The Alfresco Tasting Terrace, home to the Magic Key Lounge at Disney California Adventure, is getting a new look. This terrace opened in January 2020 for Disneyland Annual Passholders, and while it was unknown to many, those who knew about this location quickly found and enjoyed this hidden area. The Terrace closed with the Parks in March 2020, but reopened on May 20, 2021 for Legacy Passholders. It continues to remain popular with Magic Key Holders now.
The Orange County Register is reporting that this hidden area “will soon be transformed into a Club 33-style hangout where Disneyland Magic Key passholders can relax and reenergize after a long day at the Anaheim theme park.” Crews began work on the refurbished terrace on Monday, January 24. The Terrace will continue to remain open in a limited capacity during the renovation and is expected to be completed in late Spring.
“When we started our Magic Key program, the Park decided that it would be a really great thing to have a location for them that they could call their own, kind of like Club 33 has their own location,” Walt Disney Imagineering’s Kim Irvine said. “Now the Magic Key members have the same thing which is really wonderful.”
However, while the renovated Magic Key Terrace won’t offer the same elevated level of service and privileges as Club 33, the lounge will be a hidden, private, exclusive, members-only, second-story hangout just like the famed spot above New Orleans Square.
The Magic Key Terrace renovation will add new furniture, lighting fixtures, draperies, tile work, stained glass, and murals inspired by a pair of adorable animal mascots. ”We wanted to make sure it was a very special place for Magic Key members,” Irvine said during an online video interview. “We spent a lot of time on the detail, mood, environment and energy of the place.”
The Magic Key Lounge will be expanded from the terrace on the second floor of the Golden Vine Winery into the former dining room of the Vineyard Room restaurant once run by the Robert Mondavi Winery when then-Disney’s California Adventure opened in February 2001.
“The location was just gorgeous, with the early California architecture and wide-open windows with great vistas out to the park below. But the upstairs was never really finished to a point where it had a good story with a compelling look to it,” Irvine said. “So, with a lot of research, we came up with the story of an old California hacienda that had all the beauty of heavy wooden beams, colorful Spanish tile and terracotta floors and built on that.”
As a result of the renovation, Imagineering created a new backstory for the Magic Key Terrace as a beautiful hacienda recently purchased by a young couple that wants to keep the charm of the old place while adding some comfortable contemporary touches. The redesign will keep its current hacienda architectural styling while adding a contemporary splash of saturated blues, turquoises and greens.
The renovated lounge will now consists of two areas – a covered lounge and uncovered terrace. Both of these areas will have animal mascots that serve as design inspiration for each space. A peacock will serve as the mascot for the covered lounge while a fan-favorite cat will represent the uncovered terrace. Custom Mexican tile made with peacock and cat designs will line the columns in each room mixed with other accent tiles.
The covered lounge will feature teak high-top tables along the arched windows for watching parades, nighttime spectaculars, and the world pass by. Stained-glass windows with the peacock motif will replace the dark brown shutters that were added to help reduce a regular breeze that tended to blow napkins off of the tables.
The uncovered terrace will have lower lounge chairs and coffee tables made of teak wood with furniture pads in the blue, turquoise and green color palette. The space is being designed as a “super comfortable” hangout for Key Holders.
No information has been released as to an update to the current appetizers, beer, wine, signature cocktails, and non-alcoholic drinks served in the Magic Key Terrace.
Stay tuned to DAPS MAGIC for more about the renovation of the Magic Key Terrace and the new look coming soon!
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