Located on the 200 acres owned by Disney, the new 80-acre development includes a 55-acre theme park, 15-acre Downtown Disney retail/entertainment center and new 750-room Grand Californian Hotel situated on 10 acres.

Timur Galen, SVP and general manager for Walt Disney Imagineering, the project's master contractor, could not disclose specific financial information. However, Brian Abernethy, manager of research services for Marcus & Millichap in Irvine, contends that Downtown Disney tenants are paying a premium rate of around $4 per sf triple net for space. Alan X. Reay, president of Atlas Hospitality Group in Costa Mesa estimates that construction of the Grand Californian Hotel cost $125,000 per room, or about $90 million to $95 million excluding the land which they already owned.

All are an integral part of the total $4-billion Anaheim resort package the city envisions, which also includes the recently completed expansion of the Anaheim Convention Center, plus Disney's two other local entertainment assets--the Anaheim Angels baseball team and Mighty Ducks hockey team--and potential development of as many as 20,000 additional hotel rooms by third parties.

With all of the environmental and infrastructure work completed, Galen suggests that about 5,000 hotel rooms may be added in the short term in the area around the resort. "The unmet room demand is the most compelling figure," Galen says. "The single most important objective is to extend the length of stay for visitors. That's why the partnership with the city was so important. We needed to work with the city and surrounding businesses."

Disney's original resort concept, Westcot, was based on the Epcot Center and Walt Disney World in Orlando. The concept failed due to infrastructure requirements and, according to Galen, because it wasn't the best idea--creatively speaking. Going back to the drawing board forced Disney to come up with a smarter infrastructure strategy. "It allowed us to try and emulate the Walt Disney World project, but on one-hundredth of the land area. It allowed for a more complex, urban relationship between the different pieces of the resort," says Galen, who is an architect with a master's degree in engineering."

In all, Disney employed the services of dozens of general contractors for most of the project. Parking was reconfigured to route theme park guests directly into a 10,250-car parking structure and Downtown Disney visitors to free surface parking adjacent to the center, which is situated between Disneyland and the new theme park.

Resort concept development and financial agreements with the city were initiated in 1996, with actual construction beginning in 1997. Although the basic construction was done by outside contractors, the final layer of development--the rides and shows--was designed and installed by Galen's group at Disney Imagineering. In addition to the resort, Disney also rehabilitated the existing Disneyland Hotel and the old Pan Pacific, which has been renamed the Paradise Pier.

The result of the years spent working closely with city, state and federal agencies on issues, such as environmental impact, infrastructure and finance, is evident. The project's palm-tree-line streets, walkways, themed streetlighting, colorful street banners and lush landscaping, as well as newly designed Santa Ana Freeway exits, all help to provide visitors a pleasant, resort experience.

Instant Insights /

Disney's 10-Year Development Adventure Ends Thursday With Opening of New Resort

Related Stories

Recommended For You