Atlantic Dance Hall - what is the REAL story?

[jmm476]

I just started poking around, searching for things posted recently about ADH and I'm confused. Some posts say it's dead, others say it's not since PI closed. And here's why I'm asking... My best friend and I are going in September for a girls extended weekend. Last time we went, 3 years ago, we had a blast on PI, especially at the 80's bar. We love to dance and drink and act like we did back in college whenever we get together. So should we or should we not try ADH? I don't want to pay a cover and find no one inside and/or no one dancing.

Has anyone been there recently and have any experiences (good or bad) that they could share?

TIA!

 

[Wasre]

I just started poking around, searching for things posted recently about ADH and I'm confused. Some posts say it's dead, others say it's not since PI closed. And here's why I'm asking... My best friend and I are going in September for a girls extended weekend. Last time we went, 3 years ago, we had a blast on PI, especially at the 80's bar. We love to dance and drink and act like we did back in college whenever we get together. So should we or should we not try ADH? I don't want to pay a cover and find no one inside and/or no one dancing.

Has anyone been there recently and have any experiences (good or bad) that they could share?

TIA!

I was just down in WDW a few weeks ago with a group from here. We went to Jellyrolls on Monday night and it looked like ADH wasn't open that particular night. After going to the BW on Saturday night and walking around, ADH was open and the sign proclaimed it was an 80's themed night (I could hear the B-52s playing through the open door) and no cover. It may depend on the night of the week.

I'd suggest stopping by there and see what's going on. You never really know what will happen in WDW from night to night.

Enjoy your trip.

 

[zulemara]

ADH doesn't have theme nights unless they are trying something new.(many locals have been begging for this sort of thing)

They are not open Sun/mon each week.

The club is a perpetual wedding. They take requests, so if you want lots of 70s and 80s like 8-trax, just request it and they do their best to get everyone taken care of.

I used to be door host there, so allow me to explain what happens at times:
1. person comes in, sees no one is there(it might only be 9:30) and says I'll come back
2. a group of 5 comes, sees no one is there, and says they will come back
3. process repeats until 30-50 ppl have said "I'll come back"
4. consequentially, the club never looks busy. on top of it, it is a very big club so it takes a lot of patrons to really make it look busy.

BE THE PEOPLE WHO STAY and by the very presence, encourage others to stay as well.

Thurs, fri, sat tend to be pretty busy. There can be 100-200 people in the club on these nights. The music tends to be older and more varied earlier, then ends up at top 40s around midnight until close, but again if there are requests, they play to those. I'm always happy to get at least 1 set of Mannequins music out of them.

If you want straight up 8-trax music, DJ Doc, formerly of 8-trax, DJs at Universal citywalk's The Groove on thursday nights. It is an all 70s and 80s format every Thursday. IMO, get a cab and go there, and tell Disney to shove it for closing the clubs. Take your money elsewhere. Get a bus to downtown disney and catch a cab to minimize your cost. It is only 5 miles to Citywalk and well worth it on a Thursday night. They also have drink specials, so the cost of the cab could be offset by cheaper drinks. There is also a fun karaoke club featuring live band singers backing up the people performing, late night eats, and a frozen slushie bar that sells jello shots on the cheap. If you wanna party, CW is where it's at.

 

[nurse.darcy]

ADH doesn't have theme nights unless they are trying something new.(many locals have been begging for this sort of thing)

They are not open Sun/mon each week.

The club is a perpetual wedding. They take requests, so if you want lots of 70s and 80s like 8-trax, just request it and they do their best to get everyone taken care of.

I used to be door host there, so allow me to explain what happens at times:
1. person comes in, sees no one is there(it might only be 9:30) and says I'll come back
2. a group of 5 comes, sees no one is there, and says they will come back
3. process repeats until 30-50 ppl have said "I'll come back"
4. consequentially, the club never looks busy. on top of it, it is a very big club so it takes a lot of patrons to really make it look busy.

BE THE PEOPLE WHO STAY and by the very presence, encourage others to stay as well.

Thurs, fri, sat tend to be pretty busy. There can be 100-200 people in the club on these nights. The music tends to be older and more varied earlier, then ends up at top 40s around midnight until close, but again if there are requests, they play to those. I'm always happy to get at least 1 set of Mannequins music out of them.

