Pleasure Island - Here Today - GONE Soon?

[MJMcBride]

We ate at Raglan Road last year. I wasn't happy with my dinner, but the place was fun. (I posted on another thread how disappointed I was).

I did not enjoy it either. Service was horrible when I went last year

 

[CanadianGuy]

This jives with the latest I'm hearing -- sounds like we have the same sources...

OK, here's what sources out at PI told me last night. Just because this is what they are being told doesn't mean it's true though:

2008:
1) South American restaurant & lounge is going into the recently renovated building formerly housing the fast food restaurant, Harley-Davidson store, etc. It's not going into the RRBC building.

2009:
1) Motion will close. The building will be used for meetings & banquets.
2) There are no plans to tear down the wall between 8TRAX and Mannequins. They are load-bearing walls and the bathrooms are between the two clubs. It would be very expensive to attempt that. However,
3) Mannequins will become 8TRAX. The revolving floor will stay; music will vary night to night.
4) Unknown what will become of the building currently housing 8TRAX. Possibly shops.
5) BET Soundstage will become the Adventurer's Club Restaurant. You heard it here first folks! If true, that's a good sign AC will stay where it's at.

Again, this is a rumor thread and these are just rumors as repeated by employees who may or may not be in the know.

BobK/Orlando

 

[rpmdfw]

This jives with the latest I'm hearing -- sounds like we have the same sources...

I won't say it exactly jives with what I've heard at the Adventurers Club, because they've been very tight lipped.

BUT, this doesn't contradict what things I have heard.

Not sure how I feel about an AdvClub restaurant. If they work it like the House of Blues with themed restaurant on one side and shows on the other, I think that'd be great. But if they turn all of it into one big restaurant with the performers schmoozing diners, it's gonna kill it.

 

[CanadianGuy]

If they work it like the House of Blues with themed restaurant on one side and shows on the other, I think that'd be great..

That's what I'm hearing. Separate.. elements shared.. but .. separate.

 

[mattsdragon]

I don't see AC or the other comedy club going, but the dance clubs, they're a dime a dozen, and offer nothing special other than a revolving dance floor *yawn*.

I'd be alright with PI changing to bring people in, as long as they keep the unique experiences. Who really cares if a dance club is replaced?

I'm really surprised the outside bars are still there. I'd like to see it close to "general" traffic at dark again and make the area more adult related, but with better, more unique establishments.

 

[rpmdfw]

I'm really surprised the outside bars are still there. I'd like to see it close to "general" traffic at dark again and make the area more adult related, but with better, more unique establishments.

The outside bars generate A LOT of revenue. Enough that keeping the island's general access is much more lucrative than when it was a gated attraction.

 

[ntsammy5]

IMHO the best thing about PI is that Disney transportation takes you there and then back to the resort making it unnecessary to drive. I think a lot of people like that. If there was easy transportation to and from the resorts to ANY venue that had a bunch of clubs & bars it wouldn't make any difference where or what it was. People would still go.

I still miss the band stand.

 

[oakster]

Pleasure Island

sound like a good place to visit?

 

[PatriciaH]

I miss the big video screens and the dancers in the streets (they were great) and Frankie and the West End Boys and the stage. The jazz club and Fireworks Factory were great too. They need to keep AC (the restaurant sounds great) and CW. Keep 8trax and add a jazz club again. Then add a club like Rising Star at City Walk-now that place is fun! You sing karaoke but with a live band and back up singers. Maybe another piano bar like Jellyrolls and one more dance club with good music. Gate it again and make it more adult!

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Patricia, it's not going to be gated. The elimination of the gate was to allow shoppers easy access from one side of DD to the other. It wouldn't surprise me if they do away with the PI name (why have it?) along with the Westside and Marketplace names too. The whole thing will just be Downtown Disney.

I asked a different PI employee this weekend about the rumor about Mannequins becoming 8TRAX. At first he gave me this puzzled look. And then I said, it's just a rumor that I've heard. His response, confirming knowledge of the plans....."Yeah, but that's not happening until next year!"

BobK/Orlando

 

[ntsammy5]

Frankie and the West End Boys and the stage.

YES.

IIRC, one of the guitarists plays with Off Kilter now (or did at one point).

 

[NMW]

The last few trips we went to PI it was indeed like another poster stated a "ghost town." This was Oct and it was almost creepy how empty PI was considering how busy the Marketplace was. Our last trip we ate dinner at Wolfgang Puck and thought we'd walk around PI a while. Well, let's just say other than a stop at Raglan Road for a Guiness, I couldn't get into the Marketplace fast enough. If they bring more shops, restaurants like Raglan Rd to PI frankly, I think it may bring more people which would be an improvement.

My neighbor claims that she saw a "gang" of dangerous looking teenagers her last trip and is never walking through PI again. She said she's only taking the bus to the Marketplace and staying there. We saw no such gangs, but she went in the summer. October may have been school nights for these "gangs."

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

The last few trips we went to PI it was indeed like another poster stated a "ghost town." This was Oct and it was almost creepy how empty PI was considering how busy the Marketplace was.

My neighbor claims that she saw a "gang" of dangerous looking teenagers her last trip and is never walking through PI again. She said she's only taking the bus to the Marketplace and staying there. We saw no such gangs, but she went in the summer. October may have been school nights for these "gangs."

PI has always been more of a weekend type of place. If you walked through on a Tuesday night, for instance, years ago, it would not have been crowded then either. But PI on Saturday night, even now, is very crowded. Mid-week in October has always had a "ghost town" look to it. It's not the tourist season. Not fair to judge it based on that.

There are no gangs of dangerous looking teenagers hanging around PI. I don't know where this stuff keeps coming from. The place is jammed with Disney Security and Orange County Sheriff's deputities and they keep everyone moving. After 10pm those under 21 cannot even enter unless they're with an adult.

BobK/Orlando

 

[CanadianGuy]

Ok.. I JUST today read Jim Hill Media's article of 03/31 on the 'going dark' of Pleasure Island.

I swear people are feeding him mis-information to make him look bad.

Honestly!

It sure looks that way.

 

[MJMcBride]

Ok.. I JUST today read Jim Hill Media's article of 03/31 on the 'going dark' of Pleasure Island.

I swear people are feeding him mis-information to make him look bad.

Honestly!

It sure looks that way.

That or he just makes it up

 

[CanadianGuy]

That or he just makes it up

DING DING DING DING - We have a winner!

 

[zulemara]

I was really hoping they would keep Mannequins, but 8-trax is always busy and always crammed with people, so I can see where the move would make sense. Long live techno, even if it's not at Disney!

EDIT: If I had the money, I would offer Disney money to buy Mannequins and keep it where it is as it is with no changes. Anyone wanna help

 

[rpmdfw]

EDIT: If I had the money, I would offer Disney money to buy Mannequins and keep it where it is as it is with no changes. Anyone wanna help

Sorry, I'm too busy trying to raise the money to buy the Adventurers Club.

 

[Jason71]

Sorry, I'm too busy trying to raise the money to buy the Adventurers Club.

What's the asking price, $2,000 and two racoon pelts?

 

[rpmdfw]

What's the asking price, $2,000 and two racoon pelts?

Hmm. If that's the yearly rent, I would expect that asking price would be quite a bit more.