How did it ever come to this?
That has to be the question that Disney officials are asking themselves this week. Particularly after Tuesday night’s meeting where the Anaheim City Council voted 4 to 1 to place the proposed zoning change to the Resort District on the June 3rd, 2008 ballot. Should the public actually approve this proposed zoning change … Well, that would throw a huge monkey wrench in Mickey’s future plans for the Disneyland Resort.
Mouse House officials just can’t fathom why the Anaheim City Council is suddenly being so combative. Don’t they realize that the Walt Disney Company employees thousands of people in the Orange County area? And because of the millions of people who regularly visit the Disneyland Resort, Mickey is directly responsible for those hundreds of millions of tourist dollars that pour into the local economy every year.
Anaheim City Hall.
Image courtesy of the City of Anaheim
Well, as one unnamed city official recently explained the situation to me, this isn’t really about the amount of money (be it tax revenues or tourist dollars) that the Disneyland Resort helps generate for Anaheim. But — rather — the moola that no longer makes it out into the local economy.
To explain: Do you remember what Disneyland was like back in the late 1980s and early 1990s? With all of those restaurants, hotels, motels, gift shops and fast food joints that used to line Harbor & Katella ? As tacky as this part of Anaheim may have looked, thanks to the fact that most motorists had to make their final approach to Disneyland by traveling on surface streets … Well, everyone got a taste of those tourism dollars.
But then — as part of the Disneyland Resort expansion plan that the Anaheim City Council approved back in 1993 (Which called for the establishment of a lush garden district around the resort, not to mention limiting the size of the signage that the hotels, motels, restaurants and gift shops that were in the area that was directly adjacent to “The Happiest Place on Earth” were allowed to use) — the Mouse also got a flyover from the southbound lane of the 5 built. Which then uses speed ramps to load over 10,000 cars into the resort’s brand-new six level parking garage every day.
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As my Anaheim insider explained it to me:
We went along with the Garden District plan because Disney assured us that the expanded resort would have this huge impact on the local economy. What they failed to mention is that — once this expansion was complete — that Disneyland would then, in effect, become a walled city. With all of that additional tourists who came down Anaheim to sample California Adventure, the Grand Californian and Downtown Disney never making it off property anymore.
And when you think about it, this unnamed Anaheim official really does have a point. I mean, think about how the typical tourist who’s driving south on the 5 experiences Disneyland. They first exit the highway via that flyover ramp. Then — after paying an $11 fee — they park their car in the “Mickey and Friends” garage.
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And after locking their vehicle and then riding the escalator down to the tram loading area, these tourists are driven straight over Disneyland Plaza. Where — after buying an admission pass at one of those ticket booths — they then head into Disneyland or DCA for a full day of fun at the parks.
Once the parks close for the day, these same tourists have the option of shopping or dining at Downtown Disney or just grabbing the tram back to the “Mickey and Friends” garage. Where — because the Disneyland Resort reverses the flow of traffic leading from its massive parking structure back out to the highway late every afternoon — they’re on the 5 again within moments. Heading home again, having seen little if any of the real Anaheim during their day at DLR.
Mind you, the folks who are traveling north on the 5 to visit Disneyland have a somewhat different experience. But thanks to all of the highway & surface street improvements that taxpayers paid for back in the mid-1990s, these tourists still zoom in and out of the resort. With few real opportunities to sample any of Anaheim’s shops & restaurants as they hurry to “The Happiest Place on Earth.”
Photo courtesy of Jeff Lange
So for the Disneyland Resort to become, in effect, this walled city — where the tourists really have to hike if they want to get out to Harbor Boulevard and grab a meal at Millie’s … Well, is it any wonder that the Anaheim City Council is now actively looking for ways to stick to the Mouse?
As my Anaheim insider put it:
They made us jump through hoops back in the early 1990s. All because Disney was supposedly going to build that resort in Long Beach. Sometimes I wonder if it would have been better if we had just called their bluff. If city officials had just had the b*lls to say “Okay. Go build your brand-new theme park next to the Queen Mary. We’ll do just fine with plain old Disneyland.”
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At least then we’d still have a lot of those shops & restaurants that you used to find around the parking lot. People would still be making money. Nowadays it’s only Disney that’s making any real money off of the resort. The rest of us have to settle for whatever foot traffic trickles out onto Harbor & Katella.
So what do you folks think? Is it fair for the Anaheim City Council to, in effect, try & punish the Walt Disney Company now because there’s a belief among city offcials that Disneyland’s no longer a good neighbor? Because too much money stays on property these days, and not enough equivalent tourist dollars then make it out into the local community?
Your thoughts?