The demise of Pleasure Island!

[brisus]

Is anyone else sick and upset about the continuous demise of Please Island and what it used to be. I have soooo many fond memories of great times at Pleasure Island over the years and am sad to say the good old days seem to be over! So many great things have been taken away and closed in the past. I miss Wildhorse Saloon, the original New Years Eve party the the dancers in the stage show leading up to the fireworks, the other dancers on the smaller stage, The closing of Jazz club (one of my biggest disappointments) and now I read on mousesavers that they are tearing down the West End and Hub stages to make room for a boat dock. I fell like the party is over! Anyone else agree?

 

[intrep93]

I agree. I posted about this on another thread, too. I called last week to get times for fireworks and parades at all the park for our trip in sept. Was shocked when told there were no longer fireworks and confetti on the island. Most of the retail stores will be closed while we are there and a bunch of the clubs too. sounds like it's gonna mostly be shops and resteraunts when they get done with it. We are taking our 2 oldes kids for the 1st time and it breaks my heart that they won't get to experience new years on PI. They would have loved dancing around in the street under that massive shower of confetti!!!

 

[DVC Sadie]

Yes, I agree with you. It is sad that PI is no longer the way we loved it. I hate how PI has changed through the years. Truly sad.

 

[sajetto]

I totally hear where you're coming from. It is such a dissapointment, but I hope that all these changes will eventually lead to one great big positive change

 

[LarryFmScotland]

Life without Frankie and the West End Boys just won't be the same.

Cheers Larry from Scotland.

 

[PlutosFriend]

Is anyone else sick and upset about the continuous demise of Please Island and what it used to be. I have soooo many fond memories of great times at Pleasure Island over the years and am sad to say the good old days seem to be over! So many great things have been taken away and closed in the past. I miss Wildhorse Saloon, the original New Years Eve party the the dancers in the stage show leading up to the fireworks, the other dancers on the smaller stage, The closing of Jazz club (one of my biggest disappointments) and now I read on mousesavers that they are tearing down the West End and Hub stages to make room for a boat dock. I fell like the party is over! Anyone else agree?

Same here! Went there last Fall and it wasn't the same. Small children in some of the dance establishments. I was not very comfortable with that. Sad to say, but when I do adult trips to WDW, we usually head over to City Walk and have great nights out there.

 

[PixieDustPolitico]

Yes, there's a sort of cheap, schizophrenic quality to it now. Drunks and kids just aren't a pretty mix! In trying to be more kid-friendly, they've created a place that's one I'd never want a kid anywhere near. And I second the City Walk endorsement.

 

[pepe of ohio]

Its wasn't like it was years ago. The Fireworks Factory was a great place to eat. The teenage crowd taking over the area was its downfall. Not teenage vacationeers but locals trying to get an adult to seek them in as family. Alot of unpublicized trouble in the parking lots, I knew a security person, and he said the whole area was just a brewing area for trouble. That kind of area I can do without while on vacation.

They should have made the area just for people staying on property and kept the riff raff out. Its run its course, time for a new venue, keep some of the favorite clubs though, Adventures etc and put in some relaxing music listening places and curb all the alcohol. Even with the high prices of booze, people paid the money and became obnoxious drunks, making bus travel with them a nasty experience traveling from West side back to your resort with them. We've avoided PI for years since its demise of family oriented atmosphere.

 

[boomhauer]

I have mixed feelings. I was never a huge fan of PI, even in my early 20's. Even with Park Hopper Plusses, I wouldn't spend much time at the clubs. I'm not really into dancing. You can drink at the Marketplace or West Side. I think I only stayed for the fireworks once. I will say that now, it's completely lost it's identity, so a change is due.

To me, the best part of Downtown Disney is and will always be the Marketplace. It's just so beautiful, relaxing and fun.

 

[DisTeach1]

I also love the Marketplace. When I was in my 20's, I thought Pleasure Island was the best. It's how my husband and I discovered country western dancing. I remember eating a jello shot and dancing around the floor at Manequins. But now, after a day at the parks, I'd rather have a drink in a quiet, relaxing lounge at Beach Club, or even bring a drink up to my room. City Walk is a lot of fun however. Maybe Downtown Disney needs to look at that.

 

[beachblanket]

The teenage crowd taking over the area was its downfall.

This is correct, but the teenage thing was the symptom of a larger problem. IMHO, the real issue that Disney began to encounter with PI (from day one) was the positioning of the attraction.

On the surface, the concept of a somewhat-adult-oriented entertainment district was a solid one. Open up a place where mom and dad, or older brother/sis could kick up their heels and have some mickey/princess free fun during the evening, but child friendly enough so the kids could be brought along if the family desired.

