Credit: Carlos (armadillo444), Flickr
The Walt Disney Company’s most exclusive and desired location–Club 33–is being made available to every Disney fan in an unprecedented move from the House of Mouse.
The Disney theme parks are some of the most desirable vacation locations in the world. Boasting six resorts across three continents, Disney’s empire looks only set to grow thanks to CEO Bob Iger’s recently announced $60 billion company investment, half of which is being injected into its Disney Experiences division.
With new attractions popping up yearly and future expansions already in motion, Disney’s theme parks are constantly shifting and evolving to meet guests’ needs and wants.
The desirable newness of attractions such as Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and TRON Lightcycle / Run keep guests coming back for more–even with the annual rising costs of a Disney vacation. It’s not just at Walt Disney World Resort where guests are enticed back; Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney’s first park, found in Anaheim, Southern California, is also a hive of evolution.
Depending on budget, the parks’ experiences are generally available for everyone. However, one element is off-limits for most: the exclusive Club 33.
Club 33 was established at Disneyland Resort inside New Orleans Square at Disneyland Park in June 1967. Other locations can be found at Tokyo Disney Resort and Shanghai Disney Resort, with lounges available across Magic Kingdom Park, EPCOT, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World.
The 1901 Lounge is also available for Disneyland Club 33 members and their guests. It is located at the Carthay Circle Restaurant in Disneyland’s sister park, Disney California Adventure Park.
At the original location, Club 33 reopened in July 2014 after a closure for expansion and renovation. The private membership restaurant is “meant for Disneyland participants and VIPs and their guests” (per D23), with some private members, although the waiting list is extremely long.
Video and photography inside Club 33 are majorly restricted, adding more mystery and intrigue regarding membership. According to some reports, the cost for access to Club 33 at Disneyland Resort is $25,000 upfront, followed by $10,000 annually. It is upwards of that for membership at Walt Disney World Resort.
But for all of its pomp and mystery, Disney will officially unveil Club 33 for every single Disney fan in the world–just not in the way one may expect.
Recently announced in an exclusive with The Hollywood Reporter, The Walt Disney Company is releasing a new live-action whodunnit-style movie based on Club 33, effectively making every Disney fan able to experience the premium offering.
“For Club 33, the story centers on a young aspiring detective who receives a mysterious invite to the highly secretive Club 33,” The Hollywood Reporter writes. “In this case, it’s a magical and exclusive dining club whose members are the greatest and most iconic figures from across history. When a murder is committed on the premises, the patrons look to the young detective to solve it.”
Darren Lemke, the Goosebumps (2015) scribe, is writing the script for the movie, which is being produced by 21 Laps Entertainment, the production banner of Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, and Dan Cohen. 21 Laps Entertainment notably produces Stranger Things and the more recent adaptation of Anthony Doerr’s “All the Light We Cannot See” (2014), both on Netflix.
Levy, in a director capacity, is also in cahoots with Disney and Marvel Studios to bring Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the first time. Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) will hit movie theaters exclusively this July.
This take on the lore of Disney’s Club 33 “is said to exude the tone and vibes of Clue and Night at the Museum,” per THR. Levy directed all three of the Night at the Museum franchise movies, and with Lemke–who has credits like Goosebumps and Shazam! (2019)–on board for the screenplay, it suggests a vibrant and fantastical take on this key part of Disney theme park history is in motion.
The upcoming Club 33 movie will be the next in an ever-growing line of theme park attraction-inspired adaptations. The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, starring Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, is the most commercial ride-inspired movie of the last two decades, having been based on the popular attraction of the same name at many of the parks.
Related: First Look at Disneyland Expansion as Company Struggles With Lackluster Future
More recently, Disney delved into bringing to life the story of the Jungle Cruise and the Haunted Mansion.
Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt starred as Frank Wolff/Francisco Lopez de Heredia and Dr. Lily Houghton, respectively, in Jaume Collet-Serra’s 2021 Jungle Cruise movie, while Haunted Mansion (2023)–a reboot of the 2003 iteration starring Eddie Murphy–featured an ensemble cast that included the likes of Owen Wilson, LaKeith Stanfield, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Danny DeVito.
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While Jungle Cruise proved to be a hit with audiences despite debuting at the pandemic-era box office, Justin Simien’s Haunted Mansion famously crashed out, netting Disney just $117 million on a budget of approximately $150 million. The film’s opening in the summer, plus the lack of promotion due to the SAG-AFTRA strikes, have been attributed to the movie’s shortcomings.
With such a muddled box office history, will Disney be able to strike gold with this upcoming Club 33 movie? Or will guests have to continue forking out gold for one of those elusive private memberships in real life?
Are you interested in seeing this Club 33 movie? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!
