Name Change?

[Redsix]

Found out today that they changed the name of Granville's Steak House at the DLH has been changed to STEAKHOUSE 55. No reason for the name change. I guess the 55 refers to 1955?

[PrincessY]

Re: Name Change?

Interesting name change. What did "Granville's" have to do with Disney anyway? Just curious.

[Squidgit]

Re: Name Change?

Granville's is a chain isn't it? They are opening one in Burbank. So is it not a "Granville's" anymore?

[Disneyland Daddy]

Re: Name Change?

Found out today that they changed the name of Granville's Steak House at the DLH has been changed to STEAKHOUSE 55. No reason for the name change. I guess the 55 refers to 1955?

Interesting. Not sure of the 'flow' of the name. Maybe just "55" would have been good. LIke the old dinner/club in New York called 21. Just an idea.

[DLandFansAZ]

Re: Name Change?

Jack Wrather was the original owner of the Disneyland Hotel which if I'm not mistaken was opened in 1954. His wife was Bonita Granville Wrather and the Bonita tower and Granville's Steakhouse are named after her. I'm not sure, but possibly the restaurant opened in 55 (same as the park) and so the renaming is a tribute to that fact.

There is a book out there by Donald Ballard called "Disneyland Hotel: The Early Years, 1954 – 1988" that probably has more info.

[Opus1guy]

Re: Name Change?

Jack Wrather was the original owner of the Disneyland Hotel which if I'm not mistaken was opened in 1954. His wife was Bonita Granville Wrather and the Bonita tower and Granville's Steakhouse are named after her.

Correct.

I'm not sure, but possibly the restaurant opened in 55 (same as the park) and so the renaming is a tribute to that fact.

Nope. Granville's didn't open until much later with the construction of the Marina Tower and the Pavilion & Convention Complex.

A few weeks ago I wrote:

A month or two ago, a very talented gentleman was put in charge of Granville's. Expect to see some more changes (for the good, IMHO) there as time goes by.

From:

New Dining Spot at Disneyland Hotel

[mcow1]

Re: Name Change?

Didn't they just rename the Brass Rail to the Granville Lounge or something similar?

[Janie]

Re: Name Change?

This is a real shame. Seems Burbank is determined to eradicate any trace of Jack Wrather and the fact that he was the one who built and ran the Disneyland Hotel for most of its life, not Walt, and not the Disney corporation.

[10-8atDisneyland]

Re: Name Change?

As of yesterday all signage and all internal references to the restaurant still read Granville's.

[judimouse]

Re: Name Change?

I will check this out tomorrow.

[MinionLumbo]

Re: Name Change?

the name change is official. ( i plan to continue to refer to it as Granville's.)

ground breaking for the Disneyland Hotel was March 1955 and the Hotel opened with only 7 completed Guest rooms and an 8th used as the "office".

the nightly rate was nine dollars.

by June 1956 there were a whoping 104 Guest rooms occupying five 2-story buildings. first named the South Garden rooms, later renamed the Oriental Gardens and eventually torn down and the area now is home to the wedding gazebo.

Disneyland's Monorail began service to the hotel monorail station in the summer or 1961. The Monorail Bar opened in 1962 and closed 1981.


the Tower building ( later named the Sierra Tower) opened in September, 1962.

The red neon letters above the top floor identified the (then) tallest* building in Orange County (118 feet) and spelled out "Hotel Disneyland".

with an incredible view from the highest floor, Guests enjoyed the "Top-of the Park" lounge - renamed just last week to "The Club".

the Marina Tower opened in January, 1970. and the Dancing Waters show premiered in May.

June, 1970: Country Kitchen restaurant opens. (renamed Chef's Kitchen in 1973 and in 1990 became known as Goofy's Kitchen). The Oak Room opened to the public for dinner, after being a private men's club since 1960.

the Disneyland Hotel welcomed its five-millionth Guest on July 28, 1972.

in September, 1972, the hotel Convention Center and Exhibit Hall were added.

on July 1, 1978 some rooms were opened to Guests in the 13-story Bonita Tower.

Granville's Steak House opened July 20, 1983.

the Walt Disney Company began ownership of the Disneyland Hotel in January, 1988.

today, the Disneyland Resort operates three hotels: The Disneyland Hotel, Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel and Disney's Grand Californian Hotel and Spa.

all three hotels are completely sold out tonight - and for the rest of the month.

at this very moment, someone is hoping for a cancellation.:beg:


*Matterhorn Mountain remained the tallest man-made structure in Orange County for some time.

[KDR]

Re: Name Change?

A few weeks ago I wrote:

A month or two ago, a very talented gentleman was put in charge of Granville's. Expect to see some more changes (for the good, IMHO) there as time goes by.

If it's the guy I told you about, he never made it there. I was recently told that he resigned from the company before he ever started over there. PM me if you want more info.

--KDR

[10-8atDisneyland]

Re: Name Change?

If the name change is official, it was the most secret name change of all time. No mention in The Line. No mention in Resort Today. No mention on the Disney Portal. No mention in the Cast Member Reference Guide. No mention in any other internal communication. AND....the sign still says GRANVILLE'S.

[judimouse]

Re: Name Change?

Yes, the name is changing. Granville's would not confirm but I talked to some other CM's at the resort and they said they are just waiting for the signs to arrive.

The Lounge at Granville's is now The Lounge. Gone are the nice menu's replaced with table tent menus. Sorry, for a place that is expensive tent menus just don't do it for me.

[MinionLumbo]

Re: Name Change?

If the name change is official, it was the most secret name change of all time. No mention in The Line. No mention in Resort Today. No mention on the Disney Portal. No mention in the Cast Member Reference Guide. No mention in any other internal communication. AND....the sign still says GRANVILLE'S.

Sincerely, this is not meant to sound disrespectful:

The Line is hardly the place to find breaking news, the October 12 edition feature story is the half-marathon which occured September 17. Resort Today deals primarily with schedules, not a source for news. The portal can also lag in updated information... the Paradise Pier Hotel floor maps in the portal list banquet room names from the Pan Pacific days. The reference guide will be updated when the printer is given the new copy - eventually. I'd be surprised if anyone was privy to every memo. The signage takes time...

[~xxBooxx~]

Re: Name Change?

55???? Hmm.... I wonder....

[HuckSawyer]

Re: Name Change?

It's probably a good name change. Yes, 1955 is a reference to the year Disneyland opened, but it also harkens back to a time when adults went out, had cocktails, dined, danced, smoked, and behaved like adults. Maybe they're trying to carve out a few adult-oriented spaces in the resort, like the spa at GCH and kind of like they have on the Disney cruise ships.

Also, my sense from working for the Mouse for a couple of years around the time the hotel was purchased was that Disney always HATED the Disneyland Hotel. In fact, if memory serves, Guest Communications had a form letter that went something like "We're sorry to hear that you did not enjoy your stay at the Disnelyand Hotel, but WE DON'T OWN IT!!!"

Erasing the Wrather legacy is a point of pride. If you've been to WDW hotels, you know Disney never would have built the DLH. But, Walt had no choice but to involve Wrather because he couldn't get Marriot or Hilton to build. (At least that's how I understood the situation.)