Thanks for the update John. :mickey:
Thanks for the update John. :mickey:
I can't say that I am surprised by this. I haven't been to a PI club in about 10 years.
And now that I have kids, I generally stay away from DD at night because of the PI crowd.
I completely agree it seems ridiculous to add MORE shops.
But I loved the suggestion of moving the Adventurer's Club to a park. I think that would be a huge hit at AK or DHS.
Did Universal have the CityWalk idea first? I know that DD was here in Florida before CityWalk was at Universal here. But did they have it in California first?
As a Mother of elementary aged kids...I am very excited about the new changes! We've only been to WDW once, but with all your help here at Intercot...I feel like I know WDW better than my own town! :mickey: (By the way our, trip in Dec 07 was AMAZING and I have to thank you all for that! I love reading your threads and I've learned so much! Keep up the good work. I would have been clueless without you! :rocks:)
As a disney "virgin", one thing I noticed at Disney, is the restaurants. They're an experince in itself. We ate at every cool place we could and next time we go, we will deffinatly hit the T-Rex restaurant. I've heard of this place else where and it is similar to the Rainforest Cafe. But for people like me, who lives in the middle of no where, this will be a hit with my family.
The birthday parties, at Goffy's Candy Shop also sound like alot of fun. We loved this place and it's so cool inside. I don't know if this is in the plans, but it would be great to have Goofy himself at the parties too!:goofy2:
The Hanes t-shirt store also sounds neat. I just hope they make it easy and fast. I can see this being a huge hit, but also...a huge mess! Some people are rude and pushy and if they give you too many choice's, some people could take hours to decide how to make their shirts. Which one thing I noticed at Disney is, there isn't many patient people, or wait.... I mean kids. ;)
Thanks again for the updates and I can't wait to go to WDW again!
Noooooooo!!!!!! They can't do away with the Adventurer's Club. That was one of the best things we did on our last trip. I have the kids all psyched up about it for our next one.
What a bummer! Taking away a great thing to put more shopping in. Guess I'll never be putting a foot in that area of Disney again.
As stated earlier, I think the problems began when gated admission left PI and it became a la carte. Having to pay to get in certainly minimized the idle loitering element, and not to be exclusionary to the kiddies, but having a place where adults could kick back without potentially setting a not-so-great example for the little ones was kind of nice. I'm not a big imbiber, but having live music on an outdoor stage and the freedom to club hop without much fear of looking silly in front of families was good for a change of pace.
That said, once they went a la carte with PI admission, this was the logical conclusion. It's a hard sell to keep PI as it has been when folks come out of nightclubs a little less sure-footed than they had been an hour or two prior. It's a recipe for unpleasantness, which if just by pun status alone precludes it from its continued practice.
Me, I'm still bitter over the loss of the Pleasure Island Jazz Company. To this day, I refuse to acknowledge Raglan Road as an existing feature in DD--denial is a very powerful force.
As far as I recall, children are allowed to attend with their parents up until 9pm or something like that. I've heard stories of the characters picking on parents for bringing their children to a bar. I for one am saddened because I never got the chance to check out the clubs, AC especially as I'm a huge fan of that sort of thing. We were planning to do it our next time around. I thought it was great idea to have adults only clubs but if it wasn't successful then I guess it's time for a change.However, it really seems like from everything I've heard that the AC is still very successful, so I'd be very surprised and bummed if it closed for good.
agree It used to be a place the adults could enjoy.
i just wrote WDW & expressed my dissapointment on how it went downhill. I added it to my reasons that my sept trip may be my last to WDW for awhile. & WDW has been my only vacation spot for yrs.
yippee a balloon ride! & more stores!
Goodbye Adventurers Club. :(
Kungaloosh! :marg:
This is correct. Children were allowed in the Adventurers club with their parents. They did tend to use it in the show and pick on the parents for having them in there but that was part of the fun and intended to be so. We were once the victims but the kids loved it and always want to go back when we are there. The adventurers club will be missed greatly.
For a night-owl like me...this is a very disappointing decision. I'm not a regular drinker. I don't go out more than four or five times a year...but when I'm on vacation I want to dance, be entertained, and drink with friends.
As someone who went to Disney for the first time at 25 years old with my parents and two younger sisters of drinking-age...I found PI to be an essential place for letting loose after the parks closed. The resort bars just didn't cut it for nighttime fun at disney when I was in my twenties...and honestly...I still find them too sleepy.
