Cali trip ~ day 2 ~ December 2, 2013...the day we ate at Club 33
Dirk got up at 4 am to go workout, Ward got up to do the same shortly thereafter, and Mom and I got ready around 5:45. We were out and off a little after 7:30. Luckily, although breakfast at the Inn didn't start until 8, they had put out the coffee and some scones so we were able to get a quick snack on the way out.
Gene Autry Way looks nice, but I think we will take the Disney Way
We drove straight to DL with no problems, although I figured my brothers in the lead car knew where the parking lot was, but they didn't, so I had to do some quick mapping.
It is so weird how the parks are right by the streets
A ride we never get to take at WDW since we always stay on property ~ the tram! Do I look excited to finally be at DL again?
Tickets were a bit of a challenge as well. We knew Ward would only be with us for the day, so it was a one day DL ticket for him. Then we had to decide on tickets for Mom, Dirk and myself. We ended up settling on 3 day park hopper tickets. I had my first sticker shock of the trip paying for all those tickets
This doesn’t look like almost $900 of tickets does it? I’m thinking it could easily say “Disneyland Just Got Happier, you just got poorer!”
Ward rented a wheelchair for Mom for the day while I was getting the tickets settled.
Hello Donald!
Our first stop was at City Hall to see if we needed any sort of accommodations pass, but they assured us that we would be fine at the attractions and gave us the accessibilities map which indicated which attractions would accommodate a wheelchair, and which attractions we would need to enter through the exit, etc...
We’re walking right down the middle of Christmas decorated Main Street USA...now where the heck is the castle?!
Ah, there it is!
We had just about 45 minutes before our 11 a.m. ressie at this point so we headed on over to New Orleans Square. Jack Skellington was out so we waited in the queue to take a picture with him. Mom was thrilled as he is one of her favorite characters!
Ward actually snapped this photo when Mom and I were in the bathroom. Sadly Sally did not come back out for pictures when we were in line.
After the initial shock of meeting him, Figment warmed up to Jack quite well
Not sure what all they talked about, but Mom said he stayed in character the whole time
We took a family photo as well ~ for some reason Jack reminds me a lot of mindflipper...
We went on over to Club 33 about 10 minutes before our ressies and there was already a party waiting there. They told us they had been scolded when they rang the doorbell that the club didn't open until 11, so we didn't ring the doorbell to announce ourselves. I don’t know why I didn’t think to ask the people if they would take a picture of all four of us
Maybe someday I will take the time to photoshop us all into the same photo
A few more parties came over and we had formed a bit of a line by the time the door to the club opened at 11. The hostess called out three or four parties names, and ushered us inside the lobby. They let us know that the lift wasn't operating that day and inquired if Figment could climb the stairs. There were too many stairs for her though so she and Ward went with a nice CM up the back elevator in the kitchen, while the rest of us climbed the stairs.
The lift which was not in service
Our table was right down the hall at the very entrance to the main dining room.
The menu and story of the club
I hadn't honestly been expecting too much from the food as I had read so many mixed reviews, but everything we tried was very good. My brothers both raved about each item they tried and since they both have been to many fancy restaurants, I figured the food was definitely up to par. Dirk ended up being the plate cleaner. If one of us couldn't finish something he was more than happy to help us out. The only thing I didn't care much for was my salad, and after Ward had tried the salad, Dirk finished that up as well!
I had explained to my brothers that Club 33 is the only place in DL that you can have a drink so we all ordered something just because we could!
Ward and his martini
Mom can’t drink but she had an iced tea
I evidently missed getting a picture of Dirk, but here is his Fess Parker wine behind my mudslide. I really need to remember to ask for a frozen version when I order one of these as I like the frozen version better.
The bread basket had three types of bread, some sort of herbed bread, kalamata olive, and a multigrain
Figment had a vegetable starter as she is allergic to shellfish. They told us they had prepared the plate in another kitchen so as to avoid any possibility of cross contamination.
The seafood starter ~ Plateau de Fruits de Mer ~ that was shared by the rest of us. Everything tasted very fresh and delicious!
My portion of the starter ~ I easily could have had more of this as an entree!
I grabbed a tiny cup of what I thought was drinking chocolate off the dessert bar after the starter course had finished. It ended up being a spiced hot chocolate that I didn’t care for but both my brothers and Mom ended up having a cup and declared it to be quite delicious. My brothers are pretty good sports about pictures aren’t they?
The appetizers were split evenly with Dirk and Ward each choosing the Pan Seared Day Boat Scallop, and Mom and I choosing the Red Endive & Baby Spinach Salad
Next up were the entrees. Dirk had the Filet of Pan Roasted Chateaubriand
Ward had the Colorado Rack of Lamb Chops. The piece he shared tasted like liver to me
My brothers said I was crazy!
Mom had the Oven Baked Chicken Breast
I had the Zahtar Spiced Grilled Arctic Char which they described as a sort of salmon. It was quite tasty, but the pomegranate sauce was a bit weird. I asked for cocktail sauce which was much better.
