The demise of Pleasure Island!

[Jason71]

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

They still play in the Beach Club some nights, for as long as that stays open.

 

[Jason71]

With all due respect to other posters, I go to PI a lot, often a couple times a week. Never seen a drug deal (and I write police handbooks, so I'm somewhat familiar with criminal activity). It would be pretty stupid, given the number of security guards and Orlando police officers. Never seen anything that could be considered a serious gang presence, either.

Are there local teens with nothing better to do? Yes, ever since TPTB took down the turnstiles. But the same was true of the Dairy Queen in the small town where I grew up. While it adds nothing to the atmosphere, it hardly makes the place dangerous.

BTW, while I enjoy City Walk as well, you are far more likely to encounter falling-down drunks and "riff-raff" there than PI, at least on the weekends.

 

[David R]

We also go to PI at least once a week, and that is considering that we live 1 block from Universal. Adventurer's Club, Manniquen's, 8-Tracks. They are fantastic bars and City Walk can't match them.

But the problem, like others have pointed out, is that the street athmosphere is no longer there. Now I see parents dragging their small children around, children running around while the parents are enjoying a drink on the street, and to my shock and horror, kids at the Adventurer's Club!

Sure, they were asked to leave at 9, and then the racier adult humor started, but that is not a way to create athmosphere.

I miss the fireworks and confetti, but that was just a small gimmick at the end of the night. It is the whole experience that has gone downhill since they opened it for everybody.

I will say that they still have dancers at Manniquen's once in a while - and they are really cool (two women dressed with disco-ball outfits so all the lights reflect off them.)

 

[PixieDustPolitico]

Its wasn't like it was years ago. The Fireworks Factory was a great place to eat.

Funny, I remember it as marginal -- but I miss having other good choices within its bounds even if there are now many more much better ones just a short distance a way.

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.

Couldn't agree more with that!

They should have made the area just for people staying on property and kept the riff raff out.

It's not necessary to create walled a Disney enclave to keep the troublemakers out. That just takes investing more in security, which Disney, in its current mood of operating on the cheap is going to be loathe to do. The security people there, by and large, are doing a good job. There are just not enough of them to enforce good behavior enough that the troublemakers won't want to come because it won't be a place where they can have their idea of fun.

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.

Aw, come on...all of WDW doesn't need to be G-rated, much less appropriate for your kids. There's room for some serious partying, too. Again, the old Disney security wouldn't have let people impaired to the point of being potentially obnoxious stay in a venue or ride the buses unescorted. They used to gently remove people who'd had more than they could handle and ride back to their resorts with them. It was so, well, Disneyfied...some of my favorite memories include those bus rides with drunks sheepishly eyeballing their escorts!

Let the music play on -- music for your tastes and my tastes and the tastes of folks I might think have darned little of it because they're darned near no longer able to hear for all the noise they've subjected themselves to. Beef the place up, refurbish it, bring it back to the place where people would pay to get in because it's so good, then laissez les bon temps roulez!

 

[DisDarling]

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.

Couldnt agree with you more!!!
D.D.

 

[MJMcBride]

With what they're doing, what exactly is left at PI? I'm going in Nov., what can I expect? I always liked the Adventurer's Club and the Jazz Place (which is now Raglan Road, which is fine) But what else is left/gone?

 

[grimley1968]

Here's another disgruntled Jazz Club fan. I've not been to Raglan Road yet, but yet another pub, to me, just doesn't seem as much fun as the Jazz Club used to be. They used to get some really good bands come and play.

But as long as Adventurers Club is there, PI can't be all bad.

 

[PixieDustPolitico]

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.

I'm sure you know this but, for the benefit of those who don't, House of Blues and the Cigar Store are not on PI. They're on Downtown Disney's West Side, which has never been a ticketed access place.

PI is rarely ticketed access only, although it should be to reduce the unescorted teen problem with all their attendant problems. I remember the 1993 riot and remember that attendance dropped sharply after that and has never really recovered. I know I stayed away for a couple of years following it.

But I've been back a few times since -- school nights are my preferred times to go. Fewer kids of all kinds, so the wierdness and the scuzziness factors are lower. The Disney payday Thursday crowd that is higher in castmembers is always more pleasant anyway. But I miss the greater number of live performers there used to be -- alot. But you can't beat a good DJ at 8-TRAXX or Mannequins, either. Speaking of Mannequins, if you want to avoid the kids, you might try there. It's 21+ and they do check IDs but I love a the disco oldies -- or, as a paean to Alicia Bridges (and my dear departed Miss Alicia NoisyKitty, named so because the howl she made when first introduced into my home sounded just like Ms. Bridges' opening "I"), let's call it "I Love the Nightlife"!

Disney could do a great deal more by changing the music they offer to encourage an increase in older attendees in the mix.

