Paradise Pier Hotel fix

[disneylandfan95]

Paradise Pier Hotel...

It has been discussed in different threads that the Paradise Pier Hotel will soon not match the theme of the new pier. Well........ here is an idea that will fix that.

Re-theme the Paradise Pier Hotel to a Del Coranado style hotel. On the outside of the hotel, add towers that look like the Del Coranado. The lobby and rooms would all get re-done to match the new Victorian theme of the pier.

This would work well because the Del Coranado is on the beach and Paradise Pier os supposed to be on the beach. Toy Story Midway Mania's architecture is also based on the Del Coranado.

Hopefully Imagineering will do this (or at least a re-theme of the hotel) in Phase 2 of the expansion.

[Peoplemover Priit]

i think anything will be better than what it is right now

[Dopey's Girl]

They need to re-theme the rooms and make them a little more "Disney-Special". The last time we stayed there the only thing that made us think Disney were the soaps and one tired old lamp with Mickey. It's especially bad if you have a room facing the West and you can't even see any parts of DL or DCA.

[EmeralineDragon]

With a Victorian theme similar to TSMM, I might actually break down and stay there.

[Bruce Bergman]

There's not a whole lot of retheming you can do on the outside of a high-rise tower. The "big thing" about the Hotel Del Coronado is the retro styling with gingerbread and the big tile roof full of rotundas and cupolas, and the roof of a high-rise wouldn't be visible till you get back... Oh, about a mile...

If they did the same treatment on the lower roofs of the Lobby and Restaurants and such, that might help. But where they need to concentrate their efforts is on the inside.

The Paradise Pier Hotel was built as a generic chain hotel, and doesn't have the space and amenities that Disney is shooting for. And the Tower rooms of the DLH were built a long time ago by the Wrathers and not Disney, and are also smaller and showing their age from lack of amenities and low ceilings.

(They are flat-slab floor construction with dropped ceilings in the bathrooms to clear the plumbing from the floor above. Makes the bathrooms a bit claustrophobic.)

The PPH and DLH don't have simple things like built-in hair dryers and in-room coffee service because the utilities can't support them - if everyone got up at the same time to go to the park and started a relay to hit the shower, they start running out of hot water...

And if all the teenagers bring in a dryer and start drying their hair while Mom makes a pot of Wake-up Juice and heating a baby bottle in the in-room microwave all at the same time... The entire building would pop a fuse.

And trust me, we are talking some big fuses, the kind they don't stock at Home Depot... Big process, you have to turn off the floor sub-panels manually, change the fuses and turn the Main back on, and go bring the power back up one floor at a time - dump the main switch and the inrush surge would just blow the fuses again.

(Example: Oahu. It's taken them all day to bring the power grid back up. Because. they. have. to. do. it. one. neighborhood. and. one. big. building. at. a. time. or. they'll. drop. it. again.)

The Paradise Pier and the three towers at the DLH all need extensive renovations and infrastructure upgrades to bring them up to the World Class experience that you expect from the premium price point they ask, not just a cosmetic makeover.

For the DLH, they really need to call the Loizeaux brothers (Controlled Demolition Inc.) and do a "C-4 Remodel" - drop the buildings and rebuild them new, one at a time. Bigger rooms, higher ceilings, more amenities, and meet or exceed the current earthquake and life safety codes. And it would be faster and cheaper than a total renovation and safety retrofit on the existing building shell.

--<< Bruce >>--

[toonaspie]

For the DLH, they really need to call the Loizeaux brothers (Controlled Demolition Inc.) and do a "C-4 Remodel" - drop the buildings and rebuild them new, one at a time. Bigger rooms, higher ceilings, more amenities, and meet or exceed the current earthquake and life safety codes. And it would be faster and cheaper than a total renovation and safety retrofit on the existing building shell.

--<< Bruce >>--

Agreed: the only way for them to fix PPH is to tear the high rise down and build a new complex in its place. I can see a new PPH designed similar to the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, where it's pretty tall but still Victorian in style and the ground area is uniquely themed to look like different shops you would find along the pier. If you've seen a picture of the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, you'd know exactly what I am talking about.

