Club 33 Membership Changes for 2012

[techskip]

Not to remove the wind from the sails, but Disney did this simply because they could, and they know it. For all the complaints, all the emotions, all the talk, at the end of the day one is either a member or they are not. If they're a member, they're a paying member (even if grandfathered at the "discounted" gold level). If they're not a member, someone else standing in line will gladly take their place. As appalling as it may sound to some individuals, the members as individuals are expendable. They can be replaced, and in some cases Disney may prefer to replace them due to a higher profit margin.

That said, joining 33 is a personal decision. I can only hope this thread at least removes some of the myth, and gives prospective members a variety of opinions.

[David A]

I can only hope this thread at least removes some of the myth, and gives prospective members a variety of opinions.

Yes indeed.
Joining the club years ago was such a different and unique experience. No tours, no phone calls, everything done on beautiful stationary, purely by mail, prestige abounded.
Current Disney management has literally turned Club 33 into a high priced Denny's.
Never have I found myself telling friends and associates NOT to go. It's not worth the price, the food is alright not great, the service is good, but used to be much better.
Am I angry, damn right!
I never had an issue in paying good money, but for my money, I expect good service and I also expect to be treated in a much better fashion.
Club 33 should have never been touched by Disney management, milked like some cash lactating bovine. George grabbed those teets and wasted no time in milking the old girl dry and now he's harvesting the carcass and selling the primals as hand massaged Kobe. Well, for those who purchase this alleged Kobe beef, be aware, it's not quite as tender and delicious as Disney is advertising. The portion I purchased is tough and chewy and is rotting before my eyes. Still, there is a line for those who wish to partake, take my advise, bring your antacid! You're going to need it once reality sets in!
I trusted Disney wholeheartedly and my trust was betrayed. Seriously, the room in which I'm typing this chat (which I'm hoping Disney will eventually see) looks like something from the Walt Disney Museum. Disney items abound, from wall art, to life sized props, to cabinets filled with figurines which my wife collected, we're Disnoids!
Here's a question for you.
Do you chaps know what 'lab blocks' are? They're what you feed lab rats and mice. Right about now, I'm feeling rather like a' lab block' and The Mouse is about halfway through his meal!

[Malcon10t]

Never have I found myself telling friends and associates NOT to go. It's not worth the price, the food is alright not great, the service is good, but used to be much better.
Am I angry, damn right!

Why did you give them another $3K?

[David A]

Why did you give them another $3K?

Of course, didn't you?
Oh, it was more than 3K.
I don't like the price of petrol but I still have to keep the tank full. But, I can purchase a Nissan Leaf but that is charged with electricity created from a petrol driven generator.
I'm not willing to toss away countless thousands invested but it certainly does not mean I cannot project my disillusionment and discontentment with Disney.
Add distrust to that list of issues.
It is my ultimate hope that someone in the House of Mouse will eventually realize the error of their ways and restore the grandness to the club. It's pipe dream, I know, but heck, I actually am an optimist even though my chat entries may dictate otherwise

[Malcon10t]

Of course, didn't you?
Oh, it was more than 3K.
I don't like the price of petrol but I still have to keep the tank full. But, I can purchase a Nissan Leaf but that is charged with electricity created from a petrol driven generator.
I'm not willing to toss away countless thousands invested but it certainly does not mean I cannot project my disillusionment and discontentment with Disney.
Add distrust to that list of issues.
It is my ultimate hope that someone in the House of Mouse will eventually realize the error of their ways and restore the grandness to the club. It's pipe dream, I know, but heck, I actually am an optimist even though my chat entries may dictate otherwise

Me? Not a member, just friends with several. And yes, I know it was $3600, but for the sake of abbreviation, I just did $3k.

I understand, but as negative as your posts are, I am surprised you gave them more $$. I too hope it changes for you. I think I had previously stated I hoped members wouldn't just quit because perhaps the management would see what was happening.

My other concern is for new members, the number of "older" memberships are quite upset over this, and I don't know how well the new members will be accepted. (I know about 3, maybe 4, who are accepting offers.)

