Disney Finds Caribbean Entertainment Profitable at California Complex.

Publication: The Miami Herald (Miami, Florida) (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News)

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COPYRIGHT 2001 The Miami Herald

Byline: Mimi Whitefield

Mar. 23--Mambo, merengue and more are luring audiences seven days a week to Y Arriba Y Arriba, the new Latin entertainment complex at Downtown Disney in Southern California.

As the face of America becomes increasingly Hispanic, corporate giants like Disney are catching the Latin wave. At Downtown Disney, salsa music mingles with the Dixieland sounds from Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen and rock from the House of Blues.

Y Arriba Y Arriba, which opened Feb. 7, isn't Disney's first foray into Latin culture, but it's the most pan-Latin. Orlando's Downtown Disney shopping, dining and entertainment complex boasts Gloria and Emilio Estefan's Bongos Cuban Cafe, and there's a Mexican pavilion at Epcot, but Y Arriba Y Arriba is a showcase for food, products and rhythms from 22 Latin American countries.

While the 600-seat club is firmly planted in Anaheim, Calif., the venture is a 100 percent made-in-South Florida production, from the concept and design to the nightclub know-how and menu.

The cast includes the Cachaldora...

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