Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa (also known as the Grand Californian) is a hotel located at the
Disneyland Resort
The Disneyland Resort, commonly known as Disneyland, is an entertainment resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division and is home to two theme parks (D ...
in
Anaheim, California
Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...
. The hotel was constructed as part of a major expansion of the Disneyland Resort in 2001. It was constructed and operated by
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...
. The hotel was designed in the
American Craftsman style of
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
. It also features a
Disney Vacation Club
The Disney Vacation Club (DVC) is a vacation timeshare program owned and operated by Disney Vacation Development, Inc., a subsidiary of Disney Signature Experiences, a division of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, a segment of The Walt Disn ...
wing that opened on September 23, 2009. The hotel has a private entrance to
Disney California Adventure
Disney California Adventure Park, commonly referred to as California Adventure or by its acronym DCA, is a theme park located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Park ...
Park. In 2017, Disney remodeled the rooms, along with the lobby.
Description
The hotel was designed by architect Peter Dominick of 4240 Architecture Inc. (formerly part of Urban Design Group Inc.). It has 948 rooms, in addition to 44 suites and 71 villas.
Craftsman style buildings often use
garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...
themes, which was Peter Dominick's inspiration for the hotel's forest theme. The reception hall is based on the interior of the
Swedenborgian Church in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, increased in scale to accommodate the large reception desk. The central lobby is a living room with a large fireplace, vast arching beams overhead, and furnished with chairs and sofas arranged around small coffee tables.
Many of the items found throughout the hotel have been crafted by modern practitioners of the
Arts and Crafts style, and some early
Roycroft
Roycroft was a reformist community of craft workers and artists which formed part of the Arts and Crafts movement in the United States. Elbert Hubbard founded the community in 1895, in the village of East Aurora, New York, near Buffalo. Parti ...
items are on display in the lobby.
Some of the hotel's rooms are tributes to various
Craftsman-era architects and designers such as
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
,
Charles Rennie MacKintosh
Charles Rennie Mackintosh (7 June 1868 – 10 December 1928) was a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. His artistic approach had much in common with European Symbolism. His work, alongside that of his wife Margaret Macdo ...
, and the
Gladding, McBean
Gladding, McBean is a ceramics company located in Lincoln, California. It is one of the oldest companies in California, a pioneer in ceramics technology, and a company which has "contributed immeasurably" to the state's industrialization. During ...
Company.
Its name is based on
Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa is a Victorian themed hotel and spa located at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. The property opened on June 28, 1988, as the ''Grand Floridian Beach Resort''. The name changed to ''Disney's Grand F ...
, its sister resort and
Walt Disney World
The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, ...
's flagship resort hotel. The two hotels do not share themes, though, as the Grand Californian is a Craftsman theme, while the Grand Floridian is of a
Victorian theme. It does, however, share many thematic elements with
Disney's Wilderness Lodge
Disney's Wilderness Lodge is a resort hotel located at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Opening on May 28, 1994, the resort is owned and operated by Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. Disney's Wilderness Lodge is ...
(also designed by Dominick) with its national park lodge theming at Walt Disney World.
History
The hotel opened on January 2, 2001.
At about 3:00 am on December 28, 2005, a
Christmas tree in the main lobby caught fire after electric maintenance workers replaced lights on the tree. All 2,300 guests at the hotel were evacuated within four minutes. The fire was contained by the hotel's
sprinkler system and by the
Anaheim Fire Department. Two guests were treated for minor injuries, one of which was a severe headache. Guests were returned to their rooms by 7:00 am.
In response to a growing demand for guest accommodations in Anaheim, the
Disneyland Resort
The Disneyland Resort, commonly known as Disneyland, is an entertainment resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division and is home to two theme parks (D ...
announced on September 18, 2007, an expansion of Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa that would increase accommodations by more than 30 percent and include the first
Disney Vacation Club
The Disney Vacation Club (DVC) is a vacation timeshare program owned and operated by Disney Vacation Development, Inc., a subsidiary of Disney Signature Experiences, a division of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, a segment of The Walt Disn ...
villas in Anaheim.
The expansion on the hotel's south side added more than 200 hotel rooms and 50 two-bedroom equivalent vacation villas and marked the West Coast debut of Disney Vacation Club, Disney's vacation ownership program. During this expansion and renovation, a swimming pool was added as well as a 300 space underground parking garage. Peter Dominick designed the ambitious expansion to complement his existing hotel. It reflects the same California Arts & Crafts architecture of the existing hotel, which immerses guests in a turn-of-the-20th-century California experience. The project was completed in September 2009.
