The Trip Of A Lifetime

Or perhaps the trip of a dinner time...or a lunch time? We have had a short break here at DF'82, so I thought it was about time we came back with a bang!

To celebrate the return, our roving LA reporter Chuck Canzoneri brings us this exciting piece, taking us on a tour of one of the most infamous places in all of Disneyland. Don't forget to check out Chuck on the fantastic Disneyland Gazette.

There are 5 places on the West Coast every Disney Geek wishes to visit.

The Disney Dream Suite
Walt’s Apartment Above the Firehouse
The Basketball Half-Court at the Top of the Matterhorn
The Pixar Building in Emeryville
And Club 33

Last week I got to cross one of these off.

Club 33 is exactly everything you’ve heard about it, yet it feels completely different when you are experiencing it. I will divide my report into the 5 Senses.Hearing

Once you enter Club 33, it’s hard to believe you’re still in Disneyland. Sure you can look out the window and see the people below you, but if you just look out the windows, you see the themed balconies from the 2nd Floor of New Orleans Square. Like the great ride queues, you are now somewhere else. Every now and then I heard Tiana’s Jubilee band, but for the most part, all I heard was the sounds of Club 33.Sight

The rooms and walls are decorated in that Disney style, but contain pieces you’ve never seen before. Take for example the trophy dining room, which contains Adventureland-style pieces and small stuffed game birds. It’s one of the two dining rooms (the other substituting a specific theme for general opulence.)
The most striking portrait (interestingly set so that it’s impossible to photograph without glare) is an image of Walt, later in his life. He’s inside Club 33, having coffee and reading a newspaper, while outside his window the Mark Twain travels past. There’s something intimate and special about it, and it’s one of the few images I can think of that deliberately doesn’t portray Walt in his youthful prime.
My other favorite decoration is a painted map of the Caribbean. All around the border are many, many drawn images from the ride. They almost overlap each other. It’s one of those cool art pieces where you could spend hours spotting all the little details.
I’d also like to mention the antique piano positioned near the buffet lines. Underneath the top of the piano is an amazing colonial style painting. This is the kind of cool stuff you get to see at Club 33.
Smell

Not too much to say here. It’s good that the only thing you can really smell here is all the great food, which brings me to…

Taste

Join us here at DF'82 tomorrow to continue the rest of Chuck's fantastic report. Aren't you dying to know what there is to taste? Well you will just have to come back and find out!

The Door

One of the best known secrets in Disneyland California is the illustrious Club 33. Situated in New Orleans Square next to the Blue Bayou restaurant, this private club has been open since June 15th 1967. The name Club 33 comes from the address, 33 Royal Street. It was built alongwith the apartment above Pirates of the Caribbean (now the Dream Suite) for Walt Disney, but he died before he could see the completion.
It is very difficult to obtain a membership for Club 33 - nowadays it can still take up to a decade for membership. According to The Disneyland Encyclopedia (p111) in 2007 the joining fee was $10,000 per individual, and at least $3,000 in annual membership fees. Of course, for those of us who are unable to afford that privilege you can get a glimpse inside the entrance for the Club as part of the Walk in Walt's Footsteps tour at the Disneyland park.

Be sure to visit DF'82 in the future for an exclusive review of the Club 33 experience.

33 Facts

Although the title suggests different, I thought it would be fun to revisit one of my most enjoyable books, Little Known Facts About Well-Known Places: Disneyland. And from this book, we can experience a couple of facts about the mysterious Club 33 in Disneyland (p167-171).

Did you know...

• There is a nine-year waiting list for Club 33, which can sometimes be as long as 14 years! It has a maximum of 1000 people on it - and it is also at capacity!
• Membership for Club 33 has about 487 corporations and individuals - this capacity is actually due to capacity in the restaurant, and not exclusivity.
• There has been a rumour that the name Club 33 was due to the address, which was required in order for Disneyland to obtain an alcohol license for the restaurant. But this theory is unlikely, due to the fact that addresses, nor streets, inside Disneyland are recognised by the US Postal Service.

Ready To Taste

Welcome back to the second half of Chuck Canzoneri's delicious Club 33 at Disneyland report.

