My Favorite Lounge at Disney World Is a Bigger Secret Than Club 33

The top entry on the bucket list for many Disney fans is Club 33, the not-so-secret “society” that’s hidden in all four parks at Walt Disney World, plus Disneyland, Tokyo, and Shanghai. But what if I told you there was a better lounge with a less-burdensome barrier to entry that’s actually a better-kept secret at this point?

Club 33 is the stuff of legends thanks to its rich history as the in-park hideaway where Walt Disney famously intended to host VIPs and corporate sponsors. Just stepping foot inside those exclusive doors is a must-do, with joining Club 33 being the ultimate status symbol for affluent aficionados.

Here’s a hot take: I don’t have any desire to do Club 33. At least, at Disneyland. This has been the case for a while, since reviewing Walt’s – An American Restaurant as superior to Club 33 several years ago. (As an aside, our most recent meal at Walt’s reaffirms its excellence!) Napa Rose is the best restaurant at Disneyland, and Carthay Circle offers a fantastic in-park experience for Disney diehards.

Accordingly, saying there’s a better lounge than Club 33 might seem like faint praise. It’s not, I swear! I love the Club 33 locations at Walt Disney World, and never pass up an opportunity to visit those lounges.

In fact, if money were no object and they’d allow people like us to join, we absolutely would. Club 33 at Walt Disney World seems fantastic. Likewise, stepping inside the locations at Tokyo Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland are on our bucket list.

Accordingly, I’ll recalibrate so this assertion actually has significance. There’s a lounge at Walt Disney World that’s better than the Club 33 lounges, also located at Walt Disney World.

That lounge is the ImaginAtrium, otherwise known as the upstairs ImageWorks above Journey Into Imagination with Figment at EPCOT. But with a twist.

The ImaginAtrium, itself, is not a secret. It is among the general public; more than 95% of EPCOT guests on any given day probably have no clue it’s there. But this article isn’t aimed at the park-going public and we’re not pretending the lounge itself is some secret. It’s about as much of a secret as Club 33.

Within the fan community, both Club 33 and the ImaginAtrium are fairly common knowledge. Many of you have probably been inside the ImaginAtrium since it opened a decade ago. The ImaginAtrium is so popular that it routinely is full to capacity during its normal operating hours of 10:00 AM to 5 PM. There’s often a waitlist; we’ve waited as long as an hour to enter on peak dates, which is why we rope drop the ImaginAtrium many days!

What is seemingly a secret, however, is that the ImaginAtrium has extended evening hours. (Not to be confused with Extended Evening Hours at EPCOT.)

Disney Vacation Club owners who are enrolled in Membership Magic Beyond have exclusive access to the ImaginAtrium from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM nightly.

I know the extended hours at the ImaginAtrium are a secret for the same reason that I know the daytime hours are not a secret among diehard Walt Disney World fans. Whereas I’ve done that waitlist on countless occasions over the last several years, there have been many times when almost no one else is in the ImaginAtrium at night.

Since joining Membership Magic Beyond, there have been several occasions when it has just been me and one other guest in the ImaginAtrium. (Always the same dude–I think he works remotely from up there.)

There have been countless other occasions when the lounge has fewer than four parties at any given time, and I have never–not once–seen it full to capacity. I haven’t even seen it at half capacity. Or one-quarter of capacity. I’ve spent a decent amount of time up here, and would say ~10% capacity is about the norm.

The ImaginAtrium during its extended evening hours for Membership Magic Beyond is likely the most “exclusive” escape in EPCOT. I would hazard a guess that, on average, the ImaginAtrium has fewer guests from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm than the Club 33 above the American Adventure.

The ImaginAtrium during these evening hours is also better than the Club 33 above the American Adventure.

Don’t get me wrong, the Constellation Club is lovely. It’s well-appointed with rich woods, and is very reminiscent of 1923 aboard the newer Disney Cruise Line ships. It’s also spacious, taking up the full footprint of the former Chase lounge, which was available to credit card holders for several years during the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival.

