Welcome to the Club: My First Experience at Club 33
In April I had the great fortune of being invited to dine with some friends at the exclusive Club 33 at Disneyland, California! In this blog post I wanted to share a bit about my experience here. If you’re hoping to go one day, or are going soon, here’s what you might expect as well!
What is Club 33?
If you haven’t heard of Club 33 before, it’s an exclusive (and elusive!) club. I believe there are lots of additional perks to being a member here as well, but I’m personally not aware of the other benefits. What I do know, however, is that there is a special restaurant/experience in Disneyland located in New Orleans Square that is only accessible to members and/or their guests.
The Club 33 restaurant offers a 4-course prix-fixe meal ($150 USD as of April 2024) that rotates seasonally. Guests can also purchase exclusive Club 33 merchandise that also rotates seasonally. Additionally, there’s a bar area inside as well that is only accessible if the Club 33 member is present.
The Club 33 Experience
The Club 33 Door
Your Club 33 experience starts from the very beginning when you reach the Club 33 door that’s in a discreet location in the back area of New Orleans Square. The blue ornate door is immediately noticeable to anyone who’s looking for it, but otherwise just blends right in with everything else. Upon ringing the doorbell, a cast member comes out to greet the party and review the rules for the duration of the stay.
There are a few rules that they enforce, and they mostly pertain to footage inside the club.
No videos allowed
You may take as many pictures as you like, but keep the photos to only those in your party and do not get other guests in the background
No photos in the bathroom
Court of Angels
The Court of Angels is where the iconic Club 33 staircase is located. This is a small little courtyard where guests wait and take photos while the table is being prepared. Here you’ll receive a moist towelette to wipe your hands and some water. The main attraction is the staircase, but if you wander around the courtyard you’ll notice some cute and nice little details around as well.
I particularly liked the little TinkerBell at the little fountain by the stairs. You can also see and appreciate the stained glass panels as well.
According to the cast member, the Court of Angels was designed to have beautiful acoustics as a dedication to a previous cast member who loved to sing.
The Restaurant
Once the table is ready, another cast member comes to bring the group to the table.
We were brought up the staircase where we were met with another iconic piece of Club 33, the Club 33 mosaic tiles. Of course we had to get a shoefie!
We entered the double doors and passed by the merchandise case on our way to our table. They ask that all merchandise purchases are saved until after the meal so that it doesn’t interrupt the flow. A good idea since we ended up taking quite a while debating what items to get afterwards.
The dining room was very ornate and classically decorated, definitely made me feel like I had stepped back in time! The tables are placed together pretty closely so when the dining room got filled up later in the evening it felt a tad cramped.
Outdoor Balcony
The restaurant also has an outdoor balcony area that’s accessible through the corner of the restaurant. It’s a cute little spot that gives you a view of New Orleans Square from above!
The Meal
The meal was a 4-course prix-fixe meal in which we could choose what we were having for each course. This is the same style as Napa Rose in the Grand Californian Hotel & Spa as well.
They also have an elaborate drinks menu with lots of cocktail and other drink choices. For those who don’t drink alcohol they also have some non-alcoholic drinks as well! Since I’m not a big alcohol drinker, I went with the Tropical Storm, a passion fruit, pineapple, and citrus mocktail, which was very fruity and refreshing!
For my meal, I decided on the Ahi Tuna Confit, Pan Roasted Diver Scallop, Fresh Cavatelli Pasta, and Strawberry Pistachio Crumble Bar. The meal also starts off with a basket of fresh bread and butter. The bread was pillowy soft and delicious!
A very important note on ordering: if you have any allergies, I would definitely recommend asking the server if anything you ordered contains anything you’re allergic to. We did have a mishap in which one of the dishes contained an ingredient that someone was allergic to, but it wasn’t written on the menu so she didn’t know until she ate it, and it caused us a bit of a scare ;__;.
First Course: Ahi Tuna Confit
The meal was off to an awesome start with the Ahi Tuna Confit. The tuna was delicious and flavorful. The potato rosti beneath it was also very flavorful. The crispy outside had a nice crunch to it as well. There was a very light tartness to it from the kumquat that really brought out the flavor of the tuna and made it more refreshing.
Second Course: Pan Roaster Diver Scallop
Scallop is one of my favorite seafoods, so I had to pick the diver scallop as my second course. And I was not disappointed. I had a very similar dish at Napa Rose, and I really enjoyed it both times. The scallop was cooked perfectly with a nice subtle bite to it. The peas have such a light flavor that they don’t overpower the scallop at all. And the mushrooms were delicious and well cooked and flavored.
Entree: Fresh Cavatelli Pasta
This may have been my least favorite dish, but not because it wasn’t good. Everything else was just more outstanding. The pasta was bouncy and had a nice texture to it. I enjoyed the burrata, but I do wish there was maybe a bit more. I felt like this dish lacked a bit of balance. The sugar peas and tomatoes both have a bit of a sweeter flavor to them, so it felt like there wasn’t really anything in this dish that had a savoriness to it which I think would have made this even better. At some point I felt like the flavor was just the same and it was a bit tiring finishing it.
Dessert: Strawberry Pistachio Crumble Bar
A very yummy way to close out the meal! The strawberries were sweet with just a hint of tartness. I really enjoyed the sorbet too since it was very refreshing, especially after the more heavy pasta meal. The pistachios added a subtle nutty flavor to it that was also very good.
Also look for the hidden Mickeys!
I was just a bit too full to finish this up, but they were kind enough to give me a to-go box for this so that I could enjoy it more later!
Mini Chocolates
At the end of our meal we were given these cute little chocolate boxes with our bill. Each box contains two chocolate squares.
Merchandise
Club 33 offers different kinds of merchandise from jewelry to ears and backpacks. When we were there, there were still some items from the winter holiday season of last year for sale as well as the current design. From what I could tell there weren’t limits on how many of each item you could buy, so if you have any fans of Disney, these merchandise items could make great gifts!
Review
Overall, I would say that this was a fun experience, and I’m glad I got to enjoy this with great company! Most of the cast members we interacted with were so kind and helped make it a really enjoyable experience. The food was delicious as well!
The price is quite steep per person (after tax and gratuity it came closer to $200 USD per person), but it was a rare experience, so I felt like it was worth a try!
For those who aren’t able to visit, I’d highly recommend checking out Napa Rose at the Grand Californian Hotel & Spa. The meal is structured the exact same way, and the experience is very elevated as well, and as an added bonus, anyone can go as long as you make a reservation! Since it’s located in the hotel, you also don’t need to have access to the parks in order to visit either!
