Club 33 Articles
Disney Imagineer Collin Campbell Passes Away, Leaves Legacy
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Disney Imagineer Collin Campbell passed away on Saturday, April 2, 2011. Campbell, an employee of WED Enterprises, the division of the Walt Disney Company directly responsible for creating the iconic Disney theme park attractions, was involved in many aspects of the design of Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and the international Disney theme parks. Campbell's distinctive paintings of the Jungle ...
8 Secrets About Disneyland
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From how to score a cocktail to where to scatter grandma's ashes, this is your ticket to the real Magic Kingdom. 1. There are dead bodies in the Haunted Mansion The Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland is one of the scariest places in the park, but not for the reasons you'd expect. In his 1994 book "Mouse Tales," former Disney employee David Koenig tells the story of a tourist group that ...
Disneyland's VIPs: Five Things You Didn't Know About Disney's Star Treatment
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Celebrities get the star treatment everywhere they go and Disneyland is no exception. For years now, Disney has offered VIP guides (usually seen walking throughout the parks donning their red and blue plaid vests) to the families of film, television and sports stars. But one might be surprised by how unglamorous the star treatment can be at the Happiest Place on Earth. Sure, certain celebs might be ...
Macaroon At Disneyland
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The best-kept secret at Disneyland has nothing to do with Walt lore, secret VIP tunnels, or Club 33. The best-kept secret at Disneyland is that their bakeries turn out the best macaroons in Orange County. These are not macarons (one O)--not the French sandwich cookie. No, these are macaroons with two O's, the Passover treat that's essentially coconut mashed together until it coheres. Normally, they're ...
Disneyland Tour Follows Walt Disney's Journey
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A tour of Disneyland from the perspective of Walt Disney ends with the guide quoting a newspaper article describing Disney's success as a "product of luck." The 180-minute tour, titled "A Walk in Walt's Footsteps," shows that Disney's rise from a struggling animator to Academy Award-winning filmmaker and creator of the most famous theme park in the world had little to do with luck. The guided ...
Five Things Disneyland Has Over Disney World
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When Walt Disney World opened its gates in Florida in 1971, Disneyland started taking the proverbial backseat to its younger (and much larger) sibling. Disneyland was just a theme park. Disney World was a destination. Of course, since then Disneyland has made great strides in making its resort a vacation destination as well, but Disney World has also continued to grow. With four theme parks, two ...
Dining At Disney's Club 33: The Good, The Bad And The Shopping
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There is a special population obsessed enamored with all things Disney, and a completely unrelated group that wants to be a part of all things exclusive. Rarely do these two collide, except when discussing a certain door adjacent to the Blue Bayou in New Orleans Square, its only marker being their address, the buzzer behind a discreet panel your only way in. Happiest place on Earth? Try toughest ...
Disneyland Names Honoree For Main Street Window
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Disneyland plans to give its highest honor a Main Street U.S.A. window to costume designer Alice Davis, Disney announced Monday. Davis is best known for designing park costumes, including the supervision of about 150 dolls in "it's a small world" ride and animatronic characters in the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction. Davis was married to the late Marc Davis, a classic Disney animator who ...
California vs. Paris: Adventureland
This month, I shall be comparing the Adventurelands found in the two Disneyland parks closest to my heart (California and Paris). Standing in front of the castle, with your back to Main Street, U.S.A./World Bazaar, the first land you encounter clockwise in four of the five Magic Kingdoms is Adventureland. Internet rumors abound that in Shanghai, Adventureland will take up the ...
Disneyland Opens Secret Club 33 Restaurant For A Price
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For the first time in a decade, Disneyland is opening up new memberships to its exclusive Club 33 the famous, secretive restaurant tucked inside the park. Disney also is adding a private lounge for club members at Disney California Adventure. Starting today, Disney will begin sending embossed invitations to the first 100 people on its 800-name waiting list, asking if they want to join the ...
Insiders Guide To Disneyland
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If I could live anywhere, I would live in The Haunted Mansion, like all year long," director Guillermo del Toro said last year at Comic-Con while discussing his upcoming film featuring Disneyland's iconic haunted house. And he's not alone. Hollywood is full of filmmakers and talent who are addicted to Disneyland, which opened in 1955 and now averages 40,000 visitors a day. Zachary Levi, Gwen Stefani, ...
