Question re: Long Beach

[robotpirates]

(I have no idea if this is the right forum for this question, so forgive me.)

Is it true that Disney owns the Long Beach property that the Queen Mary and the dome that once housed the Spruce Goose, plus surrounding areas in the harbor? I read on a website a while ago that DisneySea was originally slated for this area, but decided to go with Tokyo.

If this is true, does anyone have any ideas as to what they're thinking of doing with the area?

That would have been cool, is what I'm saying (as long as they kept the Queen Mary there.)

[sleepyjeff]

Well, it is not so much that Disney decided to go with Tokyo as it is that Long Beach decided they didn't want Disney(idiots)( ).....

...all I know is that the spruce goose now recides in a small Oregon town that is really no where near a large lake, let alone an Ocean((spruce goose is a boat plane))

Oh, and yes, the Queen Mary would have been left there(note that at Tokyo Disney Seas a fake Queen Mary looking ship is part of the Theme)

[desertdweller]

The domed building that formerly housed The Spruce Goose is owned by the City of Long Beach. It has been used as a soundstage for many years and is constantly in use.

It's circular design enables production designers to build the sets in the center and the camera set ups are easy to shift to wherever they are needed. I think Batman was the first film to make use of it for the Gotham set. Much like the audience used to move around the sets for CoP.

[villain]

The Domed building is also being used for the cruise lines that leave out of Long Beach. When you go through customs, you are in the dome buiding.

[ah schucks]

Pretty sure I heard Disney sold its connection off a couple years ago.

[The Mad Hatter]

They also used the dome in the POTC movie. I think they did some of the night scenes for the black pearl in there...i remember seeing it on the special features.

[cellarhound]

Pretty sure I heard Disney sold its connection off a couple years ago.

I know that was true with the goose, but I didn't know if that was true for the Queen Mary... You know when they bought that ship, they made the captain shave... scandalous for a victorian marvel as that ship is...

[gurgi]

Yes, Disney divested itself of it's ownership quite a while ago.

[robotpirates]

Cool, thanks guys. Just wanted to clarify. Rock!

It would have been nice to have DLS there, though. Sah-high!

[pixie chick]

they also use that whole area for a halloween thing. (can't remember the name of the event, though) i went a couple years ago...blech! haunted mansion is about as "haunted house" as i get.

[Not Afraid]

It would have been nice to have DLS there, though. Sah-high!

Ugh! Understaement of the decade! As a Long Beach resident who just returned from Disney Seas, I can say that "with intensity".

[Mrs.Newseditor44]

The Domed building is also being used for the cruise lines that leave out of Long Beach. When you go through customs, you are in the dome buiding.

I believe it is being solely used by Carnival. Long Beach is competing with the City of LA for cruise ship business.

I lived in Long Beach for a while and I think that the City is doing quite well since Disney left. The entire place has been thriving from what I remember although I think that new entertainment area across from the convention center and the Hyatt was pretty poorly designed.

[speederscout]

Um, Disney never "owned" the Queen Mary, Spruce Goose, the huge dome, or any of that property. They did, however, hold the lease while they were trying to find out if they were going to be able to build DisneySea there.

Stupid city of Long Beach!!!

[Mrs.Newseditor44]

Well didn't they have plans to build some type of time share or vacation resort out in Newport Beach (by Newport Coast Drive or Pelican Hill) but they got seriously shot down by the residents and the city? I seem to recall that when I went to school at UCI.

[Darkbeer]

http://www.latimes.com/news/columnists/la-fi-golden12may12,0,3904739.column?coll=la-home-headlines

As a hotel and restaurant complex, the ship has had a choppy history. In 1988, when Walt Disney Co. acquired Wrather Corp., the hotel firm that then owned the lease, the ship's future looked bright.

Disney spent more than $2 million sprucing up the ship and her 365 hotel rooms. But the company's real agenda was to set up a competition between Long Beach and Anaheim to host its next big theme park. In 1991, Long Beach lost to Anaheim, where Disney erected its California Adventure. A year later, Disney revealed that it had lost as much as $10 million annually on the Queen Mary and, calling her "a less than viable investment," lobbed the keys back to city hall.

Disney acquired the Queen Mary lease as part of the deal that got the Wrather Corporation, which built and owned the Disneyland Hotel.