""Membership was open to men only, though details on how to become a member, and how much it cost, have been lost to time," reports Julie Tremaine. "Women were allowed at night as members' guests, when there was live music and after-dinner dancing," but during the day, only men got access to the dining room, spa, and gym located in the now-closed "Restaurant Row" section of the hotel."
"According to Ballard, the Oak Room saw its fair share of high profile guests, including foreign royalty, sitting presidents (both Nixon and JFK!) and showbiz legends like Hoagy Carmichael and Louis Armstrong-who apparently played a surprise show with Benny Goodman there at one point. The Oak Room, from what we know about it, feels like a space designed very much by and for elites, but the timing is significant."
"But while some of those changes were pretty straightforward, others leave us scratching our heads. For instance... whose idea was it to implement a men's only spa at Disneyland in the 1970s? In a recent story from SF Gate, Disneyland Hotel historian Don Ballard spills the tea on the "good ol' boy secret" that was the Oak Room, a members-only wing of the hotel that was also men only."
The Oak Room at the Disneyland Hotel operated as a members-only, men-only wing during the 1970s, containing a dining room, spa, and gym in the hotel's Restaurant Row. Membership criteria and fees have been lost to time. Women could attend only at night as members' guests for live music and after-dinner dancing, while daytime access was restricted to men. The Oak Room hosted high-profile visitors including foreign royalty, Presidents Nixon and JFK, and entertainers such as Hoagy Carmichael, Louis Armstrong, and Benny Goodman. The space functioned like an elite gentlemen's club amid mid-20th-century social norms.
Read at Queerty
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