With the completion of this major expansion, Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa became the fourth-largest hotel in Orange County.
The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel
The
Disney Vacation Club
The Disney Vacation Club (DVC) is a vacation timeshare program owned and operated by Disney Vacation Development, Inc., a subsidiary of Disney Signature Experiences, a division of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, a segment of The Walt Disn ...
villas, added as part of the hotel's expansion, include kitchens, living and dining areas and other home-like amenities. The guest rooms feature the same decor as the hotel rooms in the original structure and continue the Californian Craftsman motif.
Napa Rose
Napa Rose is a restaurant in Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa at the
Disneyland Resort
The Disneyland Resort, commonly known as Disneyland, is an entertainment resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division and is home to two theme parks (D ...
in
Anaheim, California, that opened in 2001 as part of
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
's expansion of its Anaheim property from one theme park (
Disneyland
Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...
) into a multi-park
resort complex. It specializes in
California cuisine
California cuisine is a food movement that originated in California. The cuisine focuses on dishes that are driven by local and sustainable ingredients with an attention to seasonality and an emphasis on the bounty of the region.
The food is hi ...
and has a
Napa Valley
Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Napa County in California's Wine Country. It was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) on January 27, 1981. Napa Valley is considered one of the premier ...
wine theme.
The restaurant's design is inspired by
Scottish art nouveau designer
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Charles Rennie Mackintosh (7 June 1868 – 10 December 1928) was a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. His artistic approach had much in common with European Symbolism. His work, alongside that of his wife Margaret Macdo ...
.
Napa Rose's head chef, Andrew Sutton, formerly of the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek's restaurant in Dallas, was hired from
Auberge du Soleil
Auberge du Soleil (meaning "Sun inn" in French) is a restaurant and resort in Rutherford, California
Rutherford is a census-designated place (CDP) in Napa County, California, United States. The population was 164 at the 2010 census.
Rutherford i ...
in Napa Valley, and former general manager and
sommelier
A sommelier ( or or ; ), or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, normally working in fine restaurants, who specializes in all aspects of wine service as well as wine and food pairing. The role of the wine steward in fin ...
Michael Jordan was hired from the
Patina Restaurant Group Joachim Splichal is a celebrity chef based in Los Angeles, California. In 1991, he was declared "Best California Chef" by the James Beard Foundation. Four years later in 1995, he was inducted into their "Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America". Spl ...
.
Disney hired Sutton and Jordan in order to raise the credibility of its food and wine program.
The restaurant has won multiple awards from different organizations, such as the Wine Spectator, Zagat, The Southern California Restaurant Writers and the Orange County Business Journal.
Craftsman Bar & Grill
Craftsman Bar & Grill, formerly known as White Water Snacks, is the refurbished quick service restaurant located in Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa at the
Disneyland Resort
The Disneyland Resort, commonly known as Disneyland, is an entertainment resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division and is home to two theme parks (D ...
in
Anaheim.
Initially opened in 2001 with the hotel, it re-opened in 2019 under this new name with an expanded pool deck and revised menu.
Gallery
File:GrandCalifMain wb.jpg, View of hotel from Disney California Adventure
File:P2130133GrandCalifSide wb.jpg, Arts & Crafts architecture of the hotel
File:Storyteller's Cafe.jpg, Storytellers Cafe entrance
File:RoomViewCaliforniaAdventure.JPG, A view of the three pools and Disney California Adventure in 2006
References
Books
* Winter, Robert; Vertikoff, Alexander (2004). ''Craftsman Style'', pp 227–233. New York:
Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
Abrams, formerly Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (HNA), is an American publisher of art and illustrated books, children's books, and stationery.
The enterprise is a subsidiary of the French publisher La Martinière Groupe. Run by President and CEO Michael ...
.
External links
*
Disneyland Resort – Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, Design Inspirations from the Architect
{{DEFAULTSORT:Disney's Grand Californian Hotel And Spa
Hotels in Disneyland Resort
Restaurants in Orange County, California
Buildings and structures in Anaheim, California
Tourist attractions in Anaheim, California
Arts and Crafts architecture in California
American Craftsman architecture in California
Hotel buildings completed in 2001
Hotels established in 2001
Disney California Adventure