Disneyland Resort’s newest hotel put on indefinite hold

Plans have halted on plans for a new Four Diamond hotel at the Disneyland Resort, according to The Orange County Register (OCR).

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Concept art for the now-on-hold Disneyland hotel.

The hotel, which was announced last October and was scheduled to open in 2021, has been put on indefinite hold after “Disney and the city could not agree over the terms of development.”

The hotel was going to transform the west side of the Downtown Disney District, leading to the closing of businesses like ESPN Zone, AMC 12 Theatres, Rainforest Cafe and more. These businesses were closed on June 30, 2018, in order to prepare for construction – which was supposed to begin in July 2018.

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Outdoor concept art for the now-halted Disneyland hotel.

The halt in the hotel plans was due to an Aug. 6 letter from Anaheim City Attorney Robert Fabela, in which he wrote to Disney saying that a change in their site plan would make the hotel no longer eligible to receive expected tax incentive rebates.

As quoted by the OCR, David Ontko, chief counsel for Disneyland Resort and International Parks & Reosrts said to Fabela, “Given the city’s position that our project does not comply with the requirements of the Agreement, you have given us no other choice other than to put construction of the hotel on indefinite hold.”

Anaheim City spokesman Mike Lyster said to the OCR, “This is one of the most coveted locations for nearly a dozen hotels under construction or set to start soon in the area. All the necessary planning is in place, and we would love to see it happen. Nothing has changed on that front.”

The City Council approved the concept for the new 700-room hotel in 2016 and included an agreement that would give Disney a 70 percent rebate on hotel taxes collected on the site for 20 years. However, since the hotel plans were revised and moved from the existing parking lot to an adjacent location, it became an issue for other City Council members who are “less favorably disposed to giving tax rebates to hotel developers.”

We will bring you more updates on this story as it develops. At this time, the hotel plans are officially on hold with no end date in sight.

To learn more about other Disneyland hotels and offerings, visit Disneyland.com.

MouseFanTravel

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2 Comments

  1. If you have to rely on the Fake News, like this pro-Disney rag, to get the full story, you’ll never learn what’s happened on why the new Disneyland hotel was put on hold.

    Read the full God’s honest truth on why Disney put the hotel on hold on the CryoFreezer33 website.

    It was all Disney’s fault because they decided to change all their plans on the hotel without notifying the city, thus nullifying the original deal with city and causing all sorts of headaches and additional costs for the city’s planning commission.

    Lesson to be learned from this mess: Never change the terms of a firm deal you have; otherwise, it may come back to bite you in the end.