Taste

From the Menu, you have a choice between 6 different Main Entrée’s. You order your Entrée and your drink and then it’s off to the Buffet room. On one side is all your appetizers, ranging from Salads to Antipasta to Cold Shellfish. The Other side is breads, flavored olive oils and desserts.
The types of bread included flatbread, crackers and breadsticks and the olive oils were infused, so you’d have garlic olive oil, pineapple-citrus olive oil, saffron olive oil and so on.
The salads included chef’s, Cesar, and there was a special one, a cheese tortellini with little bits of steak in a creamy dressing. We all loved that one. I’d give it 4 1/2 HP. The rest of the food in general ranged in quality from ordinary to pretty good, but the sheer variety of options was outstanding.As most everyone knows, Club 33 is the one place in Disneyland that serves alcohol. There’s a full service bar near the buffet, plus the staff will happily bring you drinks. Sean and I took advantage of this and ordered… non-alcoholic punch. A special fruit juices mixture that was delicious.

The 6 entrée choices were...
Roast Monk Fish, Rock Lobster Bisque, Spiced Arugula Salad
Pan Seared Chateaubriand, Parsnip-Cipollini Onion Puree, Cabernet Demi
Organic Free Range Chicken, Truffled Mac & Cheese
Farmed King Salmon, Bloomsdale Spinach, Celery Root Jus
Colorado Lamb Chops, Apple Coffee Polenta, Lamb Mint Reduction
Fresh Pasta Three By Three: Goat Cheese Veloute, Mushroom Mariana, Short Rib Bolognese

I had the Chateaubriand because I’m a big fan of steak. It was good, but not even close to superb. The flavors were nice, but the meat was a little tough, a little chewy. I’ve had better. I’ve made better.
I also got to try the pasta, which was extremely underwhelming. The pasta was tough, and tasted anything but fresh. The Veloute was mostly tasteless. The mushroom marinara was better and the Short Rib Bolognese tasted best, but the sauce was sparingly handled so this was not a hearty bowl of pasta.
Around the Table, others enjoyed the Chicken and the Lamb Chops, but we all felt that the entrees were not as good as the appetizers and the Dessert Bar.

The Dessert Bar. Where do I begin? Like the Appetizer Bar, there’s such a huge selection of different treats – sponge cake, cheese cake, pie, torts, custard, crème puffs, coconut macaroons and 3 flavors of Pirouette cookies – that you’re guaranteed to fall in love with something.
For me it was the raspberry-chocolate boxes, a tasty sponge cake filled with raspberry jam and a thin chocolate wafer. I ate 3 of these which is saying a lot when you consider that I tried everything. (I’ve seen that they sometimes use blackberry which I bet is equally delicious.
The Coconut Macaroons are famous, and it’s easy to see why. Moist on the inside, dipped in delicious chocolate on the outside, they’re the 2nd best I’ve ever had. In fact I would give all of the desserts at least 4 Stars except for the crème puff, which was too dry and flaky.

Touch

And by this I’m talking about the special Disney touch. Just the sheer gall to have a restaurant with the reputation of specialness of Club 33. Afterwards, there’s a small gift cabinet with some exclusive overpriced souvenirs. Like Victoria & Albert’s over at WDW, It’s not the kind of place you want to go to over and over again. But it’s a definite once in a lifetime experience.

As for my wife who made it all happen. She’s working on getting us into Pixar.

Don't forget to listen to Chuck at the Disneyland Gazette. And if you want to read more about Club 33 from the outside, here is the previous DF'82 post.

Noseying Around

It's always good to have a nosey around different homes and places that you don't often get a chance to visit. Club 33, in Disneyland, is one such place that isn't the most accessible restaurant in the Disneyland Resort.

The exclusivity of this restaurant makes it somewhere that all Disney fans would love to go to, or cherish the opportunity to visit and dine!

So, for those of you who can't visit Club 33, let's have a bit of a nosey down the hallways...

Into the dining rooms...

And even into the restrooms...

Well, this Princess couldn't resist!

Club Bazaar

Tokyo Disneyland has many hidden treasures, including one special treasure located in World Bazaar.

Tokyo has its very own Club 33, hidden off one of the side streets in the Bazaar.
As you can see, I did try to get in, but they must not have been notified that a Princess was in the vicinity!
Oh well, maybe next time.

Play Us A Tune

When dining at the beautiful Club 33, you may find it hard to be torn away from the buffet of starters that is on offer.

