A pair of Disney super fans shelled out $400,000 in legal fees in an attempt to get back into Disneyland’s elite Club 33 after they were banned from the $31,000-per-year hangout over alleged public drunkenness.
Scott and Diana Anderson, both 60, lost their lawsuit against the House of Mouse last week — when an Orange County, California, judge said Disney was within its rights to decide who’s allowed to stay in the resort’s small, small world.
Club 33 membership offers access to VIP lounges, special events, celebs and other perks at Disney resorts around the world.
Scott and Diana Anderson, who were booted from Club 33.
The Andersons spent 20 years raising the money to join and another 10 years on the club’s waiting list. In the five years they were members, they visited Disney’s two Anaheim, California, theme parks 60 to 80 times each year from their home in Arizona — shelling out an estimated $125,000.
They formed close friendships with other members and mingled with celebrities like Kurt Russell and Dick Van Dyke, Scott Anderson told The Post.
Scott Anderson, who owns a golf course, said the losing legal battle set his retirement back five years — but he’s got no regrets.
His wife, Diana, had vowed to keep fighting, telling the LA Times she would “sell a kidney” to raise the funds for another legal challenge.
The kerfuffle all stems from claims that Scott was drunk at Disneyland.
The Andersons had made 60 to 80 Disneyland trips per year as Club 33 members. LordRunar
The couple was banned from the exclusive Club 33 due to alleged public drunkenness. Photo by Tim Rue/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesDisney attorney Jonathan E. Phillips told the court that Scott Anderson’s actions “cost his wife of 40 years her lifetime dream of having access to Club 33,” the LA Times reported.
Anderson claims he wasn’t drunk, though he admits he’d had “a few beers” and a glass of wine or two during a full day of fun at Disney’s California Adventure Park.
He said his wobbliness can be attributed to a vestibular migraine — a condition he’s had for decades.
The next day, Anderson and his wife were shocked to learn their membership had been revoked.
A rare interior photo of a Club 33 dining room. Corbis via Getty ImagesClub 33 is as secretive as it is exclusive. The original clubhouse in Anaheim, where the Andersons spent their vacations, is marked only by a small plaque reading “33.”
The entrances to others — in Tokyo, Shanghai and at Walt Disney World in Orlando — are tucked away in obscure corners of the parks.
The clubs are famous for letting elite members (whose identities are kept strictly confidential) mingle in opulent parlors and dining rooms, enjoying meals prepared by world-class chefs.
A plaque marking a Club 33 lounge at a Disney theme park. Los Angeles Times via Getty ImagesThe couple asked the court for $10,500 in unused membership time plus $231,000 in compensation for the seven years they have spent on the Club 33 blacklist.
Anderson said he and his wife are still looking at their options to force Disney to let them back into their happiest place on Earth.
“All these relationships we’ve developed over the years were centered around Disneyland,” Scott told The Post. “All these people we know from different parts of the country, that’s where we met. We would do everything together. And we lost that. We lost all that.”
