Disneyland is known for the magic and adventure from the rides to the characters to the fireworks. But for a select few, there’s a bit more hidden magic sprinkled in the park and brand.
Club 33 originated as Walt Disney’s private membership club. Access to the Club is restricted to members, VIPs, celebrities and executives. Once you’re in, Club 33 offers various curated experiences for its members, including access to exclusive dining locations at the Disneyland Resort.
“Walt Disney’s spirit lives on in the space,” explained Darrin Roberts (09), senior manager of membership experience and administration at Disneyland’s Club 33. “This is his club.”
Roberts is in charge of elevating Club 33 members’ experiences. His position requires attention to detail, creativity and innovative thinking. And he says he explored those strengths starting at PLNU.
Roberts is credited for making significant impacts on campus, including creating PLNU’s annual fashion show, which was a long-standing school event, and organizing school dances on campus during a time when those events were less accepted by the university.
Roberts sensed a call to connection and event planning at a young age.
“Event planning really emerged as a calling for me my senior year of high school,” Roberts said. “It’s something that I’ve always kind of done, but hadn’t really realized this could be a career — really a vocation, and something I was called to do.”
When he came to PLNU, he knew he wanted to invest in his artistic and creative side, and he wanted to get plugged into student government. He served in a wide-range of roles all four years of his undergrad, from freshman class vice president to director of student activities during his junior year.
“That was a lot of fun,” Roberts said. “I really focused on quality over quantity — thinking through how do we amplify the first couple of weeks to make it really fun? We did an event almost every week for that first couple as we got started and then really thought about how we maximize that time.”
As hinted at earlier, he was one of the people who spearheaded the PLNU fashion show.
“How do we honor the history of Point Loma and the things that have been really successful but also launch something new that I felt was really core to the university?” Roberts remembers wondering. “And so I started the fashion show.”
Outside of student government, Roberts also honed his creative passions by participating in gospel choir and art classes. At the time, he had plans to get into the magazine industry after he graduated.
Part of this dream involved moving to New York City and working for Vogue magazine as their events coordinator. The summer after he graduated, he did an internship and a study abroad program in New York.
“I had a great internship,” Roberts said. “I worked with the florist out of Williamsburg, and she was actually the official florist for Condé Nast as far as when they did external meetings at the location.”
He made connections at Condé Nast and explored the reality of pursuing his New York dreams. But in the course of his internship and time in New York, he also realized that plans and dreams can change.
“All the psychological and the people part[s] of business and leadership really [have] influenced my ability to be a successful experience designer. You understand a little bit more about the philosophy behind things and how people work and why they work that way.”
This was right after the 2008 financial crash. He still had a vision and dream for events planning, but he returned home to Northern California. That’s when he heard from some family members.
“My grandparents called and they’re like, ‘Have you thought about going to grad school?’” Roberts said.
He didn’t really know what was out there for post-secondary education, so he started thinking about his options. He considered pursuing a MBA and then he pondered a MFA. And then he stumbled across something new.
“I discovered my Master’s of Leadership program,” Roberts said.
That program brought him to Azusa Pacific University and home base became Pasadena, California, where he still lives today.
“All the psychological and the people part[s] of business and leadership really [have] influenced my ability to be a successful experience designer,” Roberts said. “You understand a little bit more about the philosophy behind things and how people work and why they work that way.”
From there, Roberts stepped into his calling. He worked in higher education at Claremont McKenna College and eventually worked at USC as the director of signature events.
“I recalled my time at Point Loma and I felt really empowered and really excited about the work when I was doing events and in the higher education setting,” Roberts said. “So, that’s kind of what led me, and my job at Claremont McKenna was I just randomly applied and I got a call and it all kind of happened.”
While he said he loved working in the higher education space, through networking and connections, he was led to Disney. He said the career shift came at an unexpected time and place.
In fact, the Disney connection started with higher education event planning. One of his Claremont McKenna College contacts introduced him to the director of premium experiences at Disneyland.
“I was like, ‘I love experiences and I love premium.’ So, I’d love to connect with him,” Roberts explained.
He hoped to recruit the director to be a panelist at a conference event he was planning. They jumped on a call and discussed the events industry and premium experiences.
“At the end of the call, he asked me, ‘Have you ever thought about working for the Walt Disney Company?’ I said, ‘Well, no, not really. It’s not really something I’m interested in.’ He [said], ‘Okay, well, send me your resume.’”
Roberts did, and shortly after, he made the jump and left higher education for Disney.
“At the time, I didn’t really understand that this was going to be a dream job for me,” Roberts said.
From events to communication to marketing to sales to merchandise to novelties, Roberts coordinates every part of the experience with his team.
“The primary driver of my job is to elevate the member experience, to provide exciting opportunities for our members to participate in that are uniquely club, uniquely Disney,” Roberts explained. “So how do you take an idea and apply that across all these different levels or different mediums?
And as Disney celebrates its 70th anniversary, Roberts said Club 33 is bringing exciting new experiences and opportunities for its members. He shared how he approaches his work.
“I have to get deep into that brand, deep into understanding what’s the goal of this specific activation that the resort is doing,” Roberts said. “And then how do we make that special for our club members? How do we bring that across all these lines of business and what does that look like?”
He credits his university job experience for preparing him well for this role.
“In my roles in higher education, we had to be renaissance people: I did event planning, merchandise development, sales and all these other little things,” Roberts said. “And so it was what empowered me and really equipped me to step into this role, where at Disney I run all these different, diverse businesses as a part of affinity management, which is this group of Club 33 members and all the things that they need.”
“In my roles in higher education, we had to be renaissance people: I did event planning, merchandise development, sales and all these other little things. And so it was what empowered me and really equipped me to step into this role, where at Disney I run all these different, diverse businesses as a part of affinity management, which is this group of Club 33 members and all the things that they need.”
When it comes to work-life balance, Roberts noted that Disneyland Resort is open seven days a week with staff working nearly all hours of the day.
Setting boundaries is something he learned from his higher education work.
“My job at Claremont Mckenna was very stressful and intense,” Roberts said. “And so it really taught me some boundaries. And I think I’ve brought those over here with me at Disney because, you know, this place is always going so you can get caught up.”
Roberts credits mentors, including Sheryl Smee (former director of Alumni Relations at PLNU) and Clint Upchurch (long-time business and event development expert in Los Angeles), who helped him learn important lessons throughout his career.
“[Smee] was definitely one of those staff members at the university who you could confide in, who really held you accountable,” Roberts said.
As he looks to the future for his career, Roberts hopes to continue to exercise his creativity and leadership — helping spread the magic that is Disney.
“Our members are very much invested in the success of the park, the magic living on… I think [Walt Disney’s] spirit still lives like that,” Roberts said. “That’s what drives people to a club. They want to be a part of that magic, be a part of the original legacy that Walt Disney had intended.”
Roberts shared some advice for students who have dreams to also be a part of the behind-the-scenes Disney magic.
“While you have the opportunity, get as much experience as you possibly can in every type of industry or facet of the industry you might want to work in,” Roberts said. “You just never know how that will come back around, and that has happened to me so many times in my career. My work in fashion, my time at Point Loma, the things I did in higher education — they led me to Disney. All that experience only has enhanced my whole career.”
He said there’s something for everyone in the Disney business.
“Every single industry you could possibly think of or every kind of job, we have it here at Disney,” Roberts said. “Being open to that, open to where life will take you and then being the driver of your own destiny. The reality is, it’s not always about who you know but who knows you.”
