, but it's in need of a story. We don't have a name for it just yet, but what I can tell you is that it’s going to be a Pixar-themed hotel.
In addition to re-opening the sorely-missed direct park access point to California Adventure for guests of the Pixar-themed hotel, Potrock also said guest feedback prompted an entirely new Pixar-themed pool, and pool deck that he revealed will not just be a pool, but “a lot of fun things.”
A New 350-Room Tower at Disneyland Hotel
Already under construction is a new 350-room tower at the Disneyland Hotel for Disney Vacation Club (DVC), Disney’s points-based program that allows fans to purchase an end-dated real estate interest at select Disney resorts (including The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa).
According to Potrock, The Villas at Disneyland Hotel (which is scheduled to open in 2023) will include new pools, added food and beverage opportunities and a variety of room types. Plus, he noted, these rooms aren't just for DVC members; they're also rentable properties that clients can book for their Disneyland vacations.
“[Disney Vacation Club] is just such a wonderful connecting point with our guests,” he told D23. “I think it will fit really beautifully into the Disneyland Hotel complex.”
A Revitalized Downtown Disney District
The popular Downtown Disney District shopping and dining area is also currently undergoing a major overhaul that will feature a new location for Din Tai Fung (a world-renowned Taiwanese restaurant specializing in soup dumplings and noodles), and a new Mexican-inspired dining concept from Michelin-starred Chef Carlos Gaytan.
Downtown Disney aims to offer more diverse food and beverage offerings.
Credit: 2022 Disneyland Resort
“We're having a lot of fun with Downtown Disney to revitalize it, make it more vibrant, make it more relevant and make it more diverse in its food, beverage, merchandise and entertainment experiences [because] the markets we draw from — including the Southern California market — are this melting pot of diversity,” Potrock said.
While we’re very much focused on how exciting it is to bring back the full portfolio of things that we have (and maybe more things in the coming months and years), this momentum isn't to get us back to where we were in 2019.
Currently, the construction is focused on the west side of the district (closest to the Disneyland Hotel), where a brand-new town center area will feature mid-century architecture with what Potrock calls “a Walt Disney/Palm Springs kind of feel.” In addition to a variety of new restaurant and retail concepts, the area will also have an entertainment and special event lawn and a stage.
Taking over the district’s central area (which is currently occupied by Catal and the open-air Uva Bar), Mexican-born Gaytan is developing a pair of new gourmet Mexican culinary experiences.
“We couldn't help but fall in love with [Chef Gaytan],” Potrock said. “He talks about his upbringing, he talks about getting his love and passion for cooking from his mother, and he talks about family-style and family recipes, so we're really very excited about that.”
But that’s not all. The proximity between resort hotels and Downtown Disney will soon provide another advantage for clients visiting Disneyland: In addition to room service, hotel guests will also be able to order from select Downtown Disney restaurants and have it delivered directly to their hotel.
"What we're seeing right now is wonderful demand, wonderful interest, wonderful passion to reconnect with loved ones and friends, to reconnect with great feelings tied to the Disneyland Resort," Potrock said. “And while we’re very much focused on how exciting it is to bring back the full portfolio of things that we have (and maybe more things in the coming months and years), this momentum isn't to get us back to where we were in 2019, it’s designed to get us to where we want to be in the years ahead, and the future vision of the Disneyland Resort is a very powerful vision."
The Details
Disneyland Resort
