[piaste]

From the first picture in the gallery:

> Club 33 is the name of a number of private dining clubs located within Disney Parks. The first opened inside Disneyland in 1967, and was modeled after sponsor lounges at the 1964 New York World's Fair. At the time it opened, Club 33 was the only location within Disneyland that offered alcoholic beverages.

> The initial cost of membership at Disneyland and Walt Disney World was previously reported to be $35,000, followed by an annual due of $15,000–16,000.[8] In 2012, the reported cost of membership increased to $50,000 initiation fee and $15,000 annually for individuals, more for corporations.[9][10]

Interesting, I would never have guessed that Disneyland had a luxury club hidden inside.

I wonder what the members are like, and how they may have evolved over the years. "Ordinary" (if extremely wealthy) visitors, who are accustomed to fine dining and don't want to lower their standards even during a family trip? Or is it an entirely separate crowd, that travels to Disneyland specifically to have dinner and smoke Cubans there?

[pants2]

I know many people in club 33, mostly daughters and wives of rich businessmen who are Disney fanatics and enjoy the bragging rights. I don't think they really care for the fine dining.

[registeredcorn]

If I recall, there's also a waitlist for those who want to even be eligible to pay the fee to join Club 33.

I would imagine it to be similar sitting in 1st Class on an airplane. Your accommodations within that area are nicer relative to the rest of the park, but probably below the standard the person who can afford it would be accustomed to.

More to the point, in the (very, very brief) glimpses of insight I've had to that caliber of people, it's less so about, "I want fancy things because I'm rich" and more so something closer to, "I want to be around people who aren't going to be trying to get me to fund their startup. Or scam me. Or rob me. Or call me a monster for being wealthy."

That is to say, it's more so about the kind of people you are around, and the interactions that keeps you away from, rather than how nice the accommodations are. Instead, the price you pay for that privacy leads to nicer accommodations by association. (The velvet rope and well-dressed bouncer don't matter; the dark lit area away from the roar of the crowd is the point.)

Basically, it gives a short break to be away from and avoid potentially dangerous situations. It gives you the chance to be left alone for a while and let your guard down for a bit, so you can enjoy your drink in peace.

To be clear: I'm nowhere near that well off, and don't know anyone that well off. I have just heard that kind of sentiment floated around on rare occasions in a friend-of-a-friend-who-knew-a-guy type thing.

[pesus]

I don't know if things have changed in the past couple decades, but at least some of the members are just regular people there using their company's membership. I went there twice as a child because my dad did well enough at work that year or something along those lines. I was too young to fully appreciate the experience, but they had some tasty mac and cheese and a memorable elevator.

[eddieroger]

Club 33 is big in Disney lore. It's where Walt raised money for the Florida Project. Even though it's tucked away, those who know stand outside the door just hoping to peek in when someone comes and goes.

[qingcharles]

From the people I know with membership, it is just a flex. I don't know they actually go there very often. It's so hard to get in that you don't want to drop your membership once you're in. The ones I know are just regular rich LA residents. Hollywood-adjacent.

[russdill]

It's largely corporate to my understanding. So similar to box seats at a baseball game, if you know somebody there's a decent chance you might get to go one day

[riffic]

corporate sponsors.