So it's only taken a week to get my act together to post this. In other words...my PDTSD (Post Disney Trip Stress Disorder) is really acting up. As a side note, some of these photos were taken on my iPhone, so the quality isn't great. I didn't want to use my camera with flash and disturb the rest of the diners.
So...after getting all cleaned up and dressed at the hotel, I headed back to Disneyland. I met up with my friends Karla and Kenny by the Guest Relations window by California Adventure. I met them on the Westbound Panama Canal cruise this May. As I said before, on of the things I love so much about Disney is the sense of community it creates.
We were then met by Karla's friend, Jordan. Jordan is a member of Club 33. One of the perks of dining at Club 33 is you get a complimentary 1-day park hopper to use.
Once we got our tickets, we headed over to California Adventure to ride Midway Mania. I know I've said it over and over again, by Midway Mania is an amazing ride. We waited for about 30 minutes, then got in our ride vehicles. After riding (I can't remember my score, but I think I got in 2nd place), we headed over to the Magic Kingdom. First thing we did was go straight to Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters. Karla and Kenny are quite competitive, so we had to have a little contest. Needless to say...I lost. It's so hard to shoot those guns, especially when you can't really tell where you're shooting.
From Tomorrowland, we headed to the Haunted Mansion Holiday. The wait was around 60 minutes, so we skipped it. We had dinner in an hour, and didn't want to chance being late. So we grabbed fastpasses so we could return after dinner. Instead, we rode Pirates of the Caribbean. Once we got out of the attraction, we had about 15 minutes until dinner. So we waited outside the door waiting for our table. It's funny...you can totally tell who is eating dinner at Club 33. All you have to do is look for the people standing in New Orleans Square who look like they don't belong in Disneyland. What I wore I would probably never wear to the Parks...nice jeans (I call them my sexy jeans), a lime green polo shirt, and a pinstripe jacket (kind of like a professor's jacket). I also had a Swarovski crystal Mickey silhouette pin on my lapel. Again, I would probably never wear anything like this to the Parks.
However, there were a group of women standing next to us. All wearing cocktail dresses and high heels. And not really just high heels, but Manolo Blahniks and Jimmy Choos. I'm positive the shortest pair were probably 3 inches tall. Oy.
Around 8:35, we were called in. Actually is was more like being summoned. We were taken through that magical door on Royal Street into Walt's private club.
The first thing I noticed as soon as the door closed is that you forget you're in Disneyland. You can't hear a thing from outside. They have AMAZING sound proofing. The picture directly above is taken in the lobby, on the other side of the door. When you walk in, the desk is on the right. Behind that is the coat closet. I checked my bag. In the middle is the Parisian-inspired elevator. I've heard two stories concerning the elevator. The first is that while in Paris, Lillian (Walt's wife) wanted the elevator in the hotel they were staying at for Club 33. The second (and what we were told while in the Club) is that while in Paris, Walt's daughters, Diane and Sharon, were playing in the elevator. And when asked if he would stop them from using the elevator, he responded that they wouldn't have to worry about it if the hotel sold him the elevator. Whichever story is true, the hotel refused to sell Walt the elevator. So instead, he send a team of Imagineers to Paris to get exact measurements of the elevator and built a replica in the Club.
However, the elevator broke the morning I had dinner. So we had to take the stairs up. Once we reached the second floor, we were greeted by our host. From there, we were taken to our table in the Main Dining Room. We walked down a long hallway to the dining room. This hallway actually goes over the street below into the building that houses Cafe Orleans.
Past the full bar (the only place in the entire Magic Kingdom to get an alcoholic beverage) is the Main Dining Room. We sat at our table.
We were given water and placed drink orders. Now...you don't get regular water when you sit down. You're given bottled Smart Water in water goblets. And the place setting were GORGEOUS!!!!!
From there, we were given our menus. There are two choices...the dinner menu where you get to pick your dishes, or the vintner menu...a 5-course meal of what the chef deems the best of the best.
Of course, I went with the vintner menu...with the wine pairings. Club 33 imposes a $69 minimum food charge. If you don't buy this much in food (drinks don't count), they'll charge you the $69. However, for $6 more, you can have the 5-course meal. Kind of a easy decision in my mind. Once we placed our order, we were brought an amuse-bouche. It was a single melon goat cheese tartlet with a piece of pancetta on top. Now, I love melon and I love goat cheese. But the two just sounded gross together. IT WAS AMAZING!!! Just the right thing to tickle our tongues as to what we were looking forward to.
