Disney takes the Mickey with its members' club fees

For the first time in a decade, 100 people on the waiting list are to be invited to gain access to to Club 33 (Getty Images)

You don't have to be a prince (charming or otherwise), to gain entry to Club 33, the private members' establishment at 33 Royal Street on the Disneyland estate in California, but having the deep pockets of royalty probably helps.

For the first time in a decade, 100 people on the waiting list (which currently hovers around the 1,000 mark) are to be invited to sign on the line and gain access to the trophy room, bar and restaurant, which bears an uncanny resemblance to the interior of the royal yacht Britannia. The cost of access to the club (where guests can request Mickey's presence at dinner at any point), behind-the-scenes tours and 365-day passes to the park which members get as standard? The clubhouse of mouse doesn't come cheap: it's a cool $35,000, comprising a one-off joining fee of $25,000 and then yearly dues of $10,000 on top of that. Evidently the vertiginous fees have proved a little too much for some of the more obsessive Mickey fans who've paid up.

A gold crested Club 33 mug is on sale on eBay and has a top bid of $99, while a white paper napkin is currently going for $25.