Glenn Walker is a writer who knows pop culture. He loves, hates, and lives pop culture. He knows too freaking much about pop culture, and here's where he talks about it all: movies, music, comics, television, and the rest... Welcome to Hell.
For a little over half a year now, The GAR! Podcast family has grown by one. The Make Mine Magic Podcast, unlike its sister production, is focused, planned and rehearsed and features myself and The Bride talking about all things Disney.
This week we’re talking about the Disney animated film Beauty and the Beast, but not in the traditional way. There have been many articles on BuzzFeed about what's wrong with the movie - unanswered questions, illogical plot holes and the like - so we decided to take on those questions ourselves. We even invoke Spider-Man and Sweeney Todd in our discussion. You can hear Episode 30 here, and find out what all the Beauty and the Beast hubbub is about.
Pleasure Island, the nightlife portion of Walt Disney World, an island strip mall of nightclubs, restaurants and stores, closed last year. With it, many of the resort’s best entertainments vanished. Among them an audience participation comedy club, a country and western club, the BET club, an upscale dance club, a 70s disco, a rock bar and first and foremost – The Adventurers Club – which was as far as I (and I’m not alone) am concerned, was one of the reasons to go to Disney World in the first place.
It’s really kinda sad. With Pleasure Island closed, you can still walk through what to those who remember what was is now a ghost town. No gates at the bridges, no lights, closed doors of the clubs, and high above what used to a DJ booth for the whole strip – a sign still lit that says “LIVE” over the darkened “PLEASURE ISLAND” sign.
There are still some stores here so there are still shoppers. They walk through, sometimes curiously looking at the closed doors of clubs like archeologists looking at the statues of Easter Island. They wish they knew their secrets and could live their lives.
There are rumors that one or two of the clubs (hopefully the Adventurers Club) may reopen either here or at another location. Let’s hope so. WDW just isn’t the same without this place.
On September 27th, the Adventurers Club on Pleasure Island (along with the rest of the island) at Walt Disney World, Orlando, closed. It was truly the end of an era. In my humble opinion, the Adventurers Club, an interactive theatre experience for Disney’s adult guests, was one of the best attractions and the highlight of any visit to the resort. That unfortunately ended a week ago.
The Bride and I got the opportunity for a final visit to the Club on our last trip to Disney. We got to the Club on Saturday the 13th, and it was packed, wall-to-wall people also there for a last chance to visit and interact with the Adventurers. It should be noted, both here and by the powers that be at Disney that have closed this club, that there was standing room only, and that every one of those people paid a highly unreasonable price (about thirty bucks) just to get in the door. If anything, that should tell them how much the AC is loved and cherished by those who were hip to its existence.
We managed to see three of the library shows that night. I’m so glad we got one last chance to join in on the fun. It was so worth it. And the attitude of the actors was upbeat. To quote Club President Pamilia Perkins, “We’re not sad it’s over, we’re happy it happened.”
Please, Disney, rethink this decision, and please reopen the Adventurers Club at another location. It’s one of the best things about any trip to your parks.
One of the major reasons to go to the Walt Disney World Resort, and perhaps the only reason to go to Pleasure Island is... The Adventurers Club.
Many people are unaware of this wonderful themed nightclub at Pleasure Island but those hip to it know it's the place to be every night of their WDW visit. Outfitted like a 1930s club for adventurers this is an interactive experience with various shows throughout the night. In between shows the action never stops as visitors can interact with actors for a different experience every time you visit. The walls are alive and the objects d'art speak to you, and the exploration never stops as you notice something different every time you're there.
We have a visit to WDW planned for September, and of course on the agenda were nightly trips to the Adventurers Club. And then a friend hipped me to this: On September 28, 2008, they will be closing down the clubs at Pleasure Island and will be replacing them with shops and restaurants. Some sources say this is due to lack of attendance at Pleasure Island. If this is in fact true, perhaps Disney could have instead invested some advertising for such wonderful and largely unknown treasures like the Adventurers Club.
There is an online petition going around to save the Adventurers Club. You can see it and sign ithere.