City Walk is a good model for that. Raglan Road is a great start -- high quality food and drink and charming entertainment. Also bringing back the mix of food and drink establishments and beefing up the shopping instead of segregating them would help alot. Having early mixed hours and later adults-only ones might work.

 

[PixieDustPolitico]

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.

The reason for PI was to keep Disney guests from escaping at night to a now-defunct multi-business party venue in downtown Orlando -- to keep their nighttime, mostly adult entertainment dollars on property as well as to attract locals.

It was never closed to local people -- anyone could pay to enter. But that also meant that they checked IDs and that the cost itself was a disincentive for kids who'd be more likely to make trouble.

 

[PattnFmly]

While I haven't been to PI in the last few WDW trips (we had the kids and no babysitter) I always enjoyed PI in the past. 8trax was always my favorite and I did enjoy watching from the balcony at Wildhorse Saloon. AC was fun too as well as, was it the beach club - with the pool tables? I loved the street carnival theming, with the boardwalk type games and drinking shots from down the ice slide. I don't think City Walk will appeal to me, primarily because of the music choices. Jazz, Reggae & Latin? All three, a big and double yuck. I guess we'll just have to see this year. And to think we're going with the grandparents and I DO have a babysitter this year !!!

 

[brisus]

Just back last week from yet another awesome Disney vacation. Here is my review of PI and I will warn you, it is scary. First of all, I will say that Ragland Road is beautiful. The house band there is absolutely excellent and the appetizers were also awesome. Now on to the rest of Pleasure Island. I was absolutely horrified, not to mention scared. The presence of "gang type" kids was everywhere. I felt extremely unsafe walking the street in PI and could not get out of there fast enough. Not to mention, all of the stores are boarded up. What a shame this place has become. While sitting outside of Ragland Road, we witnessed, on three occasions, police running by into motions and walking out with people arrested. Are you kidding me? I think they better do something with the place and fast before something really bad happens. I also cannot believe that Disney if promoting PI on their in room channel for families. I think anyone walking into this atmosphere is in for quite a shock! Just be warned, it is scary and to me extremely unsafe. It is sad for me to write this because in the years past, we would visit almost every night of our vacation. Never again unless things change dramatically.

 

[babywewe]

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.

Being from NY i agree. However, I can see where people with families and "nice suberbian" towns would be nervous.

 

[Jobie]

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

Yes I remeber this. I went there once when I was a little kid, like 6 or seven. I thought it was the coolest.

 

[TSR6]

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.....

Actually, it's "No-one-under-18-allowed-in-without-an-adult" OR -only-21-allowed-" depending on the club, or the night. The streets however are free-roam, like anywhere on DTD property.

HOWEVER, there will be change soon on the club ages.

With all due respect to other posters, I go to PI a lot, often a couple times a week. Never seen a drug deal (and I write police handbooks, so I'm somewhat familiar with criminal activity). It would be pretty stupid, given the number of security guards and Orlando police officers. Never seen anything that could be considered a serious gang presence, either.

Are there local teens with nothing better to do? Yes, ever since TPTB took down the turnstiles. But the same was true of the Dairy Queen in the small town where I grew up. While it adds nothing to the atmosphere, it hardly makes the place dangerous.

BTW, while I enjoy City Walk as well, you are far more likely to encounter falling-down drunks and "riff-raff" there than PI, at least on the weekends.

Ditto. I would bet that I have been on Pleasure Island in some form or another than all of the posters in this thread combined - and I have only ONCE seen any "drug" activity - which I VERY quickly pointed out to Security.

Here's another disgruntled Jazz Club fan. I've not been to Raglan Road yet, but yet another pub, to me, just doesn't seem as much fun as the Jazz Club used to be. They used to get some really good bands come and play.

But as long as Adventurers Club is there, PI can't be all bad.

Jazz Company was great, but unfortunately it's popularity declined - big time. It did have a small group of devout followers, but unfortunately the only night that they were all there was the final night they closed their doors. Most nights were empty at best, marginal crowds there were rare during it's last year of operation. Raglan road has seemed to be very popular thus far, and yet it still had some of the "chill" atmosphere that Jazz had. Check it out when you get back, you might like it!

 

[Toulouse]

I'm sorry, I'm gonna be an "old bag" here. (And I'm only 31 - LOL). As far as I'm concerned, there should be no one under 21 allowed in PI after a certain hour (like 9pm). Disney is all about kids, EVERYWHERE. Please give the adults some type of getaway or sanctum to go to WITHOUT rowdy teenagers. I'll still go and I'm sure we'll still enjoy it, it can't be like partying on Bourbon St or anything bad as that but with it being Disney, I should be able to enjoy myself as a responsible adult with my adult bevvy's - minus the typical "mall kids" there to stir things up.

And don't get me wrong, i KNOW not all kids are like that, however since there's enough for them to do in DD anyway we should be able to keep 'em out of PI until they're old enough. I couldn't go to a bar here until I was of age and I just had to suck it up and wait for my time. Now that it's here, I expect to enjoy it without worrying about "babysitting" anyone.

