With little notice the 20-year old Disney Gallery permanently closed in the summer of 2007. On October 1, 2007 the Walt Disney Company announced that the currently closed Disney Gallery would be remodeled and turned into the Disneyland Dream Suite. That fall a thorough remodel converted the historic space into a lavish 2600 square foot overnight suite for 2008 year of a Million Dreams promotion. The remodeled suite would be the realization of Walt's dream to have a larger private apartment built at Disneyland, and would be made available to randomly selected guests of the park. The space underwent a whirlwind remodeling, with Disney Imagineers closely following the original design drawings from Dorothea Redmond.Located above the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, the Disneyland Dream Suite includes a living room, open-air patio, two bedrooms and two bathrooms."Our plan has been to use the renderings that Walt worked on with Dorothea Redmond and to replicate those as exactly as we can," said Walt Disney Imagineering Art Director Kim Irvine. "Her illustrations were very specific, with a color and style for each room."But to make it special for the guests, we want it to be more than just a beautiful suite. We want it to be filled with things that might have inspired Walt as he dreamed of Disneyland."
A January 2008 company press release described the suite as follows: "Guests may enter the Dream Suite by climbing the grand staircase outside the entrance to the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction." An elevator will be available to accommodate guests with disabilities. Through the doorway at the top of the stairs is the living room, designed in a French Provincial style reflecting the New Orleans Square setting.Unusual decorative items like a full-size carousel horse, a mechanical songbird and original wall paintings of European castles will conjure up memories of Walt Disney and the inspirations that went into creating the magical world of Disneyland.The suite features not one, but two master bedrooms. In one, the spirit of early 20th century innovation and the American frontier are summoned with an earthy color scheme, leather furniture, a cast-iron stove, an electric train and vintage mechanical toys.
The other master bedroom has lush decor and atmosphere evoking the exotic flavor of jungle adventure stories as told in the Victorian era.From here guests have an unobstructed view of the nighttime spectacular Fantasmic! In addition to that night's lodging in the Disneyland Dream Suite, each selected 2008 Disney Dreams Giveaway winner of the Disneyland Dream Suite will also be celebrated as the honorary grand marshal in that day's Disneyland parade.One of the most distinctive characteristics of the Dream Suite is the private balcony, which overlooks the Rivers of America.
