I’ve got a trip to Disneyland coming up in a couple weeks…my first time there in over a decade. We will be taking the little one..and a babysitter. One thing we won’t be taking is a reservation to 21 Royal, the new restaurant at Disneyland that runs $15,000 for dinner.
I have a confession to make: I’ve been on the Club 33 Membership waitlist for seven years. I could not afford it then and I cannot afford it now, but I always figured by the time I clear the waitlist (sometimes it takes more than a decade) I might able to. Club 33 is an exclusive club inside Disneyland created by Walt Disney himself. It’s called Club 33 because (at the time) it was the only restaurant in Disneyland that had a liquor license and in order to get one, the restaurant had to have an address. That address was 33 Royal Street in New Orleans Square.
Membership runs $15,000/year…plus a $50,000 initiation fee. Yeah, I just need a reader to invite me instead…
But now Disneyland has outdone even Club 33 with 21 Royal, a new hidden restaurant located above Pirates of the Caribbean.
- A seven-course dinner
- For 12 guests
The fee includes park entrance for 12 guests, valet parking, and gratuity. Dinner starts with cocktails in the salon. That is followed by dinner in the dining room and ends with dessert on the balcony overlooking the evening fireworks show.
Want a reservation? Call (714) 300-7749 and leave a message. I can’t vouch for whether you will get a call back.
CONCLUSION
I realize this is somewhat tangentially related to travel, but I figured it relates in this way: 1.) Disneyland is a huge travel destination and 2.) part of the game of miles and points is enjoying aspirational venues — like this exclusive “lounge”. There does not appear any miles or points strategies to get this, but I put it out there for us to discuss. Any tricks to make an obscenely-priced dinner affordable?
The reality is that many companies and families will not consider this price obscene and I anticipate it will steadily rise in price each year as demand exceeds supply. Why else have Disneyland admission tickets doubled in price with no reduction in crowds and I’m on a decade-long waiting list for Club 33?
Sounds like a nice, exclusive Live and Lets Fly reader meetup!
You buying Charlie? 😉
I could see 6 Disney-crazed couples splitting the cost or just uber-wealthy family popping for it. It’s defiantly cool…but at $15k…looks like I’m stuck on dining on a Disney turkeyleg!
I already know of 2 couples that are planning to have there wedding receptions there. I think for Uber crazed all-things Disney fans, like myself , this is something worth saving up for , I know that I and I few of my friends are.
I don’t think so. One meal, no matter how good, is not worth 15 thousand dollars. I have zero inkling of why someone would want to waste that much money on a dinner even if it is the nicest dinner in the world. There are much better ways to spend your money, with all of the problems going on in the world and all of the people who have no money, this is actually insulting. If I want a nice dinner for 12 people, I can go somewhere plenty good for $1200 or $2400, which is extremely expensive but at least feasible. This level of insanity is just inconsiderate in my opinion. Disney should be ashamed of themselves.
I do tend to agree with you Alan on no meal being worth $15K, but as Allen points out (and having had a pricey wedding reception myself that my father-in-law paid for but I saw the bill) for Disney fans this might be an aspirational goal and it would be one heck of a wedding reception for the lucky 12.
We all, in some way, seem willing to spend our money on “irrational” things. While I would not spend money on this, I hate to admit I probably would drop $15K on a Concorde trip if I had the opportunity, as foolish as that is…
Doesn’t sound that unreasonable. I just don’t have 11 other people to do this with. But a meet up idea would be cool.
Ouch. I’d need to down a whole bunch of cocktails to justify $1,250 a head!
With regards to miles and points, if you have a card with MR/UR/TYP, you could theoretically apply 1,500,000 points to wipe out the $15,000 charge with a statement credit, at a penny a point. Not that I would ever suggest doing that, mind you.
Is $15k the only price available? Or does it change if u have a party size less than 12?
My understanding is that it is an all or nothing price — whether you are solo or take up to 11 additional people with you.
This is not a 15K dinner. Factoring in the value of the park pass (assuming if you are doing this you probably want to go to the park also) this is about a $1,200 per head dinner. I don’t have any real affection for Disney and consider that insane but I’m sure some Disney people would say its insane to buy 5K worth of watches a year, a 600HP BWM or any other number of expensive luxury purchases.
My point being if you have a group of 12 , this is an extravagant luxury but not one that is out of reach of an American family making, say, 120K a year if this is their extravagant “thing” as opposed to watches, handbags, cars, etc….
I do wonder about the food. For the price, this better be a 2 star Michelin caliber meal. That doesn’t justify the cost but at that price it seems like the minimum that is acceptable.
Park hopper for 1 day is an easy $150. The per person cost for a group of 12 for just the food/drink portion is closer to $1100. For a 7 course dinner with unlimited drinks (alcohol can be quite pricey), you can definitely get your money’s worth if you get the right group of people. Many 2-3 star michelin restaurants are $400-500/person without drinks.
I’ve eaten at Club 33 before. It’s ok, but nothing to knock your socks off. It’s more about the exclusivity of it. So unless you’re a Kim K and Kanye with money to blow, I don’t see 15k being worth it.
Disney is the definition of a tourist trap.
Came here to talk about Michelin ratings, but I see that some commentators have already brought it up. I wonder if they will allow the restaurant to be rated by Michelin. The best meal I have ever had was at French Laundry, a famous restuarant with 3 Michelin stars. A seven-course meal with a sufficient, albeit moderate, amount of wine cost one person about $300. So figure $3600 for 12 people. I still don’t see the value in it, but as has been said, there are Disney nuts who will gladly fork over the 1200 per person for this experience.