I'm Pretending I'm Not At Work

[Zoe Necrosis]

I really wish I could be at the park today. I'm a measly five minutes away from it. But I'm stuck at work. So I'm doing the next best thing: perusing MiceChat while listening to the 'Disneyland' playlist on my ipod (which is currently playing "Two Brothers" from the second-to-last version of "Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln," which will find its sad home in Yesterland sooner or later).

Sundays are very slow in my office. Typically, I have more time than I know what to do with. So to alieve my boredome I'm going to regale you all with what I would call a trip report, only it happened over five months ago, so... it's more of a trip archive.

But first, a preface: Like all Disneyites, I've always been enchanted with Club 33. It's not just the exclusivity or mythology of the place but the aesthetic bent I'd always glimpsed allusions to. Any time a lucky guest (improperly attired always in sweats and tacky togs) would be admitted through the entrace I'd run towards the entrance to Blue Bayou in order to soak in as much of the view of the interior as I could. All that red, so seductive.

As a teenager, I went through this phase where I became obsessed with wearing nice clothes and going to nice places. This was all a very ironic facade being that I've always been extremely poor, and could never afford to do the things that well-attired people do. Nevertheless, wearing a collared shirt with a tie and hanging around in a posh hotel lobby was my idea of a good time. Don't ask me to explain it. Eventually I stopped wearing my dapper togs to the park because people always thought that I worked there, or expected I was going swing dancing (I can't). Just another symptom of this obsession with aesthetics was my fascination with Club 33.

(Random note: a friend of mine who is a Mason conveyed to me a rumor that the original purpose of 33 was for Walt to entertain Masons, as he was apparently one himself. I told him that I think there is no basis to this whatsoever, because in all the Disney history I've read I've never come across any hint of this idea, or even that Walt was a Mason. Anyone have any refuting evidence I can cite for my friend?)

I was certain that unless I became the wealthy, affluent person I daydream of becoming, I would never set foot inside this place.

A decade later, I was given a chance to dine in Club 33.

My girlfriend, Silvia, has an older sister who dines there fairly often with friends who are actual members. Last year Silvia and her sister arranged with some very kind people to allow me, Silvia, and her roommate Dan to eat at 33 on my birthday (Dan coincidentally has the same birthday as me).

I was ecstatic and overwhelmed. What would I eat? What would I wear? Silvia advised that I probably don't want to go all out in terms of my attire, as people typically wear slobbish comfortwear to 33. This makes me sad. But oh well. Who cares? I was going to go to 33!

Let me take you on a visual tour (I really hope these pictures work, or this will be totally pointless):



Here's the entrance foray. I'm the one on the right with the jolly roger shirt and sport coat. At least I had the coat. That's Dan on the left. I would like to point out at this time that the stripes on his shirt are from a can of spray paint. This is as cleaned-up as he gets. I would have been embarrassed by his being there, but he was nearly as thrilled by the opportunity as I was, and that kind of appreciation counts for something.

I may not have embodied the kind of dignity that 33 was designed for, but I will say this: there was not a person in that building happier to be there than myself.



Here we are in the elevator which takes guests to the second floor dining area. Forgive my goofy grins that pervade this tour. Dan is wearing a happy birthday button, which I forego because I don't like attention from strangers.



The underside of this harpsichord's lid is decorated with a very detailed painting, I can't recall what of (a landscape I think).



The bar. No stools or chairs. Perhaps there's no room for them, perhaps their absence is completely intentional. But I felt that guests should have had the opportunity to lounge casually with a mixed drink if they wanted. Instead they require that all beverages be brought to you at your table. Apparently this bar is only in sight of the guests because the chef muscled the hooch out of his kitchen, and they had to set it up somewhere.



The thing you have to realize is that in dim, warm lighting this place looked absolutely heavenly. In the hostile glare of a camera's flash, everything looks gauche and gaudy.

Apparently this place was once adorned with original artwork and unique curios and whatnot, but when Roy was shown the door the family decided to reclaim some of their heirlooms. Good for them, but too bad for 33. Then again, this is just what I've heard, and was probably distorted through the telephone game before it got to me.



One of many trips out onto the balcony. I savored them as much as I could. Interestingly, should you venture away from your seat for even a split second, upon your return you will find that the napkin gnomes have crawled out from under your seat and refolded your napkin into an elegant form. More than one hand is necessary to count the instances of this happening. And never, not once, did I catch one of these gnomes in the act.