12 Unique And Magical Memories To Be Made At Disneyland
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When visiting Disney, many families head straight for the E-ticket rides, from Space Mountain to the Matterhorn to Dumbo. But in doing so they not only spend a whole lot of time in long lines, but they miss out on so many magical moments and memories that can be made at the "happiest place on earth.' Though these attractions are less popular, they are just as special and endure in family memories far ...
Tour Visits Walt Disney Apartment
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Disneyland Park has revamped its "Walk in Walt's Footsteps" tour with new attractions and a new price. The new tour is called "Walk in Walt's Disneyland Footsteps" and it began on Sunday, according to park employees. The Disney Parks blog announced the change in August without providing details. But booking agents I talked to both at the park and on the phone say that it includes Walt Disney's ...
Walk In Walt's Disneyland Footsteps Tour
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It is hard not to be impressed when your tour guide is so passionate about their subject matter that they break down in tears. This was not a scripted gesture. Rather this was the result of a deep seeded and sincere love for the subject matter. In this particular tour the subject was the one and only Walt Disney. I'll get to what brought on the water works later. For now, let me tell you a bit about what ...
Club 33 Wines Make Disneyland Debut
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Mickey Mouse has developed a taste for alcohol: Get ready for Disneyland wine. Club 33, a private, exclusive restaurant at the Anaheim theme park, has commissioned its own private labels of chardonnay and cabernet from Creston Vineyards of San Luis Obispo County. Located above New Orleans Square near the Blue Bayou restaurant, Club 33 is the only place where alcohol is served in Disneyland. Members ...
Ratting Out The Mouse Is Disneyland A Haven For Rodents?
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The Disney Resort is teeming with rats, according to current and former Disneyland employees reacting to media reports of rodent problems inside the Goofy's Kitchen restaurant at the Disneyland Hotel. Longtime complaints by Goofy's Kitchen workers about rats, rat feces and mold at the cafeteria-style restaurant were recently chronicled in the Weekly (""Rats and Rat Shit Everywhere,'" Sept. 13; "Goofy ...
Behind Closed Doors At Disney's 10 000 Dollar A Year Private Members Club
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Secretive club opened since 1967 has been visited by dozens of celebrities and dignitaries enjoying the only place in Disneyland to serve alcohol Over the years it has boasted a membership of presidents, world leaders and celebrities such as Michael Jackson, Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks and offers fine dining in decadent surroundings at the heart of Disneyland - at a hefty price. As such it has ...
Best Places To Eat At Disneyland
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Disneyland may be where all childhood dreams come true, but Disneyland is also quickly becoming a foodie mecca as well. With a wide array of culinary pleasures to choose between, from carts to fine dining, here are our picks for best Disneyland eats. On The Go For a quick bite on the go without the muss and fuss of sitting to eat because you've got places to go and lines to wait in! Fresh ...
Dreams Come True On Blue Bayou
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Much has been written about dining at Disneyland, and frankly, quite a bit of it was written by me. I'm like that-from kid meals to churros, no giant turkey leg has been left unturned (rotisserie?). We work up an appetite. Over the years we have dined at Disneyland as omnivores, vegetarians, gluten-free, and at various levels of healthily snacking. I am fairly certain that we have eaten at every ...
Disneylands Super Exclusive Club 33 To Undergo Renovations
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Disneyland's super-exclusive Club 33, where it costs $25,000 to join and membership fees are $10,000 a year, is reportedly undergoing a major renovation. According to the unofficial Disney blog, Inside the Magic, the famous restaurant in the Anaheim theme park will get a new layout, including a makeover of the entrance, lounge and kitchen, as well as a whole new menu. The number of seats won't ...
Utah Couple Secretly Weds On Pirates Of The Caribbean Ride
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Pirates and cannons may not be typical wedding features, but they were the perfect setting for a Utah couple recently married on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in Disneyland. Tory Elegante had always dreamed of getting married at Disneyland, so when his bride-to-be said a Disney wedding would be OK, he got to planning. He surprised her with packets containing different versions of wedding plans ...