Perhaps Disney doesnt feel confident about losing so many hotel rooms for a long period of time in order for this to work. If they can find new land and property for a large fourth hotel, then maybe...

[Grizzly]

If you've seen a picture of the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, you'd know exactly what I am talking about.

I've stayed there and I thought those multicolored 'Shops' looked really great in person. I always imagined that as the Disneyland hotel facing Downtown Disney. I would love that.

[Bruce Bergman]

But the PPH doesn't need to be leveled and rebuilt nearly as desperately as the DLH does, the smart thing would be to start with the DLH first. Unless they wanted to treat the PPH as the Prototype for a brand-new floorplan layout, and see if it needs to be tweaked at all before starting on the DLH towers...

The PPH is only 25-ish years old, built as the Emerald Hotel in 1983-84 - and because it was built by a Japanese hotel company that didn't buy into American superstitions, it's one of the few high-rises in the country with a 13th Floor...

The DLH Towers are prehistoric by comparison. The Sierra tower was opened in 1962 and expanded horizontally (while open AFAICT) in 1966 - and you can still see the seam, plus the added rooms made the exterior elevator to the top floors lopsided on the face of the building. The Marina Tower was opened in 1970 and the Bonita Tower in 1978.

If they are going to do it, I'd start with the DLH one tower at a time - Bigger, taller, better.

Do a total rework of the DLH Convention Center a little farther south where their executive office building is, then raze the old CC and build another hotel tower there. If they need office space, there's that vacant high-rise right next to the I-5 Disney Drive off-ramps, north of the Sheraton. Just need to dig around the perimeter and build a level or two of underground parking for it.

There's plenty of room to expand the Paradise Pier Hotel south into the Simba Lot, all the way to Katella if they want, and build another big parking structure behind it for CM's and Guests.

--<< Bruce >>--

[Imagineerfan]

It would be really great if they rebuilt the PP hotel. If done in the same Micktorian style as the Disneyland Hotel in Tokyo it could visually serve as a berm on the west side of DCA.

What would be really cool is if they would also cover Disneyland drive and join the PP Hotel to DCA similar to how they did with the Grand Californian. This could give them a bit more acreage in the park and really serve to join the PP Hotel with PP in the park.

I can't remember where, but I remeber reading that WDI would love to raze the PP Hotel and build a completely new structure there as well. If true, I am sure they would want to do it in a style that would connect the two. I'm not sure it will ever happen, but we can certainly dream.

[surffnutt3000]

But the PPH doesn't need to be leveled and rebuilt nearly as desperately as the DLH does, the smart thing would be to start with the DLH first.

That's for certain. I highly doubt they'd replace the hotel because it no longer fits a certain theme; I'm sure they can find a way to work their magic. More important, however, is that the hotel does not absolutely have to fit DCA's theme at all. Yes, it's very visible from the park, but does anyone actually confuse it as being part of DCA? That section of the park was built too close to West Street. No matter what's attempted, it will always be difficult to perfectly "berm" that area from the outside world.

The hotel's main challenge is its compactness - the original developer had a postage stamp of land to work with. That's no longer the case, as the current owner has plenty of room for expansion.

[DisneyPro]

A little off-topic but why did they stop letting PPH guests use the secret entrance in Paradise Pier next to Dinosaur Jacks?

[Eric5675]

I always wondered how that worked. Don't you have to cross West St. (or whatever they call it now) to get there? Did you cross the street?

And yes, as far as I know that entrance/exit is no longer accesible to regular and/or hotel guests.

[DisneyPro]

I always wondered how that worked. Don't you have to cross West St. (or whatever they call it now) to get there? Did you cross the street?

And yes, as far as I know that entrance/exit is no longer accesible to regular and/or hotel guests.

Yeah you crossed it and it was very convenient. I was disappointed when they closed about 4 years ago. I wonder if they will reopen it when the DVC Wing at the GCH opens, considering they are very close to each other.