Walt Disney World is shutting down the six nightclubs at Pleasure Island to
make its party district at
Downtown Disney more family friendly.
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.
In announcing what they called "a bold new vision" for all of Downtown Disney on
Friday, Disney officials framed the Pleasure Island nightclub closures as a
response to customers who say they want more broad-based dining and retail
opportunities throughout the 120-acre district.
"Right now we believe we've got a shortage of dining capacity and shopping
capacity, so we'll be adding to those areas, and we'll be looking at some
specialized entertainment options also," said Downtown Disney Vice President
Kevin Lansberry.Some businesses remain
Though the six nightclubs will close, the other businesses on Pleasure Island --
a couple of restaurants, a cigar bar and a couple of clothing shops -- will
remain open. They already offer the broad appeal that Lansberry said Disney's
patrons want. He did not offer specifics about what might replace the clubs but
said Disney was looking worldwide for restaurant and shopping concepts.
"Some of the offerings might feel like a nightclub, but they won't feel like
high-energy clubs like we have today in all likelihood," Lansberry said.
"Truthfully, our guests have really gotten out of that in the last couple of
years. They want things that are a lot more geared toward family entertainment."
Disney World also is sprucing up Downtown Disney's other two areas, adding
restaurants, expanding and updating a band shell, refurbishing and updating
other businesses, and bringing in a giant tethered-balloon attraction that
visitors will be able to ride in, going up more than 300 feet above Village
Lake.
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