New DVC Tower at Disneyland Hotel
Riviera Resort just opened and Reflections Lakeside Lodge is under construction at Walt Disney World, but that isn’t stopping Disney Vacation Club from powering full stem ahead on another new DVC resort. In this post, we’ll offer details, concept art, and commentary about the new tower coming to Disneyland Hotel.
We first reported on this during the holidays, when Disney submitted an application to the City of Anaheim for conceptual development review of a proposed 12-story DVC tower as part of Disneyland Hotel. If approved, this Disney Vacation Club property would open in 2023 at roughly the same time as Reflections — A Disney Lakeside Lodge at Walt Disney World.
The proposed 280,000 square foot tower would be added to Disneyland Hotel, and would not replace any of the existing towers or guest-facing facilities. It will feature 350 rooms, with 271 being deluxe studios, 20 two-bedroom villas, 19 one-bedroom villas, and two Grand Villas. It would also offer 28 two-person studios that are similar to those introduced at Disney’s Riviera Resort (which we reviewed here)…
Aside from a small outdoor pool bar, the new Disneyland project would add no new food, retail, meeting or banquet facilities. A Mickey-shaped spa would be part of a new pool amenity area. Disney Vacation Club guests would utilize most of the existing hotel amenities, as is common with DVC add-ons.
The Disney Vacation Club concept is still in the early planning stages and details could change. As of right now, it features multi-colored panels that would stretch the height of the DVC tower on the end of the building with the multi-level grand villas. A crackled cream pattern would wrap around the other end of the mostly glass building. Balconies would offer views for rooms at both ends of the building.
Additionally, a two-story open-air ground floor would allow guests to pass through to both sides of the building. Lounge chairs would surround pools on either side of the Disney Vacation Club tower. DVC guests would have access to 307 parking spaces on an existing lot.
The above artist concept rendering of the proposed Disneyland Hotel DVC tower project and aforementioned details were revealed by Disney to the OC Register. While technically rumor since Disney has yet to announce this directly, these are all official details.
The likely reason this is coming from the OC Register rather than Disney directly is because the project has yet to go before the city of Anaheim for approval, and may not be built. For those who don’t follow Disneyland news closely, there has been tension between Disney and the Anaheim City Council over the last several years.
This boiled over when Disneyland cancelled its planned luxury hotel project (concept art above) after the closure of several Downtown Disney establishments in preparation for its construction. As we noted when that luxury hotel project was first rumored, it was slated to have a 125-room Disney Vacation Club wing, but that was never announced before the project was cancelled.
Significant here is that a more Disney-friendly Anaheim City Council has been elected since those plans were cancelled. Animosity towards Disneyland has grown among Anaheim residents, meaning even this City Council is unlikely to simply rubber stamp Disney’s plans. However, we’d still expect this proposed DVC tower will end up being approved and coming to fruition.
In fact, we’re surprised another large luxury hotel hasn’t been announced for Disneyland Resort. In part, it’s probably a matter of cold feet after attendance did not surge as expected following the initial debut of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
It’s also probable that Disney is waiting to see what demand and the Southern California hotel market looks like after the opening of the JW Marriott Anaheim Resort and Westin Anaheim Resort (above) later this year. These are two other significant luxury hotel projects that would be direct competitors (especially for convention guest business) to any luxury hotel that Disneyland builds.
Waiting is fine by me, as nothing Disney has built in the last few years or is currently building excites me. Recent projects have prioritized function over form, with bland contemporary styles. I’m willing to wait for the pendulum to swing back towards theme.
Disneyland Resort will never have the sprawling resorts like Walt Disney World, but the Disney hotels elsewhere around the globe could serve as inspiration. Something Art Deco (like Disney’s Hollywood Hotel or Ambassador Hotel) would work well, as would leaning into California’s mid-century modern roots.
Personally, I can’t say I’m particularly wild about the concept art for the proposed tower. It looks like an upmarket mixed use apartment you’d see in Orange County or Los Angeles. Those are generally aesthetically appealing, but not exactly creatively compelling.
In fairness, it’s not like the current look of Disneyland Hotel’s exterior is anything special or has some cherished historical legacy. I had simply hoped that all of the buildings would match, but I realize that’s too much to ask with DVC. Given that the last significant overhaul of Disneyland Hotel was less than a decade ago, it’s doubtful that the existing towers will receive a facelift while this is being built.
Nevertheless, another DVC property at Disneyland Resort is a no-brainer, slam-dunk concept–especially one being built on new land that won’t replace anything.
This DVC tower will be built on a grassy area between Walnut Street and the Disneyland Hotel’s Frontier Tower, swimming pool, and convention center. In essence, the new tower would only replace an existing laundry facility. Doubtful many fans will mourn that.
There is a ton of unsatisfied and pent-up demand for another California DVC property, and this would increase Disneyland Resort’s available DVC room inventory six-fold.
The Grand Californian Villas are the most difficult to book resort, and also the most costly via the resale market. This is in large part because there are only 71 units there, but also because that hotel is a great use of DVC points as compared to paying rack rates at the Grand Californian.
Overall, adding a Disney Vacation Club tower to Disneyland Hotel is a smart move that has minimal downside given the location. It’s disappointing DVC doesn’t put more effort into blending these additions with their surroundings, but maybe the final design will more closely match the existing towers.
