D23 2019 UPDATE 3/9 This is the end, my only friend, the end. Of our elaborate plans, the end.

[skier_pete]

Nice job. I like that gave it a custom paint job. Ramon would be proud.

 

[mrsw94]

That looks fantastic! You did a great job! I especially love the hidden Rebel tattoo. It's my favorite part!

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Dang girl! Excellent work!

He looks really good!

Nice job. I like that gave it a custom paint job. Ramon would be proud.

That looks fantastic! You did a great job! I especially love the hidden Rebel tattoo. It's my favorite part!

Thanks guys, we are pretty proud of this little guy. Can't wait to take him to Galaxy's Edge in October! I'm going to try to do my next update tonight.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

So...

We were headed back to check out of our hotel and to get changed for Club 33!!!

We were at the Del Sol, which had the excellent positioning to be on Harbor right outside the gate area. Our room was close to the front of the hotel.






We were attending at a quieter time, we never had any noise issues.

I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone. The room was very clean, the air con worked well, the shower pressure/temps was good, it was quiet, there was a towel animal and they gave us cookies on check in!

So we quickly got changed and freshened up and repacked a few things. Soon we were dropping our bags at the front desk. They would hold them until after Club 33, at which point we'd return, pick up our bags, and uber to our convention hotel.

We were back on Main Street around 11:30. Since we were dressed up, I thought we could take it easy and just meet some characters and do a show or two before our lunch at 1:45.



We quickly got in line for Donald and were proclaimed the last guests of the set. This is the second time this happened to me with Donald at Disneyland. I'm glad he holds the line for me.

There was a big group ahead of us who were all from various places in the UK. They were very excited to be meeting Donald and listening to them made the wait go quick.



Then we ran over to get some paparazzi shots of this horse. Love the DL horses.



We casually strolled around Main Street while I tried to take artistic pictures.



We spent about 10 minutes in the magic shop chatting with the CM and I almost bought a disappearing coin trick kit. Still wish I had. He even showed me one of the tricks.

Then we finally met up with our Club 33 benefactors!! We just had a quick chat before they were off to change and get ready for lunch.

We strolled around a bit more while i continued to pretend that I take artistic pictures.



So pretty.

We stopped in to see the birdies sing in the Tiki Room.



We had a bit more time so we kept getting close to Club 33 but stopped in at HM. This was a good little pre-game attraction, since Club 33 was honoring HM"s 50th birthday.



And finally....it was time.

 

[FoxC63]

AND?!?!

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

We met up with our gracious host and his family. We were a bit early so we took some pictures.



About 5 minutes before the reservation we decided we were good to go. I was super surprised when Pete said that I could press the doorbell!! Of course I went to press the bell. Everyone wants to press the bell!!



This was basically my excitement level:



And the voice behind the bell answered with about this excitement level:



Which was whatever. It was fine.

I proudly gave our reservation information (I have to wonder how many people ring the bell just for kicks).

And then the door was opening!!

I made myself keep the phone at my side instead of immediately snapping a picture of the CM who opened the door. Had to be on my best behavior. Which is a big deal of getting a Club 33 invite. They are all about the rules and I was not about to get our new friends or the member in trouble.

We were given lovely lavender scented wash towels for our hands. Then we were set free in the little interior courtyard.



Then there was a bit of a kerfuffle with my shoes

First, I was wearing some gross green Oofos that I had been wearing to save my feet. I forgot to change out of them and was informed that they were not acceptable for Club 33. Which was fine, I had my other shoes in my little Donald loungefly. I pulled those out and the CM was still not sure if they were acceptable. What?! Panic was setting in and I was trying to think of what gift shop I could run and buy other shoes. I was about to try to explain the pair I changed into, but showing a picture will just be easier.



The CM went to go check with someone else (I don't know, maybe they have an official outfit acceptance cm?!). And I panicked. Brian was just wearing stupid white tennis shoes. I think it might have had something to do with these being flip flops??

I'm not really sure, but soon I was put out of my misery by the CM coming back and saying that they were ok.

Phew.

Back to taking 50 million photos while we waited for our table. It was very sunny in the courtyard so lots of our pictures are squinty. Though, to be honest, I don't take the best pictures anyway. I'm usually blinking or making weird faces. Least photogenic person ever.



The little mausoleum thing had a ghost inside and was playing spooky music in honor of HM's 50th.

Another corner of the little courtyard:

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

The stairwell!!!!





