Disneyland Trip Planning
Topic: Orange & LA County Entertainment Malls

#	Author	Message
1	oc_dean Mon 9/6/2004 9:28p	I thought this topic would be helpful to those with vacationing plans to the DLR in Orange County .. And thought that a comprehensive list would help: As Orange County grew from it's quiet "Agriculture Empire" years into a suburban sprawl beginning in the 1950s ... so did the number of outdoor malls. Usually with 2 anchoring department stores on each end. The Anaheim Plaza was OC's first mall built in 1955 with The Broadway and later Robinsons on the other end. .. And then my neighboring mall, as I grew up, The Buena Park Mall in 1957. However, by the 1960s OC began to see a new phenomenon .. The indoor mall. And those malls I mentioned eventually got the "indoor" treatment. Now .. We associate the term "The Mall" as a place to buy clothes, and other odds and ends, and perhaps a few places to eat. Today (and in the last 10-12 years) we have a newer phenomenon: The Entertainment Mall. Sprouting up in LA County and Orange County .... are a slowly growing list of these Outdoor Complexes taking advantage of California's sunny and warm climate. These so-called "Entertainment Malls" usually sport as their "Anchoring" piece .. A multi-plex cinema with a serious of high capacity themed restaurants. And even some other type of entertainment such as comedy clubs, perhaps a bowling alley, and some other amusements. Going down the list, as you all plan your stays at or near the DLR .. Here are LA & Orange counties list of Entertainment malls listed in chronological order when they opened: 1993: UNIVERSAL CITY WALK: Los Angeles County Distance from Disneyland: 35 miles http://aolsvc.digitalcity.com/ losangeles/entertainment/venue.adp?vid=34966 And: http://www.citywalkhollywood.c om/ Universal City Walk was the first Entertainment Mall to hit Southern California. A brand new experience at the time .... with a modern/contemporary look .... it had the largest movie theater multiplex around with 18 auditoriums. None of them are stadium seating .. So by today's standards .. These theaters are obsolete. Elsewhere are some rather nice restaurants that are not to be missed. An omnimax theater .. And several interesting shops. Being part of Universal's Studios theme park property , the crowds and ambient noises from all the music piped everywhere can make this a very noisy place. One has to come prepared for the noise ... and 8 dollar parking. A couple years ago .. They expanded City Walk with a second level that wraps around in a "J" format with more entertainment fun, a bowling alley .. And other unique themed restaurants. (Not to me mention a food court for a faster bite to eat.) 1995: IRVINE SPECTRUM CENTER: Orange County Distance from Disneyland: 16 miles http://www.shopirvinespectrumc enter.com/ In November, Orange County then followed Universal Studios expansion with a higher class entertainment mall in the heart of metropolitan Irvine where the Santa Ana 5 Freeway and San Diego 405 Freeway meet .. Also known as the El Toro "Y" interchange. This time, the architecture is reminiscent of the Morocco pavilion in EPCOT. This place contains a 21-plex movie theater .. With 4 - 500 seat auditoriums with 70 foot slightly curved "wall to wall" screens. 2 of them are stadium seating. There's an Improv comedy club, among other entertaining niceties found in the themed restaurants. Just a year ago .. The center opened a new section that has a Robinsons-May (now starting to combine elements of a "standard" mall) .. And a ferris wheel, and carrousel .. With some nice water fountains spread out. It's nicer than DC..... Oh, I better shut up!! Now .. Coming in 2005 will be a Nordstrom .. And in 2006 ... A Target. (Well, they just blew their reputation for everything being strictly posh and classy.) Hopefully they'll dress up the façade to keep the Irvine Spectrum Center's "fancy" looking atmosphere consistent. 1998: THE BLOCK OF ORANGE Orange County Distance from Disneyland: 3 miles http://www.blockatorange.com/ Construction of Orange County entertainment malls did not slow down. In Disneyland's neighboring city, Orange, was the City Mall. A 1970s mall as "1970s" you can get! A one-level mall with a Penneys and May Co. Well .. With Main Place taking business away from the aging City Mall, city planners decided to reinvent this mall location into the new fangled "mall". The Block of Orange takes on more of a Teen/20s "surfer" type beach atmosphere with facades built "on the light". Here, is a 30-plex AMC movie complex (always got to out-do the previous entertainment mall!) .. Along with .. You got it .. Themed restaurants .. Along with a bowling alley, more "sport activity" joints .. A Virgin megastore, Boarders, .. And I can't forget ---- KRISPY KREME. So important to the Block .. They built it out in the parking lot so drivers can do "the drive-thru". 2001: (January) DOWNTOWN DISNEY Orange County Distance from Disneyland: a hop, skip and a half of a jump ;-) http://losangeles.citysearch.c om/profile/11426191/anaheim_ca/downtown_disney.html?cslink=roundup_name_noncust&ulink=roundup__roundupentity2-2_1__0_profile_21_1 and http://www.aguidetoanaheim.com /index.php?p_id=55 Every Disney website has info .. So I thought I'd try to find a different website. Everyone knows it ... so why mention anything .. Other than the AMC-12 complex is rather nice! With two good size auditoriums with 50-55 foot screens .. And the smaller ones are even pretty decent. What I find so nice about DtD is the "classy" look of it all. Not too loud .. Though on weekend evenings there are sections it can get noisy. With night-time entertainment .. One can find some musical performances in the House of Blues .. Among a couple other places. I like the fact Compass Books has a nice selection of behind-the-scenes Disney theme park books. Rainforest Cafe has such an awesome looking façade! An amazing hangout for tourists .. And OC natives .. Not to mention LA natives looking to escape LA for the evening. 