Club Disney Ends Run as Parents Lament, Kids Play

Ventura County’s most famous piece of the Disney empire was far from the happiest place on Earth on Sunday, as parents and kids came for one final visit to Club Disney.

On the last day of operations for the upscale children’s entertainment center, parents lamented the loss of this community clubhouse, where their kids could climb an enormous jungle gym, play computer games and dress in Disney-themed costumes.

And the center’s employees, while not permitted to speak to the media, were described by a spokeswoman as sad over the corporation’s decision to close its first Club Disney, which had become a popular destination for families from the San Fernando Valley to Santa Barbara County.

The younger set, on the other hand, seemed unfazed by the closure, probably because they could not quite grasp that the club, which teemed with youngsters on weekends, would just cease to exist.

Steve Green of Thousand Oaks said he tried to explain to his 3-year-old son, Jacob, that the play center was closing its doors for good. Green, a computer programmer, said his son then told him “to get the keys.”

Jenni Gellman, 5, of Calabasas, said she was not sad because it was Halloween. But her father, Bruce Gellman, said, “Maybe she’s not sad today, but she’ll be sad tomorrow.”

Club Disney opened in February 1997 in Thousand Oaks as a prototype for what the entertainment giant once envisioned as a nationwide chain. However, although the 24,000-square-foot center debuted with an abundance of fanfare, Disney opened only four additional clubs: one in West Covina, one in Colorado and two in Arizona.

The company announced plans to close the entire chain last month, after concluding that the centers were not producing the returns expected.

Suzanne Moss, shuttling her kids, Keith, 8, and Charlotte, 5, back to the car after a brief visit, theorized that the $8 admission fee for both children and adults was the reason Club Disney did not perform better.

“Everybody I know felt they overcharged for adults,” said the Westlake resident. “There’s nothing for the adults to do, and you have to be there.”

The cost also bothered Tricia Kingsbury, who had hoped that on its final day, the club would waive the admission fee. But when she found that was not the case, the West Hills resident decided not to pay and left the club with her 5-year-old son, Andrew, on the verge of tears.

“The computers, the dress-up theater, it was so educational,” said Kingsbury, a substitute teacher at West Valley Christian School in West Hills, where Andrew attends kindergarten. “For the 5-year-olds and under, it’s the next-best thing to Disneyland.”

Some of the center’s approximately 200 employees, most of whom worked part time, will be offered jobs in other Disney operations, said spokeswoman Michelle Spinale. In the meantime, she said, “Everybody is sad. The cast members have been incredibly dedicated.”

Unsold merchandise in the club’s shop will be donated to the Toys for Tots holiday campaign, said Spinale, adding that the center also plans to donate the computers to the Conejo Unified School District.

Fran Cottrell, escorting her 5-year-old granddaughter, Ashley Henjum, back to the car after their visit said she was not surprised Disney would close the club if it was not a big moneymaker.

“They always look at the bottom line,” she said. “But most of the kids are going to miss it a lot.”