So, it was on to the "Disneyland Dream Suite" located in the former "Disney Gallery" area over the
Pirates Of The Caribbean" ride in New Orleans Square area of Disneyland. There has been a lot written and video'ed about the Dream Suite these last few days. Disney themselves released some really quality pictures of the suite (much better than I could get during our tour which was squeezed in between television news segments, so there was lighting rigs and cables ALL over the place).
Let me just jump on in...
We were lead up the back staircase that is also an exit for a store (so yes, you could say the reverse, that you might possible exit the Dream Suite into a store, in true Disney fashion). The not-quite-so famous address is hanging on the wall of the staircase.
21 Royal Street is the new, terribly exclusive address... no longer 33
(as in "Club 33" at 33 Royal Street, a membership only club where dinner might cost
you close to $100 a plate
)
Walt Disney himself first called this apartment the "Royal Suite" because of it's location.
Once upstairs, we were let in through the a hallway, through the courtyard, and through this door into
the Main Entrance Hallway for arriving guests. I love this door! That Kingdom Font "D" is used throughout the Disneyland Dream Suite.
A couple shots back at the courtyard...
This is the elevator that our Imagineer said that guests will normally use to enter the suite. While they will be awarded the Suite out at the Staircases over the "Pirates" entrance, and indeed will be ushered in through what many of us know as the Gallery entrance at the top of those stairs, I got the impression that they will be strongly encouraged to use the elevator thereafter. I don't know if they won't be given keys to the staircase doors, or if it's just an 'encouragement' thing. Our imagineer simply said that guests will be using the elevator after the awarding.
This is the hallway that guests who use the elevator will see first. It is lined with framed sketches by Dorothea Redmond of the first concepts for Walt's Apartment (which is what this area was originally planned to be.)
These sketches hung previously on the walls of the Disney Gallery, and they thought they were appropriate in the new Dreams Suite. The chandeleir and sconses in this hallway were used in the Disney Gallery.
Dorothea Redmond was known as Dorothea Holt back then. She is also the designer of the wonderful mosaics in the archways of Cinderella's Castle in Walt Disney World Florida. She had previously been a storyboard artist for "Gone With The Wind".
The candy dish from the picture above. Yes, it has mints in it.
Notice the "D" to the right of the dish. I hadn't noticed this when I was touring the apartment. I only saw it as I was processing these pictures at home afterwards.
Much ado about nothing, I'm sure... but doesn't it spell something?
At first I thought someone was playing a joke on me, and it said "DaddyB" But then again, you can kind of make out the word "Dear" above it and to the right...
weird. Is the place HAUNTED???
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Well anyway, let's take a look at those Dorathea Redmond sketches, shall we?
This is for the living room, or parlour. It might actually come closer to resembling the 2nd bedroom today.
A small sitting area
This would resemble the feel you get in the Master Closet Suite (as I call it).
This very closely resembles the Main Parlour today. I'll bring this picture back once we get there later on.
Of course, the outside courtyard in the middle of the apartment. You might notice the hanging shade over the courtyard. Mrs. Disney had these hanging over the patio at thier first apartment over the firehouse and City Hall on Main Street. Since Ms. Redmond used them here, I'm assuming that Mrs. Disney enjoyed them very much in the original apartment. I have heard that she greatly enjoyed entertaining guests on the patio at that apartment.
I love looking for details. These tiles are new, and in my opinion, very beautiful.
You see these tiles here in the walkway in front of the Master Suite. To the left is the courtyard. Just down the hall on the right is the entrance to the Master Bedroom Suite. This most recently held a display of vintage Disney "Golden" story books when the Disney Gallery was open.
This is a hallway light.
The Master Bedroom Suite at last.
I was surprised to read that some Disneyland Fans think that the suite is tacky. While it
could well be described as "ornate", I would never even come close to saying "Tacky".
Doug Marsh from www.laughingplace.com is in this shot.
This is one of the bedside lamps.
One of the special features of the bedrooms is a "Good Night Kiss" a special feature that transforms the room into something Disney Magical. The master suite's transforms the room into an adverntureland paradise, with just a touch of Peter Pan thrown in (Notice the full moon in the far corner, and the pirate ship cloud sailing in front of it). Even the painting over the head of the bed transforms into a mermaid lagoon!
