Mouse Extra

“Throwing it out in the trash” is an old news expression for releasing information late on Friday afternoon when no one is paying attention and no one reads the Saturday papers.  It is almost always information you know people are not going to be happy about and you want to minimize the impact.  That is exactly what Disney did last week when it tossed the Pleasure Island closing story into the trash.  They knew there would be a backlash, but I think they may have been a little overly cautious.

You see, on the whole I think this is a very good idea.  Sure, I don’t want to see the Adventurer’s Club close either, and hopefully Disney will figure a way to rework it into its future plans.  But the concept is a good one and a needed one.  Jim Hill was correct earlier this week when he talked about how Pleasure Island stands like a big wall between the Marketplace and the West Side.  A more seamless experience would be a big plus.

I also can not tolerate the idea of paying to get into a bar.  Call me old-fashioned, but plugging down money for a “cover” is just not in my plans.  I think the incredibly inflated drink prices are enough payment from me.  For this reason I almost never go into the clubs at Pleasure Island anymore.  I want places where I can go at night, and have a drink with my friends without having to pay a fortune.  Is that so much to ask?

And I also think the survey information we have heard so much about is also correct.  We do need some more and some new places where everyone can go to eat.  Personally, I don’t like the current crop of restaurants at Downtown Disney and I haven’t made a point to eat there in a long time.  Some new places, with great themes and atmosphere, would bring the masses back to Pleasure Island.

Why can’t we have more places that during the day and evening hours are magnificently themed family restaurants, but by night become fun hangouts for the over 21’s?  Raglan Road is a terrific example.  During the day, anyone can come in and enjoy good food in an Irish pub.  But when the night falls, it turns into a raucous drink-fest.  The best of both worlds can be achieved, but the current Pleasure Island clubs are just not set up for that.  (However, the Adventurer’s Club could be with a little retooling.)

So let’s not all fall into deep depression or start to panic here.  Disney already replaced a Pleasure Island club, the Jazz club, with the extremely popular Raglan Road.  There is no reason to believe the rest of what is coming won’t be equally as positive.

So what is Disney is planning now that they have announced that Pleasure Island will close for good in September. Disney has released some hints as to whats coming with this concept art. There is not a lot of big spoilers there but some interesting things can be gleamed from it. First of all, we can see some of changes planned to the places not being replaced such as Fulton’s and a renamed Portobello. There will be a new T-shirt shop operated by Hanes.

Perhaps most intersting is the observation balloon called the Aerophile. It is an apparent copy of a similiar attraction at Disney’s Paris parks. I have long maintained that Disney should have a ferris wheel at Disney’s Boardwalk. To me, it would be perfect for the theme and, placed where the Atlantic Dance Hall is, would provide terrific views of Epcot and the Stuidos. I would assume that is no accident that a few days before Disney’s Pleasure Island announcement, a developer unveiled plans for a huge ferris wheel in Orlando. It usually takes something like this to get Disney to respond.

I still would prefer a wheel at the Boardwalk. Its a better spot for an observation attraction but the balloon will be interesting and will take a lot of the appeal away from the ferris wheel that was announced. After all, that wheel will be a distance from the parks. As dribs and drabs of the new offerings at Pleasure Island do come out, I hope they are at least as interesting as the balloon.

Today’s report is from Mike, contributing writer to Mouse Extra.

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.

The Orlando Sentinental is reporting the following

“E-Brands, the multi-concept Orlando based restaurant group, will launch its newest location and concept at Walt Disney World in 2009. The eatery will feature authentic Central and South American cuisine, specialty tequilas, premium wines and live music.

“We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to build upon our portfolio of 15 successful restaurants across the country — including such brands as Timpano and Samba Room — and our 25-year relationship with Walt Disney World Resort,” said Rashid Choufani, CEO/Owner of E-Brands Restaurants and operator of Epcot’s Morocco Pavilion. “We look forward to sharing our unique dining experience with Walt Disney World guests from around the globe.

E-Brands Restaurants newest concept will come to life with a boldly colored hacienda-style interior featuring rustic beams that contrast against modern fixtures, stone floors and windows that open to create an open-air environment. The 5,000-square-foot, two-story facility will have a tequila bar and outdoor seating along Village Lake.”

Disney has not announced where this is going exactly other than to say it will be on Village Lake. I can guess that it may be part of the Pleasure Island overhaul. I can also assume it will much be like Raglan Road in that there is no cover charge. Frankly, Disney is going to the chain restaurant well a little too much recently with, in my opinion, mixed results. Having said that, South American cuisine is notably absent from Walt Disney World and this is a place I will definately try. We’ll see if it works out.

Today’s article is by Mike, contributing writer to Mouse Extra.

The Orlando Sentinel is reporting this morning about the ongoing changes happening at Pleasure Island in Downtown Disney.  The site that revolutionized Walt Disney World by being the first major project geared only to adults has since been in a transformation to redefine itself.  What exactly it will become is hard to say.

The slow evolution of Downtown Disney’s Pleasure Island continues with the recent opening of a second specialty apparel shop, the impending shutdown of a live-music nightclub, and the anticipated reuse of a long-closed building.

The live music nightclub is the Rock n’ Roll Beach Club, which has been a mainstay at the Island for years.  Officials have not said yet what exactly will go in that spot, though rumors have been swirling for a while now.

Disney spokeswoman Zoraya Suarez declined to elaborate on plans for the Beach Club building, which features a panoramic view of Village Lake, though she dispelled rumors that the building would be torn down.

Most of what I have heard is that this will be another third party restaurant.  Considering the water view the building has, that is not at all surprising.  I have yet to hear anything regarding what exactly it might be, but this will sort itself out sooner rather than later.  It seems as though Pleasure Island is getting more and more “family” oriented as time goes by.  Putting in a big restaurant on a prime piece of real estate would make all the sense in the world.

Scott Powers of the Orlando Sentinel reported yesterday in his blog that construction has begun on the T-Rex restaurant over at Downtown Disney.  I mention this because in the paragraph below, Mr. Powers echoed a conversation I was just having yesterday about the lack of good food at Downtown Disney.

T-Rex is to become a full-menu, full-service family-oriented restaurant, a genre that’s oddly scarce at Downown Disney. Marketplace has Rainforest Cafe, and there’s Planet Hollywood sort of off on its own at Downtown Disney, but everything else at Marketplace, and most of what’s spread across Pleasure Island and the West Side, is either counter-service or something more along the lines of adult-oriented themed restaurants such as the Portobello Yacht Club, Raglan Road and Wolfgang Puck.

This is something I only recently realized.  I often stay at Saratoga Springs, and one of the selling features about the resort is that you can just hop a boat or even walk to all the food at Downtown Disney.  But in reality, there isn’t all that much.  The Rainforest Café is okay, but that’s about the best you can say.  Planet Hollywood is somewhat overbearing and Raglan Road can be rather noisy.  Hopefully the T-Rex does the job and turns around this trend.  Downtown needs a really good eatery.

I’ll take some photos of the construction next week and report on the progress.