Q: We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel for the first time in January 2012. It is now one of our favorite Disney hotels. What is the story behind Walt Disney not owning the property when the park opened? When did Disney acquire the property?
Joanna, La Habra, California
A: Walt Disney was hard pressed for cash in the 1950s, so he asked a friend of his, Jack Wrather, if he would build and run a hotel on Disney property in Anaheim. Wrather did so, and the Disneyland Hotel, which opened several months after Disneyland Park in 1955, became one of the prime hotels in Orange County. Disney purchased the hotel from the Wrather Corporation in 1988. For more information, you might like to pick up Don Ballard’s book, Disneyland Hotel: The Early Years, 1954-1988.
Dave Smith