The demise of Pleasure Island!

[Pootle]

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

Cheers Larry from Scotland.

I agree completely. They were great on the big West End stage. I know they still do occasional appearances at the Beach Club but it's not the same

 

[wvjovifan]

Wow....sounds like we might want to skip PI this trip...we were going to venture to the Comedy Club one night in May, but this doesn't sound like the kind of atmosphere I want to wander around in. We haven't been there for years and it sounds like it has taken a turn in the wrong direction

 

[engagedatWDW]

The whole place seems forced and I felt almost silly being there, not to mention uncomfortable. I'm glad it's going. Disney can do better.

 

[PlutosFriend]

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

City Walk is at Universal Studios. My favorite place there is Pat O'Briens. Very fun piano bar. Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville is also a fun spot.

 

[beachblanket]

City Walk is at Universal Studios. My favorite place there is Pat O'Briens. Very fun piano bar. Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville is also a fun spot.

Frankly, Citywalk blows PI away in terms of live entertainment. There is only one venue left at PI (the Beach Club) that consistently offers live bands.

In comparison, Citywalk has two stand-alone live music clubs clubs (jazz and and reggae, two genres absent at PI), as well as four restaurants that feature live music (latin, the previously mentioned "Irish" piano bar - the theme there is actually Cajun/New Orleans -- "Parrothead" style music at Buffets and a Motown nostalgia revue). Add to that fact Citywalk is cleaner and has no masses of local-yokel adolescent riff-raff hanging around, and you've got a winner.

 

[jezebella]

You know....there are "locals" that go there freqently that can manage to not get into trouble....sorry, I just don't appreciate the tone that has been displayed here regarding locals.

 

[Msslaydbug]

We have only been to PI a few times but the only clubs we ended up going to were The Comedy Club and Adventureres Club. We liked the Adventureres Club so much we never even bothered to check out any of the other clubs. We saw a smal kid one time in AC and the poor things look so out of place.

This next trip we are stating at Universal and would love to eperience City Walk - this is somewhere we have never tried.

 

[WillCAD]

You know....there are "locals" that go there freqently that can manage to not get into trouble....sorry, I just don't appreciate the tone that has been displayed here regarding locals.

The tone in this thread is one of lament - lament that PI is falling apart, and lament that most of the locals who come to PI are the bad type of local (i.e. unsupervised minors, rowdy drunks, and trouble-seekers), as opposed to the good type of local (i.e. you).

I've only been to PI a few times, because I am not a drinker, don't dance, don't smoke, and am not on the prowl. But I do enjoy the Adventurers Club and the Comedy Warehouse, and I certainly did love the shops and stores that were on PI, some of which are currently ghosts of their former selves.

The Adventurers Club seems to be the single most popular feature of PI. There have been rumors circulating recently of an AC rehab, an AC expansion, and an AC closing, none of which have much substance. But if Disney were smart, they would use the Adventurers Club as a model for a whole new type of adult entertainment district - something with live performers, immersive theming, and a simple but compelling backstory. Then you add a bar, and subtract anybody under 18, and they'd have a recipe for success.

Instead of Pleasure Island, maybe they could call it Fantasy Island. Or even Always-Alwaysland (the antithesis of Never-Neverland, a place where adults can go to actually be adults and yet still have fun).

Kungaloosh!

 

[sajetto]

You're right WillCAD. PI needs to be an "adults" area where adults can enjoy being with other adults. It is so sad to see a place that used to be so much fun falling apart.

 

[jellydisney]

Agreed with most everything said on this thread. We went to PI last spring, and we were very bored. We went to the Adventurer's Club and there were little kids everywhere, and the drinks were horribly weak and overpriced. Then we went to the Comedy Club, and it was amusing but not "great". And then we walked around trying to figure out if there was anything else to do. I didn't really notice any riff raff, but there were lots of kids. We were disappointed because we were looking for an adults night out, and it just simply is not to be had.

I have a memory of long ago of there being a rollerskating rink at Pleasure Island... does anyone else remember this?

 

[snowbunny]

Never liked Pleasure Island, one visit in the 1980s was plenty, and I'm not sorry in the least to see it go.

 

[DisTeach1]

I don't know if I feel it needs to be adults only...Is CityWalk adults only? Because it's great, but has a different atmosphere than PI. I do feel sad about PI, but don't know what would fix it. We love House of Blues, but don't really care for the other stores in PI or West Side. Does anyone know if you can walk around PI without a ticket, because the next time we go, we weren't going to have the extra options on on ticket, but wanted to go to HOuse of Blues and the Cigar store.

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

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."

Haven't read the whole thread yet, but when my DH and I went in 1996, without any kids, all we saw were drunk people, people working on getting drunk, and the music was so loud in the street that we had to scream at each other to talk! My DH and I have never been into the "club scene" and we don't drink so we both just kind of looked at each other and said, this is not for us. I guess we thought it would be fun walking around, listening to good music, getting some appetizers here and there, catch some live street shows or something. I was only 31 at the time, so I wasn't an old foggy (spelling?) or anything (well, maybe I am inside. I DO love reruns of Andy Griffith show )

So we left to go to the new theater to see "That thing you do", just out with Tom Hanks. It is one of our favorite movies ever, and it made such a good memory out of an evening that I thought was going to be a waste.

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

I've only been to PI a few times, because I am not a drinker, don't dance, don't smoke, and am not on the prowl.

That must have been our problem to, although I have been known to dance once in a while.

 

[zalansky]

Did I miss something? Was there an annoucement PI was closing or being refurbished? I would welcome that change, PI was nothing like it was when it first opened way back when. And now that I am older, we're not into that scene either. What will they put there, more shops?

 

[Ms.Mouse]

I think part of the "problem" with PI happened when they started to allow people from outside WDW to come in. At one point, I believe it was only open to "guests" of WDW. We went and it was fine...lots of fun... Brought my grown children in and my daughter got harassed. Spoke to someone and they said when they began letting the kids from the outside in, these things began to happen... I believe I also saw the same problems in posts on this or another site at one time.

 

[patsal]

I know I was very uncomfortable there in the summer of 2004. The teen aged element was scary at best--I teach high school I tend to know when kids are up to no good! The open drug deals were a huge turn off as were the safety issues from my perspecitive. Though not DTD's biggest fan, shopping can be unique and enjoyable. West side is ok but at night it gets kind of creepy. PI--usually I hit the first shows at AC and CC and then head for the resort--our kids are tweens too old for a sitter and too young for clubbin' (10 and 14). If the CC and AC were to go I'd miss them, but the rest really does nothing for me. Definately a place where you have to remember to keep your guard up since it is less than safe.

 

[Daryl]

"Target Market", "locals" ? Hmmmmmm.... Not very Disney folks.

 

[Brad&Kryssi]

Guess I'm in the minority here. I love 8 Trax in PI. Older crowd, songs that have a beginning, a melody, and an end...and a general sense of "Wow, do you remember what you were doing when this song was out?"

Being able to take my 18 year old DD out dancing with us was a treat and a safe way for her to enjoy some time being a teenager.

I did see some questionable looking characters while there, but they didn't bug us and we didn't bug them...kind of like being in NYC.

It's all what you make of it. We don't like our vacations to end at 9pm each night so we make the best of it by attending the clubs we like and leave the rest to themselves.

 

[oxfordcircus]

I've never been to PI, but I always thought it was an interesting choice of names, given that the first Disney incarnation of the name was in Pinocchio, and it was a place for kids to get drunk and smoke before they turned into, what was it?, donkeys?