Disneylands

DISNEYLAND is a place where everyone can enjoy a bit of magic, but hidden behind its world famous rides and queues of exhausted families is a top secret club that most guests have no idea exists.

Club 33 originally opened in Disneyland California, although can also be found in Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland now too.

But don’t get too excited – the club is incredibly exclusive and the only way to join is if you receive an invite.

It’s even suggested that there is a waiting list of up to 10 years, which was reportedly closed in 2007 after it became so long, before reopening in 2012.

So it’s no wonder why the sought-after club is loved by celebs like Tom Hanks, Michael Jackson and Elton John.

Found on 33 Orleans Street, the speakeasy style club can be found behind a blue door with a discreet 33 address plate at the entrance, for those in the know.

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The members-only club was founded by Walt Disney, who based the club on his travel adventures with his wife Lillian, although he died a year before the club opened in 1967.

Inside is just as lush as you’d expect, with wood-panelled private dining lounges, swanky baroque wallpaper and various Victorian curios that Walt personally collected from antique shops.

In fact, the restaurant is one of the only places visitors can bag some booze in the park.

And for film fanatics, props from classics like Mary Poppins  are inside, including original drawings on the wall.

But all of this will cost you.

Initiation fees are believed to range between $25,000 (£19,200) and $50,000 (£38,000).

Then there is the annual fee, which can be as much as $30,000 (£23,000).

The membership, however, gets you some extra perks such as day passes for guests, private VIP tours, exclusive merchandise and free hotel room upgrades.

You also can’t go to more than one of the Club 33s around the world, as each membership is exclusive to each club.

There is one place in the club you can visit without your own membership, although you do need to know someone who does have one to take you.

The Salon Nouveau Lounge is known for it’s posh caviar appetizers as well as burgers and champagne, so if you know someone lucky enough to have access the club 33, you could try it out.

Meanwhile, for members only, there is Le Grande Salon which has set menu costing upwards of £100, but can reportedly include options such as scallops and steak tartare.

And for those wanting to spend the night, there’s the Disneyland Dream Suite, which sits above the next-door Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

Walt had his own apartment on Main Street in the park, but it was decided there needed to be a bigger spot to host Disney’s VIP guests, away from the hustle and bustle of the crowds.

The more specific details of the elusive club are scarce, mostly because members are told not to ever share the club’s secrets.

Florida-based Disney travel experts Simon and Susan Veness previously told the Telegraph: “The level of secrecy around Club 33 is quite startling, but it has been there since the club’s earliest days, and it continues to be a Disney parks anomaly today.

“For somewhere that is never slow to promote its rides and attractions, this ultra-expensive ‘insiders’ club’ is distinctly incongruous and out of step with the general pixie dust nature of the theme parks.”

However, some guests have shared a sneak peak inside the club.

This week former Playboy star Holly Madison took to Instagram to post some snaps from the balcony of the club.

“Club 33 Alice in Wonderland tea was divine,” she captioned the alluring snaps which showed her sat a linen-covered table with Mad Hatter plates, Alice in Wonderland-themed snacks and over huge floral displays.

Bragging about having club 33 membership comes with it’s risks though as one couple even ended up taking Disney to court after losing their membership.

The couple, from the US, said they had paid as much as $124,000 (£94,000) a year to visit the theme parks, sometimes visiting as much as 80 times a year.

However, they were taken off the membership list after the park claimed they had both behaved badly, being both intoxicated and swearing – something they both refute.

Back in 2015 Joseph Cosgrove allegedly lost his membership when he allowed a friend to auction off his passes.

According to Disneyland spokeswoman Suzi Brown, Joseph had “repeatedly transferred and sold their membership privileges,” which meant the park was “left with no other choice in order to preserve the integrity of membership.”

Celebrities aren’t immune to having their membership revoked either; a Pitch Perfect actress claimed she was suspended from the club for taking a secret picture in the club’s bathroom, she revealed on The Daily Show in 2023.

But all the mystery around the club has only made it more intriguing for Disney fans over the years, with thousands of social media posts on the topic of the secret spot popping up every week.