And like another poster asked, is CityWalk "no minors"? I'm pretty sure it is, and they seem to survive just fine.

I can't wait for Pat O's....

AND...
On a kinda related but really unrelated note, Winnie The Pooh is 80 today. I'd still ID him to get into Mannequins though.....

 

[crow11ad]

I'm sorry, I'm gonna be an "old bag" here. (And I'm only 31 - LOL). As far as I'm concerned, there should be no one under 21 allowed in PI after a certain hour (like 9pm). Disney is all about kids, EVERYWHERE. Please give the adults some type of getaway or sanctum to go to WITHOUT rowdy teenagers. I'll still go and I'm sure we'll still enjoy it, it can't be like partying on Bourbon St or anything bad as that but with it being Disney, I should be able to enjoy myself as a responsible adult with my adult bevvy's - minus the typical "mall kids" there to stir things up.

And don't get me wrong, i KNOW not all kids are like that, however since there's enough for them to do in DD anyway we should be able to keep 'em out of PI until they're old enough. I couldn't go to a bar here until I was of age and I just had to suck it up and wait for my time. Now that it's here, I expect to enjoy it without worrying about "babysitting" anyone.

And like another poster asked, is CityWalk "no minors"? I'm pretty sure it is, and they seem to survive just fine.

I can't wait for Pat O's....

AND...
On a kinda related but really unrelated note, Winnie The Pooh is 80 today. I'd still ID him to get into Mannequins though.....

Yes Disney has allowed kids to make it a more family enviroment. The thing is this. Ok open the shops up during the day and take the kids. At night, make it what it is supposed to be, the club scene. I knew PI was changing when we were there in Dec of 04 and this girl tried to sneak into PI after 9 with a fake ID. Now you know that you are just plain sad when you have to have and try to use a fake ID at Disney....

 

[Toulouse]

Exactly. I have no qualms about leaving it open to everyone until a certain time during the day but close it to minors later in the evening completely. They need to beef it up with more shopping and restaurants, I think that's where CityWalk appears to excel. I've never been to CW yet however from what I read here, it's what PI wanted to be. I have faith Disney will sort it out eventually but that's just my 2c

And crow11ad? Congrats on the waffle maker. And may you go in 2008 when they make PI awesome...

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

I prefered PI back when you needed your ticket to get into the area, too. I'd personally rather see PI as a whole be 18+ both inside the clubs and out, at least after 9pm. This is partly because I'm not personally comfortable with a kids hanging around in bars, and partly because PI is also a CM hangout, and after all of the hard work those people do all day, they deserve a break!

If they do end up redoing the area, I hope that they at least keep the Adventurer's Club! (And hopefully the comedy club and 8Trax as well.) Man, if Disney thought there was protest over closing Mr Toad, I'd hate to see what they got if they closed the AC!

 

[cityofweasels]

To anyone who's not been to PI reading this thread: don't let all these folks talk about drugs and gangs and all that scare you off. IMHO, they're overstating the problem by a fairly large margin. Does that stuff (a drug subculture, specifically) exist? Well, certainly, as it does in any nightclub area. Does Disney keep a lid on it? As best they can, given their current operating parameters (young kids, unescorted teens, no enforcable perimeter, no cover charge, etc.)

What *should* scare you off, however, is Disney's determination to turn the place into yet another money-sink for you. Oh, sure, it's always been about making a profit; what's not? But at least before, you got something special, value for your money. Now it's line-up-here's-a-drink-hand-over-cash-thanks-move-on. The clubs themselves remain fun, but there's no unifying theme to the place like there used to be. You'll shuffle from place to place looking for something that strikes your fancy, but there's nothing in between. And nothing that compellingly differentiates PI from any other place you can go.

I have to disagree with one thing that's been said: weak drinks. I'm not sure what PI the commenter was visiting, but on the one I know, the bartenders are not stingy. Not the ones in the clubs, anyway... the ones at the outdoor temporary drink stands, more so. Get a gin and tonic from James in Mannequins and the cup might dissove before you finish it.

The really frustrating thing for those of us who love the place is that this is all SO FIXABLE, but I don't get the sense that the interest is there from the company. Much easier/cheaper to turn it into another set of generic shops between Marketplace and the West Side than to restore its former appeal.

Bah. And double bah.

 

[Brad&Kryssi]

I prefered PI back when you needed your ticket to get into the area, too. I'd personally rather see PI as a whole be 18+ both inside the clubs and out, at least after 9pm.

I agree that you should have to show your ticket to access the whole area and that it should be 18+.

If you have 21 and over, there's going to be a lot of bored, frustrated older teenagers not wanting to go to Disney with their parents. Being the mother of an 18 year old, I would be devestated if she didn't come with us.