An Inside Look at Disneyland’s New Tenaya Stone Spa

After a long day of play at Disneyland, a relaxing spa treatment at the all-new Tenaya Stone Spa, which opened today and is designed by the storytellers at Walt Disney Imagineering, is the perfect way for clients to recharge for another fun-filled day in the Southern California theme parks.

As of today, the new 6,000-square-foot boutique retreat at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa is open to Disneyland Resort hotel guests (the spa will be available to non-hotel guests at a later date), and will offer massage, facials, salon services and body treatments, including several signature foot treatments that — according to spa director Brett Perkins —are already the most popular. 

Only the second Imagineering-designed spa (the first was Laniwai — A Disney Spa at Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa in Ko Olina, Hawaii), Tenaya Stone Spa tells a distinctly California story through themes inspired by the state’s indigenous cultures and design elements that reflect the Arts and Crafts style of Disneyland Resort’s iconic hotel.

“The spa’s inspiration was pulled from connecting with nature and with California’s heritage and indigenous people,” Perkins said. “So, there are a lot of storylines that … celebrate things that came before us.”

Katrina Mosher, art director for hotels at Walt Disney Imagineering, explains that the Grand Californian’s design is based on Frank Lloyd Wright’s idea of contraction and expansion that asks guests to “look out and up.” Tenaya Stone Spa, on the other hand, wants guests to “look down and in” — spiritually and wellness-wise, but also in tribute to the spirit of nature that translates to “down into the Earth.” 

One particularly noticeable feature that communicates that intention is unique flooring made with wood rounds rather than planks that, Mosher notes, allow guests to “see ‘down and in’ to the tree and see [its] life cycle.”

The spa’s design also embraces the idea of the power of four, a concept found throughout many indigenous cultures that is believed to bring balance and harmony to the mind, body and spirit. To further facilitate the feeling of balance, the spa is laid out according to the four directions of north, south, east, and west, and is aligned with four element colors: white (Earth), red (air), yellow (fire) and black (water). 

The four directions, colors and elements are also reflected in the spa’s artwork. Representing Earth on the north side of the spa are a mural created by a Native American artist and white magnesite (a precious stone once used as currency by some California tribes) mined by a tribal elder from California’s Chalk Mountain.

A red pumice and a red obsidian piece on a southern wall represent air; the yellow tones in the stained-glass window in the east side’s relaxation lounge depict sunrays that represent fire; and the tree root chandelier and black obsidian in the spa’s western entrance represent water.

For yet another representation of four, Dawn Jackson, studio manager of story development at Walt Disney Imagineering (and a member of Michigan’s Saginaw Chippewa Tribe who served as the project’s cultural advisor), looked to her own tribal teachings of wellness and balance, including the Native American medicine wheel that features the four facets of the social, the spiritual, the emotional and the physical. 

“I think about the last 18 months, and some of us have felt very isolated, and our ‘social’ wasn't in balance, but it certainly also took its toll on our ‘physical,’ ‘emotional,’ and ‘spiritual’ (whatever that might mean to someone),” Jackson said. “So, we encourage guests to set their intention while they’re here and really think about what that focus is for them personally.”

An ideal place to set those intentions is at the center of Tenaya Stone Spa: the circular Brush Arbor, where clients will discover an authentic Tenaya Stone — a gift from a Miwok elder and her family (direct descendants of the Ahwahnechee Miwok Chief Tenaya from the Yosemite Valley) that came from their ancestral land.

“It’s great that Disney has gone the extra mile in consulting with the relevant Native Nations for the redesign of their spa,” said Justin Richland, professor of anthropology at the University of California, Irvine. “California is home to the largest number of both Native American individuals and tribal nations anywhere in the U.S. … and I see Disney’s effort in reaching out to indigenous consultants — including the Miwok family with whom they engaged — as an important way to acknowledge the central place Native Americans had, and continue to have, in the unfolding story of California’s past, present and future.”

Travel advisors should note that spa services are only for adults ages 18 and up; however, teens ages 14 to 17 may enjoy certain treatments if accompanied by a parent or a guardian. 

The Details
Tenaya Stone Spa