As you enter the foyer of Club 33, the first thing people probably notice is the ornate lift immediately to the right. Most people call it an elevator, but for a few reasons, it is more correctly called a lift. An elevator is usually in publicly accessible areas, while the club is private. Perhaps a better answer is because the word ‘lift’ better fits the show and the story of how it came to be part of Club 33…
On a trip to France, Walt stayed in a quaint hotel that had this beautiful lift for carrying guests to the other floors. As the story goes, Walt asked the owner of the hotel (no one has been able to confirm exactly which hotel it was) if he could purchase the work of mechanical art for his new private restaurant back in the States. Purportedly, the owner said no, but Walt persisted. Finally, the owner insisted that he wouldn’t sell it because then he would have no way of getting guests to the upper floors without a lot of construction and trouble. Instead, Walt later sent a small team of imagineers and artisans to the hotel who took many photographs, made drawings and took measurements in order to perfectly reproduce the lift – just how it is seen today.
Once you step into the lift, it is surprisingly small. Only two average sized people could fit in it and still be able to close the door. Three small people can do it, but it’s very cramped and can detract from the experience of riding it up to the second floor. Another interesting note is that this is truly only for appearances and not really intended to give assistance to people in wheelchairs – and it isn’t because of the small size – there are three steps up to get to the lift…
The round 19th century butler’s mirror on the wall has been moved upstairs. It was one of the many antiques that Walt and Lillian purchased on their travels.