Dirk and Ward also decided to split a side of the Truffled Mac and Cheese. I didn't think I would like it as I have tried something with truffles in it before and didn’t care for them, but this mac and cheese was really tasty! And it was plenty to share among all of us.
Guess who’s plate...if you guessed Dirk’s you would be correct! The interesting thing is he has been eating little to no meat for quite awhile now but he had no problem scarfing down the beef. Obviously the tomatoes were just a garnish
Dessert was in the form of a bar that you could choose anything you would like.
As best as I can recall, there was the hot chocolate, fresh fruit, apple strudel, panna cotta, cheesecake, key lime tarts, cake pops, a multilayer chocolate cake, croissants, an assortment of little muffins, chocolate earred Mickey coconut macaroons, sugar cookies, and some sort of a chocolate tart
Here is Figment perusing the dessert options ~ the empty chair you see there is her chair so you can see that we were quite close and at the very edge of the entrance to the dining room
My dessert plate ~ I had to try the key lime tart because it was dusted in a super sparkly gold glitter
the sugar cookie was a pretty standard cookie, and the chocolate cake was the clear winner!
Dirk’s dessert plate...um yeah, he was stuffed at the end of the meal
My brothers still had room for espresso though. Dirk said it was good, but not quite as good as one of the places he goes at home...
Ward stirred his sugar stick in his expresso, but Dirk said he didn’t have room for the sugar
He mentioned something about taking it with us and I could have it later, but I never did see that rock candy stick again...I think he ate it! I actually thought to ask him when we saw him this past weekend and he said he indeed did eat the candy stick right there at the club!
As we were leaving, there were a few starters on the trays ready for diners. There was also a happy anniversary dessert. I just snapped a quick photo as I didn’t want to get too close to someone’s food. And as you can see, the dessert buffet had been hit fairly well by this point. But they must have refilled the key lime tarts as there were at least 3 of those tasted at our table.
After the meal was over, I had my second sticker shock of the trip
I had told everyone to order what they wanted and not to worry as it was my treat, but I did end up taking my brothers' offer to take care of the tip. The waitress did up bringing a piece of paper with the club history on it when they brought the bill. The Mickey cutout penny is something my brother had made for me a year or so ago at my request. He can’t sell them obviously, but had made some more and brought them along for us to hand out to CMs who made us smile or went above and beyond.
This is the CM that had brought my Mom and Ward up the back way. He was quite tickled with the penny Ward gave him
The ladies restroom has been the topic of many posts on the internet. My brother wondered what the heck this picture was when we were looking at them the other night. He said the men’s room didn’t have the chair
Without trying to venture into too much information territory, I will just say that it was sort of a weird sensation to have an actual seat
Fresh flowers in the ladies room
The paper towels in the ladies room
There was a little makeup table in the ladies room foyer ~ You might have already noticed this, but I really have a hard time passing up a reflective surface when I have a camera
I asked about getting a tour of the club once lunch was over but was informed they didn't do that anymore. I also asked if it was possible to get a copy of the menu, but was again told no. We did get to go out on the balcony to look over New Orleans Square though and that was a fun new perspective. After we had our fill of looking around out there, we came back in and looked at the merchandise. There wasn't a lot available ~ polo shirts, a jacket, the Club 33 Mickey Mouse ears, and some pins. There were also a few member's exclusive items, like rings, and an ornament. I bought a pin and a set of ears. I was surprised to see they had a sale on the Club 33 polos. I believe I have read that the logo will be changed when the club is done with the renovations, so I imagine that was the reason for the sale. Perhaps it was only for the holiday season though. We then took a look around the Disney room. That was interesting but I was surprised to see that everything seemed much smaller in person than it had looked in the photos I had seen online. Overall it was a great thing to do once, but I don't know that I would want to go back...although I would be curious to see the renovated club
Other random shots from the club ~
Construction zone ~ no expense spared on the signage
Pictures near the stairs
I believe there is a copy of this same print in DLP at Walt’s Restaurant
Directly across from the painting of Walt are these lovely orchids. This window overlooks the street where the Club 33 entrance is.
The hallway down to the dining room. The windows on the right overlook the entrance to Club 33
I haven’t had the chance to look up the history of this harpsichord yet. I am curious about the reversal of the key colors.
The view out the window ~ I had to take this picture because the CM manning the door on this particular day could be Soarin’s twin!
At the top of the stairs. To the left is the entrance to the Disney room, which I often see referred to as the trophy room
The Disney room. There were only a few couples dining in here. They were all dressed very formally so I imagine they were celebrating something special, or maybe the main dining room was full, or maybe the club was just helping separate the riffraff
The Happiest Millionaire inspired phone booth
I never could get a very clear shot of the Grandfather clock in the hall with the other people around so I had to resort to a reflective shot...
Mom ran across this CM a few times that was trying to clean the ladies room and going in between the construction area and the club. Mom said she was always smiling and very pleasant even though she was trying to get the other CMs to get their work done. She liked her Mickey cutout penny as well.
