Alt-Disney: Visiting Downtown Disney a Year After Disney Killed Its Hotel Project

Across from a revived Earl of Sandwich, the former site of the Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney lays in ruins just like the Mayan temples it sought to mimic. Pop-Up Disney! A Mickey Celebration occupies ESPN Zone’s old location until it’s slated to close on Labor Day. AMC Theaters already moved to Anaheim GardenWalk.

Also missing from Downtown Disney is a luxury hotel that never came. On Aug. 21, 2018, the Mouse House called on Anaheim to kill a pair of subsidy agreements, including $267 million in tax breaks for its planned hotel, in the midst of a living-wage campaign and City Council elections.

Read more on my latest OC Weekly Alt-Disney Column out on newsstands today:

https://ocweekly.com/downtown-disney-hotel-project-alt-disney/