What is the nighttime entertainment at Disney?

[Phish]

My husband and I are going for the first time to Disney and we don't have kids. What is the nighttime entertainment? I read something about shows? I also read about a piano bar? What else do you advise? (I plan to read the restaurant board but if you have any advice on restaurants, I'll take that too)

If this entertainment is in downtown Disney, do we take a cab there? (we'll be at a hotel in the kingdom). How much does it cost to take a cab and are they easily available?

 

[Robo]

My husband and I are going for the first time to Disney and we don't have kids. What is the nighttime entertainment? I read something about shows? I also read about a piano bar? What else do you advise? (I plan to read the restaurant board but if you have any advice on restaurants, I'll take that too)

If this entertainment is in downtown Disney, do we take a cab there? (we'll be at a hotel in the kingdom). How much does it cost to take a cab and are they easily available?

All the WDW resorts have free buses to and from DTD and Pleasure Island.

Pleasure Island has dance clubs, restaurants, a comedy club, and the Adventurer's Club (unique interactive environment and bar).

The Piano Bar ("Jellyrolls") is at the Boardwalk Resort.

 

[Shells9]

You should take time to check out Illuminations at Epcot -- it is an awesome show that you can enjoy while you are at World Showcase, and also Fantasmic at the Studios.

You can take a bus to Downtown Disney, so you will not need a cab. Port Orleans has a bus to Downtown Disney, too...

 

[The Mick]

1. Downtown Disney
2. Boardwalk

Both are really cool. Boardwalk has Jellyrolls (the piano bar) and the Atlantic Dance club. Plus, the atmosphere there at night is awesome. So cool.

Downtown has it's own vibe too (actually more than one "vibe"). There's Pleasure Island (full of dance clubs - a real party atmosphere), West Side, which has House Of Blues, Bongos and several other places to hang, and even marketplace (much more laid-back, more about shopping - but it does have a margarita/drink stand and a tables overlooking Lake Buena Vista so you can just chill).

I'd dedicate a night to both.

 

[Amy&Dan]

For nighttime entertainment/fireworks: in the parks as others have mentioned they have Fantasmic! at MGM Studios that runs nightly as well as Illuminations inside Epcot that runs nightly. In addition, Magic Kingdom has Wishes Fireworks and the nighttime Spectromagic parade. Wishes runs most nights and Spectro runs a few nights during the week. Check out: www.disneyworld.com and click on calendar. Input your month, then click on the numerical date on each day and the schedule for that day will come up. You will see all kinds of info on nighttime entertainment, parades, the time each is running as well as park hours. As far as live shows, MGM Studios has Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage and Voyage of the Little Mermaid, as well as two Stunt Shows. All run daily. Animal Kingdom has Festival of the Lion King and will soon have the live Nemo Show as well as a smaller scale Pocahantas show (geared for kids but if you are a Pocahantas fan its kind of cute). Both of those run daily. Epcot has all sorts of lived acts in the World Showcase including musical acts that are quite good. When you enter each park you will receive a park map as well as a daily times guides (two different brochures, both availabe at the turnstiles and other locations in the parks at giftshops, snack carts and from most cm's). That times guide will give you the times for shows, nighttime entertainment, where to find characters, what times the parades run and hours. You should also receive all of this information in a packet at check in at your WDW resort. The cast member who will check you in can tell you quite a bit and answer any questions. Also, your television in your room will have daily park/hours information on one channel as well as a "Top Seven" show that shows quite a bit of information on each park. Have a great trip!

 

[David R]

If you choose to go to the clubs at Pleasure Island do NOT skip the Adventurer's Club. It's something only Disney can do.

Enter the club, go downstairs, grab a drink and observe. It may not make a lot of sense at first. It's like arriving to a play after it's started, but stick with it. Give it at least an hour. Just go along with the atmosphere and you will probably love it like we all do. Again, give it time. I take people there all the time and it takes them about an hour to figure out what's going on and warm up to it, after that visit, they always ask to return, often the very next night. I've only had one person not like it, and it was mostly because he just wanted to spend all of his time at the Hip Hop club (ewww!)

 

[mickeysgirl17]

There's so much! Where do I start?
At MK: Wishes
At Epcot: Illuminations
At MGM: Fantasmic
Downtown disney: Westside has Cirque du soleil (circus type show, costs extra for tickets, but worth it) Pleasure Island has nightclubs.
Boardwalk: Restaurants and Clubs. Street Acts.
The resorts: You can see the electrical water pageant at the Polynesian at 9pm, the grand floridian, wilderness lodge and Contemporary resort at 10pm.
You can try a nice dinner at World Showcase in Epcot before illuminations. Try to get a seating at the rose and crown restaurant around 7:30.
There are also some great romantic restaurants around WDW. Some good ones are:
Victoria and Alberts (very expensive though), California Grill in Contemporary resort, Citricos, Narcoossee's in Grand Floridian resort.
You can also try a dinner show. These are tons of fun.
If your not driving, you won't need to take a cab if your staying at a Disney resort. You can ride the monorails, buses and boats around WDW for free!

 

[skier_pete]

I second (or third) the motion to take in Pleasure Island if for no other reason than the adventurer's club. The rest of the nightlife there is fine and all, but pretty standard, even the improv comedy, while good, is not really unique. Adventurer's Club is truly one-of-a-kind. They have scheduled "shows" throughout the evening, but what's cool is that the "employees" and "members" of the club interact with the guests in the bar to make what is basically an improv comedy show. I agree with the earlier poster that it takes a little while to "get" it, but it is just about my favorite thing to do at Disney world. The other thing I love about it is that they entertainment comes very close to being raunchy without quite going over the line, making for one of the rare examples of true "adult" entertainment at Disney.

The shows are in various rooms off the main bar, and start every hour or so. The big shows are in the library - which is a second room about as big as the main room.

We brought my MIL on this last trip just so we could go to Pleasure Island one night and hit the Adventure's club (We were there about two hours, and wished we could stay longer.)

SkierPete

 

[Simba's Mom]

At POFQ, Elliot Dyson was performing until midnite several nights a week in the lounge. He plays saxaphone, sings, is very talented. He used to be at PI at the PI Jazz Company until they closed. Now you can hear him for free! He used to have his own website, don't know if he still does.

 

[ajcolorado]

I'll cast another vote for the Adventurer's Club - we had a great time.

We recently went to Raglan Road, at Downtown Disney. It featured live music after 8:30 pm and was a lot of fun.

Here's a nightlife link:www.buildabettermousetrip.com/activity-nightlife.html

 

[bucky1023]

Boardwalk has ESPN Zone where you can grab a beer/drink. You can also get a glass of sangria from Spoodles at the take-out window and watch Illuminations from there. Pleasure Island is also fun, but can get crowded depending on what time of the year you are going. They have a bunch of different bars/clubs that you can walk in and out of.

If you are staying at a MK resort you can ride the monorail and get off at each hotel to get an appetizer, drink or dessert.