Disneyland Magic Rubs Off on Hotels : Surge in Reservations Reported as a Result of 30th-Year Fete
The magic of Disneyland’s 30th birthday bash is rubbing off on Anaheim-area hotels.
Not only has business picked up this month, but many hoteliers are reporting increased reservations for spring and summer as a result of Disney’s yearlong celebration. Most say it couldn’t have happened at a better time.
During 1984, everything seemed to sour for local hotels. A glut of hotel rooms in the Disneyland area was exacerbated by the opening of the 1,600-room Anaheim Hilton last spring. The throngs of visitors expected for the Summer Olympics never appeared, and the Disneyland strike late last summer nearly devastated a number of hotels as reservations dwindled.
But the tide appears to have turned, with Disney’s $12-million anniversary celebration acting as the catalyst. One hotel’s survey of its guests found that hundreds of vacationers were coming here exclusively for the Disneyland party. And, throughout Anaheim, hotel executives agree that summer bookings could reach near-record highs.
Revenue Gains
Anaheim hotel owners are hoping that even half of the extra guests Disneyland expects for the celebration this year will stay overnight in the area. The result would be millions of dollars in added hotel revenues, not to mention millions more into the coffers of local restaurants and other tourist attractions such as Knott’s Berry Farm.
Disneyland, meanwhile, reports that January attendance is up more than 10% from January, 1984. Helping to bolster attendance is the fact that during the past 30 days Disneyland has given away $450,000 in prizes, including 15 new cars, said Jack Myers, the park’s marketing director.
Through a massive, $5-million advertising effort, Disneyland is hoping to lure 2 million more visitors in 1985 than it did in 1984. The park had an attendance of about 10 million people last year, the lowest figure in a decade. To help increase the head count, Disneyland will be open 14 more days in 1985 than it was in 1984, Myers said.
Best Western International owns nine motels--with more than 1,000 rooms--within walking distance of Disneyland. Ken Baxter, manager of two of them, said that spring reservations at all Best Western motels in the area were being logged at a record clip. “We’re just about sold out for Easter week already,” Baxter said, adding that Easter week reservations usually were available throughout the holiday.
The Disneyland Hotel, built at the same time as the Magic Kingdom, also is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Bookings for January were up 15%, said Michael Bullis, president of the hotel. A recent survey of guests at the Wrather Corp.-owned hotel revealed that of those tourists who were not attending conventions, nearly 25% had come because of Disneyland’s birthday celebration.
Just as Disneyland is giving a prize to every 30th guest who enters the park, the Disneyland Hotel is offering special prizes to travel agents who help keep its rooms filled. Travel agencies that bring it the most business in 1985 will be given $30,000 worth of diamonds, Bullis said. Combined giveaways at the park and hotel “should help attract thousands of new guests this year,” he said.
‘It Gets Them Excited’
At the Hyatt Hotel, Norman Canfield, general manager, said that the Hyatt is besieged with calls from people asking about Disney’s 30th celebration. “People all over the country keep hearing about all these cars Disneyland is giving away and it gets them all excited,” he said.
The two largest hotels in the Disneyland area, the Anaheim Hilton and the 1,000-room Anaheim Marriott, report that the Disneyland campaign has had little effect on bookings so far. But both are primarily convention hotels, and conventions commonly book years in advance.
The Hilton’s non-convention visitors probably won’t begin making summer reservations until early spring, said Robert Neapolitan, director of sales. “It’s hard to predict at this point,” Neapolitan said, “but with Disney selling its 30th we expect to do some piggybacking.”
Joel Rothman, general manager at the Marriott, said that more than Disney’s 30th would account for improved hotel business. Summer Olympic coverage cast a pleasing “halo” over the Southland that should attract more tourists this year, he said, and a new state advertising campaign to promote tourism also should boost summer traffic.
“One year ago at this time, 1985 looked like it was going to be a disaster,” Rothman said, “but now it has turned completely around.”
