My credentials:
- Disney Vacation Club member for over a decade.
- Visitor to Walt Disney World the year of its opening.
- Yearly visitor for over 30 years.
- No kids. (that I am aware of...)
For me, Disney World has been it's own gateway drug. Over the years as my financial situation has improved my trips have gone up in price. To be honest, the Magic Kingdom holds a little less magic than it used to and I find myself more interested in helping a new visitor find Mama Melroses's restaurant, which is basically hidden in the far back of Disney Hollywood Studios. Taking a picture for a young couple rather than taking pictures myself. So why do I continue to go back every year?
The Walt Disney Company saw me as a market in time to get ready. They built EPCOT center which allowed me to tour the world without leaving Disney property and learn something while riding a dark ride in a giant silver golf ball. They allowed me to tour a GM test track at 60 miles an hour right inside the park. Even now I can fly over gorgeous terrains without leaving my seat. This was a very nice way to keep me coming back.
The next thing they did was realize all of us had to eat, and as we got a little older, we would rather sit in comfort and be entertained while we did it. Enter some of the best chefs from around the world and a fantastic commissary system. The restaurants of EPCOT Center are all wondrous and each provides a unique experience through themes and authentic staff members from around the world.
You know what though? Sometimes I would like a little escape from the culture and why not back to the movies? Maybe the Magic Kingdom is targeted to a slightly younger crowd and some of the experiences target movies and animation whose memories are starting to fade for me. It has been a few years since Swiss Family Robinson and all the wilderness films that Disney was famous for are almost forgotten.
Ah, but our friends at WDW figure this out too. They opened Disney MGM Studios Florida and brought me right back inside the movies and television all over again. They also hit the mark with themed restaurants. All this and they brought me back in time to 1930's and 1940's.
As if that wasn't enough, I do like live music and Country Bear Jamboree, though still fun, was not really hitting the mark for me. Up popped Pleasure Island. Now I could jump from the 80's, the 70's even the 60's and experience live music in a vibrant party atmosphere. This was a reason to stay up late and keep going till I dropped.
Of all of these attractions, Pleasure Island was the one to fail to hit it's mark. I think Disney had a hard time combining high energy and alcohol with the local teen age crowd while still making this a magical and safe place like all the other parks. They tried to control it some by increasing the prices but part of the charm was just walking through and experiencing it for a minute or an hour. At $30 per head, suddenly you started to want to make sure you got your money's worth.
Pleasure Island became confused, lost focus, and eventually was reduced to a couple of restaurants and shops. The themed hot spots all shut down, some were even dismantled. The greatest tragedy being the lost of the Adventurers Club which was absolutely brilliant. Can I get a Kongaloosh?
On my last trip I decided to take a tour of the carcass of Pleasure Island. I have pictures of the horrible devastation inside the Adventurers Club. As I walked along the grounds littered with none too inconspicuous shrubs blocking entrances to the old night clubs I began to notice musical artists setting up. An amplifier here. A display of CD's for sale over there. Did Disney read my mind? I wanted some live music, not a big fanfare just some light fun to keep the night moving along. There is was. I had my choice. Mimes and musicians and to be honest that is as far as I got. I found a nice spot, plopped down and enjoyed some fantastic live music.
END PART 1