If you want straight up 8-trax music, DJ Doc, formerly of 8-trax, DJs at Universal citywalk's The Groove on thursday nights. It is an all 70s and 80s format every Thursday. IMO, get a cab and go there, and tell Disney to shove it for closing the clubs. Take your money elsewhere. Get a bus to downtown disney and catch a cab to minimize your cost. It is only 5 miles to Citywalk and well worth it on a Thursday night. They also have drink specials, so the cost of the cab could be offset by cheaper drinks. There is also a fun karaoke club featuring live band singers backing up the people performing, late night eats, and a frozen slushie bar that sells jello shots on the cheap. If you wanna party, CW is where it's at.

Wow, very bitter. . .

To the OP. We go there every time we are there (which is about 4 times a year. . .minimum). ADH is fun, upbeat, and usually has quite a few people there now. There is no cover, and no one cares if you dance with your friends. We love going there cause we just write requests down on a nappy, and hand it to the DJ and usually it gets played. Drinks cost about the same as they do elsewhere on Disney property so no shock there. We have a group of us that will be there on Thursday night May 13. . .should be a blast.

 

[zulemara]

Wow, very bitter. . .

To the OP. We go there every time we are there (which is about 4 times a year. . .minimum). ADH is fun, upbeat, and usually has quite a few people there now. There is no cover, and no one cares if you dance with your friends. We love going there cause we just write requests down on a nappy, and hand it to the DJ and usually it gets played. Drinks cost about the same as they do elsewhere on Disney property so no shock there. We have a group of us that will be there on Thursday night May 13. . .should be a blast.

Yes, I'm bitter because Disney closed an adult entertainment complex and 1.5 years later the whole place sits empty, unused, not generating revenue, while people still ask security and staff on a daily basis "what time do the clubs open"

The only reason ADH is even there is because it is contracted with the swan/dolphin for conventions. Disney never promotes it because they have a thing against adults drinking, dancing, and having fun.

I'm simply pointing out that if you like 8-trax, TG at Citywalk is the place to go. Except for the theme of the club, it is the closest we have in Orlando to the fun 8-trax provided.

 

[TinkerbelleMom]

Yes, I'm bitter because Disney closed an adult entertainment complex and 1.5 years later the whole place sits empty, unused, not generating revenue, while people still ask security and staff on a daily basis "what time do the clubs open"

The only reason ADH is even there is because it is contracted with the swan/dolphin for conventions. Disney never promotes it because they have a thing against adults drinking, dancing, and having fun.

I'm simply pointing out that if you like 8-trax, TG at Citywalk is the place to go. Except for the theme of the club, it is the closest we have in Orlando to the fun 8-trax provided.

I'll share your bitterness because I totally agree with you! Some of my best WDW moments happened at PI, and we miss it terribly. I just don't get it, whenever we were there it was always a busy place. But I guess the drinking and having fun part is a sore subject...when we took a DVC tour our driver was almost nasty to us with his comments about it being closed for a good reason, and we had just said it was missed.

Does Citywalk have anything similar to AC or CW? Those are the venues we miss the most.

 

[zulemara]

I'll share your bitterness because I totally agree with you! Some of my best WDW moments happened at PI, and we miss it terribly. I just don't get it, whenever we were there it was always a busy place. But I guess the drinking and having fun part is a sore subject...when we took a DVC tour our driver was almost nasty to us with his comments about it being closed for a good reason, and we had just said it was missed.

Does Citywalk have anything similar to AC or CW? Those are the venues we miss the most.

unfortunately, no. The downside to CW is that several of the clubs play more or less the same music. The only exception is TG playing 8-trax music on Thursday nights.

The live karaoke club is fun though. It's a really neat idea to have a live band do the songs with backup singers(or if you are bad, they become the lead singers LOL)

Bob Marley's plays RnRBC music, Latin Quarter plays latin, but it turns into top 40s many times, although they are known to play Mannequins sets every now and then, TG is top 40s hip hop every night except Thurs, and red coconut club plays top 40s as well.

The people who buy into the company line that PI was closed for good reason, are never really able to explain the "good reason." I don't buy the family friendly crap and I never will because every other inch of property is family friendly(except Jellyrolls and ADH). There were no surveys, it was a big lie, and now it sits there unused while people could still be having fun there and it could be generating revenue(note the clubs were still profitable when closed) So don't let that driver convince you otherwise, he/she is just roped into the company B.S.

 

[spiceycat]

got told it was being to have gang problems.

is this not true?

wdw had to call on the local police just about every night many times several times a night. or that was got told when asked.

was surprised also when disney closed it. Don't think Disney would have unless there were problems. DVC sold SSR on there being a PI.

