Pleasure Island - Here Today - GONE Soon?

[ClareH37]

This is so sad, I can't believe the Adventurers Club is really going!

 

[Dznefreek]

The party's over at Pleasure Island: Disney to shut down 6 nightclubs
Scott Powers | Sentinel Staff Writer June 28, 2008

Walt Disney World is shutting down the six nightclubs at Pleasure Island to make its party district at Downtown Disney more family friendly.

BET SoundStage Club, Mannequins Dance Palace, 8Trax and three other clubs that have for years catered largely to young, single adults -- rather than to Disney's bread-and-butter family market -- will close after Sept. 27.

During the next couple of years, Disney will reopen the Pleasure Island venues with a broader mix of restaurants and shops.

Pleasure Island's change has been the subject of rumors for a while. Now 19 years old, it may have seemed an odd venture for Disney, but it appeared to thrive -- so much so that some in the industry have blamed it for accelerating the decline of the nightlife district in downtown Orlando during the 1990s.


In announcing what they called "a bold new vision" for all of Downtown Disney on Friday, Disney officials framed the Pleasure Island nightclub closures as a response to customers who say they want more broad-based dining and retail opportunities throughout the 120-acre district.

"Right now we believe we've got a shortage of dining capacity and shopping capacity, so we'll be adding to those areas, and we'll be looking at some specialized entertainment options also," said Downtown Disney Vice President Kevin Lansberry.

Dining, shopping, more

Pleasure Island opened in 1989, designed to look like a revitalized back-alley warehouse district. Today it is the middle section of Disney World's dining, shopping and entertainment district. Though the two flanking areas, Marketplace and the West Side, also have nightclubs, they operate as parts of restaurants, appealing to broader, family-friendly crowds. Until recently, Pleasure Island has been mostly about music, dancing, drinking and partying -- creating an awkward link between Marketplace and West Side.

"The rumor has been there that they would transform Pleasure Island into something else, but us regulars always thought at least Mannequins and 8Trax would stay alive," said Jorge Vazquez, 41, an accountant who said he goes to Pleasure Island two or three times a month.

Pleasure Island and its counterpart at Universal Orlando, CityWalk, which opened in 1999, both offer coordinated clusters of high-quality, highly themed nightclubs with lots of free parking and security. They offered two carefully conceived alternatives to downtown Orlando's once-vibrant counterpart, Church Street Station.

Orlando lawyer Mark NeJame, majority investor in the downtown nightclub Tabu as well as an investor in other nightclubs, said he is surprised at Disney's announcement but that it could be good news for downtown Orlando.

"It's a real opportunity for downtown to continue its revitalization," NeJame said. "When Pleasure Island first opened, it devastated a lot of the local entrepreneurs and operators."

Some businesses remain

Though the six nightclubs will close, the other businesses on Pleasure Island -- a couple of restaurants, a cigar bar and a couple of clothing shops -- will remain open. They already offer the broad appeal that Lansberry said Disney's patrons want. He did not offer specifics about what might replace the clubs but said Disney was looking worldwide for restaurant and shopping concepts.

"Some of the offerings might feel like a nightclub, but they won't feel like high-energy clubs like we have today in all likelihood," Lansberry said. "Truthfully, our guests have really gotten out of that in the last couple of years. They want things that are a lot more geared toward family entertainment."

Disney World also is sprucing up Downtown Disney's other two areas, adding restaurants, expanding and updating a band shell, refurbishing and updating other businesses, and bringing in a giant tethered-balloon attraction that visitors will be able to ride in, going up more than 300 feet above Village Lake.

Bob Snow, who developed Church Street Station in the 1970s and has re-entered the picture this year by reopening one of that district's centerpiece nightclubs, the Cheyenne Saloon, said he never blamed Pleasure Island for Church Street's decline. But he, too, said he hopes Pleasure Island's nightclub closures would create more opportunities in downtown Orlando.

Snow said he always was amazed that Disney got into the nightclub-district business in the first place.

"It really surprised me that they're just going to throw in the towel," he said. Then he added: "They got out of their knitting. They got out of their main line, what they do so well."

Scott Powers can be reached at spowers@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5441.
__________________

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Knox, I was in disbelief when you first started this thread but I was accepting things when it appeared 8TRAX, Mannequins and AC were going to survive. So this shocks me to no end. The recent renovations were encouraging. Everyone I know is in mourning today.

