Pleasure Island - Here Today - GONE Soon?

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Please fight to save Pleasure Island, not just the Adventurer's Club:

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

We need you!
Thanks,
BobK/Orlando

 

[Justish]

Is 8trax the one with the crazy people outside doing the dancing in wigs and costumes and such?

There were tons of people gathered around an outdoor stage and two CM's having people do wierd dances and stuff.

This was back in 05 or 06 (can't remember) and I was only 16 and was with my family so I couldn't go into much of anything, nor could I look around by myself but I remember looking at all the PI stuff and thinking;

"OH! I am spending EVERY NIGHT HERE when we come back!"

What a total let down...

~Ally

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Is 8trax the one with the crazy people outside doing the dancing in wigs and costumes and such? There were tons of people gathered around an outdoor stage and two CM's having people do wierd dances and stuff. ~Ally

Ally, there used to be two outdoor stages where bands played and they did wacky skits like you described. One was just outside 8TRAX but 8TRAX itself is indoors and features the 70's disco music and early 80's.

BobK/Orlando

 

[zulemara]

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

The same holds true for me. I visit CW more than AC and I have a connection to 8-trax on many many different levels, but at the end of the day, 8-trax is a fun venue. The same goes for Mannequins. There are plenty of places to hear top 40s and BET style music, but an all techno club and all 70s and 80s club are unique. Please help save the other clubs along with the AC

 

[Justish]

Ally, there used to be two outdoor stages where bands played and they did wacky skits like you described. One was just outside 8TRAX but 8TRAX itself is indoors and features the 70's disco music and early 80's.

BobK/Orlando

Thanks for the info... that TOTALLY seems like something worth saving!
Why do they want MORE shopping... isn't the great thing about DTD's PI
that it's where you can go to spend $$$ at DISNEY in the late hours of
the night? Are they really planning to reinvent the area and still have the
late night option or are they really going to allow us night owls to go off
world to have fun?? That seems very very un-disney...

I don't know what to do! I don't mind some extra shopping... but I would
love a few disney clubs to go to! This is so unfair!!

*whines and crys and preaches to the choir*

~Ally

 

[jfinke]

My letters went out this morning:

Robert Iger
Chief Executive Officer
The Walt Disney Company
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521-4873
CC: James A. Rasulo, Al Weiss, Meg Crofton, John Lasseter, Steve Jobs
Date 7/18/08

Dear Sir,
I am writing to express my disappointment at the news that Pleasure Island is being closed this fall with no plans for reopening a similar attraction. What may be even worse than the closing is the announcement of more outsourced restaurants and a T-shirt shop to take its place.

I will not pretend to know anything about Disney’s financials, etc. However, I do not view chain restaurants and more shopping as a Disney destination attraction. I currently reside in the Kansas City area, the 26th largest metro area in the country. It is neither small nor large. However, we have had a T-rex restaurant for over a year now, while DTD is still building one. We also have a Raglan Road and a Rainforest Cafe. These are simply chain restaurants, not Disney innovative and unique dining experiences.

Unique experiences is one of the reasons that we visit WDW on a consistent basis. Now, as a DVC member, I am not going to threaten to sell or never visit again. However, I will not be purchasing the Water Park Fun & More option for my tickets in the future. PI was one of the major reasons we purchased those extensions. The Adventurer’s Club, the Comedy Warehouse, and the rest of PI provided an adult-orientated attraction that is unique around WDW and the country. Chain restaurants do not.

If anything should close in the DTD area, it should be the AMC theater and the Virgin Megastore. Neither of these items are unique; nor, are they targeted towards tourists. They are targeted towards locals. Who spends the money to go to WDW and shop for something they can download off of iTunes or watch a movie that they can see at home?

I strongly urge you to reconsider the closing of PI. I also urge you to go back to roping off the island as it was originally envisioned. This will help reduce the traffic through the area and help maintain control of the area. It should not be too difficult to develop a safe walkway between the West Site and the Marketplace.

If this is not possible, I hope that you develop an attraction that can take the place of PI somewhere else on property. It is extremely important to have an area which is adult-only for those people trying to escape the madness that many thousands of children can cause. This new area should be targeted towards tourists. Disney Cruise Line has figured this out with their adult areas on both the ships and Castaway Cay. It would be a shame for WDW to have to relearn that lesson.