But make sure you do, because when you turn around you will see a beautiful piece of history.

Spotlight On...Walt's Restaurant

Finishing up my look at Main Street USA I wanted to shine the Spotlight briefly on Walt's Restaurant.

Situated on the left-hand side and in the middle, Walt's - An American Restaurant can be entered from Main Street, although the restaurant is all upstairs (above Lilly's Boutique). I'd heard about this restaurant from a podcast, Inside the Magic, and after hearing it I thought it sounded like somewhere my whole family would enjoy. I'm a very fussy eater and food in France scares me a little - but this restaurant is described as one for American and Italian Cuisine, so I thought that I would definitely get something I would eat!

When you arrive at Walt's, you check-in with the hostess and are allowed to wander around the waiting area while you wait for your table to be ready. There are so many gorgeous and interesting knick-knacks in the lobby area, as well as some highly sought-after comfy chairs, that the time passed by very quickly. I took a couple of pictures while we were waiting - not too many, as the lobby area was quite busy. One shows a nice display of Disney family photos and the other shows the stairs up to the restaurant level. There was also a lift that you could take to the second floor, which put me in mind of the elevator installed in Club 33 in Disneyland.

Once your table is ready, you are called to enter the restaurant area upstairs, usually two parties at a time. Upstairs, there are several different seating rooms for you to be placed in: Discoveryland (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea theme), Frontierland (Library theme), Fantasyland (Gothic-styled area) and Adventureland (Arabic theme). We were placed in the Discoveryland section, which is actually one of the first sections to walk-through. Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling too well during the meal and so I didn't take any pictures of the interior, which I am very annoyed about! My dad took a couple of pictures of us at dinner - one of which you can see a fantastic modelling of the Nautilus which was hanging on the wall (excuse the top of my mum's head in the picture), and the others show some of the pictures and sketches that adorn the wall. We were lucky in our placing, as the windows overlooked Main Street and we were eating right about the same time as the parade passed by! Great entertainment!

As for the food, we all thoroughly enjoyed it. I had a lovely burger - it's one of my favourite 'dining out' options, whilst my parents both had a steak - and we all had a nice glass of wine each(after all, this is France!). Of course, I should mention that the menu itself is something to behold. It is more like a photo album than a menu, with pages of photos of Walt and stages in his life (his hometown, his family, etc). I really wish I had taken some pictures...I think I will have to go back there and update this post in the near future. Anyone fancy joining me?

Overall, my family and I had a lovely time dining at this restaurant. In my opinion it was the location that really helped set the mood and the atmosphere for the dinner, and the Imagineering behind the restaurant. The amount of detailing that has gone into this place is amazing. Whilst this wasn't the best meal I ate in the park (the Silver Spur Steakhouse was amazing - especially for all you carnivores) and it can be quite expensive considering other places to eat, I would definitely recommend this restaurant. It's a beautifully themed place to dine, in a fantastic location and with an exquisite atmosphere.

Ticket To... World Bazaar & The Castle

Unlike the Disney Theme Parks throughout the world, Tokyo Disneyland doesn't have a Main Street USA. Instead, we are welcomed to the park with the World Bazaar! A main street covered with a Victorian style glass ceiling, constructed in order to protect guests from the Japanese weather, which can actually be quite harsh at times of the year!
World Bazaar has several different shops and restaurants - more eating places than any other of the Disney Main Streets. It also has the Tokyo Disneyland Club 33 restaurant, a similarly exclusive restaurant to the one in New Orleans Square, Disneyland, California. Here we can also find the Penny Arcade (where we can be transported back in time to enjoy penny games from the late 1800s) and the Disney Gallery, which features a place where you can have your very own Drawing Lessons!
Once we get through World Bazaar (where we try not to spend too much money on food or souvenirs!), we reach the Hub and we catch our first view of the beautiful Cinderella Castle.
Whilst very similar to the Castle in Walt Disney World, this Cinderella Castle used to have its very own walk-through attraction. Between 1986 and 2006, guests could experience the magical "Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour". And notice, the name is "Cinderella Castle" and not "Cinderella's Castle" like in Florida.

The Castle usually hosts some shows throughout the year, so maybe we'll pop back another time and have a look and see what shows are happening for us to enjoy!