Way, way back in the long, long ago - there was a mysterious door. A door you might not give a second glance to. It almost blends into the background. It is set back on a dusky street in the French Quarter of New Orleans or New Orleans as it might have been without the alcohol, hookers, trash and debauchery. For this French Quarter exists in Disneyland and this door stands next to the Blue Bayou restaurant. This is Club 33.
Let's go back in time shall we? It was the mid-1980's. A few friends and I managed to gain entrance to the coveted club owing to a "friend of a friend" connection. Isn't that always the way? We were young, excited that we were doing something so exclusive and most importantly, we were going to drink booze in Disneyland. At the time, you had to take the monorail over to the Disneyland Hotel if you wanted to grab a nip at the bar and come back to the Park.
We were giddy when we were buzzed in and the door opened for us. Now WE were the people going inside the mysterious club while others looked on in longing and envy. The lobby is very small. There is a podium where the host stands, an old fashioned Victorian glass elevator and a set of stairs that curve up to the next floor. We took the elevator.
Club 33 serves lunch and dinner. When we went the first time, lunch was a buffet. We arrived around 11am and they were still serving some breakfast items. We ate and ate and ate. We had deviled eggs and ham and caviar and eggs benedict and rare roast beef and cream puff swans and wee cakes. We ate through brunch and into lunch proper. Oh, did I mention that lunch was all you can eat? We ATE! The food was amazingly good. Let's face it, the food in the Park is pretty much.... bad and YES that includes Blue Bayou. Some places are better than their counterparts but in no way is the park's food something you would pay for outside the Park. Club 33 is really good food.
The other perk of Club 33 is that your admission to the Park and parking are included as long as you purchase a meal at the Club. Lunch was the best deal as it was the all you can eat buffet for $40 a person (NOT including booze). We ate and drank for 3 hours straight. We were young, skinny and had metabolisms like rabid squirrels. We ate until we thought we were going to be sick and then we ate some more. The sin of Gluttony, in all its glory, was on grand display at our table that day. At the end we really thought we would hurl if we ate one more thing.
The Club also encompassed some very interesting things. First, the Ladies ROOM. I went into one of the stalls and saw.. a chair:
We had a wonderful, magical time. I will warn you that eating that much food leads to adverse side effects. Here we were - young, thin, fit and that food kicked our ass. We looked at each other, glanced in the direction of the Matterhorn, turned green and all agreed to ride the train and then go watch Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. Those seemed like the best attractions for our bodies at the moment. I swear even Mr. Toad would have caused us to lose our lunch on a three year old at this point.
Currently the membership list is closed and the waiting list is over 8 years. A non-corporate membership costs (you need to sit down now) an initial membership fee of $10,450 and an annual fee of $3,275. So if you want to be a member, get on the list now and start saving your pennies. Also if you are one day late paying your annual dues, your space is given away to the next person on the waiting list.
Deviled Quail's eggs! Mmmmm! Hilarious trip down memory lane-- and you're right, one of the most important things was drinking booze in Disneyland. So naughty-- but legal!
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