My Photo Visit to Club 33

by

Your Pal, Ed

 

Hi everybody. My girlfriend, Cinde had herself a birthday 1-26-04, and invited me to go to Club33 with her to celebrate. Oh, boy! Thanks Cinde!

Her incredibly nice boss, Chuck, who is a member of Club33, let Cinde make reservations for her birthday. What a wonderful way to show his appreciation for Cinde's dedication, and hard work at his printing company. Thanks Chuck!

Cinde knows how much I love Disneyland, and she couldn't wait to see my reaction when I found out we were going to Club33. My reaction was... Wheeee!

Okay, so we started our day by parking on level 5, the Donald duck level. Look at all those people down there waiting for the tram. Don't they look little? It's too bad all those little people waiting for the tram can't go to Club33 with us.

Actually, Cinde and I skipped taking the tram. We decided to walk into the resort instead. Health is important you know. Cinde said she wanted to exercise her legs, and walk into Disneyland with me. Isn't she a sport?

Brunch at Club33 was at 1:30 PM, and neither of us wanted to be late. So, we quickly walked out of the parking lot, past the hotels, and stores till we made it to the Esplanade.

By the way... can you tell which way the monorail is going in the picture above?

I can.

 

Next we went to Guest Relations to pick up our free tickets for our day in the park. When you make a reservation at Club33 you get free admission tickets. The only requirement is that you spend at least the ticket cost at the restaurant. In our case the bruncheon buffet was $47.50 each.

Do they have our tickets Cinde?

"Yep!" said Cinde. Great! Everything is right on schedule.

Cinde was all excited about going to Club33. She had heard it was a secret exclusive restaurant with only a little sign with the number 33 out front.

As soon as we got into Disneyland, Cinde started searching for Club33. She checked all of Main Street U.S.A. to no avail. Then she started searching Fantasyland.

No, Cinde. That's not the secret entrance to Club33. I don't see any sign.

"But maybe someone took the sign down for repair, or something," said Cinde.

Look, Cinde, I'm the one who goes to Disneyland all the time, and when you go as often as I do you make connections. Let me take you to someone who actually lives at Disneyland. He's the biggest honcho at the resort. He'll know where Club33 is.

Cinde reluctantly agreed to letting me direct the way. Soon we found ourselves with the big cheese of Disneyland. The ringleader himself. My Pal, Mickey!!!

Mickey started to give us directions to Club33, and then he remembered he had a map somewhere in his house.

Mickey told us to make ourselves at home while he went to look for the map, and mark the directions to club33.

So, we took his advice and settled in.

Cinde played a little piano. Play the Godfather theme again cinde.

DA DA DA DA DA DA DA DA DA DA DA DAAAAAAH.

DA DA DA DA DA DA DA DA DA DA DA DAAAAAAAH.

Beautiful Cinde!

No, Cinde, don't wash your coat in there. Mickey was messing around with his airplane again, and his gloves got coated in grease. Now, his washing machine is full of oil.

Soon, Mickey returned. He had found some directions for us, and we were quickly able to find Club33. Thanks for the map of the park, Mickey!

Following the map's directions, we quickly made our way over to New Orleans Square.

Look! There's the entrance to Club33 now!

"Oh, I'm so excited. Should I press the button?" asked Cinde.

"Yes, Cinde, go ahead, and press the button."

"Okay, here I go."

"Bzzzzt"

"Yes, hello. May I please have the name on the reservation," said the friendly voice over the intercom. Cinde quickly gave our names to the cast member greeter.

"Welcome to Club33, Cinde, and Your Pal, Ed. Here, let me get the door for you," said the happy and courteous hostess who proceeded to unlock the door for us.

There was a series of loud noises that sounded like very large metal locks were being opened.

"Clank!" "Bang!" "Kachung-abing!" "Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...izzzz."

The door to Club33, now unlocked, swung open for us to enter.

"Welcome to Club33," said our greeter. "This is a lift, not to be mistaken for an elevator that will take you up to the restaurant. If you are interested in more history of our little...."

"BZZZZT!"

"BZZZZT! BZZZZT!"

"BbzzzZZT"

"Ed stop pressing the buzzer. You're embarrassing me. Come in here at once. Please, excuse my boyfriend. Sometimes he acts like a child," said Cinde.

"That's quite all right," our hostess greeter said happily. "Sometimes children press that button for five minutes at a time. You get used to it."

"So, as I was saying," said our greeter, "Welcome to Club33. The lift will take you upstairs to the Maitre d' who will show you to your table."

"Thank you," said Cinde.

On exiting the lift, I noticed to our left some familiar paintings.

The Maitre d' greeted us and proceeded to walk us to our table down the hallway that crosses over the street one story above New Orleans Square.

Can you find the burned-out light bulb in the picture of the hallway you just looked at. Actually, it isn't a burned-out light bulb. I unscrewed the bulb just for this picture. Don't worry I screwed it back in before I left.

We were seated at our table, and immediately our crystal glasses were filled with Avian water, or whatever the water is in the bottle with the pink label. Notice the fancy black Club33 plates that are waiting for you at your table. They take those away after you order your lunch. We ordered two of the bruncheon buffets.

Happy Birthday, Cinde! You look so elegant.

And thanks again for inviting me to Club33 for your birthday. Don't I look elegant too?

"Ed please take the spoon out of your coffee cup. Oh, why did I invite you? Oh, dear."

The service at Club33 was impeccable. That's our waitress, cast member, Lisa.

Oh, I almost forgot, cast member, Francis was there too. I must commend the entire staff for the attention they lavished on us, and the other not as important guests.

 

Look at this wonderful buffet.

On the left of the buffet was delicious sushi, shrimp and other things that Cinde liked. I don't eat sushi myself, so I stayed with the fascinating salad items on the right.