Oh, right, the food. On less than one hand can I count the amount of times in my life that I've eaten food that good. We each had the salad, an assemblage of esoteric looking greens with a gala apple vinagrette. I have to say that even the salad was yummy-noise inducing. Silvia had the mushroom crepes, which I sampled and account as the best crepes I've ever had in my life. Dan and I each had the salmon, which was delicious, and garnished with equally tasty vegetables - the vegetables actually impressed me - almost always vegetables will be overcooked, too tender, lacking in taste from not being fresh. Not these. Maybe it was an accident, but the texture of my carrots was a work of art. For desert they brought Dan and I a chocolate mouse with "Happy Birthday" script written on it. Then Dan had a sorbet, Silvia and I each the creme brulee. I washed it down with two glasses of Fess Parker's Pinot Noir.



This is my lovely girlfriend Silvia, the keeper who made it all happen.



This is the side table featured in Mary Poppins. Look closely and you'll see a framed still of David Tomlinson standing in front of said table.



This is the phone booth from The Happiest Millionaire. I watched the first half of it last night, actually. It has an overture and intermission. I was interested not only to hear the original song "Detroit" that was the source for "Magic Highways," the theme to Rocket Rods, but also to hear the song "Fortuosity" which I recognized as one of the tunes played on Main Street. So, another musical mystery solved.



After dinner my friends Scott and Nashla joined us and we all turned into 7th graders.

I guess that's all there is to report. What can I say? In one evening, two dreams fulfilled: entering and dining in Club 33, and imbibing the wine made by my childhood hero, Davy Crockett.

Thanks, Silvia.

[TikiRoomLiz]

Love this ... for some reason your writing reminds me of Edgar Allan Poe.

[penguinsoda]

So very cool!!! Thanks for sharing your trip "archive" with us!

[sir clinksalot]

Go to Disneyland for lunch!!!

Thanks for sharing.

[Goofy Daddy]

Excellent post, thanks for sharing, may your toils at work be over soon.

[Zoe Necrosis]

Originally Posted by TikiRoomLiz

Love this ... for some reason your writing reminds me of Edgar Allan Poe.

Why thank you very much.

It may help that my friends and I tend to look like characters out of a Poe story.

[kickcows]

ahem - where is YOUR bday sticker??

great tr! thanks for sharing these photos with us. very very cool.

[All4dISNEY]

That was sensational! Loved the commentary! I too will one day report from Club33! THANK YOU!

[NeverNeverland]

Wow... that one of the best trip reports I have ever read!
Thank you so much for sharing all that. Glad that you were able to go to your dream place

[dgmoran]

Great report, Zoe!

In answer to your question about Walt Disney having been a Freemason, here is the response (from http://www.masonicinfo.com/, a very thorough website listing famous Masons and non-Masons):

"World famous cartoonist, Walt was a DeMolay (a member of a fraternal organization for young men sponsored by Freemasonry). He did not, however, join the Masonic organization. Rumors circulate continuously indicating that he was a Mason and some of them have proven quite tantalizing including those relating to his brother and the many Masons he hired as cartoonists. No one, however, has been able to produce the name of a lodge to which Walt might have belonged and surely if he were a member, that information would have come to notice long before these many years after his death. Despite a burning desire on the part of some to list him as a member of the Craft, there is simply no provable evidence that he was."

If you (or anyone else reading this) have any questions regarding Freemasonry (a.k.a. "the Masons"), just PM me.

Dan

[themarquisde]

I am touched by how much you appreciate Club 33, as it is truly a place to be appreciated. May you return again and again. *glasses chink*

[bri719]

I have always wanted to attend 33 too ever since I found out about it a few years ago. very cool stuff thanks for your writeup!!

[Junthor]

Originally Posted by Zoe Necrosis

I really wish I could be at the park today. I'm a measly five minutes away from it. But I'm stuck at work.

I feel your pain, but remember you're lucky to live so close to DLR..

I like 10 hours away and I have to wait 4 months before my next visit.

[bri719]

Originally Posted by sir clinksalot

Go to Disneyland for lunch!!!

Thanks for sharing.

I'm not quite as lucky as the author, but I do work about 14 minutes from DLP which is not too bad. and so this lunch idea has recently become a goal of mine

I plan not to fail! I've definitely completed more difficult stunts

[Zoe Necrosis]

Originally Posted by Junthor

I feel your pain, but remember you're lucky to live so close to DLR..

I like 10 hours away and I have to wait 4 months before my next visit.

Too right. I tend to take too much for granted how close I live to the park.