Disney's New Luxury Hotel Slated for 2021

If you've been to Anaheim in the past year, you may have noticed a major surge in hotel construction. In addition to the dozens of hotels that have sprung up in the past few years, a new tax incentive passed by Anaheim City Council last summer has brought in even more luxury hotels. And now, Disney is finally cashing in on it.

The first new hotel at the Disneyland Resort since the Grand Californian opened in 2001, it will be a four-diamond hotel with a projected average stay of $450 a night.

According to the OC Register, Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait is disappointed with Disney's decision.

“I don’t think Disney needs a subsidy,” he said. “They do quite well without one. Our city needs that tax revenue to provide basic services to our residents. ... The council already voted to not tax them for 45 years, and that’s not enough. So, they want us to write them a check every year for 20 years. I think it’s outrageous.”

The sad thing is, he's right. Tait vehemently opposed the tax incentive, which narrowly passed in June of last year. It allows hotels to keep 70% of bed taxes for over 20 years. Yikes. Looks like Anaheim seriously dropped the ball on that one, and I can't blame Disney for banking on this enormous tax break. Half of the city of Anaheim's revenue comes from hotels, and now they'll be cutting tax breaks to them for the next 20 years.

As for my opinion on the hotel, I can't wait to see it, and probably never stay in it. I think the theme will be a Golden Age of Hollywood motif that WDI seems so fond of lately. Think Hollywood Tower Hotel before the Twilight Zone. I can't really imagine what other California themes they could use. Anyway, construction isn't set to begin until 2018, so we've still got a long way to go.