*The Dream Come True*

The first time my husband and I went to Disneyland together, he shared with me a dream that he’s had for a very long time…to dine in a restaurant called Club 33. I had heard of it (I think) but didn’t know much about it, so he gave me some information, and over the years I’ve learned more about it.

In a nutshell, Walt Disney added Club 33 in the 1960s as part of the plans for New Orleans Square, with the purpose of having a special club for corporate sponsors and VIPs. The club didn’t open until May of 1967, 5 months after Walt’s death. Memberships include corporations and individuals and are extremely expensive. Members do get several special perks, including dining inside the club. It is decorated with several antique pieces collected by Lillian Disney, as well as various props from Disney films.

The closest that we thought we would ever get to going to the club was the day we took the “A Walk in Walt’s Footsteps” tour that Disneyland offers. Part of the tour takes guests into the lobby of Club 33, but that’s as far as you’ll get! They allow you to take pictures inside the antique-style lift and around the lobby, while the stairs to the second floor dining room taunt you :-) The only way anyone in the general public is able to dine there is by being invited by a member (or someone who works for a company with a corporate membership). I knew that several of our new friends who we met through the MouseWait app had been there, but I never bothered to ask how they were able to go. I just knew they were all very lucky for the opportunity!!

And then a few weeks ago, I got a message from one of those new friends asking if we would like to dine at Club 33. I cannot tell you how excited I was when I opened that email…the idea of this dream coming true for my husband was beyond belief!! Of course we accepted right away, even though we knew it would probably be the most expensive meal we ever eat…you do not pass up an opportunity like this that will probably only come along once!

Our day finally came this past Father’s Day, and it was everything we had dreamed about and more! There was a group of 12 of us who dined together, and it was AMAZING. The food was fantastic (and there was a LOT of it!), the décor is beautiful and rich with history, and the company was perfect. We were allowed to stay for as long as we wanted, which ended up being almost 3 hours. None of us wanted to leave! I was the last one to get up from the table, I just couldn’t soak it all in enough and I didn’t want it to end.

We took about a million pictures, so I’m only posting a few here, but many more can be found in my Flickr album. We tried to capture some of the unique decorations, but somehow pictures don’t quite grasp the feeling of being there in person.

Our dining group

Stairs....or lift?? Lift, of course!

The Trophy Room where we dined

Characters!!

SO much food!

View from below

Dreams really do come true at The Happiest Place on Earth!!

I love you honey and I’m so happy that we were able to make this dream come true for you, all thanks to some new, VERY generous friends who may never know how much we truly appreciate what they’ve done for us!

The Movie Premiere

Hello readers! I apologize for being blog-MIA for a while, but I’m back and I’ll have some new posts coming up, including this one!

As I’m sure most of you know by now, Pirates of the Caribbean 4 came out in theaters recently, and they just happened to hold the premiere at Disneyland. Now, I originally didn’t have any plans to attend the “black carpet” for this movie…I have only seen the first one of this series and I just didn’t want to camp out all day on bleachers to watch the stars walk. But as the day of the premiere came and the hours wore on, I finally wised up. This was quite possibly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I was going to miss it?? Not to mention I have a sad obsession with Hollywood and celebrities…what was I thinking not going?! So I hauled my butt off to the park and prayed that I would actually find somewhere to stand where I could see something.

Lucky for me, I scored a spot along a fence line towards the end of the carpet. And I ended up being REALLY glad that I went. It’s events like this that I need to learn to take advantage of while I live only 20 minutes from Disneyland, because I will not always have these opportunities.

What did I learn from this experience? One, I need a better camera!! Too many of my pictures came out blurry, which was so disappointing. My point and shoot just couldn’t handle the speed I needed, and didn’t do well at night. Or maybe it was serious user error LOL Two, if you’re going to stand in one spot for over 4 hours, with people pushing up against you for those 4 hours, wear comfortable shoes!!! I did not wear the shoes I should have and regretted it. And three, if you have the chance to do something you think will be even remotely fun and the opportunity may not ever present itself again, DO IT!!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the premiere. I was able to shake hands with Teri Hatcher, Cat Cora, and my favorite moment of the day…MARTIN SHORT!! :D If you care to see the rest of my pictures, they are on my Flickr page. Enjoy!

Lots of pirate themed entertainment as we waited

Martin Short!!!

Teri Hatcher

Andy Garcia (saw him the night before at the Park too!)

The side of Geoffrey Rush

Penelope Cruz...she is even more gorgeous in person!!

The man of the hour, Johnny Depp! He was apologizing because he had to be rushed along, they were literally pulling him away from the fans because they were running SO late.