Disney’s Tenaya Stone Spa inspired by California nature, architecture and indigenous cultures

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Walt Disney Imagineering developed the concept, backstory and plan for the caller Tenaya Stone Spa astatine Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa to bespeak the tone of nature, California’s indigenous cultures and the hotel’s Arts & Crafts architectural style.

“There was a truly earthy transportation betwixt the Craftsman storyline and honoring the tone of quality and the indigenous reasoning and volition astir the mode they truly unrecorded their beingness and that cosmopolitan reasoning of honoring the tone of nature,” Walt Disney Imagineering creation manager Katrina Mosher said during an online video interview. “It was a earthy partnership.”

The caller Tenaya Stone time spa astatine Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa opens connected Thursday, Sept. 16 with archetypal reservations constricted to edifice guests staying astatine the Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel and Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel.

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The remodeled spa was designed by Walt Disney Imagineering and volition beryllium tally for the archetypal clip by Disney. The erstwhile Mandara Spa — which was designed and operated by a 3rd enactment — closed successful July 2019.

The backstory for the caller Tenaya Stone Spa seeks to recreate the dreamlike authorities experienced during a relaxing retreat successful nature. Imagineering worked with Disney’s Native American taste advisor Dawn Jackson connected the improvement of the Tenaya — a connection which tin beryllium interpreted arsenic “to dream” successful the indigenous civilization of the Yosemite Valley.

“We chose Tenaya earlier we adjacent knew it meant to dream,” Mosher said. “We thought it was precise due for a Disney spa.”

Imagineering wanted the plan of the caller spa to talk to the hotel’s nature-inspired Craftsman aesthetic and link to the taxable parkland elements adjacent doorway astatine Disney California Adventure, according to Mosher.

“Through 1 of the windows of the spa is Grizzly Peak and Redwood Creek Challenge Trail is close determination arsenic well,” Mosher said. “That storyline of that portion of the parkland is grounded successful Yosemite and the Yosemite Valley and it mentions Native American radical who passed done and lived there. So determination seemed to beryllium a truly earthy connection.”

The Grand Califonian Hotel and Spa’s large and voluminous edifice lobby is meant to correspond an opening successful a redwood forest, according to Mosher.

“You’re asked to look retired and up into nature,” Mosher said. “At the spa, we truly privation you to bash the nonstop other of that. We privation you to spell down and successful — down and into yourself. You privation to travel successful and remainder and link with your spiritual self, carnal self, affectional aforesaid and societal self.”

Tenaya Stone Spa embraces the conception of the earthy bid of 4 recovered passim galore indigenous cultures of the satellite — including the 4 cardinal directions, 4 elements of quality and 4 points of wellness.

“Depending connected what people you’re from and what’s important to your tribe, you tin instrumentality those powers of 4 and harvester them each successful antithetic ways to mean antithetic things that are important to you,” Mosher said. “So that was the thought down the plan mentation for the spa.”

The layout of the spa pairs 4 elements and colors with the 4 ordinal directions — aerial and reddish to the south, world and achromatic to the north, prima and yellowish to the eastbound and h2o and achromatic to the west.

“We really had a layout earlier we had the storyline, which is however we knew it fit,” Mosher said. “We had a truly beardown north-south corridor. You participate connected the westbound broadside and you determination towards the eastbound arsenic you commencement your travel into your treatment.”

Spa plan elements see a chandelier designed from a histrion root, stained-glass doors and windows and regionally crafted creation pieces. A hardwood level made from a bid of histrion rounds showing disconnected the maturation rings besides conveniently signifier an endless proviso of Hidden Mickeys.

“We kept things truly earthy and truly natural,” Mosher said.

An existent Tenaya chromatic donated by a Miwok elder who is simply a descendant of Chief Tenaya successful the Yosemite Valley serves arsenic a focal constituent successful the spa’s nature-themed brushwood arbor.

“Guests coming done connected their travel are asked to enactment their manus connected the chromatic and instrumentality a infinitesimal to themselves to permission the satellite down and link with quality physically,” Mosher said.

Upon arrival, visitors are besides asked to prime 1 of 4 stones that volition usher their spa experience, according to Tenaya Stone spa manager Brett Perkins.

“We truly customize this full acquisition for them,” Perkins said during an online video interview. “Nothing is cooky cutter. The Disney quality is the storytelling. The happening that sets america isolated is truly creating an idiosyncratic acquisition for each impermanent who walks done the door.”

The Tenaya Stone Spa task has been 4 years successful the making with creative, engineering, task management, operation and operations teams from Disney taking part.

The 6,000 square-foot spa includes 8 attraction rooms, 4 manicure and pedicure chairs, a relaxation lounge, changing rooms and a retail shop.

Spa treatments volition see the Tenaya River Stone Massage with heated rocks, Aromatherapy Massage with gem elixirs and angiosperm essences, Wild Honey and Mud Body Renewal with peat mud nutrient disguise and a Step successful Time ft massage perfect aft a agelong time of walking astir the taxable parks. Facials and make-up applications volition beryllium offered astatine a aboriginal time.

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