Three years later, when my husband and I went on our honeymoon, we met up with John Y, Hoop de Doo, Natazu, and Sagessa and went to the Adventurer's Club and Comedy Club after the Party for the Senses. We had an incredible time and I am very upset that by the time I can drink again (I'm due with my first child in December) all the clubs that we enjoyed will be closed.
I was looking forward to enjoying the one and only adult-focused place on disney property in my 30's while my child was left with the grandparents at the resort. Now...my husband and I are determined that we will go off property to CityWalk to seek out the night life. We loved PI and would NEVER have preferred CityWalk over PI, but we now feel driven off-property by this. What else is there to do on an AK day that ends in the parks so ridiculously early?
If anything needs to happen in the Downtown Disney area...Disney Quest needs to be revamped or scrapped. The place was boring, dirty, loud, dark, and the food was horrible. Dave and Buster's is a better arcade!
I'm glad to hear of this. Ever since they took the paid turnstiles away from PI, it has become a not so disney friendly place. We were there last December in the evening and it was a bit scary some of the riff-raff that was hanging around. It freaked me out.
I can't wait to see the new changes.
On another note, I hope we will still be able to sit on our balcony at SSR and see the lights and listen to the music coming from PI. I really find that a nice way to end our busy day at a park.
Thanks, John, for the great information!!:cloud9:
Seems like every trip we take to the World, we end up spending at least a couple of evenings at DTD. :number1: I'm guessing I went on "special" evenings, because I never encountered any of these wild and dangerous teens that were a threat to my vacation bliss. Maybe I was too busy creating my own fun.
Taking out the Adventures Club is just wrong. But, its business, and since I'm not privvy to the number crunching, I can only assume that the Club was a drain on the company. I mean, you wouldn't shut something down that's making you money.....right?:thedolls:
As far as the additions, I didn't see anything that makes me want to rush right out there to see. The balloon I guess would be okay, but that's even just so-so to me. Then I start thinking about what they will charge for it, and then the line to get on it.....
I am sorry to see 8traxx go, but let's face it, PI has never been the same since 2001.
We will sorely miss AC and CW because we go there at least twice every trip which will make using our Water Parks and More Option limited, but maybe those two will remain since they are so popular. No more nights of going to DQ and then over to PI. :( I started going to PI when it opened, in the daytime at first because I wasn't old enough to get in and made several videos at Superstar Studios and would look at the clubs and wish I could go in. Then I did and loved CW and especially AC. I waited and waited to turn 21 so I could go to The Cage where they played "alternative music" and went once and then it closed. It was nice to have an "adult" place to go at night. We never encountered unruly teens, although we generally went to PI on "school nights". I'm always leary when WDW makes changes because they haven't always been for the good (i.e. replacing Mr. Toad and the "new" Imagination), but I'm open to see what they do. I don't think they need more shops and restaurants, although a Swatch shop would be great since I rarely see them and still buy their watches!
I think to make up for the change in the Water Parks and More Option with no PI, they should give you rounds of mini golf at FG and WS, especially for people like us who go to WDW Thanksgiving week when the weather isn't conducive to water activities. We would play more mini golf with that option.
we loved the adventures club. it was our favorite thing to do, the entire trip. i know the AC is frequently booked for private parties- so how can they be losing money? they need to keep the AC, maybe move it. but to get rid of it seems very foolish. it truly is a unique disney experience. and to make way for a t-shirt store is ****.
just my 2cents
kate
Just my take....
PI is not closing as we know it because it "failed" per se....
It's closing because they can free up more labor and generate more of a profit margin with third party vendors and restaurant/ merchandise locations....
The T shirt thing is brilliant....if it's big enough and efficient enough to handle crowds at peak times......
does kinda give me the Myrtle Beach '85 vibe though.....
I think this has been in the plans since Eisner days...... with the harley shop and raglan road being the precursors.....T Rex being another.....
once they get downtown to where they want....which is likely because it is very popular and undoubtedly profitable....except cirque.....
then i believe a new water park is the next thing.....along with probably extended themepark hours to cover the late night gap a little more.....
this could be a good thing.....i've spent alot of time at PI.....but unless you live in Orlando or at Vista Way.....the possibilities of that "night spot" were very limited....
one more thing....i know others have thought it....so i'll just come out and say it....
the closing and assumed dismantling of the clubs frees up the adventure's club for "other things"....
i'm just saying.....i know it will be an inevitable connection that will probably be made.....
I think they should move it to animal kingdom villas and have nightly observations of northeastern wild animals in their natural vacation habitat.....complete with Mt. Kilamaritas
but i don't think that's on the drawing boards:(
Thanks for the info John! :thumbsup: :mickey: