Pleasure Island Clubs To Close?

[bfbulldog]

From Screamscape



Make of it what you will

Fans of the Pleasure Island nightlife will want to take note of this latest rumor. According to Screamscape sources we’ve heard that there could be some fairly significant changes to Pleasure Island starting in 2008. In fact, as early as January we could see Disney begin the process of shutting down the various nightclubs one by one. I don’t know if this is just for remodeling, a total revamp of the PI concept, or something else entirely. I’m also not sure if the term “club” applied to just the drinking/dancing clubs or if this rumor also applies to the Adventurer’s Club or the Comedy Warehouse.
I know that in the last year or two Disney completed a new remodeling of Pleasure Island to allow foot traffic to better flow through it from the West End to the Marketplace side. This along with the admission changes were supposed to be just the first step of many for a complete overall remodel of the Pleasure Island concept. Back when that was all still just a rumor I had heard at the time that Disney was in talks with Lucky Strike Lanes to convert the Beach Club into one of their high-end bowling clubs. I’ve got to wonder if that deal is still on the table or if it was just one of many that were in the works. Can anyone shed a little light on just what might be going on?

 

[Thelazer]

There has recently been a big management pull, out of the island. No one was sure if it was just change in how the parks managed there areas (combining areas) or if it was because they would need less management in the future.

I can also say that other rumors to the effect of "big changes" have been going around as well.

With the difficulty they had had filling in the open spots on the island; I'm not sure if they really have anything lined up to go into those clubs that could be closed. Of course, this could also jive well with a rumor that Motion will be closed so that a pathway can open up in its place when the new TRex opens.

Only thing that can be said is that, everytime these rumors come up.. over and over the one thing that is ALWAYS said is that "Ad-Club and Comedy" are not going away.

 

[WaltsApprentice]

There has recently been a big management pull, out of the island. No one was sure if it was just change in how the parks managed there areas (combining areas) or if it was because they would need less management in the future.

I can also say that other rumors to the effect of "big changes" have been going around as well.

With the difficulty they had had filling in the open spots on the island; I'm not sure if they really have anything lined up to go into those clubs that could be closed. Of course, this could also jive well with a rumor that Motion will be closed so that a pathway can open up in its place when the new TRex opens.

Only thing that can be said is that, everytime these rumors come up.. over and over the one thing that is ALWAYS said is that "Ad-Club and Comedy" are not going away.

I love the Comedy Club!! Its one of my girlfriend and mines favorites!! I hope they never change it or get rid of it... I would be okay if they got rid of motions...But I can see why they would get rid of it for the flow of traffic to go completely through West to Marketplace. I have also see the "Lucky Strike Lanes" place before and its very nice and fun... the only thing is you would have to place a age limit you don't want younger kids around drunk adults playing bowling lol:lol:... but wait I don't know if I want drunk adults trying to throw a ball down a lane:lookaroun lol.. imagine all the holes in the walls lol...it can be the theme... a old broken bowling alley lol :hammer:

 

[Brian Noble]

To be honest, I kind of like the idea of reducing the number of dance clubs and bringing in a bit more diversity in terms of things to do on the Island.

drunk adults trying to throw a ball down a lane

Have you ever been to a bowling alley? That's pretty much the complete description.

 

[BRER STITCH]

Pleasure Island is a mere shell of its former self.
So much so that it is barely a memory.

They might as well just go ahead and change the name of it to
Pleasure Walkway, because that is all it is now.

Very sad indeed as I strolled - literally ALONE - around there last week.

They should just throw in the world's biggest Chuckie Cheese where Mannequins is and get it over with already.

 

[echoscot]

Just an interesting note...

When PI was first tossed around as an idea, some of the old execs were opposed to it as not being family friendly which the purposes of most of the property were supposed to be....

Just a historical thought...

 

[k.hunter30]

Have you ever been to a bowling alley? That's pretty much the complete description.

Hey! One of my closest friends is a professional bowler!

 

[RonAnnArbor]

PI was developed solely to keep people on Disney property at night time. These days, the parks stay open to midnight or later at times...once upon a time there were no EMH hours...THe resorts also have their own bars now. PI is no longer necessary to keep people on property with all the resorts and activities at night...it's a concept that has served its purpose and redevelopment is not at all surprising. Whereas the clubs might not be drawing them in much, the retail down there sure is, and I wouldn't be surprised to see more large retail stores expand into PI if permitted to do so. I know if I owned a store in Orlando, I would want a landmark store down in DD.

