Demolition of Adventure's Club

[BrowncatP]

Another Disney web site-MiceChat- today has a sad photo of the destruction going on this week of the Adventure's Club.:nope:

[John]

It died a long time ago. Only the body remained. Sad. Spent many a great times in there with great friends.

[hauntedmansiongirl]

That is very sad! Kungaloosh my old friend...:cry: :grouphug:

[SurferStitch]

I watched some video yesterday of the demo. Broke my heart. DH and I had far too many good times there to remember them all!!

We spend a lot more late nights at our resort now... NOT spending money on drinks, merch, etc. Not sure if this is what Disney wanted...:thedolls:

[1DisneyNut]

When the Adventurer's Club closed, it was pretty much the end of us going to Downtown. I have probably been in Downtown a total of about an hour since then. It was a must do every trip for us and we miss it.

Before "retiring to the library" for the show, we used to love to have a few drinks and watch people sitting on the stools at the bar. It was hilarious to watch how long it took and their reaction when they finally realized their stool had been slowly lowering until they were almost eye level with the bar top. lol

I have been hoping, ever since it closed, that it would resurface somewhere but it doesn't look like it is going to happen.

Kungaloosh!

[NJGIRL]

We had a lot of good times there too....It was always packed....It was unique...It was fun...It had a loyal following....People always had drinks in their hands...It was successful ....Why it was shut down is beyond me.

IMO this is a case of Disney not caring what their customers like and want.

As I am thinking about this again I came to a personal realization... I know Disney has closed a lot of attractions through out the years...and I know it is necessary to keep things fresh....I know everyone has their personal fav's that have been closed...mine is Malestrom (most others didn't bother me much)...but out of all of the closures I feel that the Adventure's Club has probably been their biggest mistake...and one that I missed the most.

[texas211]

They should play taps.

[Polynesian Dweller]

We had a lot of good times there too....It was always packed....It was unique...It was fun...It had a loyal following....People always had drinks in their hands...It was successful ....Why it was shut down is beyond me.

IMO this is a case of Disney not caring what their customers like and want.

As I am thinking about this again I came to a personal realization... I know Disney has closed a lot of attractions through out the years...and I know it is necessary to keep things fresh....I know everyone has their personal fav's that have been closed...mine is Malestrom (most others didn't bother me much)...but out of all of the closures I feel that the Adventure's Club has probably been their biggest mistake...and one that I missed the most.

It was a great place and those who experienced it miss it. But, I don't agree that it's Disney not caring. As they have developed Disney Springs it's become clear that the closing wasn't about this specific place. Rather, Disney decided to redo all of downtown Disney and nightclubs wasn't going to be the concept.

To me the Adventurer's Club wouldn't work except in a nightclub atmosphere like it had when it had the other clubs around it. Part of the story was that you as a member of the Adventurer's Club were going to YOUR club in the club district and that was essential to its 'exclusivity'.

I don't believe it's there biggest mistake but rather it's collateral damage due to a change in concept for the area.

[NJGIRL]

It was a great place and those who experienced it miss it. But, I don't agree that it's Disney not caring. As they have developed Disney Springs it's become clear that the closing wasn't about this specific place. Rather, Disney decided to redo all of downtown Disney and nightclubs wasn't going to be the concept.

To me the Adventurer's Club wouldn't work except in a nightclub atmosphere like it had when it had the other clubs around it. Part of the story was that you as a member of the Adventurer's Club were going to YOUR club in the club district and that was essential to its 'exclusivity'.

I don't believe it's there biggest mistake but rather it's collateral damage due to a change in concept for the area.



I might be able to buy this, but the Adventurer's Club closed in 2008 and the Disney Springs concept didn't come up until 2013. They closed down a popular "attraction" without a replacement plan for another 5 years. I have a very, very hard time with a company as large and supposedly as creative as Disney taking 5 years to move on a plan , if they already had one. Pleasure Island as a whole was not making enough money for them so they closed it down without knowing exactly what they were going to do. They have done this many times in their history of the parks (EPCOT has many empty buildings).

If it takes Disney this long to come up with and move forward with replacement plans, the only two conclusions I can come up with is either they don't care that they have so many empty shells throughout the "World" or they have bitten off more than they can chew.....meaning that the "World has gotten too big and they can not handle keeping things fresh, renovated, and working in proper condition.

[Polynesian Dweller]

I might be able to buy this, but the Adventurer's Club closed in 2008 and the Disney Springs concept didn't come up until 2013. They closed down a popular "attraction" without a replacement plan for another 5 years. I have a very, very hard time with a company as large and supposedly as creative as Disney taking 5 years to move on a plan , if they already had one. Pleasure Island as a whole was not making enough money for them so they closed it down without knowing exactly what they were going to do. They have done this many times in their history of the parks (EPCOT has many empty buildings).

If it takes Disney this long to come up with and move forward with replacement plans, the only two conclusions I can come up with is either they don't care that they have so many empty shells throughout the "World" or they have bitten off more than they can chew.....meaning that the "World has gotten too big and they can not handle keeping things fresh, renovated, and working in proper condition.

They gave up on the night club concept and shut down everything in 2008. They had been planning the change and initially announced Hyperion Wharf with concept art in 2010. Not an overly long period of time for planning. They had even started moving earth near the Fireworks Factory. But it was decided that the idea wasn't grand enough so shelved Hyperion Wharf. A couple of years later they announced Disney Springs with concept art have been building it since at a very high price including parking garages, pedestrian overpasses, a ramp from I4, and a huge revamp of the shopping areas. But no upkeep there, right.

So, this all comes down to giving up on the concept of Pleasure Island and then the time and delays to arrive at what they think is the correct replacement concept. Starting Hyperion Wharf quickly does indicate they cared. But, of course, rather than looking at the actual history of things and remembering that Hyperion Wharf was on the drawing boards quickly it's much more popular and easy to simply bash Disney without regard to the real process.

[SurferStitch]

What still baffles me some is that when they charged admission to PI (DH and I got annual passes for it), it was always packed at night... I mean PACKED! Walkways were filled with people buying drinks right in the street! At least at the AC, you couldn't always get into a particular room for a show. The library always shut down due to capacity, and the mask room was always completely filled for a show. DH and I went so often that we knew when the next show was, and made our way over to that room to make sure we would get in for the show.

After they got rid of the admission fee and made it open to everyone, attendance slowed down. Even the main thoroughfare looked emptier! The AC never got as full as before, so fewer people buying drinks, so revenue drops off. The reasoning that PI wasn't making enough money so let's get rid of it was brought on by Disney itself. They removed the entrance fee, thereby setting PI up for a slow death.

[NJGIRL]

So, this all comes down to giving up on the concept of Pleasure Island and then the time and delays to arrive at what they think is the correct replacement concept. Starting Hyperion Wharf quickly does indicate they cared. But, of course, rather than looking at the actual history of things and remembering that Hyperion Wharf was on the drawing boards quickly it's much more popular and easy to simply bash Disney without regard to the real process.


Shuttered 2008...it's now 2015....7 years later...I guess we have a very different idea of what is an acceptable time for a large company to be able to complete a project.

[badkitty]

Another sad day when they shuttered AC without a suitable replacement. Seven years is way too long to wait for something and I'm not quite sure what the wait was for...There sure isn't anything as fun as AC yet. I'm no longer holding my breath.

Kungaloosh Adventurers!

[coneheads]

PI was built because huge amounts of resort guests were leaving every night to go to downtown Orlando to the Rosie O'Grady entertainment district. They had buses to take you there and return you to Disney, Eisner hated seeing all that money leave the resort and in the end it killed downtown Orlando as a destination. Then PI was no longer necessary to keep the guests on property and it was shut down.

PI was a must do for the wife and I as much any attraction or park especially when the parks close at 7 or 8 PM. We probably spent more there rather than the parks including tickets. As others have said it was always busy we really enjoyed the shows, the music, the Fireworks factory was a great place to eat and reasonably priced, dance clubs, comedy club, fireworks and confetti at midnight plus a ride home at the end of the night. Man I miss it.

But I do like what I see happening finally more live entertainment more dining options. Splitsville is kinda cool, the patio bar at Raglan Road is an awesome place to have a pint and people watch, love to sit and listen to the live music spread around the area. As for the shopping the only stores that are Disney run (except the stand alone stores) are spaces Disney couldn't find an outside tenant for.

I'll keep an open mind and wait to see the finished product, until then Kungaloosh my friends, just because AC has gone doesn't mean I'm not still an Adventurer