Just back from Big Doin's

[CalGal]

We had a fabulous time! I may write a trip report, but first I'd just like to say thanks.

We've been to DL around 20 times over the past dozen years, and yet we still learned and benefited so much from these boards. It really enhanced our trip.

Special big thanks go to JonetteA who posted that she had 2 spots available on a Club33 reservation on 8/5, and I was the first lucky PM responder. What a fabulous treat that was! DS is totally spoiled now. A funny side note: Jonette called me on my cell Thursday evening to confirm our meeting time for Friday morning, and it turned out that we were both in Goofy's Kitchen at the time. So I had my first DISer meet at Goofy's Kitchen!

Of course, many thanks go to Mary Jo and other posters for their numerous tips and recommendations. I loved Rancho Del Zocalo! We also enjoyed desert at the Carnation Cafe, and bought one of the commemorative plates. A poster had recommended calling ahead 2 days if we had room requests, and that really paid off. We had the most wonderful room at the GCH -- Room 5337 on the 5th floor directly over the resort entrance to DCA, looking over Grizzly Peak and GRR.

Also, thanks to Mary Jo for all of her wonderful sticky threads. My DS had a blast taking pictures of all of the hidden Mickeys. He also collected all of the 50th pressed pennies.

Thanks to the pin traders who recommended getting inexpensive pins off Ebay and with Energizer batteries so that DS could dabble a little with trading.

Thanks to the posters that let us know that EE is now available for on-site guests, so that we could do EE twice during our stay!

Without this board, I probably would not have known I could upgrade to an AP. Now it looks like I'll be hanging around these boards for awhile.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Sounds like you had a great trip! Rancho del Zoccalo is definitely our favorite counter service too. I can almost taste it now. That is so incredible you lucked out with the Club 33 thing, talk about a once in a lifetime piece of luck! Someday I hope to stay at GC and have that same view, my son so wants to stay there. Welcome home!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Glad to read you had so much fun at Disneyland! That's cool beans that you got to eat at Club 33 - what a nice experience that must have been.

 

[blackjackdelta]

I am just curious about how the Club 33 reservation came up. I had the opportunity to meet Walt Disney on a few occasions from 1955 to 1966. My uncle was a wild life photographer for Disney, so we had access to Disney studios anytime he was in town. Met many people involved with Disney at that time. I was in club 33 many years ago
Unfortunately I have not been able to do Disneyland or WDW due to money and I work out of country most of the time.

Anyway, I would love to go to Club 33(and I am sure the masses would also) , how did this come up. I would love to see if I can remember those past feelings.....just very curious.

Thanks for everyone's time.............5 days to go.

 

[CalGal]

blackjackdelta:

Club 33 is really special, but it could never compare to meeting Walt himself. How lucky you are!

I'm hardly an expert on Club33 since I just lucked into it. My understanding is that one can buy into a very pricey club membership to have rights to make reservations there. JonetteA knew a member who made reservations on her behalf; the reservations were for five, but two of Jonette's friends were unable to come.

Club33 is not an inexpensive dining experience by any means, but it is very special. It does comes with a complimentary park-hopper, which is nice if you do not have an AP. In our case, this ended up extending our visit from 5 to 6 days -- but then we converted to an AP anyway so the complimentary PHs just became a souvenier of this unique experience.