2001: November: HOLLYWOOD AND HIGHLAND Los Angeles County Distance from Disneyland: 33 miles http://www.hollywoodandhighlan d.com/home.html and http://www.seeing-stars.com/La ndmarks/HollywoodAndHighland.shtml As the city of Hollywood tries to clean up it's sagging image of filth along Hollywood Blvd. (That has been dominate since the golden age of Hollywood came to an end by the 60s) One major addition came along the same year as DtD .... And that was the multi-level Hollywood & Highland Entertainment Complex. This time (with space as tight as Manhattan Island) they stacked it up vertically as it rises several stories. Along with the usual mix of themed restaurants, it contains additional Mann movie theaters that are stadium seating .. Although .. because of the tight spaces .. I didn't particularly like the seats in relation to the closeness to the screen. It's awkward and a bit too close. There are nightclubs .. Jimmy Kimmel performs his late night show across the street next to the El Capitan Theater .. And most dominate .. Of course .. Is the historic Grauman's Chinese Theater. And behind it .. Is the new home for the Academy Awards: The Kodak Theater. There's a Hollywood memorabilia museum .. And a "grand" staircase built in the direction of view of the Hollywood sign. Along with a few "standard" mall shops ... underneath is a convenient stop for the LA Red Line Subway ... which cuts into the valley .. And south into downtown. 2002: THE GROVE Los Angeles County Distance from Disneyland: 35 miles http://www.seeing-stars.com/Sh op/Grove.shtml and http://www.thegrovela.com/ Okay .. First in LA .. We had the first ... contemporary modern .. Then Irvine's Moroccan/sh classy style .. Then The Block's kind of cheap "surfer" hangout motif .. Then the ever-so classy DtD .. Then the "So Hollywood" multi-stacked Hollywood/Highland ... and THEN CAME THE CRÈME OF THE CROP: The Grove. This is ... by far .. Has the nicest "Disneyland" type qualities of all OC/LA Ent. Malls! Not only do they have a movie theater complex with a lobby with opulence you would find in luxury ocean liner of the past ... but they have a couple "theme park" qualities such as a trolley .. And a dancing waters show. It has a distinct "Disneyland: Main St. USA" design about it. With a main street and town square section that is full of charm. The lamp posts .. The glockenspiel on top Abercrombie & Fitch .. And the historic Farmer's Market on the other end .. This is the best of them all .. And if one has time for only one LA based entertainment mall .. This is the one to come to! ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well .. It was a bit long .. But this was a pet project I wanted to do for the LP boards .. And with plenty of people looking here in the DL: Planning section .. With any time to spare ..and you feel like still taking part in some entertainment environment ..and feel like doing something a bit different .. These are some great options. But that's not the end of the Entertainment Malls for Southern California .. MORE ARE ON THE WAY! 2005 ANAHEIM GARDENWALK Orange County Distance to Disneyland: a slight skip and tiny jump No website information yet I could not find a heck of a lot of info on this. All I know is it's supposed to open by next year.. And what will give it it's "Entertainment Mall" status (for sure) will be that aquarium they have planned. Plus I believe they have a large amphitheater for live entertainment planned. So .. With DtD, and The Block nearby .. There's plenty to keep people busy in Anaheim. One more ....... 2004 Winter BELLA TERRA Orange County Distance to Disneyland: 14 miles http://www.huntingtonbeachmall .com/siteslides.htm And http://homes.wsj.com/columnist s_com/bricks/20040421-bricks.html and http://www.surfcity-hb.org/Cit yDepartments/ED/redevelopment/huntingtoncenter.cfm and http://www.icsc.org/srch/sct/s ct0902/page53.html And http://www.icsc.org/srch/sct/s ct0902/page53.html Since 1966 the Huntington Beach Mall has been a fixture along the San Diego 405 Freeway. With the even larger Westminster Mall just up the same freeway off of Golden West St. .. I always thought to myself growing up .. "Why two malls so close to each other". Well .. This mall began a downturn .. And I guess the time came for some kind of renewal program .. And with the mass popularity of Out Door Entertainment Malls now... Orange County will be getting it's 4th one come this winter. You can see for yourself what this one will be getting. All the usual things that come with this type of mall. I wonder what's next after Bella Terra and Gardenwalk. It's funny how in the 1950s .. The mall was outdoors .. To then go "indoors" for the 70s and 80s .. Now just to go back to out doors again. The Anaheim Plaza takes the cake. 1950s .. "Outdoor" ... 1970s .. Went "Indoor" ... 1990s .. completely demolished ... And turned it into one "supersized" strip mall with Wallmart. City Mall went outdoors with "The Block", Disney has it's own ... and there seems to be no stopping them. Even in the San Fernando Valley ... the famed Sherman Oaks Gallery (I can just picture Nicholas Cage from that 80s movie with his girlfriend saying "fer sure, fer sure") got the "outdoor" treatment as well. Hope this info is helpful in your future trip planning for the DLR.