Sincerely yours,

 

[zulemara]

My letters went out this morning:

fantastic! Well written, heart felt, and most importantly(to me) you are lobbying for ALL of PI not just AC. Thank you

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

I agree, great letter! Thank you for taking the time to do that. I sent Iger a letter 2 weeks ago and have not gotten a response.

So KC already has a T-REX, Rainforest and a Raglan Road? Wow.....if there are any techno clubs there too then, as the song goes, Kansas City here I come!

BobK/Orlando

 

[jfinke]

We have had a RFC since I moved here in 1999 as far as I know in Oak Park Mall.

T-Rex was built as part of the Legends in the last two years.

Raglan Road was built as part of the KC Power & Light district this past year.

We also have more authentic Mexican restaurants than we know what to do with. I have a Chinese restaurant a couple of blocks from the house that lists their menu on the wall in Mandarin. I have a little hole the wall sushi place I go to that is better than the California Grill.

Unfortunately, our authentic German place closed down. Don't think we have a English pub or anything like that. However, I think we have the rest of the World Showcase covered, Middle Eastern, French, etc.

There are clubs and such here. We don't go to them much. The problem with KC is that it is one huge suburb. So, you are pretty much driving everywhere.

That is one of the nice things of staying on site at WDW. You have access to PI and the rest of the restaurants. Then just ride the buses back to your room.

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

The problem with KC is that it is one huge suburb. So, you are pretty much driving everywhere.

Coincidently just read an article about this USA Today. There was discussion about connecting the airport with the city via light rail and the main reason they won't is that everything is way too spread out with little in the way of a large, business-oriented downtown. And from my perspective, Kansas City Missouri and Kansas City Kansas are two different cities each with their own suburbs which spreads things out even more than most cities.

BobK/Orlando

 

[jfinke]

Those discussions have been going on for years. I believe it finally passed last year, but then the city didn't want to spend the money. So, now there are lawsuits and such going on. Had they spent the money when times were good, they would probably have a decent public transportation system today when times are bad and people are looking for that.

 

[jfinke]

Well, I finally got my form letter back today, dated July 23 (nice efficient mail system).

blah blah blah... "new, exciting and one of a kind experiences" blah blah blah...

from Alana Kitch

I look forward to the new and one of a kind experience that a tshirt shop will provide. Maybe they could put a McDonalds down there. Oh wait....

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Last night I checked out the new club Rix Lounge over at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort. It's a nice looking place but it won't serve as a replacement for any club at PI. It's too small overall, the dance floor is too small and there are televisions all over the place playing sports. So as a sports bar, ok. But distracting televisions playing sports and dance floors don't mix well, IMO.

But hey, Rix Cafe in the hotel lobby has some awesome chocolate chip cookies!

BobK/Orlando

SIGN THE SAVE PLEASURE ISLAND ON-LINE PETITION:
http://www.petitiononline.com/SAVEPI/petition.html

 

[sassytink03]

Thanks for the update on RIX Bob. I was going to go check it out after the AC closes, but it doesn't sound like any place I want to go to. I think that I will go check out CityWalk after Sept 27. I know that it won't replace the AC in any way, shape, or form but hopefully they will listen to us and open up something like the AC. Or here's to hoping that Disney opens it up elsewhere.

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Thanks for the update on RIX Bob.

You're welcome. It's a fine hotel bar and an ok sports bar. Having a DJ and dance floor is a mismatch when large HD televisions light up the room.

Well, I had some small hopes that Disney might change their mind and leave a couple clubs operating. Then I saw this comment by a poster named Tuckenie over on Jim Hill Media. Like all rumors, must be taken for what it is. But it does paint a bleak picture for fans of anything existing while at the same time brings hope that a future PI will be a desirable place to go.

Click on link and scroll down to his letter:
http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/jhmcomments/16201.aspx

BobK/Orlando

 

[NMW]

Please fight to save Pleasure Island, not just the Adventurer's Club:

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

We need you!
Thanks,
BobK/Orlando

I understand that you want it saved but you have to realize that LOTS and LOTS of families do not. My family hates PI. We love the Downtown Disney side and think the West side is OK, but I hate that we have to walk through PI to get back and forth. The ONLY thing in PI that we like is Raglan Road. We are looking forward to the T-Rex place. If they open more themed restaurants and shopping and make it more like the Downtown side, we will spend much more time and money there.