Some pictures out on the balcony of Club 33
The details up here are pretty neat
The Mark Twain and the Sailing ship Columbia ~ sadly we did not get to ride around the Rivers of America on this trip
We headed on over to the Haunted Mansion next and got a return pass for that. We decided to check out the Pirates as Mom really wanted to go on that, and this would be the best day with both of my brothers available to help her in and out of the boat. We got a return pass for that as well.
One of Ward’s pennies in the fountain outside the HM
And here is another penny that he had given to a little girl who was bugging her parents for a coin to toss in the fountain.
Off to the Tiki room where everyone sang along with the birdies!
We went back to the PoC and Mom did a great job getting in and out with my brothers' assistance! Hooray!
Next stop was Indiana Jones which was down, but looked real promising for opening at any time so we hung out for 5 or 10 minutes and then went through the single rider line. We rode up in the elevator with a little girl from BC who was super chatty. My brother ended up sitting beside her and said she happily chatted through the entire ride and really loved it. He didn't mind as she reminded him of his daughter and he thought it was awesome she was enjoying herself so much. We all ended up in the same transport and got off there and headed to the HM for our return time.
Sally had joined Jack once again when we went back to the HM
I have to say, the HMH loading process was fantastic! After the stretching room, there were about 4 parties with wheelchairs or other mobility issues that were all taken directly to the loading area through the exit lane. For those not familiar with DL's HM, there is a lengthy hallway after the stretching room that has changing portraits and windows with lightning flashes, and about 3/4 of the width of it is dedicated to the line that loads to the attractions, and then there is a single line that comes back alongside the left side of the hallway where people exit. This smaller side is where we were led down to the waiting area which was just off to the side. They let us know that they were waiting for a certain number to come around on the doom buggies. I want to say it was 130, but I wouldn't bet on that. We had time to look over the excellent HMH scene while we waited. Once those doom buggies came around, they actually stopped the belt to allow everyone to load without any hurry. They put little velcro markers on the top of the buggies. The ones I saw were Lock, Shock and Barrel. Once we got to the unloading area, we simply stayed on until we reached the starting point, they stopped the moving walkway again, everyone unloaded and we went back out the way we came. Riding back up in the stretching room was pretty fun, although none of the effects were on.
It was around 5 by this point so we worked our way back up to the front of the park. Mom found a spot to watch the Christmas parade while Dirk Ward and I went back to the parking lot to send Ward on his way.
Bye Ward ~ see you at your house in a few days!
Dirk and I picked Mom back up and we headed on over to DCA. We found a place to watch World of Color which wasn't ideal, but we could see and hear fairly well. We didn't have tickets to be able to get inside the closer viewing area, but we were just across the walkway so it wasn't much different. Most of the people were watching the show so there wasn't a lot of foot traffic in front of us. We found out later that this was the 7 o'clock show for AP holders, and the regular show was at 8:15. Dirk was cold though and didn't want to watch the show again so we decided to find something to eat before heading out. Mom had a corn dog and Dirk ate this shrimp soup dish from the Disney Viva Navidad. He ended up eating this same thing three times during the trip because he liked it so much!
Dirk and I hopped on the Zephyr which was actually running! I don't know if I have ever been able to ride it as it was always closed when we were there due to high winds, or rain or whatever. I might have ridden it once before, but I'm not sure. Anyhow, I was excited to actually get to take a spin on it!
Onboard the Zephyr!
Unfortunately the park closed at 8 so we made our way toward the front of the park. We took a detour through Radiator Springs to see it all lit up at night. We were all very impressed with how realistic everything looked and how closely it compared to the movie. Thanks to everyone suggesting we watch Cars before we went as it made a whole lot more sense!
We were able to get an escort for the wheelchair so we could take it all the way out to the trams. We ended up catching the accessible bus which was a little easier to get on and off of, and was warmer than the open trams. We did also find out that if you stop at the wheelchair rental place, they will give you a slip that allows you to take the wheelchair to DTD. That was handy information to know. Otherwise you aren't allowed to take the wheelchairs past the security tents. That is why we needed the escort to take the wheelchair out to the trams.
We left the parks at 8:45 and got back to the parking structure a little before 9:30. I hadn't been looking forward to the drive back to the Inn from the parks, but traffic was moving well, the freeway was lit up very nicely, and we made it back in about a half an hour which wasn't so bad at all.
The Inn had cookies out and the night innkeeper came out to offer us some pistachio cake pops from an event they had held earlier in the evening. They were really cute, red and white striped. They actually tasted pretty good but had an odd texture for me.
Gingerbread cookies, some sort of cranberry bars, and the cake pops...minus the one Dirk scarfed down
Dirk fell asleep right away after having been up since 4. Mom and I took a little longer to settle.
Our overall first impressions of this DL trip were pretty good. The CMs gave consistent answers to questions and the accessibility was great! I kind of wonder if it helps that the parks are smaller?
Hope I didn’t lose anyone along the way. Thanks for slogging through this one, I know it was a big post!
‘Til next time
