The City of Anaheim’s Council has voted against Disney and other supporters of maintaining the Anaheim Resort District zoning, siding with a housing developer. The Los Angeles Times coverage is here, and the Orange County Register‘s coverage is here, with reader comments (some may be rude) below the article. From the Times: About 150 resort… Read More »Anaheim Vote Goes Against Disney
The ever-aspiring muckraker Steve Lopez, in his Points West column in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times, pokes his finger in Disney’s chest. He writes about the seeming contradiction between the low wages of Disneyland cast members and Disney fighting "affordable" housing in the Anaheim Resort area.
But at the end of the workday, many of the people who work at the "Happiest Place on Earth" sleep on air mattresses, in by-the-week motel rooms and in apartments shared with other families.
"I’ve been at this motel since 1997," said Derrick, a Disney security guard who pays $209 a week rent. He spoke to me Thursday night while standing in the doorway of the room he shares with two elderly aunts at Arena Inn and Suites in Anaheim, about a mile from his job.
When I was working full-time as a Disneyland cast member, which wasn’t all that long ago, I was able to afford a bachelor apartment by myself within 15 minutes of the Resort.
First, Disney challenged the right of a council member to cast a vote on the housing because she intends to open a wine bar in the area and might have a conflict of interest.
More after the jump – be forewarned that I get politically opinionated.
Deepa Bharath of the Orange County Register gives us an update on plans for a theme park south of the Disneyland Resort, in the City of Garden Grove, California. The search for theme park investors and developers is continuing after city officials broke off a contract with a developer because they were not satisfied with… Read More »Garden Grove Theme Park Update
If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is around, does it still make a sound? If someone does something like trip on a curb, is that news? Normally, no. But if someone has a mundane accident like that on Disney property, it can be considered newsworthy by the local news outlets. The Orange… Read More »Remain Seated Please
Louise Lee at Business Week tells us about "Paul Pressler’s Fall From The Gap." Paul Pressler was at The Disney Store before becoming Disneyland Resort President, and then to Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, which included the Disney Cruise line and Walt Disney Imagineering. Some of this article sounds awfully familiar. The immediate post-mortem analysis:… Read More »Business Week on Former Disney Exec
In what has to be among the most expected news in corporate business, Gap brand president Cynthia Harriss, who followed Paul Pressler from The Disney Stores to the Disneyland Resort to The Gap, Inc., has left following the resignation of Paul Pressler as CEO of The Gap, Inc. Following Harriss’ departure, four of the remaining… Read More »That Took Longer Than I Thought It Would
Kimi Yoshino of the Los Angeles Times takes a look at the Halloween-themed events at the Los Angeles/Orange County theme parks: At Knott’s, Universal and Six Flags Magic Mountain, the nighttime events are billed as super-scary, with park employees in macabre costumes doing their best to frighten visitors. Six Flags and Knott’s also have more… Read More »Southern California Theme Parks Love Halloween
Sarah Tully of The Orange County Register brings us a short update accompanied by an informative map pointing out recent and new projects around the Disneyland Resort. A big-time building boom is under way by the Anaheim Convention Center and Disney parks as a record number of tourists visit five years after 9/11 spurred a… Read More »Investing in Anaheim