We had about a 10 minute wait in the courtyard before a CM came in to take us up.

The first thing we saw was another HM display:




I tried not to take too many pictures on the way in, we were told that we could come back and explore later and I wanted to soak it all in.

I will say though, everything was super fancy and clean and nice. You could smell the eliteness.

I also wanted to be careful of pictures in the main dining room, since you can't take pictures with anyone else in them. I quickly tried to discreetly scan the room as we were led to our table. I didn't see anyone I recognized, though there was a man sitting next to us who was in a tiki shirt dining alone. I was suspicious he might be an imagineer or someone who worked high up at the parks but who knows.

We were introduced to the wait staff and then received our menus. Getting the menus was like a little show in and of itself.

Us ladies were also given a little stool to place our handbags on. I felt like my Donald loungefly backpack was a bit out of place on it's fancy little stool.



Inside of the menu:



It was a prix fix menu with 4 courses.



Yes!! Club 33 had exclusive HM tiki mugs!! I feel like they said they only made 999? Of course we were going to get one.

I won't keep anyone in suspense, each couple ended up ordering one of each so we each got one set.
Here they are!!



The following is not my pic, I stole it off a Google search. I am not sure I ever even saw the drink menu, by the time it made it around to me we were already sold on getting the HM tiki drinks.



I ended up with the Tall Frown and Brian got the Short Scowl (the waiter said they called them the man drink and they lady drink). We ended up choosing wisely because we taste tested the other's drink and we both preferred ours.

I could talk about what Pete and his family ordered, but I'll let him do most of the talking for his group in his own trip report. But they got a set of the drinks as well.

The drinks had fancy metal straws and they were super cold and just very fancy. Right now they are sitting on our mantel as part of our Halloween display. I'm very happy to have had the chance to get them.

Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise and POTC are slightly ahead of HM on my quintessential Disney list, but not by much. But if anyone wants to invite me back to Club 33 if they ever celebrate Jungle Cruise, please do.

Here is a picture of the gorgeous plate: (yes, this is one of those trip reports, had you not caught on by now??).




This was the nice bar display that featured the two drinks. Ignore the blur, I'd got two guys in the picture so I've blurred them out.



Much more to come!!!

 

[FoxC63]

I will say though, everything was super fancy and clean and nice. You could smell the eliteness.

Seriously love the exclusive HM tiki mugs! You're so lucky!

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

We had a very nice time sitting and getting to know everyone. I don't think we even got our first course for a while because everyone was strategizing what to order. So there were 4 items for each course, Brian and I decided not to double up on anything, and we would try each other's, so at least we'd get to have two items out of each course.

Eventually, our first course did arrive.

Brian chose the oysters. I got the Fig Tart.



This was the one course we didn't share, I like oysters well enough but I know he really likes them and I didn't want to take any from him.



Brian's comment: they were good, I wish there were more of them. I could eat oysters all day.



Sigh, this fancy food was most likely wasted on us, though we did enjoy it.

I really enjoyed mine.

Second Course:



Brian chose the fried quail and I got the summer melon salad.

The melon salad was really good. So refreshing. Brian's thoughts on the quail: tasted like chicken, but really good.





Sorry guys, you will get no descriptions of the intricate 'this flavor really balanced and set off this flavor'. I mean, that all happened. But I don't know anything about food and Brian could probably describe some intricate stuff but doesn't feel like it.

Entree:



Brian chose the prime ribeye and I got the fish of the day.



Brian: I wish it was bigger (there seems to be a theme). And of course, I loved my fish but cannot actually remember what kind it ended up being.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Finale:



Brian had the Black Forest Sundae and I chose the Mansion ice box cake.

Brian's was very good and what I would usually order (chocolate). However, I wanted to try the Mansion Ice Box cake. That was probably the only thing in the meal I was disappointed with. The raspberry flavor was very strong and I'm not the biggest 'fruit flavored dessert' people. So was probably my mistake in ordering it.






So that was our meal!! According to my time stamps of my pictures, we had dessert served at 3:30. So the meal lasted somewhere close to 3 hours. Which is perfectly fine. Not sure if I'll ever get back inside the Club, so I appreciate being able to spend the afternoon there.

All the food was excellent and well worth it. We had a really good time and very much appreciate the invite.

Next I'll just post the myriad of random pictures we took.

 

[ashley0139]

Finale:

View attachment 437738

Brian had the Black Forest Sundae and I chose the Mansion ice box cake.

