Here's what I'd like to see in Downtown Disney:
WEST SIDE
The whole area would be made a lot more attractive, with trees, flowerbeds, and a fountain in front of Cirque du Soleil. This would go miles to make this place more appealing. DisneyQuest is a viable concept, provided there's marketing for it, so the place would be refreshed with new, high-tech attrractions and featured in advertising again. The Virgin Superstore would become a Barnes & Noble superstore and Starbucks hybrid. A Broadway-style theater would be built in the lot behind Cirque, which would bring Disney's Broadway-style shows to WDW, changing between musicals every so often.
THE MARKETPLACE
This is the most satisfactory of the three districts, but there would be a few changes. Landscaping would be improved, with lots more trees and such, re-emphasizing this district as the most charming and intimate of the three. The place would be more themed to become a quaint, lakeside town; therefore, the enormous stage would be removed, and a charming cookie store and bakery would open.
PLEASURE ISLAND
And now, the elephant in the room. Pleasure Island would receive a sort of New Orleans/Mardi Gras-type theme, playing off the riverboat and emphasizing the festive atmosphere of the place. The motion building would be demolished to open up space for crowds passing through, but would be replaced by a sort of entertainment plaza featuring a dance floor, stage, and seating area. A new evening show, sort of like "Celebrate Tonight" would play here, but would have more of a purple/green/gold Mardi Gras theme to it, with a jazz band, stilt-walkers and jesters throwing out beads, and the like. The stage would also play host to live entertainment each night, and the fireworks would come back, with a countdown to midnight each night. Nothing family-unfriendly about fireworks, right?
Most of the clubs on Pleasure would be demolished, while the Adventurer's Club would be expanded into a sort of dinner show, while keeping all of the artefacts and the stage and receiving a new backstory tying it into the S.E.A. storyline. The Comedy Warehouse would become a sort of family-friendly sit-down show featuring stand-up comedians. I've seen family-friendly standup all the time on Disney Cruise Line, so I know it can be done, and hilariously, too. One more show would open as well, and that would be called the Magic House, a fancy dinner show themed to a secretive mansions where touring magicians perform, similar to the
Magic Castle in Hollywood, although this one would have more of an
antebellum mansion look to it.
The other clubs would be gutted or demolished and replaced, in addition to the Harley-Davidson store. New to Pleasure Island would be an indoor roller-skating rink and a bowling alley, to offer some more bad-weather alternative activities to WDW. One (1) dance club would open for adults, for we know from the Boardwalk that clubs can co-exist with family entertainment at WDW. Ideally, it would be themed to an old-fashioned dance club in the South, even if it would play all varieties of modern music. It could have family nights as well, or have family hours in the evening each night. A number of new restaurants would open, perhaps in place of some existing ones. One would be a New Orleans food-type restaurant with jazz bands; I know from experience that the Big Easy city has some of the best food in the country, and Disneyland's Downtown Disney has a New Orleans restaurant that's very successful. In addition to this, an authentic Southern barbecue restaurant would open, offering only the best in grilled Southern cuisine. A new bar would open up, as well, with a sort of down-the-alley feel to it, as a retreat for adults. Finally, a number of stores would open, themed to Disney's various franchises, like Marvel, the Muppets, and Disney Channel.
Well, that's about it! I'm sure if all of this were to become reality, Downtown Disney would be the most happenin' place in WDW.
:lookaroun