It's time to get serious now and get all interested parties together to rebuild AC somewhere off-Disney. And there should be a revolving dance floor for sale soon too that we can install somewhere else! This is a huge business opportunity for someone with some bucks. And there are some good DJ's and bartenders that are going to be looking for work apparently.

BobK/Orlando

 

[jarestel]

I don't think Disney is saying (with the closure of PI nightclubs) that there isn't a market for this type of entertainment. Just that they don't want to be in this particular market.

 

[Luv2Roam]

I hate to see AC and CW go. To me there really is no more reason to go to DTD w/o AC and CW. It's just over crowded and the same ol same ol.
And guess we will have to rethink the current PAP usage.
I can only assume the rumors we have been hearing for quite some time were in the making way back then. Why else remove some of the best of PI to leave it as it has come to today and really drive the nail in the PI coffin?
Sad day indeed.

 

[MJMcBride]

I will miss AC. I know its rumored to be the port of entry for the Night Kingdom and I do hope it returns somewhere. Perhaps in Adventureland or DAK as an eatery

 

[Timon-n-Pumbaa Fan]

Anyone wanting to wish the AC a fond farewell on it's last night, please click the graphic below and post that you will be joining in with us. I would love to see a DIS gathering there for one final great time at this most unique entertainment venue.

 

[deej696]

Ben Bernanke has a better track record than Jim Hill.

Sorry to dig up something from two weeks ago, but I have not been on as much lately and missed this one....

And yes Knox, I would probably take your rumors far more serious than Jim Hills.....

Oh where oh where has the Disney brand gone. Oh where Oh where could it be....

 

[wdwmaw]

passholders can get a prorated refund.

yee haw.

Knox

Do you know how much this might be, we have PAP's.

 

[CanadianGuy]

Prorated refunds are for Pleasure Island Passholders only.

PAP holders will get the GOLF option added to the program.

For more information..

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/common/helpFAQ?id=PleasureIslandFAQPage&bhcp=1

For PI Passholders the pro-rated refund would depend on how many months are left in their PI Annual pass after the closing date.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Prorated refunds are for Pleasure Island Passholders only.

PAP holders will get the GOLF option added to the program.

For more information..

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/common/helpFAQ?id=PleasureIslandFAQPage&bhcp=1

For PI Passholders the pro-rated refund would depend on how many months are left in their PI Annual pass after the closing date.

The lady on the phone said I could get a pro-rated refund on my PAP instead of the golf.
Not sure how accurate that info is, but that is what she told me.

I hate golf.

MG

 

[CanadianGuy]

The lady on the phone said I could get a pro-rated refund on my PAP instead of the golf.
Not sure how accurate that info is, but that is what she told me.

I hate golf.

MG

That would seem like a viable 'case by case' option that they will offer for golf haters like you and me..

Tragically tho.. unless you bought that PAP like .. the day before this was announced, I can't imagine that proration adding to more than 60 or 70$.

 

[Baloo]

Ya think Disney is jealous of the Creative DISign Boards?!?!?! =0)

Look at what's coming to the revamped Pleasure Island area!!


This news is part of a bold new vision for the Downtown Disney area, including extraordinary new shopping, dining, numerous enhancements and a completely re-imagined Pleasure Island.

Over the next year, the 120-acre entertainment-shopping-dining complex will add a number of one-of-a-kind, immersive experiences for you to enjoy. The Downtown Disney area will even get its own iconic attraction — a giant, tethered balloon that will take your 300 feet into the air to view the amazing vistas of Walt Disney World Resort.

Other new experiences include:


In fall 2008, you will enter a world of prehistoric creatures at T-Rex: A Prehistoric Family Adventure. The dinosaur-themed eatery will serve up pizzas, pastas, seafood and more amid life-size dinosaurs, geysers, waterfalls and a fossil dig site.

Also this fall, a design-your-own t-shirt store from Hanes will add to the growing collection of merchandise you can personalize.


E-brands Restaurants will premier its newest concept in spring 2009. The casual eatery will feature authentic Central and South American cuisine and live music along the waterfront.



They better remember that started HERE at the DIS!!!!