Brian's was very good and what I would usually order (chocolate). However, I wanted to try the Mansion Ice Box cake. That was probably the only thing in the meal I was disappointed with. The raspberry flavor was very strong and I'm not the biggest 'fruit flavored dessert' people. So was probably my mistake in ordering it.

View attachment 437746

View attachment 437747


So that was our meal!! According to my time stamps of my pictures, we had dessert served at 3:30. So the meal lasted somewhere close to 3 hours. Which is perfectly fine. Not sure if I'll ever get back inside the Club, so I appreciate being able to spend the afternoon there.

What an amazing experience! The food looks amazing. I hope to one day have the chance to dine there.

Can't wait to read your D23 stuff!

 

[skier_pete]

Club 33 - How fun! Oh right, I was there! Glad we could invite you along - a big thank you to our member friend - who prefers to remain anonymous - for letting us invite a guest. We really appreciated all your advice on D23 and I know you made our 3 days a lot smoother than it would've been otherwise, so very happy to do this as a "thank you"!

This was my third time in the Club - once with the Backstage Magic tour and only the second as a guest of a member - but as I said to you, every time I feel like this could be my last so I really like to savor it - I don't mind if it takes 3 hours - and the time really flew by. The food is really wonderful, it's definitely gourmet. I agree I don't know the best way to describe the flavors, but it was all really good. I'll probably not get to Club 33 day for a few weeks on my TR - I still think I'm on Day 1 and this is Day 4 for us. Are you going to share the merch you bought as well?

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

OK time for a quick picture tour around Club 33!!

HM hall decoration again.



Our table.




The hallway:





This is the Mary Poppins table. It was in the first film, moved to Club 33, then was used again for Mary Poppins Returns.





Look at that gorgeous piano.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

This vulture was in the entryway upstairs. He moved every once in a while and I love him. So cool.





They had some old Frozen concept art behind the front desk. This is concept art from when Imagineers wanted to put a Frozen ride in the park years and years ago. Before they'd even though to make the movie.



Towards the end of our meal we got to go outside on the balcony! So exciting.













I love this design:

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I love this design:






Look how gorgeous the table flowers are:







We made a stop at the souvenir cabinet on the way out. They had some very pricey things, then stuff like keychains. I was very tempted by a Club 33 Christmas Ornament, but it was expensive and I passed.

One of my friends had gone to Club 33 and got me a keychain a year ago, so the only thing I ended up buying was the special Club 33 HM ears. A pair for me and a pair for Brian's sister.

After we all had our souvenirs we sadly made our way back down the stairs.



Here's a close up of the ghost inside the mausoleum in the courtyard:








And then...sadly, we were on the other side of the door again.



I don't know if I truly thanked @skier_pete and his family for the invite. It was one of the top Disney moments of my life, and I will always remember and appreciate the lunch. It was a once in a lifetime experience and I am very grateful to have been invited to share it.

 

[soniam]

Looks amazing! I should have packed something a little nice

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

So I asked Brian to take a picture of my Club 33 HM ears. This is what I get:



Gelatoni gets to be a model.

As we headed out of Club 33 we saw Red wandering around and I stopped her for a picture.

Hmm. So maybe it isn't me that takes terrible pictures, I think it might be a redhead thing.





I think this may be a future Halloween costume for me, especially since Brian has a movie accurate Jack Sparrow.



Anyway, it was past time to head out of the park. We grabbed our bags from the Del Sol and called a lyft to take us to our new hotel, The Sheraton Park Hotel at the Anaheim Resort.

It's very close to the convention center and I got a good corporate rate from my work.



We were soon at the hotel checking in. We were going to share a room with our friend @soniam and we met up at check in. Yay! More friends! I just keep thinking of Tom Bell's sign off from the Dis Unplugged podcast: Disneyland is always more magical when it's shared.

We had an Oga's reservation for 6:55, so we didn't stay at the hotel too long.

Bleh, this walk was nowhere near as nice as the Del Sol walk. But we chatted the whole time so it didn't seem as long as it was.

We slowly headed back to Batuu.







I liked the wind chimes up there:



We picked up our other friend, Lori, on the way. If I remember correctly we were able to check in about 10 minutes early.



We had to wait in line about ten minutes to go inside but it went fast.






