Club 33: Exclusive Disneyland Dining and A Little Extra Magic

The door may not look any fancier from the others on ornate New Orleans Square. After the Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion rides it seems pretty unspectacular. But if your day at Disneyland in Anaheim, California includes a trip across this threshold and up the art deco glass elevator, you've made it. You have been to Club 33.

Most visitors to the Magic Kingdom have no idea that it exists. Club 33 takes its name from its address at 33 Royal Street--although a rumor persists that Walt Disney named it for the original 33 lessees and sponsors of Disneyland. . . . or, that Disney was 33-degree Mason. Or even that 33, turned on its side, looks like mm--Mickey Mouse.

In May 1967, Disneyland opened Club 33 as a private supper club for the hoi-polloi. Sadly, Walt Disney himself-who was personally involved in Club 33's conception and design--died a few months before the club opened.

Disney had included the club in the building of New Orleans Square, and intended it to be a classy refuge for invited guests, away from the crowds. The rooms were furnished with antiques from New Orleans, many picked out by Disney and his wife.

After Walt Disney died in 1966, memberships in Club 33 were made available.

The club has only 487 members. The wait for a membership is up to fourteen years--that's according to a recent story in the Los Angeles Times, which (alas) has been removed from their website. The Times reported that the waiting list closed in April, 2007, and no new names are being accepted.

For those lucky few who do get individual memberships, the cost is a $9,500 initiation fee and $3,175 yearly dues. Corporate memberships are $25,000 initially and almost $6,000 in yearly dues. Wikipedia furnishes additional details.

Original Disney artwork and pictures of famous visitors line the Gallery leading to the lounge and two dining rooms. The Trophy Room is by far the most famous.

The walls of the Trophy Room have been re-adorned; it does not look like this picture now. Some of the priceless pictures and trophies have moved-no doubt to Disney family members. The big mastodon tusk is gone, as well as the Fijian war clubs on either side of it.

Click here for a recent sample menu, courtesy of the unofficial Club33Disneyland website. Those who have been lucky enough to visit give this advice: grab a s'mores martini quickly, only a limited number will appear each day.

An animatronic turkey vulture perches in the Trophy Rom. In the early days, the vulture delighted visitors with dazzling repartee, but it is silent now.

Wally Boag, for many years the star of Disneyland's Golden Horseshoe Revue, used to sit in a control room and converse with the guests through the vulture's beak, on special occasions. Listening devices (so that Boag could respond to comments) were hidden in light fixtures, and the screens that hid them are still there-but the receivers themselves are gone.

Word is that the room was wired for many other animatronic animals, but with Walt Disney's death, the plans for enlivening the Trophy Room with raccoon banter were never implemented.

Even with a membership, guests must make reservations far in advance. Meals at Club 33 are not free, surprisingly. However, they come with a free admission to Disneyland and free parking. You can also arrange for complimentary behind-the-scenes tours of the park, and even request that a Disney character join your party for lunch. According to Wiki, a member can bring up to nine guests.

Of course, there is a fancy wine list to choose from, and a full bar. For years, Club 33 was the only place in Disneyland that sold alcohol, and that still may be true--but restaurants in California Adventure and Downtown Disney also serve alcohol.

Disneyland's website is here. Turn down your speakers.