Club 33

[SiseFromm]

I forgot to mention that we dined at Disneyland's Club 33 on Monday, August 27th. A friend of ours who knows a guy who knows a guy got us in for a birthday dinner celebration for our friend Justin. He turned, appropriately, 33 years old that day. It was an intriguing experience for sure. Ringing the entrance bell from New Orleans’s Square then entering the unmarked door was surreal. An old French elevator that barely holds four adults brings you to the second floor and into the main hall connecting the two dining rooms. Our server has worked there for more than 20 years and I think he's the youngest of the wait staff. Our dinner menu offered ala carte choices as well as a tasting menu with wine pairings. We opted for the tasting menu plus a supplement of caviar. The food was prepared well enough. By Disney standards it was a 5-star meal. Relative to dining around Southern California, it was pretty good. Carolyn's review of Five Crowns comes to mind when I look for comparisons to Club 33. Basically, it was old-school continental cuisine. We had a Caesar salad with an olive tapenade crouton, soft-shell crab, and hanger steak with potatoes and vegetables. I'm a little fuzzy on the dessert because we were 6 - 7 glasses of wine into the evening by that point. Following dinner we were given a semi-private tour of the facility and all areas and items of historical interest were pointed out and given context and story. The back office for the restaurant sits above the Blue Bayou restaurant with a balcony overlooking the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. If you ever get the chance to dine there, I'd take it. The experience of having a coursed meal at Disneyland paired with wines is is one you probably won't soon forget. Getting in is something of a challenge I'd guess, but luckily we were dining with well-connected and well-healed friends.

[Kerry Beal]

Apparently Walt (who was a rather strange dude) had the whole place wired so he knew what people were up to.

I ate there once, courtesy of a pharamacutical company, rather enjoyable dinner as I recall.

[SiseFromm]

Apparently Walt (who was a rather strange dude) had the whole place wired so he knew what people were up to.

That is indeed true, although I figured going into the dinner it had to be some sort of over-blown urban legend. Actually, the restaurant didn't open until 5 - 6 months after Walt's death. Another tidbit I learned that evening. In our dining room there were visible microphones hanging from the chandeliers above each table. The idea was to listen in on the conversations to better serve the customer and to anticipate every diner's needs.