This was my first time inside and I was pretty impressed. It was all very Star Warsy. Just what I'd expect from a cantina. Of course, DJ Rex was the best part. I love that they put him in here and gave him a new job.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Non-alcoholic drinks and food had one side of the menu:



Then the alcohol:



Brian had the Jet Juice. It came in a pretty small glass and I think he was disappointed by the size. Said the taste was very good but it was expensive and not very big. Also, I think the price of that drink just went up another $2.

I had the Dagobah Slug Slinger. It was ok, nothing to write home about and I don't think mine was that strong.



@soniam here are your drinks if you'd like to talk about what you thought:



I really liked what they did with the space and I enjoyed DJ Rex's sick beats (hahaha, I'm not young anymore).

I brought my little force owl that my friend had bought me at Star Wars Celebration:



I really wish they'd more seating. I'm not a big stander, especially if I've been walking in a theme park all day. We shared our little table with another group and did not interact whatsoever. Towards the end I walked around and took some pictures.









Overall I was satisfied with my cantina experience, though having a seat would have made it even better.

After our drinks we went into shops and wandered around a bit.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

It was getting dark and the 4 of us decided to ride Smuggler's Run. The wait time said 40 minutes and it was almost spot on accurate.

Still, the line wasn't that bad since there were no fastpass to make the line pause constantly.

We were soon at the sorting stage and were sadly handed gunner and engineer cards.

Our pilots did a lot better than our first ones. I was a gunner and thought it was very boring. I ended up just constantly tapping the button so that I could watch out the front window and see what was actually going on.

We made our way out of the land.



We ended up stopping at POTC because there was no wait once again.



The drop on this trip actually got Brian and Sonia pretty wet. I was lucky and sitting in the middle so I just got some splashes. Not sure what was going on with that, must be weight in the boat. Brian and I didn't get wet at all our first ride.



I think I wanted to go up in Tarzan's Treehouse but didn't realize it closed when it gets dark. So instead we stopped at Tropical Hideaway for a Bao bun snack.



I realized that the registers have names like the Jungle Cruise boats. So cool!









Bao buns are always delicious. I think the vegetarian might be my favorite.

After that we had to duck into Tiki Room again. Adventureland is just the best nighttime land.



And just to prove that we actually go somewhere besides Batuu and Adventureland, we next headed to Tomorrowland!



Star Tours was walk on so we headed in.



I was so excited that we actually got some of the older scenes!! I feel like all we see anymore are the stupid Jakuu and Salt planet whose name I don't care about.

We had Hoth and Naboo. They'd actually updated some of the scenes in the Naboo sequence. We hit Jar Jar with out vehicle instead of narrowly avoiding him. And at the end, instead of having the tip of the ship come into the ship, we just knock it off. Weird, I didn't know they updated those.

We wanted to check out Hyperspace but the line had recently jumped up to half an hour. We were going to try to hit early morning magic hours the next day so we decided to head back to the hotel around 10 pm.

All in all, it was a fantastic day. Crowds were staying super low. We were able to finish up about half of DCA in the first few hours of the morning, we had our amazing once in a lifetime Club 33 meal, then we'd wrapped up the night in my favorite lands!

The next day, we had early morning magic, another Oga's reservation, and a Lamplight Lounge dinner.

 

[soniam]

@soniam here are your drinks if you'd like to talk about what you thought:


View attachment 438026

I got the Yub Nub, which came in the Endor mug on the left, and the Cliff Dweller, which came in the Porg mug on the right. I mainly bought these for the mugs, which were much appreciated by my husband and son, who had to stay home. The Yub Nub is alcoholic. It was good, kind of like a Mai Tai; however, it wasn't very strong in alcohol or flavor. The Cliff Dweller was non-alcoholic. I did mostly drink it second, so maybe it had watered down a lot. However, it did taste pretty weak and watered down. It mainly tasted like watered down ginger ale with maybe a very slight hint of citrus. I don't remember tasting coconut or the hibiscus grenadine I think it would have been had it not been mostly water. In fact, both drinks and every visit I had at Oga's, the drinks had way too much ice. The ice was watering down the drinks, and it made it hard to hold the glass/mug. Also, I really wanted to get the mugs ASAP, in case they ran out. So, I felt compelled, not by the good power though, to drink as much of them as possible, and as quickly as possible, in case they kicked us out for exceeding our time. I kept getting a brain freeze. We were never actually pressured on time though. I would like to try the Yub Nub again but drink it more slowly. They gave me new mugs in boxes, each in a paper bag. They also put 2 of each style of coaster in the bags.