The Mouseplanet column in USA Today recently brought to my attention some proposed Club 33 policy changes, along with the mention of Club 1901, the new VIP lounge that will be built into the Carthay Circle Theater in the new Disney California Adventure revamp.

Club 33 Policy Changes

Proposed changes for Disneyland’s famously exclusive, members-only Club 33 are causing a stir. The Club offers different levels of personal and corporate membership, and most of the policy updates center around changing the levels.

According to the article, the Gold membership (estimated $3,600 annual dues) for the club will be phased out in 2012, leaving only the new Platinum membership (estimated $10,000 annual dues). The differences in the membership levels are significant not only in price, but also in what you get for your money:

Reported Platinum Membership Benefits
Premier Annual Pass (admission to all parks at both Disney World and Disneyland)
Four Additional Premier Annual Passes for family and friends
Access to Club 1901, the new VIP lounge in Carthay Circle Theater in Disney California Adventure (see more details below)
Book up to 5 VIP guided tours per year

Reported Gold Membership Benefits
Annual Pass to Disneyland Resort
(These members LOSE the past benefit of admission for a guest into the park for the day when not dining at Club 33)
(These members do NOT receive additional annual passes)
(These members do NOT have access to Club 1901)

Existing Gold level members will have the chance to upgrade to Platinum. All new Club 33 members will be required to join at the Platinum level.

In addition to the membership level changes the following policies may also change in 2012:

• Free valet parking at the Grand Californian Hotel is now offered only when the member is dining at Club 33
• When dining at Club 33, members may still request guest passes for those dining with them. However, regular members are now limited to 50 guest passes per year; corporate members are limited to 100 passes. Once the allocated guest passes have been used, members can purchase additional tickets at a 20 percent discount.

The official club member booklet will be released in a few days. Until then, these changes are just “proposed” and may or may not come to fulfillment.

Club 1901

Over the past two years, we’ve reported about a VIP Club/Restaurant in the Carthay Circle Theater in Disney California Adventure; and Disney execs mentioned [Read more…]