Person to Watch
Ralph Grippo
Our prediction of a healthy year for local hotels proved accurate. Our person to watch was Ralph Grippo, president of Irvine Company Resort Properties.
We noted the planned guest room and retail space renovations of Hotel Irvine, which Grippo’s division had begun to run after Newport Beach-based developer Irvine Company took back operations in 2013, as well as some changes to come at the Island Hotel near Fashion Island.
We said both sites would offer new restaurants and other amenities to attract more Orange County residents.
Right on all counts.
By December, both hotels had opened new restaurants and “grab-and-go” grocery-type stores, with the clear intent to offer sustenance and libations to both locals and “lifestyle” hotel guests.
That’s not bad for a year’s work if all goes according to plan.
Companies to Watch
Theme Parks
We marked out theme parks for big news—and not just the iconic Disneyland Resort, which turns 60 next year.
Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park reopened Calico Mine Ride and Camp Snoopy in time for summer, then said it would unveil an ambitious attraction next year to combine an amusement park ride with a 3-D gaming experience.
Great Wolf Lodge Indoor Water Park Resort in Garden Grove was scheduled to open in summer 2015 with about 600 rooms and 30,000 square feet of meeting space. Plans now call for a 2016 initial splash, according to its website.
Palace Entertainment sold 15 of its 38 locations in September to Apex Parks Group, run by a former Palace president, to focus on higher-ticket gated parks.
That makes Aliso Viejo-based Apex a new entrant to the sector.
Disneyland did OK, too: News reports said companywide theme park revenue would help fund overseas expansion.
