Nightlife/Pleasure Island???

[Fastpasssteve]

I bet this particular board 'Nightlife...' used to get more activity when there actually was nightlife...I speak specifically of the night clubs that used to inhabit Pleasure Island. I know many people on this site have children and all that, but I really miss the clubs, the cheap liquor, the loud music, the rotating dance floor at Mannequins... Pleasure Island was a safe place for people of a certain age to blow off some steam and feed a different part of themselves. I love It's A Small World the same as the next guy, but that's not all there is to me...and I suspect, all of you who remember a time before you had children. I wish there was something like that again. I especially liked the fact that one could take the buses back to the resort...nobody had to drive in a less-than-optimal state. It was safe. And it's not as if people used to bring their kids to the clubs...they were all in bed by then, hopefully.

What do you miss that used to be part of your Disney nightlife experience?

[WiltonJohn]

I was there for the first time the last week when they closed the comedy clubs. REALLY enjoyed that experience... and will certainly miss it this trip. Oh well. Don't understand what they were thinking with that move.

best,

..........john

[KAT1811]

The Adventurer's Club. It was a huge favorite of ours. We would go a few times during our trip while the children stayed back at the resort with my parents (after they went to be of course). I really wish they would open it as a dinner club. What a great time that would be!!!

[AHOTE]

I can agree with everything everyone has mentioned so far except maybe the part about loving IASW! LOL. Pleasure Island was a great place to go to. We did the Island usually every other night during our stay at WDW. We started doing that in 1989 and never missed a year. The original concept kept it (PI) separate and away from all the other venues. The loud music, both recorded and live and nightly fireworks had no impact on other park areas. As hotels were added to the area all that became a liabity. I know there's a whole lot more to it but... it's gone but not forgotten.

[snowflakegirl]

My first visit to Pleasure Island was in 2004 and I only went to the Comedy Club and wandered the street...I loved the Comedy Club. The following year I went to a show at the Comedy Club and was at the Adventurer's Club briefly, but those I was traveling with were not in very good moods, so that night was called early. My family and I got in one last show at the Comedy Club in August 2008 (it was their first trip to Pleasure Island). I will miss it on my upcoming trip. I agree that it was nice to have something to "feed a different part of themselves" as the OP put it.

[debandbub]

Ohhh, I ache for the Adventurer's Club! We would go there almost every night- it was always a different experience depending on the cast members and the crowd. But it was ALWAYS a fun time. We are SO not night-people at home, but we were there late like big people every night. (Like up past 10:00!! OOOH- but that really is late for us!) Last trip we spent a bit of time in the lounge at POR with Piano Bob and that was fun too. But man, Adventurer's Club- so miss it. It had quite a loyal following.

[Bamf1000]

KUNGALOOSH!!!

[Imagineer1981]

unfortunately the West Side killed it. PI being stuck in the middle of two shopping districts with no direct route to either of them made guests not want to park and drive to each side and definitely not walk to one or the other. West Side was a ghost town for the most part and is even more so now. Closing PI did not improve the area, and in fact made it less desirable. If Universal can have two theme parks empty into what is essentially their version of PI and Downtown then I think Disney could have figured out how to keep PI going

[johnO]

Took a pic in front of the now empty Adventurers Club in April....

[HackLaSalle]

If Universal can have two theme parks empty into what is essentially their version of PI and Downtown then I think Disney could have figured out how to keep PI going

While both market to vacationing families I think that Universal is looking for a significantly more adult atmosphere. I love City Walk and enjoyed my time at PI but I can see where it would have presented a problem for Disney. Too much of leading to and may not be the kind of atmosphere that Disney wanted around their parks. While there are still plenty of places to grab a beverage in Disney, and even plenty of opportunities to get a bit ridiculously drunk, I think that Pleasure Island may have sent the wrong message. It was distinctively anti-family in a place where family is king. It was Walt's dream to have a place where EVERY member of the family could find something to do. And PI just wasn't that.

Now, closing it without having any plans to put anything else there is a bit ridiculous and quite honestly poor planning for a company that is supposed to be one of the top in the business world. Restaurants with dance clubs could have done well there. There was nothing wrong with having comedy clubs... you could have family acts during the day and a bit more adult acts when the sun goes down. I'm not for the closing of PI but I can absolutely see why Disney did it.

[LVT]

I have a vague recollection of rumors about criminal and gang elements getting to be too common at PI for Disney. Any one want to blow this out of the water?

[magicalmom]

Seems like PI could be re-imagineered, with the Comedy Club, Adventurer's Club, a few small CS restaurants, shops, several music clubs, a mostly Disney karaoke bar, move the magic store there and add a performance venue to it (call it the Sorcerer's Apprentice?) I would also add something Pinocchio-themed to make sense of the name. Maybe that could be a dance club, call it Monstro.

I think PI was too heavily tilted before toward drinking and dancing (off-putting to many of us older sorts) and there were waaaaaaaay too many unaccompanied teens there.

Make it a live performance-oriented destination, family friendly up to a certain point, and after that adult without being sleazy.

After a certain hour (9pm?) nobody under 18 admitted without an adult, and 21 yr olds and over get a wristband to allow them to order drinks. Enough security to handle gangs or pickpockets. The music/entertainment crowd is likely to be more sedate than a drinking and dancing crowd, so perhaps not require a lot of policing.