Christmas at The Club Pt. 1

What better place at Disneyland to get into the Christmas spirit than Club 33? Out in New Orleans Square, the angel is looking over the guests; how many look up to see her?

Inside the misplaced window above Cafe Orleans you can see a Christmas wreath in side the Club where a fireplace once stood.



Once inside the Court of Angels (oh, how I have missed you), you can see all kinds of Christmas ornamentation.



Poinsettias add a nice splash of red.



Tinker Bell in the lantern looks much better at night.



Inside Le Salon Nouveau, aka The Jazz Lounge, more Christmas trees and Christmas bedazzlement await.





The Carolers were fantastic; they took requests and really plussed up the evening.





I ordered my new favorite beverage from the Hotel Marceline-themed cocktail menu.



I had never heard of a Throws & Maskers before!



How about a branded cup of Club 33 java?



I love the cool purplish lighting of the bar.



And the ghostly clarinet player.



This time I steadied my hand…



and got an improved shot of the hidden Darth Vader.



More Club 33 version 2.0 photos at my main website.

First Visit to "New" Club 33 Pt. 2

Join me as we enter the Jazz Club (aka Le Salon Nouveau) at Disneyland. The hallway stocked with wines framed the entrance of this Club 33 addition perfectly. Slightly dark, rich with wood, I finally felt like I was somewhere special.



These little alcoves gave a sense of privacy, something rare at Disneyland.



Each one has art and knick knacks with nods to Disney and Park history.



Tom and Huck can be seen pointing to the Mark Twain in this painting:



I could have spent a lot more time in each booth, pouring over the knick-knacks.



And then, my heart sank. I knew what had happened to it, but seeing it in person was still difficult to swallow.



The elevator that once took numerous guests upstairs for a special Club 33 experience was now gutted and repurposed as a cramped little seating area. You can almost hear the design team saying, "See? We kept your damn history. Now shut up you whiners!" Like the vulture in the lobby, all context has been removed and scrubbed clean.



And then things improved again. The Jazz Lounge felt spacious and inviting. It is one of the few spots in Club 33 that doesn't seem like 10 pounds of potatoes crammed into a 5 pound bag.





This Pepper's Ghost effect of a trumpeter is very cool to see.



The player piano is neat, but…in a jazz club, wouldn't "live" jazz seem like a natural?



Here's a shot of one of the booths.



The painting seemed to be styled after "The Princess and the Frog."



Did you happen to catch the "hidden" Darth Vader? I didn't until afterwards when it was pointed out to me.



A panoramic view of the Jazz Lounge.



Overall, the design is fairly good, with a few fixtures and finishes that seem a little cheap when examined closely. Despite liking the lounge, I couldn't help but feel that I was on a Disney Cruise Line. Mass produced…vividly colored…and lacking heart.



The crowning blow occurred as our party left the lounge with drinks in hand to be seated for dinner. One of the guests picked up the dish of nuts we had been sampling to finish them in the dining room. A cast member told us we could not take the dish with us; instead, they emptied the contents out onto a black paper napkin.

I think Bianca del Rio says it best.



For a "Club" that charges 6-figures to join and 5-figures in annual dues, it's a sad state of affairs when they feel the need to watch over what happens with a nut dish.

The conclusion of my Club 33 trilogy will be posted tomorrow.

More Club 33 and Jazz Lounge photos on my main website.

First Visit to "New" Club 33 Pt. 1

Sorry to split the Club 33 visit into multiple posts, but there is just too much to cover in one entry. Note the antique speakeasy door on the new entrance; strangely enough, I bought one of these years ago at a San Diego antique salvage store. It must have been a popular design. It's a small thing, but I like having this somewhat rusty little door here. Overall, New Orleans Square looks too squeaky clean. It has little of the antique charm and decadence that its namesake is known for.

The new lobby has a cabinet with Club 33 merchandise for sale.



This is a view of the backside of the faux stained glass that separates the regular guests from the Club 33 guests when it comes to the Court of Angels. This still smarts a bit when I think about what a beautiful place of rest, quiet, and photographic opportunity this area once was for all who discovered it.



The irony is that now that it has been closed off and "jazzed up," it has lost its appeal for me. Like so much of the semi-recent Disneyland Park design, the Court of Angels suffers from the mantra of "It ain't done til it's overdone."



The wooden balustrade looks odd with the addition of the brass one. The woman holding the light fixture is nice enough, but she seems out of place. JUST TOO MUCH.



I like the idea of Tinker Bell in the lantern but it would have been more effective if she had been created in a smaller scale.



Here's the new elevator that takes you up to the Club. Note how it has been sandwiched into the existing space; why keep the window on the upper-right? It just makes everything look crammed in. Makes me think of sardines.



The upstairs hallway features murals that look like they had been freshly minted from a large format color printer.



Every ounce of this space has been jam-packed with mass-manufactured ornamentations and scrollwork.



The harpsichord survived the transition, but the accompanying seat did not. In other words...just look, don't touch. The parquet floor is beautiful, but with all of the other details my eyes were exploding from the sensory overload.



With the Trophy Room demolished to make room for a new kitchen, the vulture was homeless.



He found a new landing spot on top of this grandfather clock. In a trophy room with dark paneled walls, a stuffed vulture makes sense. In a brightly lit entry way where Art Nouveau meets Home Depot styling, a vulture just makes you go, "Huh?"



These poor girls in the ill-fitting bright blue dresses must be dying a thousand deaths. Frumpy is bad. Bright and frumpy is even worse.



Don't ask me why, but I LOVE these two light fixtures:





On the way to the men's restroom you'll find this phone booth that was modeled after the one used in the 1967 Disney movie "The Happiest Millionaire."



I actually liked the men's room. Go figure. It had the same warm inviting feeling that the old Trophy Room had.



Another survivor from the previous Club 33.



Check out this old fashioned toilet.



Finally, a sense of humor and light-heartedness is displayed.



But you have to go to the crapper to find it.



Tomorrow: The Jazz Club!

More vintage and current Club 33 photos at my main website.