“Forgotten Hollywood”- Walt Disney’s Private Club…

Posted on December 9, 2014 by raideoman1 | No Comments

Manny P. here…

   Due to winning a Halloween contest, my wife Laurie won an opportunity to visit to Club 33, Walt Disney’s corporate meeting place in the heart of New Orleans Square at Disneyland. On Monday, Mark and Maxime Thomas (Laurie’s brother and brother-in-law) and joined my wife for lunch at this exclusive spot. We enjoyed a sumptuous meal, talented carolers, and a visit from Terri Jo Slater, a good friend of ours, who is also an 30-year employee at the Happiest Place on Earth. We were celebrating Laurie’s and my recent birthdays; and Maxime’s recent accolade as one of Belgium’s most influential citizens for 2014, quite an accomplishment!

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MANNY        LAURIE                 CLUB 33              MAXIME        MARK

    When Walt Disney was working with various corporate promoters for his attractions at the 1964–1965 New York World’s Fair, he noted the various VIP Lounges provided as an accommodation for the corporate elite. This gave him the idea that culminated in Club 33.The many stories regarding the origin of the name, two stories are the most prominent. The first and official explanation states:  Club 33 gets its name solely from its address of 33 Royal Street in New Orleans Square. A second and less well known story speculates the name honors there being 33 corporate sponsors at Disneyland in 1966-1967 when the club was being built and opened. There is a 14-year waiting list for new memberships!

   Once at the dining level, guests can view antique furniture pieces collected by Lillian Disney. The walls are adorned, in part, with butterflies pinned under glass and hand-painted animation cels from the original Fantasia film. There is a fully functional glass telephone booth just off the elevator that was used in The Happiest Millionaire and an ornate walnut table with white marble top that was used in Mary Poppins. A harpsichord features a Renaissance-style art piece that was hand-painted by Disney artists. Elton John and Paul McCartney have each played this instrument.

   The only place that allows alcohol in the theme park, the overall experience was quite a perk earned by Laurie Pacheco…

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ken weatherwax   Ken Weatherwax was best known as Pugsley on The Addams Family television series. The young actor came from a theatrical family. His aunt was Ruby Keeler, memorable for her role in 42nd Street. In addition, Ken was the nephew of Rudd Weatherwax, the trainer for Lassie. Charles Addams, writer for The Addams Family, helped select Ken for the role of Pugsley. Charles felt that Ken was perfect for the part because he possessed a maniacal smile and a very strange personality. Dismissing acting as a career, Weatherwax found himself more comfortable behind-the-scenes as a grip for television shows for more than a decade, including stints on The A-Team and Full House.

   Survived by Gomez (John Astin) and Wednesday Addams (Lisa Loring), Ken Weatherwax (above) was 59.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 9th, 2014 at 2:18 am and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.


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