 

[Jason71]

Baloo, the real irony of that news release is that--with the possible exception of the T-shirt shop--none of the things mentioned are going into any of the shuttered PI clubs.

 

[Iceman93]

No one... NO ONE has been a bigger PI fan than me. (I did create the Pleasure Island Lovers Club at Yahoo!, after all...) Back in 2004 when I stopped renewing my annual pass and wrote them a letter explaining why, I was the guest who had visited PI more than any other since its opening (as measured by pass scanning at the turnstiles and personally verified to me by the GM of Downtown Disney). Even then, their mismanagement had ruined what was a unique, wonderful, and absolutely Disney experience.

It was a death spiral--bean counters wanted to make more money, so they started cutting things. People didn't like the cuts and starting spending less. That led the bean counters to cut more, etc. The moves lately have become more and more desperate and, quite obviously, out of touch with what guests actually want in a nighttime entertainment complex. The writing has been on the wall for a few years now that PI was on the way out.

And while I will absolutely miss the AC and CW due to the amazingly talented cast there and the one-of-a-kind nature of what the places offered (particularly the AC), don't sell clubs like 8 Trax and Mannequins short. In 1999, a full ten years after opening and without a penny spent on upgrades, Mannequins was named Bar & Nightclub Magazine's first Club of the Year as the best dance club in the country. But Disney rested on those laurels FAR too long, and then the Mannequins rehab was, to put it mildly, a half-*** job. Still, it is far and away the best club in central Florida.

I think I have to agree with the poster who said that some Disney decision-makers are idiots for letting this happen. The idiotic decision, though, isn't to close PI but to have let it get to its current state of disrepair and "average-ness".

I wonder how motivated the cast members who work there will be to provide amazing guest experiences these last few months?

 

[rpmdfw]

I wonder how motivated the cast members who work there will be to provide amazing guest experiences these last few months?

Well, I can only speak as an Adventurers Club regular on this, but the amazingly talented performers there have stepped up their game, if anything.

They've been amazingly professional and dedicated to provided the best show possible to every guest that walks in the door every single night, even though we know that they've essentially been handed their walking papers. They're truly remarkable people, both on stage and off, and I can't believe that I'd be able to behave that professionally in their situation. I didn't think it was possible to respect them more than I already did. But I do now.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

I have my fingers crossed that maybe, just maybe, somehow Disney will save at least the AC. The CW could easily go in over at the studios sans the bar service. The AC is an amazing resource that hopefully disney will find a way to preserve as a restaurant/entertainment complex. I guess the problem is that the AC cast would still be Disney employees.

 

[Scurvy]

A possible update for those of you who aren't active on the other AC groups:

Earlier in the week people who wrote to the Exec. offices were getting calls in which they were informed that while Disney was very surprised by the large fan respsponse they didn't intend to keep the Club.

As of Friday the secretary making the calls was apparently telling some people that she also likes the Club and is hoping there could be a change in it's future.

Someone else received a call from a Disney Board member who called some executives after getting some letters about the Club and was informed that the closure was a purely financial decision. Our group member explained why we believe that while PI as a whole might not have been as successful lately as they had hoped, the Club itself could not only be a financial success but also is a large draw for people to eat/shop at DTD. The Board Member promised he'd make some more calls and look into it further.

To be realistic, this might all amount to nothing. But the tone of the responses have certainly changed and it's possible they really might reconsider.

So if you are an AC fan and haven't written Disney about it, please consider doing so. It does seem as though they might be listening and every letter might make a difference.

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Would those of you who are actively fighting to save the Adventurers Club also please help fight to save Mannequins and 8TRAX. The AC petition has 6000 signatures but only a 500 for saving PI in general. We should be all in this together. I have signed the AC petition even though I've never been in there. I know a lot of you AC people have little use for the dance clubs but they too are incredibly unique establishments that deserve saving. I think we are all better off is everyone is working together to save ALL of the unique aspects of PI. Thank you very much.

http://www.petitiononline.com/SAVEPI/petition.html

BobK/Orlando

 

[Maistre Gracey]

So if you are an AC fan and haven't written Disney about it, please consider doing so. It does seem as though they might be listening and every letter might make a difference.

Just finished addressing the envelopes. The site said to include pics of us having a good time at the AC, so my wife went through the albums...

$72 later we had 7 copies of 3 different pics ready to mail..

MG