In practice however, the demand just wasn't there. Perhaps it's the generalized perception of WDW as family central, or lack of proper promotion, but for whatever reason, PI just didn't become a "must do" for enough guests.

To keep the clubs filled, Disney quickly started focusing on what was originally a secondary market - local Orlando teens and young adults. And once that started, per Pepe's point, the environment at PI began to decline.

The first clear signal that families should stay away came in 1993. That year, what was in essence a riot erupted before a rap concert at the BET club. A local crowd of the "target market" for that sort of thing was waiting to enter PI for the concert, and when the show got delayed began to try and push its way in. When security tried to stop them, trashcans were thrown, windows started breaking, and eventually a massive number of Orlando police had to come in to stop the violence (don't bother searching the DIS or Google for more details on this event; Disney PR did their usual very effective job of keeping it out of the media).

I was there four times between 1993 and 2004, and with each subsequent visit, the crowds I encountered there simply got less and less attractive. By the time of our last visit (August 2005), my wife stated before arrival "our priorities at WDW don't include hanging out with drunken, smoking Orlando teenagers, so let's forget PI."

 

[brock]

Thanks for the insights....maybe we'll pass on PI.

 

[DeterminedOne]

I love PI! Fortunately, I've never seen any riots or riff raff. I miss some of the old attractions like the stage dancers and the news about West End Stage is a bummer. But as long as the clubs are there that's really all I need.

 

[Barbie2]

I am another fan of City Walk. I never have liked Pleasure Island as well as City Walk, and now I think I am going to like it even less.

I do LOVE Marketplace though!

 

[Miss Inga Depointe]

Maybe if people weren't so intent on taking kids out to the bars with them on vacation, they wouldn't have had to do anything at all. As it was, it was very weird, adults trying to have an adult night with kids all over the place.

 

[Poohs Pal]

I will also miss Frankie. I bought into SSR due to the proximity of DDT, maybe now that I have discovered Jellyrolls I'll buy into BWV and sell SSR . This last December I visited AC and it just didn't seem as lively as previous visit's. Yes, I agree DTD just isn't the same but will be missed. Susan

 

[doombuggy3]

What is City Walk? I've heard a couple people mention it, anyone care to share what it is?

 

[nezy]

I know Citywalk is at Universal-but that is all I know.

REI-I recently visited w/just adult friends-we had fun at the Comedy Club, AC and liked Raglan Road, however while walking around PI it was definately Scary! I was w/ a friend who is NYPD -narcotics in the Bronx-she had her radar up and was very uncomfortable! This was a 15 yr. veteran of the NY city police dept. feeling uneasy on PI. There definately should be a change--to clean it up!

Next night we all went to the Boardwalk-Jellyrolls, atlantic Dance, other places, and we had a great time.

To be honest the only "drunk" adults I have seen was in EPCOT!

 

[lclark0621]

We never liked PI. DH & I went there a couple of times pre-DS & never liked it. We only returned because we were with friends who wanted to go.

To us, it always had a real scummy feal to it. Just not a fun atmosphere. From what I could see & smell, there was more then just a lot of alcohol going on there.

My last visit there was in 1996, when waiting for the bus back to the resort, a guy who was obviously way to drunk, vomitted all over my friend's shoes! YUCK! Never had the desire to go back after that!

My DH's groomsmen did take him there for a sort of bachelor party in 1997 & that was the last night he ever went there. He said he had fun, but it was more being with his friends, then where they were.

Neither of us have been back to PI since.

And I NEVER understood why people would bring their kids there. There was just NO reason for kids under 18 to be there. I could never believe people toating around their preschoolers at 1:00am at PI, or that Disney allowed the kids in.

 

[beachblanket]

Maybe if people weren't so intent on taking kids out to the bars with them on vacation, they wouldn't have had to do anything at all. As it was, it was very weird, adults trying to have an adult night with kids all over the place.

I agree that mix doesn't resonate with everybody, but again, that isn't primary reason for the decline of PI.

Rather, it's a function of the environment getting increasingly scummy, which in turn is a function of removing the general admission fee, which in turn is a function of Disney heavily promoting PI to local, lower income Gen Y types, which in turn is a function of the target audience of resort guests not showing up in the numbers expected.

And part of the the latter may have had something to do with what you described - the original concept of trying to design an "attraction" targeted at adults but still positioned as being "family friendly." That certainly could be seen as an immediate contradiction in terms by many.

Whatever, what we are now left with is a "nightspot" area crammed with unsupervised minors (the "no-one-under-21-allowed-in-without-an-adult" policy is a joke), gang members and open drug sales.

Which leaves one wondering how oblivious Disney management can be to the signal that sends.....