Wedding Blog

As some of you may know from the weddingbee boards, last Saturday I had plans to go to Disney’s super-secret, club: Club 33. I had high expectations, and they were definitely reached.For those of you who don’t know Club 33 (I didn’t), it was originally built by Walt as a upscale place that he could entertain at Disneyland. Unfortunately, he died before it was completed. However, once it was finished, they made it into a membership only private club. It gets its name because it’s located at 33 Royal (in the New Orleans section–right next door to the Blue Bayou Restaurant) and in order to have a liquor license, you must have a street address. They limit their membership to only 400-500 (and the cost to join is in the thousands). Only club members and their guests can make reservations. Fortunately for us Peppermints, we were invited by a friend of Mr. Peppermint’s whose Uncle is a member.

I didn’t know what to expect in terms of ambience or food. I mean, I LOVE Disneyland and all, but fine dining is hardly what I think of when I think of the theme park. Nonetheless, it delivered. When you walk into the lobby, you are met with a fancy french elevator. Apparently, Walt had seen it at a French hotel when he and his wife were travelling. They asked to buy it, but when the hotel refused, Walt sent his imagineers over to replicate it. Once you take it up, you find fancy dining rooms with original Disney art hung on the wall.

Recognize this…?

The food was also fantastic! You had the choice of ordering a la carte or doing the Vitner (five courses selected by the chef with the option of a wine pairing for each course). After some hesitation, we all opted for the Vitner–hey, who knows when we’ll get to come again? I’m certainly happy we did! We had great food. As you may remember, Mr. Peppermint is a vegetarian. They were able to accommodate him with a delicious butternut squash & polenta ravioli. He said it was one of the best meals he’s ever had! Everything was fantastic (the best service ever. Seriously)

Even the bathroom felt fancy…

They even have a banquet hall to accommodate parties of 20+ guests. Can you imagine if you hosted your wedding reception here? For any of you passionate Disney folk (who also happen to have some sort of connection to a Club 33 member), this would be the perfect place for a rehearsal dinner or a full on reception. Our friend (whose Uncle is a member) had a birthday here when he was a kid and they served him a Matterhorn-shaped cake–can you imagine what your wedding cake would look like?!?

All in all, it was a fantastic trip. If any of you LA folks can find a way to go, do it!! For the mean time, I think I’ll just go back to the park and enjoy the Halloween decorations…