I do think the club did an excellent job with the Voices event. If that is how future events are done, while priced higher than the past, I think it was well done. Did you attend? What did you think?

[WDP Fan]

There have been many insightful comments posted here over the past several months. I have read all 416 preceding mine. However, there has been a tendency for many commenters to perpetuate the misunderstanding that Club 33 is a CLUB just because it has the word "Club" in its name.

To remind, "Club" 33 always has been a Disney corporate entertaining facility. Walt and his managers conceived it as a place where the Company and its corporate participants could entertain their guests. It was only through happenstance (and politics) that the privileges of "membership" were extended to individuals. I understand that this was because there was, at the time of design review and construction permitting of this Disney corporate entertainment facility, a request from some individuals to share in the benefits designed by the Company for itself and its corporate participants. It is my further understanding that Disney acceded to that request by creating the individual (non-corporate) "memberships" (possibly up to 100 in the early years?).

In the 45 years, or so, since the "Club" opened (and I have been a "member" for about 75% of that time), the Company always has controlled the facility, set the rules, and used the facility for Company purposes. Clearly, this has not changed with the new rules.

I always have thought of my membership from the 1970s as a privilege, and not a right of any sort. That was reaffirmed to me in writing by the Company each time my dues were paid (at increasingly high annual amounts). Club 33, today, is an expensive luxury that only the very passionate or very rich (or, apparently, the very entrepreneurial, in some cases) person can afford. It seems to me that much of what Disney management is seeking to accomplish with its news rules is to reassert the Company's stewardship of ITS Club 33 while reducing individual entrepreneurial use (or possibly abuse) of a facility originally designed for the Company's purposes.

That is Disney's right. I still relish what I consider to be my good fortune, a few times a year, to share the use of the Company's Club 33 with my family and/or my guests. If it gets much more expensive, however, that is a privilege I'll probably choose to forego. But I never have had the illusion that this corporate entertaining facility to which I fortuitously happened to get access (as a "member") was in any way, shape, or form like any of the several "real" clubs (golf, town, beach, etc.) of which I am an actual equity owner and where I have the right to elect directors who hire the management.

It seems to me that my fellow Club 33 "members" should recognize these facts.

Naturally, if someone in recent years overextended himself by paying a $10,000 +/- admission fee on the assumption he could amortize that fee in some entrepreneurial way, that person might be unhappy with his decision. I can offer condolences, but that is about all. "Club" 33 simply is not a club. It's the Walt Disney Company's facility to use as the Walt Disney Company sees fit.

And I hope to continue enjoying the Company's facility if I can afford to do so.

While my views, from March, of just "whose" Club this is (Disney's) have not changed, I have to admit that Disneynut's predictions are looking more and more accurate. Reportedly, cards like the one in this photo were being handed out in front of California Adventure's Carthay Circle Theater yesterday.

[DL714]

While my views, from March, of just "whose" Club this is (Disney's) have not changed, I have to admit that Disneynut's predictions are looking more and more accurate. Reportedly, cards like the one in this photo were being handed out in front of California Adventure's Carthay Circle Theater yesterday.

What is wrong with the cards? It smacks of elitism. Not that there is anything wrong with that. But, given what you said in the post you quoted, is there really any qualitative difference between the current membership and the person who requests a membership because of this card?

[Disneynut]

So much for the limited to 100 new memberships. I appreciate the fact that people are now starting to realize I was correct about what was to come. Just wait, the plan is to replace each every current member (or those still at Gold and Silver) with someone who will pay $35K and ask no questions other than where to send the check. I won't go on and on, Club 33 as we knew it is dead, plain and simple.

[techskip]

So much for the limited to 100 new memberships. I appreciate the fact that people are now starting to realize I was correct about what was to come. Just wait, the plan is to replace each every current member (or those still at Gold and Silver) with someone who will pay $35K and ask no questions other than where to send the check. I won't go on and on, Club 33 as we knew it is dead, plain and simple.

This might be an overreaction. Part of the process of accepting new members means going "down the list". As fortunes and attitudes change some on that list may decide they either aren't in a position to accept membership or simply do not want it. So in a way Disney is now purging the list, and will eventually need to replenish it with fresh souls.

