Not sure the reason for the slight judginess of LA, but the point is that they built a restaurant they’re trying to double time as a nightclub. In LA, there’s couches, little “living room” areas, lots of dance areas, etc. It is by no means a restaurant. This just feels like you’re at a Steampunk wedding reception. Lots of seated round tables with some minor entertainment in the middle.
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.