At the same time, the Constellation Club is nothing special once you take away the exclusivity. There’s better food elsewhere in World Showcase. The interior is classy and classic-looking, but it’s not all that different from the aforementioned 1923.

Any guest can access the Hollywood Brown Derby over at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which is superior from start to finish (especially with the fantastic new menu). Just go right around opening or at the end of the evening if you can’t bear being around other people.

By contrast, the ImaginAtrium is something special, especially for diehard Walt Disney World fans. It is unlike anything at any of the other parks or resorts. The experience is completely unique, truly inimitable.

We’ve long sung the praises of the former upstairs ImageWorks above Journey Into Imagination, but this is doubly true during dates when the sunset is earlier and you can enjoy day transition to evening in the ImaginAtrium.

The sunset followed by the changing show lighting is like a kaleidoscope of color, reminiscent of the Rainbow Corridor of my youth. It’s obviously not the same as the old ImageWorks, with its games, effects, and interactivity that captivated my curiosity. But the way the lounge comes alive in the evening, with the show lighting amplifying its architecture and filling the space with an ever-changing rainbow of color, is pure magic.

There’s also something to be said for the space being empty.

Don’t get me wrong, I like being around other guests. The allegations that I’m a hermit are exaggerated. One of the best things about Walt Disney World is people-watching, seeing the faces of first-timers as they light up at the experiences that are familiar to so many of us. There’s absolutely a communal element to the Disney magic that’s lost without other people.

At the same time, I’ve long maintained that those late nights in the parks with no one else around are special. It’s like your senses are heightened and you can savor every facet of the parks. You hear the background music better, focus on fixtures and features that you otherwise miss, and just generally gain a greater appreciation for the Imagineered spaces.

That’s precisely how I feel during these late nights in the ImaginAtrium. This ‘heightened senses’ quality feeds directly into my nostalgia, giving me fleeting flashbacks to past memories made in the pavilion. It’s difficult to articulate, but it’s almost like I’m a character in some melodramatic network television show who briefly steps back in time.

The Cast Members working in the lounge probably see my staring blankly off into space and wonder “what’s wrong with this dude?!” This isn’t unique to the ImaginAtrium. It’s one of the big reasons why I love late nights in the parks. The calm and quiet is most conducive to those mental strolls down memory lane. (Re-reading what I just wrote, I realize how weird this might sound. Maybe so, but if you know, you know. I sure hope some of you reading this “know.”)

While I love the serenity, it also makes me feel guilty. There are tens of thousands of other people in EPCOT at any given moment, and by conservative estimate, at least 1,983 of them are fellow Figment fans. It’s really unfortunate more people don’t know about and take advantage of this secret. Or better yet, that Walt Disney World doesn’t just get rid of the ImaginAtrium completely and restore the upstairs ImageWorks to its former glory, for every EPCOT guest to enjoy.

That’s the whole point of this post. To spread the word about what has, ironically enough given the history of DVC, become Disney’s Best Kept Secret. (This was the original marketing slogan for Disney Vacation Club until around the mid-2000s when it became a punchline because it was so poorly-kept.)

Suffice to say, Membership Magic Beyond actually has become Disney’s Best Kept Secret. Or at least, DVC’s Best Kept Secret. For whatever reason, Disney Vacation Club hasn’t really pushed the paid perks program or iterated on it all that much since it launched at the beginning of last year.

There have been some changes for 2026, but they’re fairly minor in the grand scheme of things. I wonder how many DVC Members aren’t even aware that Membership Magic Beyond exists. That lack of a big marketing push is especially noticeable because Disney Vacation Club typically isn’t shy about self-promotion!

This is now our third post this year about Membership Magic Beyond. In response to the last one about Disney surveying DVC Members about what they’d like to see added to MMB, many readers commented on the various ways it was “not for them” because they couldn’t take advantage of X or Y perk.

I can totally appreciate that perspective, especially among Disney Vacation Club Members who only visit once or twice per year, and have limited vacation time. If you only have a single day in EPCOT each year, obviously it makes no sense allocating hours of that to a zoning out and daydreaming about the Journey Into Imagination of a bygone era.

