Landry’s, the parent company that owns the Rainforest Cafe restaurant chain, reportedly wants to reopen their recently closed location at Downtown Disney in Disneyland Resort, according to The Orange County Register.
- The Rainforest Cafe, along with several other dining and entertainment options at Downtown Disney, closed back in June to make way for the recently cancelled new Disneyland hotel.
- Just prior to groundbreaking for the new property this summer, the city of Anaheim informed Disney officials that the project would no longer qualify for a previously agreed upon tax subsidy.
- Disney officials reportedly said they are looking at a variety of options for the location.
- Landry’s operates more than 60 restaurant concepts, including several locations at Walt Disney World, like T-Rex Cafe at Disney Springs, Yak & Yeti at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and of course multiple Rainforest Cafe locations.
- AMC Theatres, ESPN Zone, Earl of Sandwich and one of two Starbucks locations at Downtown Disney also closed to make room for the cancelled hotel.
- A representative from Starbucks said they have no plans to reopen the location, while AMC has already laid out plans to relocate o the Anaheim GardenWalk shopping center located across Harbor Boulevard from Disneyland.
- Earl of Sandwich reopened in its previous location on October 1.
What they’re saying:
- Keith Beitler, Landry’s senior vice president and chief operating officer of specialty restaurant and amusement divisions: “Disney knows of our interest in reopening Rainforest Cafe in Anaheim. We are hopeful they will consider Landry’s for any future site plans.”
- Starbucks spokesperson: “At this time, we remain focused on serving customers in Anaheim at our existing stores and have no store-opening plans to announce.”
- Spokeswoman Lisa Haines on the cancellation of the new hotel: “We’ve taken the time to review the economics of our proposed four-diamond hotel for Anaheim and have made the final decision to cancel the project. While this is disappointing for many, the conditions and agreements that stimulated this investment in Anaheim no longer exist and we must therefore adjust our long-term investment strategy.”
- Anaheim spokesman Mike Lyster: “We would have loved to have seen this hotel go forward, but we understand that the company needed to evaluate whether it was feasible for them. We look forward to whatever they may end up doing with the space.”