Pleasure Island to just let everyone in?

[Casidhe]

There's a rumor going around that Pleasure Island may open up the outdoor areas (the walkways and shops, specifically) to the public free of charge, moving over to a pass system for the clubs alone. Someone claiming to be a travel agent apparently posted this to another discussion board:

from Disney Mail to the Travel Industry:

From May 23 - August 14, Downtown Disney's Pleasure Island will temporarily operate as an un-gated area, allowing people to free-flow through Pleasure Island during evening operations, without admission and enjoy Pleasure Island shops, restaurants, Westend Stage entertainment and the nightly midnight "New Year's Eve" fireworks display.

Admission will still be required for entry into any of the eight Pleasure Island nightclubs and is included in the Ultimate Park Hopper Pass or can be purchased for $20.50 (before tax) per adult.

Can anyone confirm this? I hadn't seen anything on MousePlanet so far but maybe I missed it. I have to say I think this would make PI a lot less fun for me - it always felt like kind of a sanctuary before, but if this goes through the Marketplace and West End crowds will just be able to flood into PI. I also have to wonder how convenient it will actually be to check passes at all the club doors instead of at a single entrance.

Yeah, even if this is true it's only a temporary measure - unfortunately my next trip falls within this period! So...any news?

[XHarryB]

this is a stupid idea in my opinion. I actually had the most fun on my trips there in the less crowded streets than i did in the jam packed clubs. if you take that away I'm afraid I wouldn't enjoy much of what they had to offer.

[Opus1guy]

There's a rumor going around that Pleasure Island may open up the outdoor areas (the walkways and shops, specifically) to the public free of charge, moving over to a pass system for the clubs alone.

ROTFLMAO! Well, if this rumor turns out to be true, it will be a classic case of history repeating itself!

When Pleasure Island first opened in 1989, this was exactly how it was operated. The Island (shops, restaurants and street shows) was open to the public, but you had to purchase admission for the Clubs. They had 1 Club, 3 Club and All Club tickets.

After about a year and a half, they brought in Art Levitt (who had been Eisner's right-hand personal assistant in Burbank) to run the Island, and he converted it to a "one-price" deal that made the whole island part of the ticket. A "berm-ed" park as it was.

Art was successful at making PI more of a success by this and making the shows more "hip." He later left Disney to become President of Hard Rock Cafe.

[Casidhe]

this is a stupid idea in my opinion. I actually had the most fun on my trips there in the less crowded streets than i did in the jam packed clubs. if you take that away I'm afraid I wouldn't enjoy much of what they had to offer.

Yeah, I agree. I like the clubs (well...Adventurer's and Comedy Warehouse, anyway; I've never been much of a dancer) but it's always been nice to take a break, grab some food and eat out in the fresh air. The walkways are usually uncrowded so it's a good place to find a moment's peace. And the shops are a joy to shop in, particularly after having to put up with crowded theme park stores filled with tired parents and rowdy children who all seem to zero in on EXACTLY the rack you wanted to look at.

Ahem. Anyway...I'm not sure Pleasure Island will be as fun for me if I can't find that experience anywhere. It'll take away a rather unique part of the resort. And Opus, that bit about history repeating itself is very interesting...given the way Disney's been going lately it'd be just like them to try and fall back on something that dropped out from under them before. According to the full rumor Disney is apparently trying to imitate Universal CityWalk in this - I'm just wondering when the execs will remember that Disney is more fun when it's at its most original!

Here's hoping it's just gossip.

[Mark Goldhaber]

I have not heard anything about this from any of my sources yet. Of course, this doesn't make it untrue, but I'm surprised that they're considering it. Perhaps they'll go back to the "Pleasure Island is open to the general public until 7:00, and then it's paying patrons only after that." That would be nice.

[USofA]

Having been in the night club industry for most of the last 10 years, I would have to say that this is probably a good idea. One of the unwriten "rules" in the business is that a crowd draws a crowd. The more people you have outside your club the better the sales will be inside.

Think of it this way, if you have a BIG party in the streets with a large crowd, the energy level of the people will go up. As that energy level goes up the people in the clubs will be more in the mood to party and buy drinks. Also, by making the Island free, people will be more enticed to visit it and then want to experience the clubs, (Buy a paid admission).

I am an avid PI fan and visit it every night of the week when at WDW. However, I know that the week nights Sun-Wed can be quite slow. When I visit on the slower nights, I just don't have the desire to stay all night. When I go on Thursday-Saturday, with the crowds, I want to stay all night (And I don't even drink)

Food for thought

[justgeorgi]

I don't care what they do as long as nobody sits in my favorite chair at AC then I am good to go. Just give me a Kungaloosh in one hand and a Martini in the other and I don't need to get up till closing time! Just a few more days till I get my AC fix!!!!

[hbquikcomjamesl]

For my own part, I didn't care much for being outside at PI. A lot of it was just plain too noisy.

[Opus1guy]

Just FYI...from the Opus1 archives...here's a shot of one of the old "1-Club" tickets (and original Pleasure Island logo) from back when admissions were required for each club:

http://members.aol.com/opus1guy/uploads/pi1clubcomp.jpg