[G00fyDad]

Yeah. I'll take a bunch of pictures of it and of any signage that may give clues of whats to come.

[FormerFan]

I have been to WDW about 25 times over the past 30 years, but I don't know if I will ever go back. I don't have or want children and Pleasure Island was one of the major reasons we continued to visit as adults. The 1999 New Years Eve Party at Pleasure Island was the best party I've ever attended, and after getting married a couple of years later at WDW, we started going to WDW every year. PI was one of our favorite places to go.

For the last several years, our karate school has attended the US Open at the Coronado Springs Resort. We averaged about 25 people in about 9 or 10 rooms. This Summer will be the first year we haven't attended in years, and the closing of PI was a significant factor.

Although we always had a few children along, our school is mostly adults and over half of our rooms were filled exclusively with adults. Going to PI after a tough day of competition was a great way to end the evening. However, the last few years have been increasinly disappointing. Since dropping the single admission price for all the clubs, it has gone steadily downhill. Parents also complained that WDW is too expensive to spend 3 days at a tournament. They decided it was better, and cheaper, to do another tournament closer to home in addition to a regular Disney vacation.

I understand why some of the people here say a drinking venue isn't kid friendly, but they need to realize that over 25% of the the adult population in the US do not have minor children, and this number is increasing rapidly. To ignore over 75 million potential customers (more than the entire population of France) is just bad business.

Children were not allowed in PI at night without parents, so this area not being kid friendly was only a problem for people that seek to control other people's behavior. If you don't drink, that's great, but don't try to impose your puritan values on everyone else.

However, there was one problem with kids at PI...besides underage drinking. Over the years I saw dozens of children being dragged (some literally) to the bus stop at 2:00 am. What were these parents thinking. Of course, I'm sure they would be terrible parents no matter where they were, so this wasn't really Disney's fault.

I don't really know if Disney has really considered the effect closing PI will have on their convention business. They built all of this convention space, but they are forcing everyone to go off-site for any semblance of nightlife. PI also provided a nice benefit for cast members and college interns. With PI being closed, being a cast member or intern is far less attractive. And while you obviously don't want a bunch of drunks working for you, that was far from the case.

Cast member nights were always my favorite nights at PI. The friendly attitude cast members show while on the job is not just an act. For the most part, they are genuinely very friendly and interesting people. However, I've also noticed this slowly changing over the years. Compared to ten years ago, the quality of workers has seriously declined. Still, they are much better than you will find in most of the service industry...except maybe on a cruise ship.

If I lived in Orlando, I would probably still purchase a pass. I really like the World Showcase and there are a lot of great restaurants on property. However, that's no enough to make me travel over 1,000 miles and spend thousands of dollars. Sorry Disney, but I think I'm done.

[Winkster]

WOW - great post FormerFan - even though I may disagree with you on some points!

I do agree on the decline of PI though. My parents went years ago and had a blast. They came home raving about PI saying how brilliant it was, how they wish they'd been more times before and would definitely be going back much more now.

On their next trip a few years later, we went too and we all turned up at PI looking forward to a great night.

It was dull!

And to be honest, I've seen nothing to change my mind since!

I must admit, as far as I'm concerned, the loss of conventioners is a big bonus. I find them generally noisy, brash and inconsiderate. There's always an element who want to "show off to their buddies" when conventioners get together in social circumstances and it brings out the worst in people. I have no objection to people letting their hair down after a tough day but not at the expense of those around them. If WDW shut every attraction offered to conventioners it would make my day!

I also agree that the removal of the entry ticket homogenised the place even more than it was already. Families are more encouraged to wander in now and night clubs and families generally don't mix. As you say, because of that, what was a watered-down night club area has become even more "family orientated" and any attraction that it had has gone completely.

I'm not so sure that anyone is trying to impose puritan values but I do feel that it's a sad state of affairs when parents just dump their kids at PI and let them run riot. Similarly, keeping young, very tired kids out until the small hours because "Mummy and Daddy want to party" (and I've seen that so many times at PI, restaurants and even in parks) stinks of bad parenting to me! Sadly though, there's no way of stopping it.

My thoughts on CM nights are mixed but in the main, I do think they should not be held on Disney property. Surely it's not a good image for Disney when it's guests (including young kids) see Snow White propping up the bar on her 9th Long Island Iced Tea whilst slurring loudly to Tinkerbelle about the annoying ***** who demanded photos with all her 15 kids?

And I think much of the decline in the standard of CMs can be linked to the sad decline in overall standards in society today. I really don't think that's just a Disney issue - although maybe it's more noticable in Disney where we are all used to such great CMs.

Fortunately, we found some great entertainment elsewhere in the POR bar (and I don't been Yeehaw Bob or whatever his name is - not my thing) so we're happy there, drinking cocktails, singing along with the crowds and dancing (ok, my twist wasn't that great but thatgroup from Vegas dragged us up!).

Otherwise, I'm happy sat with a beer in the warmth of the outdoor bar at POR soaking up the quiet evening air (Although I like the odd night out at bars - and even the occasional club - I seem to be more into peaceful drinks. A sure sign of agre creeping up on me!).

I've never known PI to be anything other than an over-rated let down so it's one aspect of WDW I genuinely won't miss (and there's not many of them).

[Chris64]

I had no idea Pleasure Island had closed it's clubs until I was there back in January, and I have to say it was a disappointment that they decided to do this.
I have to agree with some of what was said, as originally conceived, PI was a great spot, when you had to pay to get in, and when only those 21 and older were allowed in. It was so much fun, and no everyone that comes to Disney has kids, so every single spot does not have to be "kid Friendly".
But I feel that they destroyed PI already when they began leaving the gates open and it became a walk through area to get to the rest of Downtown Disney. THAT is when they destroyed it, and it was never the same after that. As someone else mentioned, not only was it inappropriate for kids in strollers to be there, which began to happen, those same parents didn't like what was going on there....so why did they open it up? There wasn't a problem when those people with strollers weren't going through.

And if the clubs weren't your thing, then you just didn't go there! There was a bypass bridge built years ago that allowed people to bypass PI from Planet Hollywood to the shopping district, so you didn't need to walk through the nightclub area. Once the nightclub area was opened up, it ruined the feel of the place, and probably made patronage decline, in addition to just sending ill will to those that walked through with kids. THAT was the mistake.
It was further destroyed when the two outdoor stages were removed. It was NOT dull when it was it's own area, and only paying people were in, over 21, and when it had the outside stages, and you could walk from place to place within. It only became "dull" once it was opened up to everyone, and it never was the same again with all those people with strollers and little kids walking through. And those two stages already were failed once you had all these people walking through. And if the problem was people "bad parenting", well as someone else mentioned, they would be bad parents wherever they are, that's not Disney's fault.

So in summar, Disney destroyed it themselves. Once they opened it up to everyone under 21, it ruined the feel of the place.
And again, not every inch of Disney has to be "kid friendly". Now the only alternatives are the far inferior Universal CityWalk, or going completely off site for night time entertainment.

I rarely bash Disney, but I have to do it with this choice...first for opening up PI as a pass through to the other side of Downtown Disney, which deteriorated it, then removing the outdoor stages, and now getting rid of the only place that people visiting Disney could really kick back for a night.

[Sunray4life]

I think I would have loved to have the option to go to a club during the stay of my honeymoon; the BET would have been for us the place to go! But, on the other side, I also think I will be walked out and tired most of the days returning and just be happy to get my sleep *lol* Because I am not 20something anymore, I prefer a nice rest from a long night out and the next day in the park would be bad for me And as I read it, you can still get a drink in the restaurants, if you want to. But I agree, having one or two clubs on the area would not hurt, and probably they integrate it in other resorts, not so centrally to Pleasure Island.