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Save the Adventurers Club
- Thread starter Master Gracey
- Start date
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SGT623
Member
I honestly doubt anyone drank more than me there and I didn't see it! Must have been distracted by the amazing shows. ;-)
CaptainMichael
Well-Known Member
Perhaps it was in one of the sub-basements...
Otis T. Wren
New Member
I'm pretty sure I saw it once in the unisex bathroom.
hack2112
Active Member
chaggy102
Member
Which is what is so sad...I mean the Pleasure Story line not only included PI but it also had Typhoon's backstory...such a shame.
And don't forget the Grand Floridian; Merriweather's 39th Aniversary gift to his wife, Isabella.
Some days you eat the mouse.
Some days the mouse eats you.
But never give into the mouse without a fight!
KUNGALOOSH!
Some days the mouse eats you.
But never give into the mouse without a fight!
KUNGALOOSH!
nibblesandbits
Well-Known Member
I have to admit, even after partially hearing the Merriweather backstory, I think the reason that one didn't get the credit it maybe deserved (because it was VERY intricate) was the fact that it was SO confusing. I mean, I don't even know the whole idea behind it all. (And with the previous comment, am apparently still learning it because I didn't know that about the Grand Floridian.)
It was a good story, but so hard to understand for the average guest...and apparently even a solid Disney fan.
CaptainMichael
Well-Known Member
Don't feel bad about the GF connection. That one is very obscure.
jt04
Well-Known Member
For now.
chaggy102
Member
Yeah that's something I never knew. Thanks Master
KungalooshAL
Member
Wonder what per cent of Pleasure island amissions overall were due to the AC ???
71jason
Well-Known Member
That was sort of the point as it was made to me. Attractions will still have backstories, but the idea now is to let the details speak for themselves, not try to explain everything. Think like the Wilderness Lodge. It suggests being in a national park, but you never see a sign as you go in saying "Disney Springs National Park" or anything like that--had it been built in the early 90s, you probably would have.
Not making this point as eloquently as it was explained to me, but it comes down to letting the attraction tell the story itself. Sort of like avoiding voice-overs in screenplays, to pull a meme I learned from Adaptation.
A good number, of course. Rare were the Friday nights at the ticket booth when I didn't hear someone ask for "a single-club ticket to the Adventurers Club." But don't kid yourself, fellow Adventurer--Mannequins was packed Thursday through Saturday, and 8-Traxx was jammed on weekends and whenever a convention was in town. In any case, the Island was always meant to be experienced as a whole--the Club worked best when you could watch the reactions of people who had wandered in and had no idea what they were getting into ("Uhm...the statute on the wall just told me kneel...").
EPCOTPluto
Well-Known Member
So what exactly is the FULL Pleasure Island story?
chaggy102
Member
Here is a sparknotes version of it;
In 1911, a Mississippi side-wheeler steamed into Lake Buena Vista and dropped anchor next to a low-lying hummock of sawgrass.
The skipper was exultant. What Menlo Park was to Edison, what San Simeon would be to Hearst, this island would be to him. It would be a one-man, dominion-manufacturing center, research lab and development facility, a social nexus for the famous and well-to-do. In short, it would be a place to make his dreams come true. Crying "Fun for all, and all for fun!," this eccentric inventor, industrialist and bon vivant named Merriweather Adam Pleasure leapt ashore.
Pleasure had come to Florida to become the world's foremost supplier of sails. This seemingly hare-brained scheme, hatched at the end of the great era of merchant sailing, was in fact a gold mine. After four years of successful manufacturing, the outbreak of World War I brought a huge world demand for canvas, and Pleasure's fortune was assured.
Living on the boat with his wife, Isabella, his sons Stewart and Henry and his daughter, Merriam, Pleasure began to build his island empire. Cast iron, cement block and timber appearing on the island alerted the local populace (which at that time were simply a couple of alligators and a family of herons) not only that something was up on Pleasure Island but that something was going up. Buildings were built for the manufacture, assembly, and distribution of Pleasure Canvas and Sailmaking, Ltd's products.
First to dominate the Pleasure Island skyline were the imposing canvas fabrication plant (which became the home for "Mannequins") and the sailmaking factory, both constructed in 1912. They were followed in 1913 by the power wtation and the administration building (now known as the "Island Depot"), a wooden shack housing Pleasure Island's paymaster/accountant/bookkeeper who operated it as a telegraph office, mailroom, first aid station, and social center.
The low-lying buildings of Chandler Row were constructed as Pleasure extended his business to refurbishing the yachts of the rich and famous. Along the Row were a brass foundry, upholstery shop, tool crib, and graphics shop, all dedicated to the "Pleasure Principle" of lavish, unique yacht ornamentation.
The Pleasure family soon outgrew their showboat home. In 1918, they moved to a Bermuda-style mansion overlooking Lake Buena Vista (now known as the "Portobello Yacht Club"). However, Pleasure hadn't accounted for his own magpie impulses. Soon, the house was overflowing with booty collected from his exotic voyages. By 1920, the exasperated Mrs. Pleasure threatened to eject her husband from the house unless he found a place for the books and artifacts collected on his journeys.
Pleasure built himself a large library on the opposite side of the island. The place became the headquarters for "The Adventurer's Club," where Pleasure's zany band of yachting cronies and globe-trotting hangers-on swapped tall tales and displayed exotic souvenirs from their travels.
