Disney Urban Destination Resort

By Sean Stowell

A roadscape design of Katella Avenue, the bustling thoroughfare that runs along Disneyland?EUR??,,????'???s southern border. Drawings COURTESY OF SWA Grou

There was a unique public/private partnership between Anaheim and Disney, there were several hundred landowners to consider, and just how could landscape become the dominant visual element along two very busy streets that serve the estimated 20 million annual visitors to the park?

Palm trees, palm trees, and more palm trees, and flowering tropical trees have softened the ?EUR??,,????'??asphalt jungle?EUR??,,????'?? of Disneyland Drive. The density and scale of planting along the streets was perhaps the biggest challenge. The palm trees soar to the same height, even though the street elevation changes.

?EUR??,,????'??Landscape was the main element to unify this district,?EUR??,,????'?? he said. ?EUR??,,????'??From the very beginning everybody was talking about this as an urban destination resort. When you think of a destination resort you usually think of an exotic location that has an existing landscape that is the dominant visual element and you carve your project out of that landscape. The dominant landscape in Anaheim was an ancient suburban landscape that was becoming urban.?EUR??,,????'??

This steel monument was designed by the city of Anaheim to mark entry into the resort. The California flag (left), United States flag (center), and city of Anaheim flag (right) are all represented.

?EUR??,,????'??We decided very early on that we were not going to spend money on hardscape,?EUR??,,????'?? Jacob said. ?EUR??,,????'??The reason being is that it?EUR??,,????'???s expensive and the moment you put it in it starts deteriorating. Any dollar spent in plant material pays off in a much better return.?EUR??,,????'??

(Before) Large signs, excessive paving, aging buildings and telephone poles that dominated the area around the theme park gave the district a desolate, suburban character.

Jacob and his team developed basic design principles, as detailed regulations and guidelines that were implemented by other landscape architects as phased construction began. The firm also prepared entitlement documents, including two plans that were integrated to insure the consistency and quality of the public improvements. The plan allowed for the transformation of public streets and spaces into a pedestrian-friendly place with a civic landscape that supports the entertainment mood and character. Documented in two 350 page zoning and urban design plans, the guidelines covered all aspects of the physical development of the public streets and spaces that surround and knit together the district, which includes an 1,100-acre area that is home to the theme park, as well as hotels, convention facilities, restaurants, retail and other visitor-serving commercial uses.

(After) The goal of the design for Harbor Blvd. and Katella Avenue was to unify the two streets so that Disney and the private landowners were doing similar design improvements.

?EUR??,,????'??From a landscape standpoint the most unusual regulation we had was tree density,?EUR??,,????'?? Jacob said. ?EUR??,,????'??In describing the type of screening or the amount of screening, we developed a formula that allowed for flexibility in the amount of trees we would plant for screening purposes based on the size of the tree.?EUR??,,????'??

More street improvements to Harbor Blvd.: a sculpted road and elevated berm.

For instance, if the landscape architect wanted to specify a lot of small trees, as opposed to a few big trees in a certain area, that would be the trade off. Jacob said this formula worked well near large parking structures or residential areas. It allowed for smaller, fast growing trees to be planted. Jacob added this proved to be more cost efficient because a tree that is twice as big as a smaller one can cost four-times as much.

On a two-mile stretch of Katella Avenue several thousand date palms were planted.

The two main streets that intersect by Disneyland are Harbor Blvd., running north to south, and Katella Ave., running east to west. These streets border the amusement park but several other private businesses as well. The idea for these two streets was to unify the design so that Disney wasn?EUR??,,????'???t doing one thing and the landowners across the street were doing another. Jacob estimates that nearly 15,000 trees and other plants were used on the project. On a two-mile stretch of Katella alone there are several thousand date palms. To help orient visitors to location, landscape treatments vary according to the street. For example, Katella has the palms, while Harbor is planted with large, spreading, flowering, tropical trees.

Date palms, different varieties of Phormium tenax, and two different species of trailing agave create a spectacular backdrop.

?EUR??,,????'??In most urban areas it?EUR??,,????'???s not variety that?EUR??,,????'???s lacking, it?EUR??,,????'???s unity,?EUR??,,????'?? he said. ?EUR??,,????'??Honestly, in landscaping there is too much variety and it creates a disjointed viewing environment.?EUR??,,????'??

A ?EUR??,,????'??before?EUR??,,????'?? view of the uninspiring roadscape bordering the park.

The simplicity of the overall landscape design is reflected in the basic concepts, which emphasize the use of geometry to create unity and scale as well as diversity in plant material to create an exotic, subtropical resort environment. The predominance of drought tolerant, low maintenance plants for economy and responsible resource management. The character of the landscape on Katella relies primarily on narrow strips of land in the parkways and medians. The great variety of architectural styles and building masses suggested that dense plantings would be the most effective unifying element.

With the telephone poles removed, the continuation of the date palm theme, and a new sign post design, the street was transformed into a pleasant visual experience.

?EUR??,,????'??We went with concrete,?EUR??,,????'?? Jacob said. ?EUR??,,????'??The city had a hard time agreeing with that and when they implemented it, people started doing fancy saw cuts and I thought that was more than what was necessary. I wanted to spend money on more plants and bigger plants.?EUR??,,????'??

One of the sketches prepared during the public review period that sold the project design.

Other hardscape elements included signage and streetlights. A consultant hired by the design firm worked on signage for both major streets leading to the park. Replacing pole signs with monument signs. Light fixtures installed on both streets are not custom fixtures according to Jacob, but rather stock pieces from various other fixture designs.

?EUR??,,????'??We felt given the size of the intersections, we wanted to make it clean and simple,?EUR??,,????'?? he said. ?EUR??,,????'??To create something with a powerful impact on a civic scale you have to do things simply and that?EUR??,,????'???s what we tried to do.?EUR??,,????'??