Pleasure Island at Walt Disney World was a six acre man-made island in Downtown Disney
that featured a number of nightclubs where guests looking to keep their vacation going
could drink, dance and celebrate new years eve every evening.
After almost 20 years the island finally closed its doors.
Was poor planning on Disney’s part the reason why?
That’s kind of a vague question so let me specify.
Did the poor planning around the layout of Downtown Disney and it’s expansion ultimately
result in the closure of Pleasure Island?
As far as Disney’s official stance, we’ll probably never know but otherwise it seems
that it played a part.
In order to dig into why, we first need to look at the history of Pleasure Island.
Back in the mid 1980s when Michael Eisner took over as Disney’s new CEO, he became
very concerned with trying to keep guests on Disney property.
There was a lot of money involved in a Walt Disney World vacation and he felt that there
was no reason why that money shouldn’t go into Disney’s pocket instead of middlemen
outside of the company.
He pushed for building more owned and operated resorts on Disney property so that guests
would stay at their hotels over outside chains.
He expanded the resort from two theme parks to four in order to give people a reason to
stay longer.
All of that was great, but one problem was that at the end of the day when the parks
closed, there wasn’t much left to do.
Adult guests would head to downtown Orlando for its nightlife scene, which was growing
with the popularity of places like Church Street Station.
So Disney, too, decided it was time to get into the nightlife game.
They dug out a canal through a piece of Downtown Disney, which at the time was called Walt
Disney World Village, and built six night clubs on the man-made island.
They ranged from techno clubs to comedy clubs to the cult favorite, The Adventurers Club.
Borrowing the name from Pinocchio and given its own original backstory, the island was
dubbed Pleasure Island.
After going over budget more than three times its original estimate of thirty million dollars
and after being delayed for over a year, Pleasure Island opened on May 1st, 1989, the same day
as Disney-MGM Studios.
As part of the opening Walt Disney World Village was rebranded as the Disney Village Marketplace.
When it first opened, the business model for the island was such that guests were able
to freely come and go on the island itself, but the clubs themselves had a cover fee.
This model resulted in long lines outside of the clubs and confusion from guests who
didn’t know where they could or couldn’t go.
So as a result, the following year in 1990 they switched over to a gated island model.
At 7pm, guests would have to pay a flat $10 fee to enter the island, which would grant
them access to all six clubs.
This not only helped with crowds and lines, but also encouraged guests to explore the
different clubs throughout the night.
It also allowed Disney to offer outside entertainment.
Disney felt they needed a hook to re-launch the island and clear up the confusion of the
initial year.
One idea was to have the island celebrate New Years Eve every night of the year, complete
with party favors, outdoor music, a countdown, and fireworks.
It was a bit confusing as first, but it ultimately worked, and Pleasure Island became a popular
nightlife spot for both Disney guests and Orlando locals.
Things were great!
Then, in 1997 the area would see a significant change that may very well have been the beginning
of the downfall of Pleasure Island.
The Disney Village Marketplace was once again rebranded.
The original area was still considered the marketplace and Pleasure Island was still
Pleasure Island.
However in addition to the two areas, a new section to the west of Pleasure Island opened
under the name of the West Side, featuring Disney Quest along with a few new restaurants
and venues.
Together, all three areas were collectively now known as Downtown Disney.
Here’s where the problem comes in.
The way Downtown Disney was laid out, the easiest way to get from the Marketplace to
the West Side was through Pleasure Island, and after 7pm that island was closed off.
For guests who didn’t want to pay to get on to Pleasure Island, they had to go back
to the Downtown Disney parking lot area to go around the island.
It wasn’t the end of the world, but it wasn’t convenient either.
A number of years later in 2004 Disney would once again revert Pleasure Island back to
its original setup.
Guests would be once again be able to wander on and off the island for free, while paying
for access separately for the clubs.
While this did solve the traffic flow problems of Downtown Disney, it also meant the eventual
retiring of some of the outdoor activities on the island.
By the next year Disney would discontinue the nightly New Years Eve celebrations.
Bit by bit Pleasure Island was losing part of the charm that made it stand out to guests
looking for a good time.
Eventually it was announced that in September of 2008 Pleasure Island would close in order
to be replaced by various shopping and dining spots.
It was going to be rebranded and rethemed to an area called Hyperion Wharf, but after
constant delays the project went nowhere, until a few years later when Disney would
unveil their plans for a complete transformation of Downtown Disney into Disney Springs.
So was the placement of the West End the reason why Pleasure Island closed?
Well, I don’t think so.
I think it played a significant part as the changes to the island to deal with the flow
of guests ultimately lead to Pleasure Island losing parts of what made it special.
That said, there’s usually more than one reason behind a change that significant.
For one, it’s argued that the clubs began to show their age.
Disney is not particularly known for staying on the cutting edge of popular trends.
There’s also the fact that Disney Parks were staying open later over time, and the
resort was growing and offering more to do in the evenings, giving guests more options
outside of Pleasure Island to keep busy.
Again, with something like this, there will probably never be an official answer, but
the changes and eventual fate of Pleasure Island serve as a good example of just how
important something as seemingly simple as layout can be to the life of an attraction
or land at Walt Disney World.