The boom of the 1920s brought prosperity and experimentation to Pleasure Island. A new canvas mill was built, the island was electrified and the former power station became home to the Pleasure Thespian Players (now, known as the "Comedy Warehouse"). In 1924, Pleasure sent to China for the world's leading fireworks expert, the Bang Master. Together they built fireworks in a combination laboratory/bunker until a stray spark from Pleasure's pipe leveled the place (it later became a barbeque restaurant known as the "Fireworks Factory").
So Merriweather quit smoking and turned to less combustible hobbies. By 1927, his collection of desert plants was in danger of overrunning the fragile Central Florida ecology. After a personal visit from the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (who dubbed his host "The Grand Funmeister"), Pleasure built a greenhouse to contain his "prickly pals" from around the globe (this showcase became the country-western club called the "Neon Armadillo").
Meanwhile, Pleasure's sons were proving to be "chips off the old blockhead," as their mother often said. While "Awkward Stewart" Pleasure pursued the sporting life (when not nursing an injury), Henry, who was known as "The Mad Genius of Lake Buena Vista," began development of a Cellular Automaton, a sort of of computerized robot, inside the Artificial Intelligence Lab, built in 1929 (the automaton was still alive and thriving in 1987 and guided the rebuilding of its home into "Videopolis East").
Demand for the outfitting of luxury watercraft came to an abrupt end in 1929 with the catastrophic decline of the St. John's Aquifer. Merriweather immediately commissioned the J-Boat "Dominoe" and after formally turning over his business to his two sons, set off for a series of around-the-world adventures with his daughter, Merriam.
Between journeys, Pleasure returned to his beloved island and devoted himself to a quest for reusable energy. He was so convinced that "the Power of the Planet" could be harnessed that he converted his canvas-making factories to labyrinthine laboratories.
The mysterious Building X, which was part wind tunnel, part foundry, and part laboratory, was built in 1937 for constructing the "X-Thing," an experimental flying vessel that could harness the power of the wind. The first and only test flight on September 1, 1940 prompted Pleasure, the plane's pilot and sole passenger, to begin broadcasting to outer space from the roof of Building X. The message in Morse Code was "Welcome" (the building later became the "XZFR Rockin' Rollerdome").
In 1941, the Grand Funmeister's favorable fate reversed itself. While circumnavigating Antarctica, the Dominoe pitchpoled in a savage summer storm. It was later reported that all aboard including Merriweather and Merriam Pleasure were lost at sea.
The Pleasure enterprises encountered smooth sailing in the wake of the founder's death. Sailmaking and chandlery continued into the 1950s, augmented by a flying boat service. But by 1955, Pleasure's heirs were bankrupt. The final blow was inflicted by Hurricane Connie, which rendered the buildings unsaleable and their contents strewn across Lake Buena Vista by the winds of change (it was that same hurricane that created "Typhoon Lagoon" and a crate from the Fireworks Factory is in that location).
The once-bustling harbor community became a ghost town. But in 1987, Disney Imagineers discovered the island among the acres of Walt Disney World resort property. Some buildings were renovated and some were reopened. Pleasure Island became a nighttime hot spot with seven nightclubs, 12 shops, and a 10-screen movie theater.
Over 75 years had passed since Merriweather Adam Pleasure and "America's First Family of Fun" came ashore at Pleasure Island when the renovated nightspot opened, but according to the Disney Imagineers, "Along the streets of this reawakened Island you can sometimes catch a glimpse of a portly, but strangely ethereal man, dressed in a yachting cap and natty plus-fours. Or perhaps you'll be sitting in a restaurant booth or a cozy corner of a nightclub when you hear a voice murmur quietly, 'Fun for all—and all for fun!' "
Even this storyline couldn't include everything. "Superstar Studios" was originally "Mrs. Pleasure's Music Parlor" and the home to her gargantuan collection of 78 rpm Italian opera records. "Suspended Animation" was established in 1924 as "Navigational Pleasure Graphics Ltd." where R. North Camilpoter handpainted the bows of yachts that Pleasure refurbished. There are many more stories about the island left to tell.
EpcotServo
Well-Known Member
^That is what made Pleasure Island so awesome.
dxwwf3
Well-Known Member
The same reason why New Tomorrowland '94 was, IMO, the best work WDI has ever done. The backstory is everything.
Captain Hank
Well-Known Member
For the most comprehensive look at the Pleasure Island backstory, check this out: http://www.mouseplanet.com/9044/The_Complete_Pleasure_Island_Plaques
It has a transcript of every one of the original Pleasure Island plaques.
Regarding the last plaque--"Lookout Point"--where was that located on the island?
It has a transcript of every one of the original Pleasure Island plaques.
Regarding the last plaque--"Lookout Point"--where was that located on the island?
CaptainMichael
Well-Known Member
That, my friends, is pure gold.
Henry's Lookout Point would be this lovely structure that Disney went and removed! Honestly, do they not have any care about historic landmarks that are so deeply entwined in our Nations wartime hero stroies?
Some days you eat the mouse.
Some days the mouse eats you.
But never give into the mouse without a fight!
Some days the mouse eats you.
But never give into the mouse without a fight!
KUNGALOOSH!