Exclusive: Inside the New Club 33

Being Disneyland fans, you probably have seen photos of the outside of the newly refurbished Club 33 (and have seen the backlash of a poorly designed area of the park), but the only interior shots we have seen are those taken from street-level, looking up into the huge windows. We were lucky enough to grab three photos of the new club from the inside, giving you a preview of things to come.

Here is a shot of the new expansion, where members can bask in the glow of New Orleans-themed dining and music. There are some cool animatronics in here, including stained glass that moves, instruments that play themselves, and a painting of some jazz musicians that fade in and out of the scene – this is all meant to invoke the spirit of Jazz in Club 33. The giant piano is a real gem – it’s a working piano that has a system inside of it, allowing it to play music from any concert around the world … live! Notice I said “play”. Keys strike the strings and the piano is literally played, albeit by a computer program. Granted, the concert that is being streamed would have to have the broadcasting software to push the music to Anaheim, but still … the tech is pretty awesome. The flooring looks like a poorly-installed Pergo from this shot, and kind of off-sets the vibe, yeah?

And here we have what used to be the original and only dining room in Club 33. For those of you who have been there before, this room will look very different. Gone is that nice hardwood flooring, and it seems like there is no more elegant drapery, though they are still dressing the room and that may change. Honestly, it looks more like an upscale cafeteria than a super-exclusive club, but what do we know?

UPDATE: here is another shot from the opposite view, showing a bit more of the decor

Last but not least, the Turkey Vulture. This was one of Walt’s visions left over from the Trophy Room – an animatronic Turkey Vulture that would interact with guests as they dined. While this never really worked in the past, the original bird was saved and refurbished, and will be perched high above, watching you eat and hopefully moving around!

UPDATE: Another view of the vulture, with hoses running from the back.

We know it’s only 3 photos, but what do you think: Is all the hullabaloo about Disney losing their vision for Club 33 accurate?

As the host of EarzUp! podcast, Jason loves giving his opinions on pretty much everything, especially when they aren’t asked for. When he’s not wandering around the Disneyland Resort, you can find him online playing video games, going to tiki bars, and trying to figure out where his kid ran off to so fast.