The times we've walk through PI in the past few years it seems almost like a ghost town anyway. Granted these were mostly weeknights around 11 PMish-maybe it's different on the weekends. Although in May, we walked through on a Friday night. I just thought it was creepy and couldn't get through fast enough. My friend and her family claim that they saw scary looking teenagers/young adults in large groups when she went and wrote to Disney to complain about how nervous it made her. When the news of PI closing went through my group of Disney vacationing families, I was surprised to hear other families say this as well. All of them are happy with it's closing. Now maybe we are not the "target" audience for PI. We are all families with 2 or 3 kids that vacation once a year and stay in resorts like the BC.

Our past trip in May we had a fabulous time at the Downtown Disney side. We had beers, shopped, listened to music at the open air theater/stage thing. We had a 9:30 ADR at Raglan Road and really loved it-food, atmosphere, everything. When we left however, we thought of walking to the West Side, but (I don't know how to describe this) PI just had a seedy feel to it. Tons of really young people being stopped to show ID to cops/security with flash lights. Earlier that night we had such a great time at the Downtown side...if Disney with the additon of T-Rex, other cool restaurants, and shopping, not mention closing all those clubs, can make PI "feel" like the other side we will spnd many more nights of our trip there. We ended up NOT walking to the West Side because I just did not want to walk through PI. We grabbed a cab and went back to the BC.

Friends of ours have also said that they stayed on the Downtown Side and didn't go to the West Side because they didn't want to walk through PI even though they "wanted" to go to the West Side. Granted, maybe they listened to our friend with the scary PI "gangs" story, but Disney lost out on $$ non the less.

I know people love the AC, and I can respect that. I for one though am really, really looking forward to the changes. When I told DH that the clubs were closing, his response was "Great, maybe we will spend a couple more nights there now."

 

[rpmdfw]

I understand that you want it saved but you have to realize that LOTS and LOTS of families do not. My family hates PI. We love the Downtown Disney side and think the West side is OK, but I hate that we have to walk through PI to get back and forth. The ONLY thing in PI that we like is Raglan Road. We are looking forward to the T-Rex place. If they open more themed restaurants and shopping and make it more like the Downtown side, we will spend much more time and money there.

The times we've walk through PI in the past few years it seems almost like a ghost town anyway. Granted these were mostly weeknights around 11 PMish-maybe it's different on the weekends. Although in May, we walked through on a Friday night. I just thought it was creepy and couldn't get through fast enough. My friend and her family claim that they saw scary looking teenagers/young adults in large groups when she went and wrote to Disney to complain about how nervous it made her. When the news of PI closing went through my group of Disney vacationing families, I was surprised to hear other families say this as well. All of them are happy with it's closing. Now maybe we are not the "target" audience for PI. We are all families with 2 or 3 kids that vacation once a year and stay in resorts like the BC.

Our past trip in May we had a fabulous time at the Downtown Disney side. We had beers, shopped, listened to music at the open air theater/stage thing. We had a 9:30 ADR at Raglan Road and really loved it-food, atmosphere, everything. When we left however, we thought of walking to the West Side, but (I don't know how to describe this) PI just had a seedy feel to it. Tons of really young people being stopped to show ID to cops/security with flash lights. Earlier that night we had such a great time at the Downtown side...if Disney with the additon of T-Rex, other cool restaurants, and shopping, not mention closing all those clubs, can make PI "feel" like the other side we will spnd many more nights of our trip there. We ended up NOT walking to the West Side because I just did not want to walk through PI. We grabbed a cab and went back to the BC.

Friends of ours have also said that they stayed on the Downtown Side and didn't go to the West Side because they didn't want to walk through PI even though they "wanted" to go to the West Side. Granted, maybe they listened to our friend with the scary PI "gangs" story, but Disney lost out on $$ non the less.

I know people love the AC, and I can respect that. I for one though am really, really looking forward to the changes. When I told DH that the clubs were closing, his response was "Great, maybe we will spend a couple more nights there now."

That's just it. Those of us without kids don't utilize or like things like the Winnie the Pooh playground or the Dumbo ride, but we're not lobbying for them to be closed.

We understand that those attractions are there for other people. We're happy that there is something for everyone.

But the folks with families (except those that bring their families to the Adventurers Club) are all shouting "HOORAY!" at our loss.

Remember this when YOUR favorite attraction gets closed so they can put up a pin cart.