Next, the meal began! My first course was a romaine lettuce salad with pancetta apple vinaigrette. TO DIE FOR. The salad was topped with what I'm pretty sure was jicama. I didn't get a strong apple taste for the pieces, so I'm not quite sure where the apple was. Still, it was a great salad. Pretty much anything that has pancetta in it I love. This was served with a 2007 Sauvignon Blanc from Napa Valley. Now, I LOVE wine, but really don't know much about it. All I can say was this paired perfectly with the light salad. Sadly, I forgot to take photos of both the amuse-bouche and the salad. I was so excited that I ate them before I remembered to take photos. Sorry, y'all!
The second course was supposed to be a Maryland soft shelled crab. As much as I love crab, I just can't do soft shell. It creeps me out too much. So, I instead got the sea scallop. This night, it was very simply prepared...seared and served with some spinach, artichoke hearts, a red pepper hummus, and a crispy piece of lavosh or pita. This was served with a 2007 Chenin Blanc-Viognier from Rutherford. Again, a nice crisp white that paired beautifully with the scallop.
Third course was the entree. Rhubarb braised boneless short ribs with fingerling potato puree. These short ribs were...let's see...I've already used "amazing" and "to die for"...FABULOUS! They literally fell apart when you touched them with your fork. The potato puree was good. Nothing special...basically mashed potatoes. But good. This was also served with some whole fingerling potatoes. These were probably the worst thing I ate all night. I bit into one of them and was greeted with a most unpleasant taste. I'm pretty sure they weren't cooked. Blech. This was served with a 2006 Shiraz (YUM-O!!!!) from Barossa Valley, Australia. During our entrees, the fireworks (Remember, Dreams Come True) began. Club 33 has a private balcony. Due to the angle of the restaurant and trees, you really can't see much from the balcony. However, if Fantasmic! is playing, you'll basically have a front row seat. One thing I did find funny is that while we stood on the balcony, there were probably a couple thousand below us who had NO idea we were there.
Next was the cheese plate. This consisted of 4 cheeses: a manchego, a petit bass (which I have never heard of), brie, and camabert (my personal favorite cheese of all time). The cheeses were served with small accompanists: a candied pecan, micro greens, and a grape. We were also given 4 different types of crackers. This was served with a 2006 Sarah's Blend from Southeastern Australia. It's a mix of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Quite good.
Last, but by no means least, dessert. This was a orange milk chocolate mousse and dark chocolate ganache. It was rich yet light. The perfect end to a perfect meal (except for those raw potatoes). This was served with a 2006 Noble Blend from Leeton Australia. I don't remember the mixture of wines, but it was quite sweet. A perfect dessert wine. I do know that riesling was one of the wines.
After dinner, we began to head out. However, what does one do after spending $110 before tax and tip on a divine meal? You spend $161 on souvenirs!
We also went into the second dining room, the Trophy Room. This is where Walt had planned on using audio-animatronic animals to converse with guests. There are also microphones built into the light fixtures so Walt could listen to the guests. Here, you can see two of the animatronics.
As we were waiting for our souvenirs to come out, we were able to get a few pics. The first is me sitting as the host's desk. Second, is the famed...um...toilet in the ladies bathroom.
After dinner, we went over to the Haunted Mansion Holiday. There was still a 60 minute wait, but we had our fastpasses from earlier. If you ever get to go to Disneyland between Halloween and Christmas, DO IT!!! This makeover of the attraction is simply brilliant. Very clever and smart. After finishing in New Orleans Square, we headed back to Tomorrowland to ride Astro Blasters again. I will say after 5 glasses of wine I become a HORRIBLE shot. I think I scored around 83,000 compared to Jordan's 600,000. Just laughable. We got off and got back in line. Or lack of a line. We walked right back on. After riding again, they just let us stay on and ride one more time. The last time, I scored over 200,000!
So, that was my night in Club 33. I'll be posting the rest of my trip report soon.
As always, more later!
Looking forward to your report. 