However, at least some of the people reading are visiting more frequently and possibly are not ascribing sufficient value to the late night hours in the ImaginAtrium. Basically, if you’re the type of fan who has ever daydreamed about joining Club 33 but couldn’t get the numbers to pencil out, this is for you.

I’m not saying you should drop tens of thousands of dollars to join DVC, in order to then join Membership Magic Beyond, especially since the “result” of the survey could be to discontinue the offering completely for 2027. But if you’re already a DVC Member who would also like to be a Club 33 Member, this “one simple trick” is a way to achieve a slice of that for less than $100, as opposed to over $100,000!

Here are more nighttime photos from inside the ImaginAtrium DVC Member Lounge at EPCOT:

If you’re unfamiliar with Membership Magic Beyond because the secret has been so well kept, here’s basic background on the 2026 version of the program:

Membership Magic Beyond Basics

The “Membership Magic Beyond” add-on option is a yearly enhanced benefits package over and above Membership Extras, which gives you special ways to elevate your family’s stays. Eligible Members can purchase the 2026 Membership Magic Beyond benefits package for $99, with a calendar-year usage window from now through December 31, 2026.

Membership Magic Beyond offers the following perks for 2026:

• Purchase specially priced 5-day weekday Walt Disney World Theme Park tickets, each with up to 5 water park visits or sports options included. Available for the enrolled Member and up to 7 guests in the traveling party. Save up to $140 per ticket compared to the non-discounted price of a standard ticket.
• Purchase specially priced 3-day weekday Disneyland Resort Theme Park tickets that include Lightning Lane Multi Pass. Available for the enrolled Member and up to 7 guests in the traveling party. Save up to $177 per ticket.
• Receive an 8×10 photo print during your stay at AULANI.
• Receive a 30-day Memory Maker entitlement to capture and share treasured Walt Disney World memories. Up to a $210 value if purchased separately.

Exclusive Access

• Special Character Access: Meet and mingle with special Disney Characters daily from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM at Disney Vacation Club ImaginAtrium – A Member Lounge at EPCOT. The enrolled Member can bring up to 4 guests or the number of guests on their resort stay reservation, whichever is greater. Available 7 days a week. Capacity restrictions may apply.
• Priority Access to Member Lounges: Take advantage of priority access to Disney Vacation Club ImaginAtrium – A Member Lounge, Disney Vacation Club Star View Station – A Member Lounge and Disney Vacation Club McKim’s Mile House – A Member Lounge at Magic Kingdom Park. Use this benefit when lounge access goes on a waitlist. Same rules apply for party sizes as above.

More Flexibility

• Use your Points to purchase the Disney Sorcerer Pass to enjoy Walt Disney World Resort Theme Parks. Get a new pass for 75 points or renew your pass for 65 points.
• Get one bonus One-Time-Use Point for each One-Time-Use Point purchased! Members can purchase up to 12 Points for a total of 24 One-Time-Use Points in a Benefit Season. Excludes bookings offered through the hotel exchange program.
• Enjoy having your $95 transaction fee waived when booking Disney Collection Resorts and experiences, including Adventures by Disney, Disney Cruise Line and National Geographic Expeditions experiences.

If you’re thinking about joining DVC, be sure to read our Ultimate Guide to Disney Vacation Club. This covers the pros & cons, resale v. direct, how much money you’ll save, and other important things to know before taking the plunge. If you still can’t decide whether membership is right for you, “try before you buy” with the recommendations in How to Save BIG on Deluxe Disney Accommodations Renting DVC Points.

YOUR THOUGHTS

If you’ve been to the ImaginAtrium at night, do you agree that it’s something special or is the hype unwarranted? Has the former upstairs ImageWorks in the evening now dethroned Club 33 on your Disney bucket list? If you’ve joined Membership Magic Beyond, think it’s actually Disney’s Best Kept Secret? Will you be doing MMB at some point this year or in 2027 (if it still exists)? Or is MMB a non-starter for you? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Share any questions, tips, or additional thoughts you have in the comments!