Luxury Disneyland hotel project 

Image: Disney

Back in 2016, Disney officials surprised fans by submitting plans to the city of Anaheim to begin construction on a new luxury hotel at Disneyland Resort, which would have been the first Disneyland hotel property built in two decades, and would be the fourth Disney-owned hotel at the resort.

According to the plans submitted to the city government, this new addition to the resort would have been a 700-room, four-diamond hotel (the same as Disney's Grand Californian hotel) with luxury amenities including two themed pools, a kid’s play area, and a rooftop restaurant that would have overlooked Disneyland park and provide stunning views of the iconic Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Image: Disney

Originally, when this hotel was first announced Disney planned to build the luxury resort at the north end of the resort, in an undeveloped area. After this plan was announced, Disney was able to secure a $267-million tax break from the City of Anaheim government to help finance the project. 

However, as the plans for the hotel changed, the construction site was moved to Downtown Disney, where Disney began closing parts of the shopping district to make way for the hotel earlier this year. And while this slight location shift might not have seemed like a big deal at first (the shift is less than 1,000 feet), the City of Anaheim has objected to the change in location, and has rescinded the 70% break on Anaheim’s occupancy tax. In response to this development, Disney has completely cancelled the project, even engaging in a little testy exchange with the city of Anaheim, which you can read about here. 

In the wake of this cancellation, Disneyland Resort has started redeveloping the areas of Downtown Disney that were originally shut down for this hotel development. And while this is another big project that we're sad will never be realized, at least Disneyland Resort isn't losing valuable Downtown Disney space, which was a concert for longtime parkgoers and annual passholders who visit the shopping and entertainment district regularly.