The Edison--details announced

I am Timmy

Well-Known Member
I miss the comedy you could take your kids to at Pleasure Island - my boys LOVED it. It didn't get raunchy until late, they always kept it PG early when kids would be there. My boys miss the Adventurer's Club, as do we all. And Improv and popcorn just go together. What family doesn't love to laugh?
 

surfsupdon

Well-Known Member
Remember BoardWalk Inn has two 21+ places that are fun.

I’m hoping with the Skyliner that more Guests from other Resorts can get easy access to the BoardWalk clubs and bars and make them more crowded and fun later into the night.

Like I said earlier tho, I much enjoyed The Edison for late night fun.
 

FullSailDan

Well-Known Member
This is so disappointing to hear. Maybe this isn't true of all nights at THE EDISON (orlando) but IMO this is the writing on the wall, from way back when Disney claimed that Pleasure Island would be re-themed as more adult AND FAMILY friendly. Now we have "families" not getting the music at Hangar Bar, and The Edison has to be a restaurant, and the "Neverland Tunnels" are Enzo's Hideaway Bar and Italian Restaurant (who is the target audience for this place?).
To begin with, Ive never understand the insistence on having 600 new restaurants at DS. There are simply only so many restaurants a person can visit in a week, and while its nice for repeat customers to try new ones, the issue there, for me, is naturally some get pushed way down on your list and when something is fantastic-enough (The Boathouse, for example) you want to repeat that place, and show whoever hasn't been there before, on your following trip. It doesn't surprise me so many restaurants at DS are empty, but they are still building more!

To me the issue with THE EDISON seems the lack of commitment to a purpose. You can almost hear some exec going "That's a great idea, a Cabaret-Jazzy-WW1 era-industrial speakeasy club for adults only!....What if it was less all of those things though and more of a family-style restaurant with much brighter lighting?" Like a film producer that loves a script for The Bell Jar but then says "But what if she didn't commit suicide?" It's like same problem with EPCOT for the past 2 decades.
Neverland Tunnels, and The Edison (LA-style) sounded like an awesome way to satisfy the adult scene at Disney and in Orlando, but they got scared and played it safe. "Safe" is exactly what the night crowd doesn't want.

Before someone chimes in and starts saying Disney is for families... There is definitely a balance that could have been struck, between the esoteric and the wholesome. I think Hangar Bar and The Adventurer's Club is/was the perfect example. HB is the only place they got right. I'm wondering if they are dulling the themeing down there since the rest of these places are struggling? Maybe if they committed to Neverland Tunnels (as conceived) and The EDISON as just a nightclub, the promise of a balance between Pleasure Island and the Disney Family model would have been met.

If Disney would close the doors of the Edison during the day, serve bar food until 11, get rid of any idea of a late night menu, stop serving food at Enzo's HIdeaway Tunnel Bar (Seriously who is that place supposed to appeal to now?), stick to themed music at HANGAR BAR, and make each spot specific to certain types of music scenes... give it some time for word of mouth... They'd draw crowds. Guaranteed.

You can bet I will not attend THE EDISON if they start having Top 40 DJ's on weekends.
I feel like as a rule, business begins its decline when you stop telling people what's good, and start trying to deliver to a phantom idea of what people already think is good.
And Im just restating what made the places interesting to begin with.

I think Walt Disney once stated that he and his company "really believed that good work will get noticed." When has neutered work ever been noticed? That's not to say the place has to deal with dark-subject matter either. Much of Disney's stuff is edgy and groundbreaking in spite of being family oriented. That's what successful companies are built on.

The 600 restaurants at DS is to build capacity. No, you can’t try them all, not are you meant to. WDW has a problem with resort and park restaurants being at capacity and guests being unable to get breakfast or dinner anywhere (see yacht and beach club) except for a pizza counter or salad bar. The hope is, you’ll go there for dinner and do a little shopping.
 

HoraceHorizons

Active Member
The 600 restaurants at DS is to build capacity. No, you can’t try them all, not are you meant to. WDW has a problem with resort and park restaurants being at capacity and guests being unable to get breakfast or dinner anywhere (see yacht and beach club) except for a pizza counter or salad bar. The hope is, you’ll go there for dinner and do a little shopping.

Im not disagreeing with you, per se but I dont think this is 100% accurate. For instance, I dont think transitioning the central concept of Pleasure Island and THE EDISON with Neverland Tunnels, to more of a restaurant style, was part of the plan or had anything to do with capacity and getting families meals. So many of the restaurants within a stones throw are struggling, and constantly tweaking menus, price-points and the like to generate crowds. Even places as popular as The Boathouse are easy reservations to snag. Changing a hip speakeasy into an Italian Restaurant/Speakeasy combo wreaks of exactly what it is IMO - too little commitment/faith in a good, exciting idea.
 

HoraceHorizons

Active Member
If you are looking for an adult scene, then why are you trying to get it at Disney World?

It kinda bothers me that the word "adult" is used so often as the black to white opposite of the word "family." Im saying - Adult entertainment doesn't have to be R-rated or even anti-G-rated. That's my point. I think it could be of interest to "Adults only" without involving strippers and puking college kids. A Vaudeville show, PBS Experimental, Progressive cartoons, or in this case, a jazzy Speakeasy is the perfect example of that, I think. Im saying that black and white idea between adult entertainment and family entertainment is largely inflated and not always real. I think, in the effort to strike the balance between the two, sometimes Disney loses the very thing that made the concept great to begin with.

Side note: I love the old B&W cartoons on the TV's at THE EDISON.
 

Jon81uk

Well-Known Member
It kinda bothers me that the word "adult" is used so often as the black to white opposite of the word "family." Im saying - Adult entertainment doesn't have to be R-rated or even anti-G-rated. That's my point. I think it could be of interest to "Adults only" without involving strippers and puking college kids. A Vaudeville show, PBS Experimental, Progressive cartoons, or in this case, a jazzy Speakeasy is the perfect example of that, I think. Im saying that black and white idea between adult entertainment and family entertainment is largely inflated and not always real. I think, in the effort to strike the balance between the two, sometimes Disney loses the very thing that made the concept great to begin with.

Side note: I love the old B&W cartoons on the TV's at THE EDISON.

Basically Trade Sam's fits the bill in this case, or the old Adventurers Club or the comedy warehouse. Adults only can still be Disney!!
 

Jon81uk

Well-Known Member
The 600 restaurants at DS is to build capacity. No, you can’t try them all, not are you meant to. WDW has a problem with resort and park restaurants being at capacity and guests being unable to get breakfast or dinner anywhere (see yacht and beach club) except for a pizza counter or salad bar. The hope is, you’ll go there for dinner and do a little shopping.

But adding more and more restaurants away from the resorts won't always draw people away. They need to add enough capacity so people staying in a resort can eat in their own resort!
 

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