I wish i had taken a close-up picture of the salad bar, but i forgot to. There were all these recently grown baby lettuces, and vegetables, chosen by someone with an obvious love for the greenery. I mean, I've eaten at quite a few salad bars before, but half the items I had at Club33 I had never seen before in my life. The items had obviously been chosen by a chef with discriminating taste.

Time to grab a plate. You go first Cinde.

While I waited for Cinde to load up her plate, I photographed a bit of the decor behind the salad bar.

Look at this fascinating 300 year old mirror, for instance.

What's interesting to note is that behind that curved mirror there are three computer operated cameras. They keep an eye on the silverware which guests tend to take as souvenirs. The Club33 silverware had been disappearing, and reappearing on ebay, that is, until the cameras were installed.

Oh, look at this priceless antique clock.

Actually, this isn't just an antique clock. This is the time clock where the cooking and serving staff punch in and out. That ancient Greek emblem on the right swings open to reveal the punch in slot. The employee cards are kept in slots on the back of the emblem. Pretty clever eh? Disneyland truly is amazing.

This lamp is solid gold and worth $80,000!

Absolutely miraculous! I could walk around these hallways for hours. What fascinating secrets are behind each inconsequential looking thing.

Cinde quickly filled her salad plate with sushi and salad doings. I filled my plate with a delicious selection of the baby salad stuff. As I told you, I was going to take a picture, but I forgot to. I was just so hungry I filled up my plate, went back to the table, and ate up my salad before I remembered about the camera.

After we went back up to the buffet and got our entree, I remembered to take a picture of what we were eating. Here is what Cinde had, which is pretty much what I got: Lamp Chop, string beans, rice something or other, and whatnot. Oh, and lot's of mint jelly.

Delicious.

Aren't these pats of butter cute looking. They are shaped into little flower patterns, and other kinds of patterns of...of...oh wait a minute. Is that supposed to be an eyeball? That's disgusting!

 

 

Just kidding.

That was a swell meal. Time for Desert!!!!!!

That's a bowl of melted chocolate to dunk fruit and stuff in. There were strawberries, and melon, and other things to coat in the chocolate. I just used my fingers.

Don't worry... I left plenty for everyone else.

Boy, those deserts were tasty. While we were scarfing down the sweets, our waitress, cast member Lisa, brought Cinde her own slice of raspberry ice cream birthday cake. Yum Yum.

What? Are you sure? Why thank you, Cinde. I'll be happy to finish your birthday cake for you.

"Slurp." Ahhhhh, that was tasty.

"Burp! Oh, excuse me."

While I finished off Cinde's birthday cake, Cinde ordered coffee, and I had a refill of the exquisite percolated brew. We both were sated and it was time to relax, take in our surroundings, and let our food digest.

Here is a picture of Walt with one of the audio-animatronic robots from the Pirate's of the Caribbean ride. One of Walt's dreams was to create a New Orleans area with living quarters for himself and his wife, Lillian, right at Disneyland.

Unfortunately, Walt never got to experience the completed Pirates ride, or the living quarters in New Orleans. After Walt's death, Lillian concentrated her time on all the details which ended up making Club33 more than just a restaurant. It feels like a bit of a tribute to Walt himself.

So sad that Walt never had a chance to eat at this wonderful restaurant.

But his memory lives on.

It truly is a beautiful restaurant.

Notice how low the paintings are hung on the walls. They are at eye level for the dining guests. I was going to take more pictures of the paintings on the right, but there was a large group having brunch on the other side of the room, and I didn't want to bother them.

Care for a walk on the balcony, Cinde?

We traversed the length of the balcony going around the corner to the edge of the building, which afforded an opportune time to take another lovely photo of Cinde on her birthday. Happy Birthday, Cinde!!!!

Some kids, from the large party sitting across the room from us, followed us out onto the balcony, and yelled for some beads from the mime below.

 

The mime stopped and threw strands of beads to everyone on the balcony.

What lovely purple beads, Cinde. You are my princess of New Orleans.

I excused myself from Cinde for a moment to, ah... "Wash my hands."

I walked through the balcony doors and down the hallway to the immaculately-clean washrooms, at least the men's washroom was immaculately-clean. Cinde told me later the women's room was immaculately-clean also.

There were stacks of Club33 napkins on either side of the sinks, and on a stand before you exit. How nice of Club33 to let you have some extra collectible napkins to sell on ebay. Now, I can afford to return at a later date to this wonderful restaurant.

And, by the way kids, don't forget to wash your hands before and after you eat.

There is a display case across from the restrooms with Club33 souvenir items you can buy.

I think that gold license plate frame would look wonderful on my 1992 Cutlass Cierra. I mentioned to Cinde what a nice Christmas present that license plate would make. Cinde quickly changed the subject.

This comfortable attire for walking through Disneyland comes with a Club33 logo on it, and only costs $6,000.

 

"I sleepy," said Cinde. Cinde was tired after walking into the park. She isn't used to that much exercise. "My tummy hurts, I ate too much," she said.

It was getting to be time to go home.

On our way out we stopped by the trophy room for a quick look. There weren't really many trophies left. I think there was one stuffed bird above the doorway, and this display case.

Mostly photographs are all that's left on the walls. They were interesting photographs, however. A few I hadn't seen before. There were photographs of Walt, Lillian, Animators, and Imagineers.

We said goodbye to everyone at Club33, and made our way downstairs. Once outside on the streets of New Orleans Square again, we used the map Mickey gave us to make our way through the crowded streets of Disneyland, and back to our car.

While our visit at Club33 was now over, it would never be forgotten, at least not by me.

Thanks, Cinde. What a wonderful day we had at Club33.

And once again.

Happy Birthday, Cinde!!!!!!

With love from Your Pal, Ed.