Travel bites: The hidden bunker where celebrities eat at Disneyland

It’s hard to imagine celebrities dining next to a storage area when they visit Disneyland.

But, according to our server, this secret behind-the-scenes passage is one of the spots where the Kylie Jenners and Celine Dions of the world get shuffled away to eat if they don’t fancy waiting in line at Corndog Castle or chowing down on a jumbo turkey leg.

It’s by a pure stroke of Disney magic, or perhaps our convenient party size of nine, that I’m about to enter the much-whispered-about room known as The Office.

Unlike the park’s exclusive, members-only Club 33, which has a decade-long waiting list and eye-watering initiation fee, entry to this private area is not determined by your social media reach or the number of zeros in your bank account.

Even regular park visitors can experience what it’s like to be a billionaire at Happiest Place on Earth.

The Office can be found, by invitation only, in a hidden corner of the Lamplight Lounge, “an eclectic eatery featuring gastropub cuisine,” on the Pixar Pier in Disneyland California Adventure Park.

After being led through the main dining room past diners enjoying the twinkling lights of Paradise Bay and the swinging Ferris wheel, we are taken through a service door reserved for Disneyland cast members.

Look left in the underwhelming hallway and you’ll see a room filled with cage shelving and plastic bins. At the other end sits a bank vault-like door illuminated by a single red light. Gauges, glowing mechanisms, knobs and a label reading ‘Pump Status’ add to the Disney mystique.

Our server says that before we enter the room reserved for A-listers and lucky visitors, a strong volunteer is required to unlock the code and open the heavy metal door. My Herculean fellow diner Darren takes on the challenge and fiercely cranks a wheel to illuminate three white bulbs in sequence from ‘Standby’ to ‘Ready’ and ‘Run’.

The door swings opens to reveal a dimly-lit space decorated with moody red walls and framed self-portraits of Pixar animators.

There is capacity for 13 guests between a long table with booth seating and another lounge area home to three leather chairs. Geometric wall decals happen to be board games including pachisi, backgammon and Chinese checkers for guests who would like friendly competition over dinner.

Through another door sits a private balcony overlooking The Incredicoaster in the Incredibles’ Park neighbourhood. The room’s position next to the fastest ride at Disneyland provides the comical dining soundtrack as screeching thrillseekers launch 86kmh into an enclosed tunnel.

While guests in the secretive Club 33 are known to be served five-star cuisine, in The Office diners are provided with the same food and drink menu as those in the main Lamplight Lounge restaurant.

Themed cocktails like the tequila-based Final with a Fix provide the perfect warm up for the restaurant’s signature lobster nachos. The dish is a decadent take on the Tex-Mex classic, comprising finely sliced lobster meat, black beans, aged cheddar, pico de gallo and sliced chillies. It is big enough for two hungry diners.

Further options include a pastrami-spiced plant-based burger, salmon poke bowl, potato skins and bone-in pork chop.

Just like Jenner and Dion, who both supped here in the past year, diners can have their own VIP moment by ordering the off-menu cocktail known as The Office, an exclusive creation reportedly made with vodka, watermelon liqueur and blended berries.

Fact file:

The Office is found in Lamplight Lounge on Pixar Pier, Disneyland California Adventure Park. Reservations can be made with the restaurant however bookings can not be made for the private space. Preference is given to larger groups under 13 people. No membership or entry fee is required. See: disneyland.disney.go.com

Getting there: United Airlines flies to San Francisco from Auckland with connections to Los Angeles. See: united.com/en/nz

The writer was a guest of Disney.