Question about Pleasure Island closing

[MonorailMan]

I was having a "conversation" with someone who said that the reason the PI clubs closed was because the majority of the people going to the PI clubs were WDW cast members, which meant PI wasn't making any money since they all got in for free.

I may be wrong here, but isn't this statement so wrong that it's wrongola? Even if the "majority" of the people going to PI were actually CMs you'd think they'd still be making a pretty hefty chunk of money on the drinks every night. Was Thursday night the unofficial CM night, or was Thursday just the unofficial "gay night" where lots of the people there just happened to be CMs?

I'm not sure where this person got his information.....but please help me prove him wrong.

 

[OrlandoMike]

My understanding is they closed the clubs because they were bringing the wrong element into WDW. (Gangs, Drugs, Crime, etc)

They certainly made money on Thursday nights!

 

[rpmdfw]

From what we've heard, Pleasure Island was indeed making money. Despite the fact that Disney stopped promoting it years before they actually moved to close it.

The thing is, they looked at the revenue per square foot on those clubs and thought they could make MORE money by outsourcing those locations to companies that would operate them as shops and restaurants, leaving Disney to collect the rents, and not have to cover the operating costs.

You can see how well it worked by going to Pleasure Island and watching the incredibly lame street party they've created to try and distract people's attention from the empty buildings.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Ugh. To be fair, we never really got into the PI scene much beyond enjoying the "street" fun of the West End Stage and the like.

However, the new set up is beyond boring. It's stupid, mundane and totally without any interesting value what so ever.

Just in case anyone care what I thought...

 

[ConcKahuna]

My understanding is they closed the clubs because they were bringing the wrong element into WDW. (Gangs, Drugs, Crime, etc)

Wich, funny enough, was more of an issue in the AMC Theater/Virgin section than it ever was at PI.

 

[mikelan6]

Whether PI was making money or not, Disney probably thought that by putting in different restaurants and shops that would be open all day instead of just in the evenings, Disney would be able to make even MORE money.

 

[zulemara]

that information about Disney being unhappy that it was CMs visiting the clubs was debunked before the clubs were even closed according to the research I have done. If they didn't want CMs dragging down their revenue, they could have simply...not let us in for free. The last year they let us in free very night except fri and sat and after Jan 1 2008 they let us in free every night of the week. Whenever they are desperate for bodies in a location, they start opening up to CMs, which just shows how this was yet another sign of the end to come.

There are multiple schools of thought on why they closed PI. Based on recent events, it is my opinion that it's a combination of factors.
1. They do not want mass numbers of drunk people in one place. Yes I know..world showcase. The difference is the park closes sooner and people are not all in one location.
example A: Kingbobofthenorth tried to rent out soundstage for a mannequins reunion. He was told no, you can't sell tickets. When we found out the AC is selling tickets for an event, King Bob asked Barry Jacobson, the Director of Event Management at Walt Disney World why he was being turned down to rent Soundstage for a Mannequins Reunion event. His responses, and I quote: "We reserve the right to say no to any event" and "I don't have to give you a reason."
example B: Atlantic Dance Hall exists and is NEVER promoted.
example C: WorldVibe Orlando was scheduled for events at Motion. That got changed to Rix lounge.

2. I believe they wanted to create a series of restaurants with a dancing element to it, but wanted the entire "night club" element to be gone. Yes, they could make more money by doing this and outsourcing it. Of course had they promoted what they already had, they would have made more money

3. It's obvious at this point that what they had planned fell through. They have applied for a renewal of their liquor licenses for Motion, Soundstage, and AC. That means those clubs, for now, are safe.

Feel free to visit http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1931928 and chime in on the many opinions and rumors floating around.

I also encourage people to go to the hanes Tshirt store located next to RFC and build your own tshirt to look like this: