Saturday, June 28, 2008

Will You Miss Pleasure Island?

The big news late in the week from WDW is definitely the planned closure of Pleasure Island as we know it.

BET SoundStage Club, Mannequins Dance Palace, 8Trax and three other clubs that have for years catered largely to young, single adults -- rather than to Disney's bread-and-butter family market -- will close after Sept. 27.

During the next couple of years, Disney will reopen the Pleasure Island venues with a broader mix of restaurants and shops.


I must say that this isn't highly unexpected. While I've had a few good times at PI (8-Trax is just a blast!), it has never been something that I really want to do when I'm there, mainly because I live in Wrigleyville here in Chicago where bars and dance clubs are only within walking distance. So why would I want to do the same thing at WDW of something I can easily do here back home? Furthermore, they don't have any "Disney" feel to them. I suppose the local population would be the ones who would miss it more than the tourists.

I also think that PI sort of cut the flow between Marketplace and the West Side. I very seldom walk between the two, always turning around when we get to Fulton's. So maybe a more continuous flow between the two areas might not be so bad. I've always thought that they could do better if they intermix the clubs in between the "regular" establishments.

In any case, I probably won't miss the current version of PI that much, if at all. If they can somehow build something that makes it more enticing for people to go between the two ends of Downtown Disney, then I'd say it would be an improvement.

Zz.

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