Lunch With Disney Legend Marty Sklar In Disneyland's Club 33
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I have to admit, I was getting a little nervous. It was 1:20 in the afternoon of Nov. 22. I was standing -- actually, pacing back and forth - near the steps of City Hall in Town Square at Disneyland. Rain was falling pretty steadily, as it had been since daybreak, and it was downright chilly, a far cry from the "warm California sun" we've been hearing about for decades. I was scheduled to ...
Disney Is Turning Club 33 Into A Movie
Welcome to the club. Disney is inviting moviegoers into Club 33, a feature film inspired by the private restaurant that has been nestled inside Disneyland's New Orleans Square since 1967. A prized invitation for Disney fans, the members-only dining club - named after its former entrance at 'ཝ Royal Street,'' near Walt Disney's iconic Pirates of the Caribbean attraction that inspired the ...
Employee Suffered Head Injury And Died After Falling From Golf Cart Police Say
A Disneyland employee suffered a head injury after falling from a moving golf cart at the Disneyland Resort and later died of her injuries, according to the Anaheim Police Department. Anaheim police, fire and rescue personnel arrived at the resort on Wednesday just before 11:30 a.m. regarding a collision that had occurred backstage, according to a statement released Saturday by the Anaheim ...
State Officials Investigating Fatal Accident
State officials are investigating the death of a Disneyland employee who died Friday after falling off of a golf cart at the park and hitting her head, officials with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health told KTLA. Bonnye Lear, 60, of Fullerton, was seriously injured on June 5 after falling off a moving golf cart in the backstage area of Critter Country. Leer died from her ...
Disneyland President Remembers Kind And Gentle Employee Who Died After Backstage Accident
Club 33 manager Bonnye Lear is being remembered by her fellow Disneyland employees as a kind, gentle and caring person who was thoughtful, graceful and full of joy. Disneyland Resort President Ken Potrock sent a letter to employees on Monday, June 10 sharing the “heartbreaking” news of the death of Lear, who died last week after a tragic accident at the Anaheim theme park. “I am ...
Here Is How Disneyland Is Bending Over Backwards To Avoid Jokes About Its 69th Anniversary
Disneyland is a wondrous place full of technologically-advanced rides, delicious food and a small army of iconic cartoon characters who, until fairly recently, were forced to wear communal underpants. Yikes. Nothing in The Haunted Mansion even comes close to the horror of the phrase “communal underpants.”
The park first welcomed visitors back in July 1955, and it was a magical clusterfuck ...
Disneyland 60 Things You Might Not Know About The Magic Kingdom
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TV show named "Gunsmoke" made its debut, and another named "Make Room for Daddy" won two Emmys. Elvis Presley and Pat Boone had young hearts all shook up, and for the first time, they could listen to those crooners and others on a new gadget called a pocket transistor radio. A new car cost $1,900, gasoline was 23 cents a gallon and rents averaged $87 a month.. It was 1955. On July 17 of that year - a ...
Want To Skipper A Jungle Cruise Boat Now You Can For A Price
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Sailing aboard the Jungle Cruise, Brian Alters picks up the microphone and delivers a timeworn comedic spiel amid the lush vegetation of the Nile River. "I'd like to point out some of the rare plants we have here," says Alters, randomly pointing at foliage along the river banks. "There's some, there's some and there's some. They're all the same genus of species: plasticus fakus." Alters isn't a ...
There Is A Secret Menu Just For Disneyland High Rollers
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When Disneyland first opened in 1955, an admission ticket cost one dollar. Today, it is nearly 100 times that amount, and it's easy to spend a lot more. For those truly committed to luxury, for whom price is no object, there is a secret menu just for Disneyland high rollers. The masterminds behind the park have set up separate offices that keep celebrity visits under wraps and visiting dignitaries ...
How Trader Sam Enchanted Tiki Bar Makes Magic By Bringing Disney Tiki Culture And Booze Together
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I first visited Disneyland's Enchanted Tiki Room when I was 6 years old. The catchy songs, the magical, leaping fountains, the singing flowers, the drumming idols, the bursts of fire; one visit was all it took to have me hooked. The tiki room was a must-visit for every trip. I had to wait a significant amount of time to taste my first Mai Tai, and a few years later to taste my first real Mai Tai, but after ...