---------- Post added 05-26-2012 at 02:12 PM ----------

What is wrong with the cards? It smacks of elitism. Not that there is anything wrong with that. But, given what you said in the post you quoted, is there really any qualitative difference between the current membership and the person who requests a membership because of this card?

It's not the card it's the reality that either the waiting list will be a whole lot longer or the reservations a whole lot scarcer. I'm just waiting for the 33 kiosk next to DVC's!

[David A]

My other concern is for new members, the number of "older" memberships are quite upset over this, and I don't know how well the new members will be accepted. (I know about 3, maybe 4, who are accepting offers.)

Old members will welcome new members, once they're on board they're all welcome. We'll feel sorry for them and pat them on the back with sincere condolences! "Sorry you couldn't have been here before the dark times."
New members were NEVER an issue. The issue is the treatment of the current members who have supported Club 33, Disneyland, and worked very hard to keep their memberships over the past 30 years. This dedication means absolutely nothing to Disney's new management and that is very sad indeed.
Yes, my posts are perceived as perhaps grumpy, but that's OK, someone has to be and if I'm only one of few who's eyes can open wide enough to see what Disney has done, then my vision is clearly 20/20 or better.

[Disneynut]

This might be an overreaction. Part of the process of accepting new members means going "down the list". As fortunes and attitudes change some on that list may decide they either aren't in a position to accept membership or simply do not want it. So in a way Disney is now purging the list, and will eventually need to replenish it with fresh souls.

---------- Post added 05-26-2012 at 02:12 PM ----------

It's not the card it's the reality that either the waiting list will be a whole lot longer or the reservations a whole lot scarcer. I'm just waiting for the 33 kiosk next to DVC's!

I agree with what you are saying, but let's face it, they have cheapened the club to the point of no return. This card reminds me of the flyers for strip joints I am handed while walking the strip in Vegas.

[CaliforniaGirl12]

I'm just waiting for the 33 kiosk next to DVC's!

Okay, that is hilarious. Might be my favorite comment yet

[David A]

Reportedly, cards like the one in this photo were being handed out in front of California Adventure's Carthay Circle Theater yesterday.

Well, well, well, it appears as though the sign spinner on Harbor Blvd and Katella Ave isn't actually a comical scenario, but in fact, is slowly becoming a reality. Perhaps Disney can open a 'Cash for Gold' shop next to Carthay, might help to get more people to sign up!
The comment about someone joining for financial gain is a bit obtuse, I've never met a member who joined with the intentions of making a profit. While it's a distinct possibility, Disney watches for those types and several have lost their memberships for similar shenanigans.

[Mr Wiggins]

I'm just waiting for the 33 kiosk next to DVC's!

People may think that's a joke, but it's not far from the truth.

No one should be surprised if Disney targets those APers, D23 members and DVCers whose spending habits favor upscale meals and merch to receive pitches for Club 33.

The only surprise would be if Disney hasn't done so already.

[David A]

I agree with what you are saying, but let's face it, they have cheapened the club to the point of no return. This card reminds me of the flyers for strip joints I am handed while walking the strip in Vegas.

Yes, you're correct. The only artwork separating the cheap flyers in DCA from those in Las Vegas is perhaps Minnie Mouse lacking her standard attire! Repulsive indeed!
This action clearly echos of poor George standing near Carthay yelling like a newsie, "Please join my club! I promise it will be special and you can trust me, I won't cut your benefits next year!"
Disney, keep your knock-off, and realize you have made a faux paux of epic magnitude.
I agree with Disneynut, the poor club has been taken from a once beautiful jewel within the park to something resembling that which the Main St. draft horses leave behind.
But, beautiful life can grow from manure, let's hope Disney and George have the common sense to get into repair mode and correct their mistakes. Doubtful indeed, but one can hope.
I doubt wishing on a star will help, but like Pinocchio, Disney needs to be more careful when pulling the strings of Club 33 and avoid turning it into something cheap and tasteless.
I walked by the club the other night and you know, I didn't even want to go in. I felt as though I was walking by a cheap European brothel where human dignity is superseded by the need for cash.