2	poohbear14 Mon 9/6/2004 9:56p	Great information Dean! To out of towners - The Block and The Spectrum can get very busy on the weekends. Parking is always a problem at The Block on Friday and Saturday night. The Spectrum was bad too but they recently opened a parking structure which may help. Also, I'd be surprised if Bella Terra in Huntington Beach opens Winter 2004. Other than Kohls nothing else new there. Still lots of construction.
3	oc_dean Mon 9/6/2004 11:36p	>>The Spectrum was bad too but they recently opened a parking structure which may help.<< I was there saturday 8/28 and again 9/4. I got to see the 'last days' ;) of the flat level parking section to the left of the movie theaters. Because the next time I was here .. they wrapped off this entire section, and a parking structure is now going up. Which they say will be finished in '05. The new parking structure to the right of the property does seem to help. And as for Bella Terra .. I also think it will be well into 2005 when it's all complete.
4	Kar2oonMan Mon 9/6/2004 11:53p	The Grove is awesome! Nice selection of stores, and just a nice vibe. The Italian restaurant adjacent to it (can't think of the name for the life of me, but it has all sorts of photos of celebrities who have visited over the years) serves the most enourmous portions of food I've ever seen (and I've been to Claim Jumper!) There was a cool jazz singer there the day we visited, and just a nice, upbeat atmosphere.
5	oc_dean Tue 9/7/2004 12:05a	Hey K2oony .. you are thinking of: Maggiano's A great place! The upstairs .. well .. just the whole place .. opulant .. with wood paneling. Must be mahogany wood .. so elegant and sophisticated. I've eaten here a few times! FANTASTIC!
6	Kar2oonMan Tue 9/7/2004 12:10a	That's the place, Dean! Our waitress was a very pleasant young lady, and very tiny. So, naturally, when she said "The portions are HUGE!" we were saying to ourselves, "Uh, huh. Sure." We went ahead and ordered half orders anyway, thinking we could get dessert or a snack later if the portions were small. Ha! My wife's HALF order Caesar salad was shared by four of us, and my HALF order of spaghetti was plenty for a family of four. Crazy! And not unreasonably priced at all.
7	Kar2oonMan Tue 9/7/2004 12:11a	I also like Universal City Walk, too. I've never been there when it is overly mobbed, but I always find cool stores to browse through there.
8	Kar2oonMan Tue 9/7/2004 12:13a	Are the Citadel Outlet Stores worth a look? It used to be a Uniroyal tire factory many moons ago, and I was always struck by the cool Egyptian motif on a tire factory when we'd drive past on our way to Anaheim.
9	oc_dean Tue 9/7/2004 12:31a	There's not much to see at the Citadel Outlet Mall. The old Uniroyal tire factory facade (built in the 20s) is pretty magnificient. Like a castle. But it's pretty much like a standard type of outlet mall. Along with a food court that is nothing to scream about .. you get some "outlet" priced stores in a neighborhood I wouldn't be caught dead in late at night. Being on the eastern edges of East LA .... my final analysis on this is .. "eh, good place to buy inexpensive wallets, kitchenware, and "Old Navy" type clothes." That's it! The Camarillo, Carlsbad outlets can make dances around the tiny thing sitting in the City of Commerce. Plus the outlets in-route to Las Vegas (I-15) and the one outside of Palm Springs (I-10) also make Citadel look like the corner strip mall. ;) OH .. and there's a fantastic mall along the California/Nevada border. Forgot the name. Ontario Mills is wonderful too .. but one thing I've learned .. is not to be decieved by the words "OUTLET Mall" because not all stores are wholesale! Some will be retailers .. So it takes a savvy shopper to know the difference.
10	oc_dean Tue 9/7/2004 12:37a	I do have to say .. as long as I'm on the subject of Outlet Clothing Malls .. the Camarillo outlet is not only the closest to LA .. but has one incredible kick-a** selection. IT'S HUGE! Initially .. it was one incredible large circle with the parking in the center .. Well .. that wasn't enough .. so they built a SECOND "circle" next to it.

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