Customer Reviews

Disneyland Hotel: The Early Years 1954-1988

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is clearly a labor of love--it is filled with photos of the hotel's original construction, its connection to Disneyland by monorail, and the erection of the first and subsequent towers. It details the quiet motel's sporadic but inexorable expansion into a world-class resort, and offers a fascinating glimpse of two unique individuals: Jack Wrather, the Texas oil man turned TV producer who built the hotel at Walt Disney's suggestion, and his actress wife, Bonita Granville. In addition to gathering a great deal of information into a single volume, the book beautifully reproduces an amazing collection of various Disneyland Hotel brochures and other memorabilia. I own nearly every book that touches on Disneyland, and highly recommend this addition to anyone's collection. I particularly appreciate the book's aesthetically-pleasing design.

I remember staying at the Disneyland Hotel with my family in the 60s, 70s and early 80s. What a wonderful, magical place. This book has a lot of really great photos and information on this hotel. Some of the decor from the 50s 60s and 70s was wild. I stayed at the Disneyland Hotel last year, after not being back since the transformation and wow, had it changed. Even took this book with to compare some of the changes. Amazing. If you have a love of Disneyland or this resort, this book is a must purchase.

The book was one of the best I have read, very well written and brought back a lot of nostalgia, especially since I have been going to Disneyland for a while now. I recommend it to anyone looking for Disney History or a collector, it's got great pictures of the landmark, and interesting info about the hotel.

If you have ever stayed at or visited the Disneyland Hotel prior to the conversion of the property to Downtown Disney this book will certainly bring back memories and warm feelings. An attractive retrospect into the history of a hotel that set the stage for not only the Walt Disney company's future in the hotel industry (it was not originally owned by them) but also pre-dated most hotels on many amenities that we now take for granted, like televisions in every room.

The book spins a nostalgic tale beginning with the conception of that park across the street and continues all the way to the groundbreaking of the Downtown Disney district. The story also includes tie-ins to much of American history from the 1950's through the 1908's such as the owner's connection to the Ronald and Nancy Reagan and many popular television shows. This is a very unique and entertaining book.

The book is full of photos of the hotel as it changed over time, brochures, aerial photography (great for comparing the parks progress), anecdotes, and historic photographs. I Highly recommend this to any serious Disney enthusiast and history buff. It would be interesting to see what the author could have as a follow up.

There are quite a few books about Disneyland the park, but very little about Disney the hotel, and this book fills the gap very well!
A well-written and detailed book about the beginning years of the hotel (hopefully the later years will be written in a later volume?) full of many colorful and insightful photographs. The pictures are not just of the hotel, but of memorabilia such as menus, room tags, etc.
I highly recommend this book for any Disney collector, history buff, or anyone interested in the mystique of all things Disney!

This book is for fellow Disney history geeks similar to myself. I stayed at the hotel every summer growing up and had been on the lookout for a book on it's history for quite sometime. I ordered this as soon as I found it and am quite pleased that I did. It's very detailed and includes MANY pictures I had never seen, including many fine aerial shots of the hotel and the surrounding area. This was obviously a labor of love for the author and it shows. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED...

I am very impressed with this book particularly the history and photos behind the hotel, background, and timeline. My only wish is that there were more photos of the menus from the restaurants and of the closed-circuit television broadcasts from the station that was located at the hotel. BUT - on the whole, excellent book. This is a great addition to any Disneyland fan to have in their book collection. Author did a top-notch publication.

The book covers the hotel up to the current renovation. It provided interesting details and photographs. For some there may be too much facts - like the listings of meetings and conventions. I however liked that and found it gave a glimpse of different time. The personal and family history of the builder was new information for me and added to my appreciation of the hotel. If you have every stayed in the Disneyland hotel and wondered about its history and what shaped its development, this is THE book for you.

Although a nice book, it simply isn't worth $50.

Lots of interesting tidbits in the book, but lots of problems, as well. For example, I had no idea the hotel once boasted an 18 hole golf course, and a clearly well ahead-of-its-time minature golf course (perhaps the most elaborate ever built up until that point).. yet there could be more detail about both of these attractions, and there's no information at all (that I can find) about the demise of the minature golf course. I'm still wondering, where did it go? Also, what happened to the Top of the Park Lounge - another landmark area of the hotel with few details? Why did the Hotel go from 1,400 rooms to 1,100 by the mid-80's? There is just a lot lacking and very poor editing.

I have many MANY memories of the Disneyland Hotel back from 80's up through today. There is very little about the hotel during the 80's. Nothing about what the rooms looked like then, or the other decor. The author seems to have elected to stop publishing photographs after 1978. Overall, for the millions of people who have visited this landmark and historic hotel, an absolutely WONDERFUL idea, yet disappointingly executed. Perhaps future editions will correct these oversights.

Disneyland Hotel: The Early Years 1954-1988 by Donald W. Ballard. 2005, 136 pages.

Donald Ballard is a historian and author that fell in love with the Disneyland Hotel in the 1970's. Donald started collecting material about the hotel in 1998 and amassed newspaper clippings, magazine articles, older photographs and brochures. His intent was to write a travel article. Fortunately for us, we have this great reference guide to the Disneyland Hotel.

This book follows the stories of the Disneyland Hotel and the original owners and proprietors, Jack and Bonita Wrather. As explained in the work, Walt Disney spent time trying to persuade hotel companies to build and run the Disneyland Hotel. Finally, Jack Wrather stepped up and supported Walt's Dream. In one of the few times in Disney history, Jack Wrather was given a 99-year lease on the Disneyland name in association with hotels. He had the ability to create other Disney-named hotels throughout California. He never chose to take advantage of the opportunity.


The book is filled with pictures, memorabilia and historical information. It is astounding how much Mr. Ballard has been able to collect and compile. The book is presented chronologically and follows the major events of Disneyland, as well. The strength of this book lies in its documentation: every stage of construction is followed; every restaurant is noted; room and menu prices are listed; and brochures throughout the years are re-printed. There are an amazing amount of aerial shots and they help provide a sense of the growth of the hotel.



As I was reading the book, my first thought was that it was a work dedicated to Jack Wrather. After finishing it, I realized that Mr. Wrather was passionate about the Disneyland Hotel. He shepherded the hotel for almost 30 years. His wife, Bonita, ran the Wrather Corporation until her death in 1988. The Bonita Tower and the Granville's Steakhouse was named in her honor. Granville's is now the Steakhouse 55 and the Bonita Tower is the Wonder Tower.

The changes that have taken place at the Hotel since 1955 are astounding. There is not another work that takes such a detailed and painstaking look at the Disneyland Hotel. The book is filled with a lot of concept art and sketches, photos of buildings, rooms and pools that no longer exist and some very retro fashion shots of guests! You do get the idea that the Disneyland Hotel was always a ore expensive place to stay, but it still had that Disney service and magic. Some of the ideas brought forth in the 1970's were pretty revolutionary for hotel entertainment: light shows and dancing fountains set to music; shopping esplanades; and revolving dining options. The Disneyland Hotel did its best to entertain and keep guests on property.

I addition to the book, Mr. Ballard also owns The Magical Hotel website and The Original Disneyland Hotel blog. He posts an amazing amount of vintage and rare Disneyland Hotel pictures on the blog.

Bottom Line: If you had the opportunity to stay at the Disneyland Hotel during its first 35 years, this book is made for you. It is also a one-of-a kind resource for Disneyland historians--you won't find a better historical source anywhere else. In my opinion, though, it is too narrowly dedicated to offer the casual Disney fan a reason to purchase. If you are a completist, though, I would buy the book now. Mr. Ballard has confirmed that there are not many copies left.