At that point, I'll be the one saying "I'm sorry, I know how you feel" not "Good, I didn't like it anyway"

 

[jfinke]

I understand that you want it saved but you have to realize that LOTS and LOTS of families do not. My family hates PI. We love the Downtown Disney side and think the West side is OK, but I hate that we have to walk through PI to get back and forth. The ONLY thing in PI that we like is Raglan Road. We are looking forward to the T-Rex place. If they open more themed restaurants and shopping and make it more like the Downtown side, we will spend much more time and money there.

The times we've walk through PI in the past few years it seems almost like a ghost town anyway. Granted these were mostly weeknights around 11 PMish-maybe it's different on the weekends. Although in May, we walked through on a Friday night. I just thought it was creepy and couldn't get through fast enough. My friend and her family claim that they saw scary looking teenagers/young adults in large groups when she went and wrote to Disney to complain about how nervous it made her. When the news of PI closing went through my group of Disney vacationing families, I was surprised to hear other families say this as well. All of them are happy with it's closing. Now maybe we are not the "target" audience for PI. We are all families with 2 or 3 kids that vacation once a year and stay in resorts like the BC.

Our past trip in May we had a fabulous time at the Downtown Disney side. We had beers, shopped, listened to music at the open air theater/stage thing. We had a 9:30 ADR at Raglan Road and really loved it-food, atmosphere, everything. When we left however, we thought of walking to the West Side, but (I don't know how to describe this) PI just had a seedy feel to it. Tons of really young people being stopped to show ID to cops/security with flash lights. Earlier that night we had such a great time at the Downtown side...if Disney with the additon of T-Rex, other cool restaurants, and shopping, not mention closing all those clubs, can make PI "feel" like the other side we will spnd many more nights of our trip there. We ended up NOT walking to the West Side because I just did not want to walk through PI. We grabbed a cab and went back to the BC.

Friends of ours have also said that they stayed on the Downtown Side and didn't go to the West Side because they didn't want to walk through PI even though they "wanted" to go to the West Side. Granted, maybe they listened to our friend with the scary PI "gangs" story, but Disney lost out on $$ non the less.

I know people love the AC, and I can respect that. I for one though am really, really looking forward to the changes. When I told DH that the clubs were closing, his response was "Great, maybe we will spend a couple more nights there now."

I am not even sure I should reply to this?

Does your friend have malls where they are from? Because malls are full of groups of "scary" looking teenagers. Do you know what DTD is? It is a mall. Complete with an AMC, a music store, some restaurants (including a McDonald's), and shopping. It just happens to be a trendy outdoor mall of the 2000s vs the enclosed malls of the 80s and 90s.

Heck, I see large groups of teenagers inside the parks. The only thing I wonder about is, why aren't they in school?

Believe me, most of the PI supporters point to the fact that they opened the gates to people who don't have passes as the beginning of the end. Why didn't Disney build a safewalkway connecting WS and MP? It probably didn't line up in some spreadsheet somewhere.

 

[sassytink03]

Let's just face it. You are making it sound like PI is this awful place. In the first place, if you REALLY wanted to go to the West Side, you don't HAVE to walk through PI to get there. You can walk around it on the outside! You are making it sound like it is some kind of fortress. And don't you have plenty of restaurants elsewhere? You need another Rainforest Cafe or something?

I agree that Disney should have left the turnstiles in place to keep out the teenagers. But it doesn't seem anything like a "gang" atmosphere. Security is everywhere down in PI and if anything you are safer there than at normal clubs off property. If adults are scared by teenagers getting carded then they have bigger issues.

I am tired of people saying "we have families and we can't take our families there". In the first place, many of the people that go to PI have families and either take them with or utilize the Disney in room care. In the second place, adults deserve a place to call their own. We are the ones who pay for the tickets and calm down the crying children all day.

And finally, I hope that one day Disney decides to close down your favorite ride because they received too many complaints about the ride and they want to open a new AC in its place!

 

[Maistre Gracey]

That's just it. Those of us without kids don't utilize or like things like the Winnie the Pooh playground or the Dumbo ride, but we're not lobbying for them to be closed.

We understand that those attractions are there for other people. We're happy that there is something for everyone.

But the folks with families (except those that bring their families to the Adventurers Club) are all shouting "HOORAY!" at our loss.

Remember this when YOUR favorite attraction gets closed so they can put up a pin cart.

At that point, I'll be the one saying "I'm sorry, I know how you feel" not "Good, I didn't like it anyway"

Oh, what an EXCELLENT post!!
This hits the nail right on the head. I wish I could have said it so clear and direct to the point.

MG