It's official, Pleasure Island to close

Well, I called it. Back in April I posted that Pleasure Island would be shuttering its night clubs in favor of more family friendly fare. Today The Walt Disney Company made it official. The Disney Blog has the deets and the official details.

Sad news about the Adventurer Club. I really wish they'd keep that one. I think it can keep the Kungaloosh and still shift to a more family friendly entertainment environment.

Tags: disney, downtown+disney, pleasure+island, adventurer+club, themepark, travel, vacation, entertainment, night+club

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Get your Pleasure in Now, Pleasure Island to close

Making official what has been reality in practice for over a year, Walt Disney World is expected to formally do away with the Pleasure Island concept later this year. It started New Years Eve 2005 when the last of the nightly New Years Eve celebrations happened and general admission tickets were phased out. Then it kicked into high gear in 2006 when a new pedestrian bridge brought the end of the West End Stage and the Hub Stage.

This year will see replacement of Rock'n'Roll Beach Club with a new restaurant concept. This will reduce the number of venues that require admission tickets to four. Add that to Raglan Road and T-Rex and slowly the night club focus of Pleasure Island is shifting to branded family entertainment.

This will have the affect of turning Downtown Disney into just another branded entertainment complex, much like City Walk just up I-4. at Universal Studios. I suppose that's the direction that will bring in the most money, but it doesn't seem very Disney.

Update: just to clarify, I don't feel that going more family friendly is un-Disney. I feel that bringing in lots of outside brands to occupy the space is un-Disney. I'd rather see more creative stuff from the mind of the mouse. Some sort of modern take on the Adventurer's Club would be great.

As for my source... well, obviously there is nothing official from Disney yet. But one walk through PI and it's obvious they've already effectively ended the concept of PI. It's now just a few night clubs. My sources are just confirming the target date of sometime this year.

Tags: disney, downtown+disney, walt+disney+world, wdw, travel, entertainment, orlando

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Cheesecake Factory Express leaving DisneyQuest

The Cheesecake Factory Express has decided to quit DisneyQuest at the end of their current contract. They've been serving desserts and excellent meals at the Downtown Disney arcade for ten years. But now they're closing up shop.

The Cheesecake Factory Express was originally planned as a franchise type store that would be available in each DisneyQuest as they were opened across the nation. The DisneyQuest idea never really took off and so the Cheesecake Factory was left with a single 'express' location.

Disney will take over operations of the location and give it a new name beginning in May.

At one time an ESPN Zone was rumored to go into the DisneyQuest location. Essentially exchanging one arcade and eatery for another with a stronger brand. There is apparently another major store in Walt Disney World's Downtown Disney rumored to be ready to pack up shop, Virgin Megastore, if it does ESPN Zone will likely occupy at least part of that building.

Tags: disney, downtown+disney, walt+disney+world, wdw, disneyquest, cheesecake+factory, food, foodie, espn, espn+zone, orlando

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