Disneyland Hotel original owner

[Cousin Orville]

There is the retirees club. Club 55. You can find the vets there.

[Opus1guy]

Here's a photo from Opening Day of the Disneyland Hotel. I know that's Jack Wrather there. But is that Helen Alvarez co-holding the ribbon? Perhaps oldhotelguy can correctly caption the following?



And here's the cover from a Pre-Opening brochure:



...that shows the "Wrather-Alvarez Hotels" on it.

[oldhotelguy]

Originally Posted by Opus1guy

Here's a photo from Opening Day of the Disneyland Hotel. I know that's Jack Wrather there. But is that Helen Alvarez co-holding the ribbon? Perhaps oldhotelguy can correctly caption the following?



And here's the cover from a Pre-Opening brochure:



...that shows the "Wrather-Alvarez Hotels" on it.

Thanks Opus1guy!!! When I first found that picture, I was fairly certain it was Helen Alvarez but I needed confirmation to be able to say it was her. In all honesty, I never got 100% confirmation.....I had many people say they were 90-99% sure it was her but none would fully commit. Pictures of Helen Alvarez are very hard to find as she did not really like to be photographed. I went ahead and just stated it was her in the caption in the book which I did not really want to do...but I did have at least ten people telling me they were fairly certain it was her. Everything changed last week when Miss (Alvarez) Smith called me and gave me 100% confirmation that it was indeed her in the picture. Like I posted before, she has stated she will be sending me a letter and many more photographs shortly and I can't wait to see them. I will be sharing the photos here on Micechat once I receive them. The other photograph is of the rarest of brochures.....the pre-opening brochure for the Disneyland Hotel listing Wrather-Alvarez Hotels, Inc. The brochures all said this until mid-1958 when Jack Wrather bought out Helen Alvarez's interest in the Disneyland Hotel. Any Disneyland Hotel paper item with the Alvarez name on it is from some of the earliest times at the Disneyland Hotel. Thanks again Opus1guy for all your help and to all who know the truth in Walt and Jacks business relationship. Having gotten to know the Wrather family, I felt it was important to set the record straight and dispell any misinformation and speculation.


www.magicalhotel.com

[oldhotelguy]

Originally Posted by justjohn

My buddies dad started with the DL hotel as a bell hop in August of 55 and retired last year. He wasn't quite able to hit 50 because of medical conditions but he was the second longest standing employee in the company. He has some interesting stories about the hotel.

Would that be the guy they call Mac? I was told by many of the Bell Hops to talk with him but he retired just before I could. If you could please direct him to my website I would like to send him a book and speak with him.


www.magicalhotel.com

[oldhotelguy]

Originally Posted by Steve DeGaetano

No offense to MickeyMania, but I'm rather more inclined to believe the guy that wrote the book on the Disneyland Hotel, and can back up his assertions with facts, first-hand accounts and documentary evidence, than someone spouting mere speculation concerning Walt Disney's relationship with Jack Wrather or his opinion of the Disneyland Hotel.

Thanks Steve very much. I can't wait to see your new book. Do you have a website you could share with us so we can get a glimpse?

www.magicalhotel.com

[barfownz]

Was the Disneyland Hotel not owned by Disney, when it first opened?

[oldhotelguy]

Steve,

I should have read more carefully...I now see the link to your website. Can't wait to see the book!


www.magicalhotel.com

[oldhotelguy]

Originally Posted by barfownz

Was the Disneyland Hotel not owned by Disney, when it first opened?

No the Disneyland Hotel was owned by the Wrather Corporation and Helen Alvarez until 1958 and soley by the Wrather Corporation from 1958-1988 when the Disney Company bought it. Walt was out of money when he was building Disneyland and turned to his friend and neighbor Jack Wrather to help him with the developing and building of the Disneyland Hotel.



www.magicalhotel.com

[barfownz]

So was the Disneyland Hotel affiliated with Walt and Disneyland. Or was it a hotel with the name Disneyland in it, just to get people there. Just like the hotel near the Anaheim angels stadium called "Anahem Angel Inn" Its not owned by the baseball team, but it has the same name as them.

[oldhotelguy]

Originally Posted by barfownz

So was the Disneyland Hotel affiliated with Walt and Disneyland. Or was it a hotel with the name Disneyland in it, just to get people there. Just like the hotel near the Anaheim angels stadium called "Anahem Angel Inn" Its not owned by the baseball team, but it has the same name as them.

In 1954, Jack Wrather agreed to develop and build the Disneyland Hotel and signed a 99 year lease on the property. Walt agreed to let Jack call it the Disneyland Hotel as well as build any other hotel and call it the Disneyland Hotel which Wrather never did. Wrather and partners invested close to $10,000,000 in the Disneyland Hotel and had many ties with the Magic Kingdom but was separately owned and operated from Disney/Disneyland. In 1961, perhaps the biggest tie-in with Disneyland was the Hotel addition to the Disneyland-Alweg Monorail linking the Park and the Hotel.