 

[Mr Bill]

If they stick in a bowling alley, it'd make the most sense to me to put an age limint in place after a certain time, say around 8 PM. From what I've seen of bowling alleys, the places are usually calm during the day, it's later at night when things get rowdy.

 

[DAKOTADISNEY]

Have they had problems at PI with low attendance or rowdy patrons? Do they have some fun clubs? I haven't been there so I don't know much about it.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Bring back the Merriweather Pleasure Stories and theming again!

 

[goodolgm]

Have they had problems at PI with low attendance or rowdy patrons? Do they have some fun clubs? I haven't been there so I don't know much about it.

Attendance is WAAAAYYY down from what it used to be in years past I've heard from some longtime PI CMs. The only good nights are Thursdays (unofficial cast member nights) and Saturdays pretty much. Mid-week nights, the Island is a ghost town, and some of the clubs designed to hold between 1-2 thousand bodies barely reach 100 people some nights. It's a sad, sad sight.

 

[DrinkintheWorld]

Seems like it would make more sense to close down the clubs and open up more restaurant/shopping. Considering how hard it is to get a table at any of the eateries on property, more tables would make guests that much happier.

And it's easy to imagine the more thematic clubs (Adventure/Comedy) could be moved into the resorts. For example, move AdvClub to Coronado Springs or even into the new areas of the AKL.

 

[polarboi]

Maybe they'll put in touch screen kiosks and you'll be able to see a short animation of your entertaining nightlife adventure based on your choices.

:ROFLOL:

Okay, that was a good one, merf. :lol:

Seriously... I go to PI for one reason: Mannequins on Thursday nights. :sohappy: I actually really love the club-hopping concept, but in practice, I very rarely club-hop. When I don't feel like dancing, the Adventurer's Club is always good for a laugh, and it's so beloved that I can't imagine it going anywhere. But I haven't spent much time dancing in the other clubs.

Keep Mannequins and Adventurers and I'll be happy. Honestly, having other activities like bowling could be a lot of fun! But I'm not sure how you'd do it without charging people per game, and that would kind of defeat the purpose of PI for me.

-p.b.

 

[figmentmom]

The novelty of PI wore off pretty quickly, I think. It used to be fun, back when there was live entertainment on the West End Stage, and excellent show bands in the Beach Club. I don't know which came first - declining attendance, or cutbacks in the entertainment budget, but things haven't been the same there (except for the Adventurers Club!) for quite a while. :shrug:

 

[WDWKat26]

Seems like it would make more sense to close down the clubs and open up more restaurant/shopping. Considering how hard it is to get a table at any of the eateries on property, more tables would make guests that much happier.

And it's easy to imagine the more thematic clubs (Adventure/Comedy) could be moved into the resorts. For example, move AdvClub to Coronado Springs or even into the new areas of the AKL.

There is a night club opening up in the Coronado already.

 

[Rosscoe(AU)]

Used to love going to "The Fireworks Factory" , but that was many years ago.

 

[brkgnews]

I would think though that any club that they reasonably expected to do well (on a PI scale) would need to be in an easily-accessible location. Think how easy it is to get to Coronado springs from any other resort.

Maybe at AK? It's done at 5-6pm most nights, and the animals are back in the backstage areas.

 

[CThaddeus]

Hey! One of my closest friends is a professional bowler!

I had the great misfortune of practically growing up in bowling alleys. I'd agree with the original statement.

Maybe they'll put in touch screen kiosks and you'll be able to see a short animation of your entertaining nightlife adventure based on your choices.

Wait, I'd heard they were just going to close down all the Parks and put like 20,000 touch screens at the entrance to Disney World so you could just watch a short animation of what your vacation might have been like if they hadn't decided to cheese out on the whole theme park idea. Of course, you'd still have to pay the usual "entrance" fee to do it, plus parking naturally.

 

[Scooter]

I think a few things have killed Pleasure Island.

The venues used to be more diversified.
Allowing children in
The Townies took over.

There should just be a club in each Resort in my opinion that only allow resort guests in. That would allow guests to check out other resorts and resort hop and enjoy a few cocktails at the same time.
The locals have lots of places to go outside of the parks. They don't need to go to Disney Bars.

Just my opinion, don't flame me please.