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Pleasure Island Closing, Downtown Disney Receiving Makeover

June 28, 2008 at 10:21 am · Filed under Disney, Travel

Walt Disney World Resort today unveiled a new vision for Downtown Disney, with new shopping, dining and other experiences including a completely re-imagined Pleasure Island. Also planned are numerous enhancements to popular Downtown Disney locations, as well as additional theming and storytelling by Imagineers.

To make way for the new offerings, all of the clubs currently on Pleasure Island (8 Trax, The Adventurer’s Club, Mannequins Dance Palace, BET Sound-Stage Club, Motion and The Comedy Warehouse) will close on Sept. 27. Other locations on Pleasure Island, including Raglan Road, Fuego by Sosa Cigars, Curl by Sammy Duval, Orlando Harley-Davidson and outdoor food and beverage locations, will remain open during the transition.

“We are committed to offering guests new and exciting experiences they can only have at Walt Disney World Resort,” said Downtown Disney vice president Kevin Lansberry. “Our bold new vision for Downtown Disney reflects the feedback we receive from our guests each and every day and will enable us to continue to offer the high-quality entertainment that is our hallmark.”

Over the next year, the 120-acre entertainment-shopping-dining complex will add a number of one-of-a-kind, immersive experiences for guests. Downtown Disney will even get its own iconic attraction, in the form of a giant, tethered balloon that will take guests 300 feet into the air to view the vistas of Walt Disney World Resort.

Other new experiences include:

• In fall 2008, guests will enter a world of prehistoric creatures at T-Rex: A Prehistoric Family Adventure. The dinosaur-themed family eatery will serve up pizzas, pastas, seafood and more, and will feature life-size animated dinosaurs that dwell among bubbling geysers, waterfalls and a fossil dig site.

• Also this fall, a design-your-own T-shirt store from Hanes will add to the growing collection of merchandise guests can personalize at Downtown Disney.

• E-brands Restaurants, an Orlando-based, multi-concept restaurant group, will premier its newest concept at Downtown Disney in spring 2009. The high-energy, casual eatery will feature authentic Central and South American cuisine, specialty drinks and live music along the waterfront.

Guests also will enjoy a brand new mix of shopping and dining experiences at Pleasure Island as it is transformed over the next two years.

Link to full press release with more information

Today at 1pm EST, Disney will be answering questions regarding the upcoming Downtown Disney and Pleasure Island changes.

Posted by Ricky on June 28, 2008 at 10:21 am · Permalink

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8 Comments »

PJ CLARK wrote @ June 28th, 2008 at 10:23 pm

Hello,

Could you please tell me if there are any clubs in P/I that I can bring my 19 year old neice too?

Thank you,

MAV wrote @ June 28th, 2008 at 11:06 pm

There are only 2 ‘clubs’ that someone under 21 can go into, its the adventure’s club, which is pretty much a comedy club, and the comedy warehouse, both funny places, but its not like a dance club at all

jamie corbett wrote @ June 30th, 2008 at 2:36 pm

i can not belive that pleasure island is closing, that was one of my favorite reasons to vist, so means that there will be no more clubs? or is there a plan to build new ones?

MAV wrote @ July 1st, 2008 at 12:11 am

they are planning on making it a more family friendly place, pretty much there has been increasing amounts of gang activity and underage drinking, so they are planning on adding a giant balloon, they currently have one in paris, so look up that and u can get an idea, and idk what else they want to do, they also plan on getting rid of disneyquest, which, personally, not a big deal in my book

Ricky wrote @ July 1st, 2008 at 12:48 am

I asked Kevin Lansberry about Disney Quest and he said there are no plans to change or remove Disney Quest at this time. It is just rumor.

MAV wrote @ July 1st, 2008 at 10:36 am

Well, that’s too bad, I mean I think it would be worth it still if they update it, there is really nothing in there worth doing…at least worth paying for. I wouldn’t be surprised if they get rid of it, or hopefully at least update it.

liz wrote @ July 15th, 2008 at 7:44 am

I think this is the dumbest thing ever. I live 10 mins away from P.I. and its a regular hang out spot for me and my friends. They are going to lose so much money because most of the people that go there are locals and disney cast members. So let’s think, why is this smart again?….Exactly, it isnt!

janice wheeler wrote @ September 7th, 2008 at 5:11 am

when will all these new restaurtants open