Hidden projectors throw a display of shadows of ferns and leaves onto the corners of the walls, making it seem as though your bed is in the middle of a jungle clearing.
I would use the term "Delightful" here.
Into the Master Bath... double sinks and lit mirror.
a walk in, wheelchair accesible shower. I love the tilework here!
a closeup.
These Peacock tiles are replicas of a design by 19th century British artist William Morris.
The Jacuzzi tub is something special. The Waterfall spigot makes it seem like your water
is coming right out of the backlit stained glass artwork. This is a replica of of a stained glass window created by Louis Comfort Tifany, titled "Aurora - Young Woman at a Fountain". Hundreds (approximately 1,850) of tiny LED lights sparkle to make it seem like you are bathing in a moonlit pool.
a hidden Mickey appears in the stars on occasion.
I call this the Master Bedroom Closet Suite.
You could easily fit another bed in here, if not two.
This is the light switch for the Master Bedroom.
Custom made for Disney. The two buttons on the bottom are volume controls for the music/sound effects that you can have playing.
...and the custom switch for the "Good Night Kiss".
Next we were taken into the 2nd bedroom. I believe our Imagineer tour guide called it the informal sitting room. It has a heavy "Frontierland" theme. An authentic Cinderella Franklin stove with original Cinderella motif (using the same flame 'technology' of the burning town in the Pirates ride downstairs), a wonderful chandelier (you can see part of it here) I LOVE the twin beds!
The chairs at the foot of each bed are from Walt's last movie "The Happiest Millionare". Interesting that the other super exclusive location, Club 33, ALSO has an item from that same movie!
For the "Good Night Kiss", this model train, which is named the "John Gritz" after the imagineer who is responsible for much of the Disney Magic in the suite, breaks out of it's case and traverses the shelf that surrounds the room. As it passes different curios that are all frontierland based, they become animated. The Mountain Lion on the right of this picture roars at it (I'm not sure what to call a mountain lion's utterings, so I'll call it a "roar"). A horse whinnies, a boat rocks on the waves and a boatswain's whistle blows... You should check out the video I'm posting below to get the idea.
The sitting room's bathroom is where the Kitchenette used to be. During the Disney Gallery days, it was where the register was kept. Obviously the bathroom is much larger than the space that was alloted for cast members to ring up purchases.
Again, a beautifully detailed walk in shower.
Most people know about the balcony, as Disney served dessert buffet's here during showing of "Fantasmic!" on the Rivers of America for many years. That no longer happens, except for lucky winners of this Suite. You might notice that Disney has put down this lovely redwood style decking. It has a monogrammed "D" in it.
And finally into the living room, or "Main Parlour". I'm inserting Dorathea Redmond's sketch from the 1960's below so that you can easily see how Disney jumped from her designs. They are especially proud of finding a couch exactly as she pictured, and rehupolstered it to more closely match her sketch.
See the opposite side of the room:
The fireplace is false, again (as I often tell my girls, "Nothing in Disneyland is real"). What's neat about this is that the flames are actually projected animation! They give off sparks that become small fireworks that burst over the outline of the castle in the fireplace grate.
Who thought of that??!!!
This is close as I saw that Disney admitted that someone might like to EAT or DRINK something while staying at this suite. A small cubby with glasses and a coffee pot. I assumet that's a mini-bar fridge underneath it.
You can't help but notice the two murals painted by Walt Disney Imagineers showing the 2 castles that inspired Walt in the design of Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle.
On the left is the Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria (Southern Germany) built by King Ludwig II in the 19th century (also known as "Mad King Ludwig") and on the right, the Château de Chenonceau on the river Cher the Loire Valley, South of Paris, France. The Chateau was built in the 11th Century.
A reminder of where you are... and how Walt saw things around him that inspired him to create
The Happiest Place On Earth!
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Would you like to take the tour with us?
Click here to get to thepage to watch the video Jeff took during the tour!
(look for the "multimedia" box directly underneath the picture of the master bedroom (video is 20 mins long)
Following are images courtesy of Disney:
(click on any for a larger size view)
...and just a couple of "Desperate Housewife" and fellow Disneyland lover Terri Hatcher in the Dream Suite with our pal Mickey:
...
You should check out her cute video for Entertainment Tonight on the Dream Suite.