It’s Official! Pleasure Island is a goner!!
Today, June 26th, Disney has finally annouced one of the worst kept secrets they had going in a long time. As reported in this article at the Orlando Sentinel, Pleasure Island will be no more. Disney has announced the information on their FAQ page here.
BET SoundStage Club, Mannequins Dance Palace, 8Trax and other clubs, 6 in total, will be closing permanently on September 27th it what Disney has termed a “bold new” vision. Disney will be keeping open the shops, cigar shop and restaurants, but not the night clubs. That includes the Adventurers Club and the Comedy Club as well
As I said, this has been a longtime coming. Pleasure Island was initially a great success and very much responsible for the dwindling night life in other parts of Orlando. But as time has come and gone (the Island has been around for nearly 20 years), its popularity has waned. Disney is leaning more and more to place such as Raglan Road (one of the restraurants that will surely survive this). Similiar in concept but different in theme is the coming South American eatery and tequila bar that will replace one of the current clubs. This is the future of the area: food and drinks with entertainment and no cover charge.
I do hope the Adventurers’ Club survives in some form somewhere. It was the only truly Disney experience on Pleasure Island. One rumor is the club will become the port of entry to the Night Kingdom park. I wouldn’t mind seeing the club moved to the Animal Kingdom as long as that park begins to increase its hours (an unlikely scenario for sure) or perhaps it will return to Pleasure Island someday as the last bastion of the old girl.
KingBob said,
June 28, 2008 @ 9:31 pm
Sad sad sad. It appears that Disney wants nothing to do with adults traveling without children. Of course their surveys say that guests have been asking for more stores and restaurants. Sure we have.
Thommy said,
June 29, 2008 @ 5:45 pm
yeah, I saw a ton of research people out in the parks roaming around on my last trip. Now I wish I would have grabbed them and said survey me!
Alysa Wilson said,
June 30, 2008 @ 4:17 am
Disney didn’t do their research. I have been taking my son to Disney since he was 6. He is now 17 and hooked on Disney. However, over the years, he grew into DTD and PI (particularly the early show of The Comedy Warehosue and The Adventuerers Club) where we had more laughs than anywhere else in Disney.
I purchased in the Saratoga Springs Resort for this very reason–these clubs and the catering of a tween/teen/adult crowd post-regular Disney hours. What will Disney do about all the kids that grew up with Disney whose parents purchased SSR to continue their memories and pass on to their children.
PI was a favorite for us. My son is away at theatre camp now, but he will be crushed when he hears this, And, without our favorite places, I am afraid my purchase into SSR was a mistake.
Disney–PLEASE KEEP THE COMEDY WAREHOUSE AND THE ADVENTURERS CLUB! THEY MEAN AS MUCH TO THE TEEN DISNEY FANS AS CINDERELLA’S CASTLE ONCE DID. DON’T MAKE ME SELL MY SARATOGA SPRINGS AND GO TO UNIVERSAL CITY WALK!!!
Alysa Wilson said,
June 30, 2008 @ 4:21 am
<<<>>>
THIS IS ACTUALLY NOT TRUE. THE COMEDY WAREHOUSE ALSO HAD MANY QUINTESSENTIAL DISNEY FEATURES. DID YOU EVER GO IN THERE AND SEE THE VINTAGE DISNEY MEMORABILIA? OR ENJOY THE DISNEYESQUE IMPROV? OR APPRECIATE THE COMEDIAN’S ABILITY TO APPEAL TO ALL AGE GROUPS–YOUNG AND OLD? OR THE CONTAGIOUS LAUGHTER?
One of our favorite moments is when my son got called up on stage to participate in an improve, and he got a button at the end that said he was in the comedy improv group. Now, THAT is Disney!
Schil said,
June 30, 2008 @ 12:10 pm
Well-put, Alysa. The Warehouse was pretty unique compared to other improv venues. As Alysa said, the actors were able to adjust the style of comedy to the audience. You could have a family-friendly show at 8 and then a more risqué (without being offensive) show at 11. It was also very music-heavy. At least half of the games involved music; the actors had to carry a tune while improving lyrics. The piano players were among Orlando’s best, if not THE best. This was a remarkably talented cast. While I’m only one “guest,” I’ll be downgrading to the Seasonal Pass now en lieu of renewing the Premium. It also worries me that IF the Ad Club or the Warehouse are brought back in some form or another, there will be a nightly cover charge. You’ll really make it hard for your regulars to enjoy their favorite experiences.
Taking away my favorite thing on property really does leave a bad feeling in my gut and brings to the surface (which is usually so pretty well-hidden by the Disney magic) that the Mouse is at its core a business. Ugh.
