Inside Club 33, Disneyland’s Secret Restaurant

If Disneyland is the “Happiest Place on Earth,” then Club 33 is amusement park foodie-heaven. Tucked inside New Orleans Square and hidden behind a secret door, club members will find a dining room fit for a king.

I have been fortunate enough to visit Club 33 and can vouch for the specialness of the experience. First of all, let’s face the facts that it is fun to get into an exclusive club. Everyone knows about Disneyland. But the allure of a secret club inside the Happiest Place on Earth is one of those things that piques everyone’s attention. Beyond that, the food and the service are truly top notch. As Ferris Bueller would say, a Club 33 membership is “so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.”

Membership costs thousands, but many big companies hold memberships as a way to thank top clients (similar to how many companies have box suites at sports stadiums). If you don’t have a friend with a membership, you can sometimes score a reservation if you have the right corporate connections.

The club’s décor is very elegant and the space is filled with antiques and collectables from the Disney archives. Upstairs, there is a phone booth from the movie “the Happiest Millionaire” and there is a table from Mary Poppins. There are also plenty of other fun items like the painted harpsichord and the various animals in the Trophy Room.

Club 33 isn’t large, but there are a few distinct areas. The first is the entry lobby, which you might get a glimpse of if you stand outside the Blue Bayou long enough. The lobby has an antique elevator that you can ride to the second floor. It is a small space, but many consider this to be a quintessential part of the Club 33 experience.

The first dining area you encounter is the Trophy Room, which at one time was outfitted with many stuffed game animals and had an enormous mammoth tusk on the wall. The Disney family took many of these items in the 80s when there was a falling out with the company (many of the original pieces from Walt’s Main Street Apartment were taken at this time as well). What you see today are new pieces that are designed to fit the look and feel of the club’s décor.

The Trophy Room has a bit of folklore attached to it, because of the microphones in the chandeliers. Some claim that Walt Disney wanted to know what people said about him after he left the room, so the microphones were installed so he could eavesdrop. Others claim that the microphones were intended to be part of an early Enchanted Tiki Room concept, where the stuffed game animals would come to life.

The reality is that Walt Disney passed away before Club 33 was completed, which unfortunately means he never dined in this restaurant.  The microphones were very likely intended as part of an animatronics show which never materialized. As I’ve learned about Disney, sometimes the legends and rumors are more fun to tell than the reality.

In between the Trophy Room and the main dining room is a long hallway with a bar. This area is often used for the club’s lunch buffet setup. Against one of the walls is a liquor cabinet with some incredibly high end booze. I’m told that one of the bottles on display costs hundreds of dollars for a shot. The bottle is made of crystal and the tradition is that the person who buys the last sip gets to keep the bottle, but also will buy the first drink for the next person. Again, this is another bit of urban legend, but it is too much fun not to share.

The main dining area is the most commonly used and overlooks New Orleans Square. The club doesn’t have any sweeping views of the park, nor does it have a prime viewing angle for Fantasmic. You can see portions of New Orleans Square, but the trees block many of the windows. That said, it is kind of fun to look out at the park and watch the thousands of people walk by, all unaware that an exclusive hideaway is just above their heads.

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Photos via BananaWacky