The Grand Californian Grand Opening
Page 3 of 15

Ceremony - Page 3

Cynthia describes the resort expansion
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RealVideo: Cynthia Harriss, President, Disneyland Resort. 3 minutes, 23 seconds.  (Low bandwidth • High bandwidth)

Cynthia Harriss: Well, thank you Tony. And thank you Peter for your extraordinary artistry that has brought Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel to life. And I want to thank all of you for joining us for this week because during this week we are going to celebrate so many new beginnings of our new Disneyland Resort. Together with Disney’s California Adventure and Downtown Disney, Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel plays an important role in our overall resort. Because with the addition of this gorgeous retreat we now have over 22 [thousand] rooms that will now make Anaheim and the Disneyland Resort truly a multi-day destination vacation resort.

Tony and Peter both have mentioned the inspiration of our arts and crafts movement in the design of the hotel and in its purest sense the arts and crafts movement was an appreciation of nature. Perhaps no single individual has exemplified that appreciation of nature more than the legendary John Muir, one of our country’s greatest conservationists and the founder of the Sierra Club whose efforts over a century ago live on today in the creation of the Yosemite National Park and other national landmarks. John Muir is represented here today by a number of his family and we are so pleased to welcome them. His grandsons Walter Muir and Ross Hanna, his great grand daughters Marlee Muir and Susan Hanna Flynn and his great-great grand daughters Maureen Lewis and Alison Muir Flynn and his great great-great-grand daughter Lindsey Lewis. Would the Muir family please stand? We are thrilled you are with us.

John Muir's extended family were in attendance for the hotel's dedication.
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Cynthia Harriss: Thank you so much for being with us. And it just certainly makes this celebration more special that you are here to share it with us.   We’re also honored today to have with us a true ambassador of the Golden State, the 2001 Miss California. So please welcome the lovely and talented Rita Ng.

Miss California Rita Ng
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Cynthia Harriss: Well we are extremely privileged to have a very special guest with us this morning who has joined us for the official dedication of Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel. This woman is truly a remarkable Grand Californian in every sense of the word. She was born and raised in San Diego in the suburb Santee and has demonstrated an unceasing commitment to our state of California and our most valuable resource, the children. She is the inspiration behind so many invaluable programs that have been designed to improve the quality of our lives, that of our children and to retain the heritage that has made California such a great state. Ladies and Gentlemen, escorted by our very own Mickey Mouse, please welcome the first lady of the state of California Sharon Davis.

Mickey Mouse escorts the Sharon Davis, the first lady of California
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