Since opening its door in 1967, Club 33 Disneyland has made a name for itself as one of the most exclusive clubs in Southern California. Originally intended as a place where Walt Disney could entertain his business associates and visiting dignitaries, Club 33 is now known as a private restaurant for Hollywood celebrities and Southern California elites to enjoy a meal away from the masses, while enjoying a day at the park.
I’m not personally a member but I just happen to know a girl, who knows a guy, who is a member and lucky for me, my friend was able to secure a dinner reservation at Club 33 for us to enjoy this very unique experience. Now, I understand a restaurant review is not something you would expect to find on Travel Codex, but I would argue that Club 33 is not just any restaurant. It’s a destination in itself and something only a select handful of people will ever experience in their lifetime. And because of that, I figured it would be worth a review and a peak inside this magical place.
In 2014, Club 33 underwent a much needed remodel, making the place bigger, brighter (and even more exclusive) for its members. A new private entrance was created but the original entrance was maintained to distract the general public from peeking inside when members were granted access into the Club. Here’s the former entrance with its iconic “33” address placard.
And here’s the real entrance around the corner. The entrance is now more subtle with a simple “33” etched into the window pane above the door. With this new entrance, members can now enter the Club in privacy while everyone else gawks at the “fake” door.
And in case you were wondering, membership to this invite-only club is rumored to come with a small $25,000 initiation fee and an annual membership fee of (at least) $12,000, depending on your membership level. Chump change really. Members may make dinner reservations for themselves or for their family and friends even when they are not traveling with the member.
If you are a member, you can just scan your membership card at the electronic scanner by the doorbell. If you are a guest of a member, you can ring the doorbell and announce your party and a cast member will come out to greet you. The cast member will then escort you inside the building to the Court of Angels where you can sit and relax until your table is ready. Just look at this grand staircase leading up to the restaurant.
When your table is ready, you will be escorted through the foyer of the restaurant to your table. If you look at the top right of the second picture, there is motion activated, animatronic vulture that will speak to you.
There are two sections to Club 33. There is one section reserved exclusively for members, “Le Salon Nouveau,” and another section for guests of members, “Le Grand Salon.” Because we were not members and the Club 33 member was not with us, we were not entitled to dine in the members only section. Heck, we weren’t even allowed to walk down there to peak inside.
And here’s the section of Club 33 for everyone else, aka “Le Grand Salon.”
So what does $35,000 get you nowadays at Club 33? Free caviar and all you can drink Dom Perignon served by Mickey himself? Back massages by each of the Disney princesses while you dine? Nope, not even close. The membership price only gets your foot in the door. Food and drinks are extra and as you would expect, prices are not cheap. Here’s our drink menu, not including the dedicated wine and champagne list.
And here’s our dinner menu. Dinner is fixed at $120 per person for a five course meal (not including drinks).
Club 33 Disneyland Dining
Dinner started with an amuse bouche of ahi tuna tepanade.
For my first course, I chose the sauteed diver scallop with roasted cauliflower puree, capers and lemon.
Second course was the winter apple salad with chicory, pecans, fiscalini, and cheddar cheese fritters.
Third course was the roasted pheasant roulade with truffled winter squash puree and duck liver mousse.
Followed by a raspberry sorbet palette cleanser.
My main entree was the roasted rack of Colorado lamb with braised lamb “Daube,” pancetta and thyme.
For dessert, I chose the warm winter apple galette with candied walnut gelato and my friend got the Manjari cake bar with caramel, raspberry coulis and fresh gooseberries. It was too pretty for me not to take a picture of it.
And with the check, we were presented with small boxes of candied treats.
Dinner lasted approximately 2.5 hours and as you can tell (and would expect), everything was plated beautifully and tasted wonderfully. The ingredients were fresh, the seasoning was perfect and the flavor combinations both contrasted and complimented each other amazingly well. The portions were on the small side but with so many courses, the amount of food served was just perfect. I didn’t feel stuffed or heavy afterwards.
After dinner, we visited the little gift shop area where we could purchase a souvenir to remember our experience by. I didn’t buy anything but the little door Christmas ornament looked cool.
Club 33 Disneyland overall thoughts
Overall, this was a fantastic experience and I’m so glad I got the opportunity to visit (thanks Brittney!) Club 33 Disneyland truly is an amazing place with a great atmosphere and wonderful food. It was such a joy to finally visit and I highly recommend it if you ever get the chance. Sure, dinner alone will cost you more than the cost of admission into Disneyland but the memories will last you long after your credit card bill has been paid.
Has anyone else visited Club 33 before? If so, please share your experiences with me in the comments section below. Thanks for reading!