With a number of surface parking lots and other dead space–including the abandoned Downtown Disney spaces and the Eastern Gateway plot–we’re optimistic that this is just the start of further development at Disneyland Resort. We just hope future hotels demonstrate a bit more creative ambition.
If you’re preparing for a Disneyland trip, check out our other planning posts, including how to save money on Disneyland tickets, our Disney packing tips, tips for booking a hotel (off-site or on-site), where to dine, and a number of other things, check out our comprehensive Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide!
Your Thoughts
Are you looking forward to another Disney Vacation Club property at Disneyland Resort? Would you like to see something built elsewhere in Southern California? Hope Disney will resume plans to build more hotels in Anaheim? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
We have been waiting for years to get additional DVC inventory at DL. 20 2-bedroom and 19 1-bedroom units is not going to make DVC available to families.
I had hoped that DVC had learned its lesson when they had trouble selling and booking the DVC at the Polynesian with NO 2-bedroom and NO 1-bedroom units. I would rather stay at my Anaheim WorldMark condo than deal with my family at a ‘Deluxe Studio’. The excuse at the Polynesian was that they were upgraded hotel rooms – they cannot use this excuse with the NEW construction. I WILL NOT purchase this configuration.
Very interesting. Some other things to consider is that my understanding is that Aulani still has many units/points available for sale. Adding a new DVC on the West Coast could compete with the Aulani Resort. Alternatively, it could help Aulani sales with folks having a better chance to use their points at both resorts. You pretty much can’t get into Grand Californian unless it is your home resort.
Something else that is interesting is the room mix. A lot of DVC people want the multi-bedroom units with kitchens and what not. This looks like mostly just hotel rooms. Disney may want this to be the case in the event they need to scale back to concept and keep this as a mix of market rate hotel rooms and DVC units.
This is a huge DVC project. I am particularly interested with the economy, as this thing may start to become reality when another recession hits. I’d also be curious if this results in a depreciation in value for the Grand Californian units or not.
You doubt that the Trump Economy will continue? Your Nov. Vote will Secure that in case you didn’t know.
ha. ignoring politics, i was just speaking merely on the idea that economy’s work in cycles. what goes up must come down. it is hard to imagine continued economic expansion forever without some sort change.
I think the economy is a realistic concern (irrespective of politics, we’re nearing the end of a cycle unless it’s continuously stimulated or propped up).
However, the margins on DVC are so high that even with slower sales or deeper discounting, I think they’re still fine. They won’t be doing record numbers, but still won’t have any issues.
As for it impacting GCH, I don’t think there’s any chance of that. There’s so much demand for more DVC at Disneyland and this won’t even begin to satisfy that. I could see problems with Riviera and Reflections if the economy comes back to reality sooner rather than later.
Disney keeps adding capacity to there hotels, But Nothing to Counter there Severely OverCrowded Parks! As Long as the Cash Registers keep going Ka-Jing, there will be No Relief! OverCrowding and Diminished Satisfaction is Now the New Norm…………..The Magic Has Been Lost, Very Sad.
They really need another Magic Kingdom type park in Texas somewhere.
If you think Disneyland hasn’t been doing a TON to handle overcrowding in the last couple years, you haven’t been paying attention…
I’ve been a DVC member for over 20 years and I love the resorts for a relaxing vacation, but the parks have been a source of stress with the long lines and crowds. The new ride/attraction booking applications programs have alleviated some of that, but the overcrowded parks have diminished some of the magic. I find myself doing more Disney Cruises, more Adventures by Disney and more relaxing Disney resort trips like: staying at the Aulani, Disney Vero Beach, staying at the Grand Floridian, doing Disney National Geographic vacations. The parks have lost some of their magic, but other Disney Vacations have not lost my interest. Disney is international and quite interesting as a vacation company.
Typically how long does it take for construction to begin? Planning april 2021 trip. Was planning on possible split stay between DLH and GC… maybe I should just stick to GC?
Not to derail the topic, but why bother with a split stay at two hotels that are RIGHT next to each other? The only thing that split stay would offer you is the ability to use both hotels’ pool areas, as your room key will only get you into the pool of your currently-registered hotel. Even then, if that’s your goal, you could just stay at one hotel and rent a cabana at the other, which is basically buying pool-hop privileges for the day.
Going on an extended trip to California and will most likely be our only Disneyland visit. I have always wanted to stay at the Grand Californian and kids I know would love theDisneyland Hotel. They will transfer luggage while we are enjoying the park so why not? Interesting idea though…
The proposed area of construction is currently known as the “Magic Kingdom Lawn,” and is the largest outdoor private event space at the resort. I got married at the DLH, and that was one of the locations offered to us for our post-wedding cocktail hour. It would have also been an option for our actual wedding reception had we wanted to have a quiet/mellow one (i.e. string quartet instead of DJ).
Most Disneyland fans won’t care about that, but it’s notable business-wise that while the new tower wouldn’t “replace anything” structurally, it would impact the resort’s wedding/banquet/private event revenue stream.
Longtime fans will also know the MK lawn as the former home of Fantasy Waters, which I fondly think of as World of Color’s grandpa.