Disneyland’s New Kingdom Opening Feb. 8

Walt Disney Co. said Monday that its second theme park in Anaheim will open Feb. 8, boosting attendance 50% and fulfilling a decades-old dream of making Disneyland more like the Disney World “destination resort” in Florida.

The complex, which includes the California Adventure theme park, a luxury hotel, and a dining and entertainment strip, “will redefine the Southern California vacation experience for millions of tourists each year,” Paul Pressler, president of Disney’s parks and resorts unit, said Monday.

California Adventure, Disney’s distillation of the state’s mystique, will include the 750-room Grand Californian Hotel, which will open Jan. 2. The Downtown Disney entertainment center, between the new park and Disneyland, will open Jan. 12, Pressler said at an international travel trade show in Dallas.

Officials didn’t rule out earlier partial or trial openings for the additions. Disney had said that the complex would open in early 2001, but had not specified dates.

Pressler noted that the expansion is the largest in Disneyland’s 45-year history and will create 7,000 new jobs.

Disneyland also has worked with Anaheim to revitalize the aging district around the park. The city is spending $500 million to renovate and expand the Anaheim Convention Center, modernize city streets and line them with about 15,000 new trees and shrubs, and overhaul the area’s sewer and power systems to support additional hotels the city hopes will be built.

The new attractions will dramatically change how the company markets Disneyland. For example, Disney will no longer offer one-day theme park admissions to Australians who buy vacation packages through United Vacations, a travel company affiliated with United Airlines.

“They’ll be selling just three-day and four-day passes,” United general manager Helen Williams said. “The message is definitely not that this is something you can do in a single day.”

Disney expects the expansion to add 7 million theme park admissions a year in Anaheim, where annual Disneyland attendance has been running more than 13 million. That compares with more than 40 million annually at Disney World’s four parks.

For Disneyland and the region’s tourism industry, the number of multi-day stays is expected to increase visitor spending by more than $1 billion.

California Adventure will open at a time when Americans’ desire for new experiences is at a nine-year high, but when it has become harder than ever to get away from workplace demands, travel analyst Peter Yesawich said.

Demand for unusual dining, shopping and night life is up sharply and now exceeds the demand for theme parks, which has stayed constant, Yesawich said, citing an annual leisure-travel study just released by his marketing firm, Yesawich, Pepperdine & Brown.

So how visitors take to Downtown Disney, he said, will be a major test of the drawing power of its mix, which includes a House of Blues nightclub, jazz and Latin music clubs, and restaurants including one from Patina chain founder Joaquim Splichal and another from Ralph Brennan, whose family runs Commander’s Palace and other noted New Orleans restaurants.

“Interest is growing faster in pampering experiences at spas and on cruise ships these days than in theme parks,” Yesawich said. “But the way they’re going to wrap the new park--with the dining and night-life experiences--should help offset any impact.”

The new park has three California-themed sections: Paradise Pier, Disney’s take on a beach carnival; Hollywood Backlot, with movie- and television-themed rides and restaurants; and Golden State, which will highlight the state’s culture, mystique and natural setting.

The project sits on 55 acres in what previously was the main parking lot for the 85-acre Disneyland. A large new parking structure, accessible from the Santa Ana Freeway, will serve both parks.