Jessica Rabbit said,
July 3, 2008 @ 12:04 am
There is a lot more to this story than what you are being told. I have many friends who work at Pleasure Island and they have known there was something very wrong going on there. It was as if Disney executives were trying to sabotage a very popular and profitable location. They repeatedly made moves that any high school student would know would cause attendance to drop at Pleasure Island. First they removed all the stages, then all the special events, then they changed the age to get into the dance clubs to 21 (before you could be 18 to be in some of them alone, or even younger if you were with a parent), then they closed the Rock and Roll Beach Club (eliminating the last live band area), then they removed the reentry line at the clubs to make it as inconvenient a possible for club hopping, then they enforced a much tougher ID restriction (for example in the past if your drivers license had expired in the last 30 days it was still valid for admission, but that was changed to no admission if they ID was expired by only 1 day), then they changed the music at the BET Soundstage to play more old school music (even though when the first did this during Black History Month all the regulars complained and wanted the format they were used to in that club), then they did not have enough bar tenders to staff the bars at Pleasure Island during Gay Days which made the line to purchase a drink a 35-45 minute wait, etc. The list goes on and on of what they did to discourage people from attending Pleasure Island. It has nothing to do with being more family friendly. The Comedy Warehouse and The Adventurer’s Club were family friendly and many families took their kids with them to 8-trax until they changed the rule to 21 and above only. They don’t seem to care at all about what goes on in House of Blues at all. I have seen things in House of Blues which were far worse than anything I ever witnessed at Pleasure Island. The choose to look the other way for the third party establishments, and were ridiculously hard on the Disney run clubs in recent years. Especially after Kevin Lansberry became VP of Downtown Disney, it was obvious they were intentionally discouraging the guests from attending the clubs. This was a planned shut down so they can replace them with more third party businesses and charge outrageous leases on them. It has nothing to do with making anything more family friendly or exciting. It is another example of corporate greed taking priority over the guest experience. Now 300 workers have to try and find other jobs within the company. Many of them know they cannot find equivalent jobs because there are no other places for the actors from Comedy Warehouse and Adventurer’s club to work, or for the DJs to work, or the bartenders and bar backs to work. Yes there are bars at other Disney resorts, but the waiting lists for those jobs are a mile long and these workers only have 90 days to find another job. These are married couples with kids and mortgages that have had their entire life turned upside down because of corporate greed. This is the true story about what is going on there and it needs to be told. You media guys really need to do more research before you just tell exactly the PR story Disney wants released to the public. Does this sound family friendly to you? Also, even the timing of the announcement was intentional. They thought by releasing the info late on a Friday, that it would be yesterdays news by Monday and they could easily bury the truth. Kevin Lansberry needs to own up to this and I really think he should be forced to resign. He said himself that all the clubs are still profitable, but this change is needed. Needed by whom? Do you know how many companies would be more than happy to have all those clubs in the center of Walt Disney World? But they are not even making that an option. They are not allowing some third party to lease these clubs and reopen them as clubs at all. Do you really think during these economic conditions with $4 gas there really is a need for more expensive restaurants and shops? Take a drive down 192 in the Disney area and take a look at all the out of business restaurants. It looks like a totally depressed area especially the closer you get to 17-92. There is a lot more to this story and the workers at Pleasure Island deserve to have the truth told. Kevin Lansberry did not count on the fans of the Adventurer’s club organizing online forums and petitions to keep Pleasure Island open. If he really cared about what the paying public wants, he would listen to this loud out cry and change his plans. But, I am sure he will not and proceed with these plans no matter what. Disney did not listen to the guests who wanted Mr. Toad left open either. There is no way all the clubs at Pleasure Island should be closing. Kevin himself had told the workers that only a few of the clubs would be closed and leased out and some clubs would remain. Now he said that would be too confusing to the guests to have some open clubs and some closed ones in that area. So I guess there are a lot of confused people walking around Downtown Disney these days since Rock and Roll Beach Club is closed now and Motion and Mannequins are still open!! Please get the truth out because the workers cannot speak up because if they do they know Disney will not help them find another position. Also, they are saying the clubs may just sit there untouched for months closed before any work begins on the changes because they have banquets already booked in some of them for the next several months.
So, how exactly does it make good corporate sense to have clubs which could still be generating revenue and helping the bottom line just sit there idle while they try and decide what to do next? The media are afraid to report the truth too because if they do Disney may pull ther advertisements or deny them entry to press events, etc. The truth needs to be told!
anon said,
August 14, 2008 @ 9:42 pm
Nicely Spoken by Jessica Rabbit!! Taking away one of the only areas on Disney property that is adult only is crazy!! What about adults who travel without children. What about Honeymooners who are there to celebrate their marriage and want to dance and laugh the night away. What about those adults who “excuse” me for saying this, but DO NOT like children and wish for adult only theme park days!!!! I can’t imagine going back to Disney and not having Pleasure Island to visit and enjoy some adult time!!! I wish only the best for these cast members who are being misplaced! I hope that Disney takes care of you!!!!