We've done just about all of the guided tours Disneyland and California Adventure offer while The Happiest Hotel on Earth Tour was complimentary for guests of the resort. There was a small group of us, most from the local Los Angeles area with one from New Orleans. Apparently their spouses were all at the medical convention going on so the tour was a nice activity for them. Starting in the lobby of the Disneyland Hotel, you're basically taken around the three towers. Next to Goofy's Kitchen and Steakhouse 55 you watch a video that gives you some interesting history on the hotel as it started off as 100 rooms and was partially funded by ABC who required a weekly program in return. The resort kept growing and growing with a golf course and a marina once part of the magic. One tower became three and 100 rooms has grown into just under 1,000.
Like the park, you notice that each themed tower or land changes in design and decoration. You have tropical plants and bamboo outside the Adventure Tower and the lobby has maquettes from The Jungle Cruise. Over by Frontier Tower you get pine trees and a waterfall with an awesome model of Big Thunder Ranch in the lobby. Our guide Ron joked that it wasn't true to life because not a single figure on the map had a churro in hand. Good one, Ron-Dawg. We got a glimpse of the dark and classy Steakhouse 55 along with a little bit of history as Walt Disney had a huge affinity for classic Hollywood of the 1920's and 30's. His wife was a big fan of tea time so 55 now offers one over the weekend. We were taken into Trader Sam's to check out their "storm" show where lights are dimmed and displays on the wall look like they're getting attacked by nature. Lots of historic tidbits adorns the walls and you hear more about the design of the park including The Lost Weekend where Disney an and artist holed up for 3 days creating a map of the proposed park to present to possible investors. All in it was a nice little bonus for staying in the hotel and I still can't imagine there used to be a functioning marina in the middle.
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