 

[Jason71]

The club is a perpetual wedding.

Best line ever, bro, sums it up perfectly.

And let me echo, if you liked 8-Traxx, the closest thing I've found is Thursdays at The Groove. Great music, a decent crowd (tho still not as all-encompassing as 8-Traxx/PI was) and, shockingly, cheap drinks. $2 bottle beers, $4 mixed drinks.

Rising Star (the live karaoke bar) is fun, too, even if you're not inclined to sing. They do a great job of capturing the "everyone is welcome, just have fun" vibe that was PI's strongest asset.

got told it was being to have gang problems.

is this not true?

wdw had to call on the local police just about every night many times several times a night. or that was got told when asked.

Completely untrue. The only "gang"-related incident I recall blew up in Disney's face when it was revealed the kids involved were all college-bound high schoolers with white collar parents. And that was centered around the AMC not PI.

Honestly, if there's a gang that's interested in hanging out with 30 and 40-somethings grooving to old hits and cover bands or laughing along with interactive comedy, I kind of want to join it.

As for local police presence--yes, PI always had about a half-dozen off-duty deputies on site. They still do. Every night of the week. Until 2:00 a.m., even when tiny little Fuego is the only place open that late. Of course, the four main parks have deputies stationed at the entrances as well...MK even has a police substation on Main Street. It says a lot about the era we live in, but little about the crime rate.

PI closed because a short-sighted MBA thought he could take his brilliant plan from DL--make DTD into a strip mall with 3rd party tenants so all Disney has to do is collect rent--would also work in WDW. He was wrong. End of story.

 

[zulemara]

Since the closing of PI there has been an armed robbery at McDonalds, car break ins, and a guy carrying a loaded gun in a bathroom stall. So no, I don't think PI was the cause of the problems Disney claimed to have.

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

I just started poking around, searching for things posted recently about ADH and I'm confused. Some posts say it's dead, others say it's not since PI closed. And here's why I'm asking... My best friend and I are going in September for a girls extended weekend. Last time we went, 3 years ago, we had a blast on PI, especially at the 80's bar. We love to dance and drink and act like we did back in college whenever we get together. So should we or should we not try ADH? I don't want to pay a cover and find no one inside and/or no one dancing.Has anyone been there recently and have any experiences (good or bad) that they could share?

Since there is no cover charge, it doesn't cost you anything to check it out to see if anything is happening. I wouldn't recommend before 10:30pm though otherwise it's more likely to be slow. Th/F/Sa can have pretty good- sized crowds and even other nights can too if there are any conventions staying at the adjoining Swan/Dolphin hotels. The Thursday night 80's night at The Groove in CityWalk should be on your list though. And really, most PI people are either at CityWalk or downtown Orlando on weekends too if they're not at ADH.

BobK/Orlando

 

[ktjohn]

Hi All! I'm fairly new here and have a question. I hope I'm asking it in the correct thread. My husband and I are going to Disney for our 10 year anniversary this fall. We plan to go to ADH for a night of fun dancing. I was also wondering... is there any place in or around Disney where we can go for less "club" dancing and more "ballroom dancing?" Swing, Cha Cha, Salsa, Foxtrot, etc... The impression I'm getting is that ADH is not that type of place.

We'd like a night of dancing for re-living the crazy college years and also a night of dancing in a more romantic quiet setting.

Please tell me there is such a place in the Disney area?

 

[jmm476]

Thanks everyone for the information! It sounds like it won't hurt to check it out if there's no cover, but I might take another night to check out City Walk and The Groove.

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

We plan to go to ADH for a night of fun dancing. I was also wondering... is there any place in or around Disney where we can go for less "club" dancing and more "ballroom dancing?" Swing, Cha Cha, Salsa, Foxtrot, etc... The impression I'm getting is that ADH is not that type of place.

ADH was actually a Swing club during its early years and they do keep that music in stock. If you request a Swing song the DJ is likely (if not obligated) to play it. But it will be a single song and most likely all the other patrons will just stand around and watch you, hoping it will end soon. I'm not aware of any place in Orlando playing Swing or other ballroom dance music at this time. Perhaps at one of the Disney resort lounges. Sorry.

BobK/Orlando

 

[englishteacha]

DH and I are so disappointed that PI closed. We never got to go. In 2007 we bought no expiry park hoppers with waterparks and more, with our intent to spend our anniversary this year at PI. Now, no dancing or comedy for me at Disney. Maybe I'll drag him to the Dance Hall, especially if there's no cover.