Would you pay $15,000 for dinner? With the opening of the luxurious, exclusive 21 Royal, Disney is betting you — or a significantly wealthier version of you — will. Sounds crazy, right?
YOU: “You guys, I can pay off almost a year of tuition with that money!”
FREIND: “Fine, man, so you’re bailing on dinner? We planned this, but whatever.”
But when we slow down to unpack the experience, it seems like for the right person…it might be worth it?
Disney dining, for all its detractors, is no stranger to exclusivity, although we may be strangers to it, given that the vast majority of park visitors will probably never see the inside of the famed Club 33, the $10,000 a year members-only in-park eatery with a ten year waiting list.
And when it comes to food, Disney has been hitting it out of the parks recently. Need examples? Just look at Orlando’s Tiffins with its laudable focus on sustainability and conservation, and the award-winning Todd English’s bluezoo. In Anaheim, look no further than Napa Rose in Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, a Zagat-rated restaurant largely considered to be the do-not-miss reservation of the California parks. But hey, stop for a drink at Trader Sam’s first, why don’t you?
So what will 21 Royal do that justifies that enormous price tag?
If the restaurant’s homepage is to be believed: bring together the company’s burgeoning love affair with excellent food, the repeat visitor’s hunger for new experiences that are somehow also ripe with nostalgia, and perhaps most importably, Disney’s gift for incredible storytelling.
Here’s how:
THE LOCATION
The restaurant is located on Royal Street in New Orleans Square, directly above the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction. Disney history buffs will recognize the apartment as “The Royal Suite,” originally meant to be Walt and Lillian’s personal entertainment facility within the park, larger than their apartment on Main Street, U.S.A., and therefore better-suited to hosting more elaborate events and dignified guests. Walt brought on the production designer from Gone with the Wind to design the layout, and set Lilli and studio set decorator Emile Kuri the task of interior decoration. The project was nearly finished when he passed in 1966.
Walt promised that Disneyland would never be completed, that it would be ever-changing, never a museum. The same held true for The Royal Suite, which hosted The Disney Gallery from July 11, 1987, to August 7, 2007. The rotating exhibition focused on the artwork and craft of the company’s Imagineers; it was at this time that most visitors, if they were curious enough, got a glimpse inside the suite.
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In October of 2007, the Walt Disney Company announced that the apartment would be remodeled and turned into the Disneyland Dream Suite, essentially, the fully realized version of Walt’s original plans for the space. The Disneyland Dream Suite would then be opened to randomly selected visitors, as part of in-park promotions and prizes. Imagine experiencing a stay in Disneyland, in rooms “filled,” as Walt Disney Imagineering Art Director Kim Irvine put it, “with things that might have inspired Walt as he dreamed of Disneyland.” Needless to say, the Dream Suite became something of a Disney-visitor’s white whale. The ultimate experience. Often spoken and dreamt of, rarely seen or experienced. If there was a way to buy a stay, it wasn’t widely talked about, and certainly not shared on Disney’s own websites.
Getting to peek inside at a piece of park history was very much up to chance.
Until now. True to Disney’s form of maintaining storytelling throughout, 21 Royal is “decorated in the Empire style made popular in 19th century New Orleans.” Dinner guests — up to twelve are admitted for each dinner, which would bring the price tag to $1,250 a head — are allowed time to explore the suite’s rooms, including two master bedrooms, each uniquely decorated, according to a January 2008 press release: “In one, the spirit of early 20th century innovation and the American frontier are summoned with an earthy color scheme, leather furniture, a cast-iron stove, an electric train and vintage mechanical toys. The other…is on the side of the residence nearest Adventureland, and its lush décor and atmosphere evoke the exotic flavor of jungle adventure stories as told in the Victorian era.”
THE SERVICE
The strength of Disney service is legend, and 21 Royal seems intent on maintaining that legend it and garnishing it with pixie dust. “Staffed with a butler, a sommelier, and servers who also double as tour guides,” your dinner party starts, according to 21 Royal, “at the majestic Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, where they will be greeted by the hotel’s valets. Once your entire party has assembled, they will be given a VIP escort to the site of the evening’s festivities.” The party starts in the salon, where butlers serve signature cocktails, and then moves to a reception on the bayou-themed patio, where lanterns and fireflies enhance the romance of the evening.
If at this point you’re asking, “why are my servers also tour guides?” remember that your dinner includes park entry for all the guests. Planning to head to the teacups later that night? Maybe go easy on those signature cocktails.
THE FOOD
After cocktails and the patio reception, guests will be treated to a seven-course meal prepared by Chef Andrew Sutton (the award-winning Chef Culinary Director of Signature Restaurants in Disneyland), and Chef de Cuisine Justin Monson. The dishes — prepared utilizing sustainable sources and seasonal ingredients — are each paired with a wine from the restaurant’s extensive cellars. In perhaps the most Disney-touch of all, the entire meal is bespoke. What’s that you say?
The entire seven course meal is set to a theme of your choosing. You choose the story, and the 21 Royal team “thoughtfully prepares a menu that weaves together a tapestry of imaginative dishes that combine to tell a tale that is uniquely yours.” Which, quite honestly, sounds really, really cool. Remember, Disneyland is the park that is known for theming; it’s literally the theme park that set the standard for what theme parks could be, and it did that based largely around the concept of through-theming. You’re not to remember you’re in the middle of the city of Anaheim, you’re in the jungle! Or the future! Or a magical castle! The theme is everywhere and ever-present: from the menus in a restaurant, to the queue you wait in for an attraction, to the toys and goods you can buy in the giftshops, everything in Disney tells a story. Needless to say, it’s more than a little intriguing to have a Disney team at your fingertips, interpreting your theme through food and drink.
Judging by the intensity of the crowds when it gets close to fireworks and parade-time, there are probably a few people who would pay big bucks just to take dessert and coffee on the private balcony overlooking the Rivers of America. The chance to have that and this stunning meal, is sure to become a hot ticket. Are you one of the lucky few who can afford a reservation? If so can you invite us?
