Not all theme-park thrills involve a roller-coaster. This month, tucked in a quiet corner outside the park gates at the Disneyland Resort, the Tenaya Stone Spa welcomes fans of massage, body scrubs, and good old-fashioned foot rubs.
Located at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, the spa is now open and welcoming guests of that hotel as well as anyone staying at the Anaheim resorts Disneyland Hotel and Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel. (Guests at non-Disney hotels will be welcomed at a later date.)
Tenaya Stone Spa’s lodge-style aesthetics echo the stone-and-timber decor of the Grand Californian—which itself is a nod to The Ahwahnee, the Arts & Crafts masterpiece at Yosemite National Park. “The spa name Tenaya (pronounced ten-eye-a) can be interpreted ‘to dream’ in the indigenous culture of the Yosemite Valley,” says Dawn Jackson, a Disney imagineer and Native American cultural advisor who helped develop the spa. “For modern-day travelers, the spa provides an opportunity to relax into a dreamlike state—being lost in one’s thoughts, regaining balance within themselves.”
Certainly, the 6,000-square-foot facility offers a blissful component for any trip to the Anaheim theme parks, with its eight treatment rooms, a relaxation lounge, men’s and women’s changing rooms, and a boutique. Services range from classic massages and body treatments to salon services, manicure-pedicures, and special treatments for couples, mothers-to-be, or teens. Coming later: facials and makeup.
The current spa menu includes options such as the Tenaya River Stone Massage, using heated river stones to ease out the kinks; an Herbal Poultice Massage employing steamed compresses of wild crafted herbs; or a Nourishing Avocado Body Treatment that includes a whipped shea sugar exfoliation, as well as a scalp, shoulder, and foot massage.
Speaking of your feet, the Tenaya Stone Spa also offers some scaled-down treatments that keep travelers and theme-park superfans in mind. The Mindful Traveler Treatment features an exfoliation, soak, and circulation-boosting massage, while the Step in Time Foot Massage features a calming foot soak and lower leg massage—no doubt a nice end to the day after exploring the Avengers Campus or Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
As always these days, check the website of your destinations before you arrive for any special protocols, including the current guidelines at Disneyland Resort.
