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WDW To Close PI's Six Clubs

spenser1058

By spenser1058
in Orlando

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Boomer136 Hamlet

Boomer136

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I don't think doomed from the start, more a victim of its own success. It did what it did when it did it. It brought money into the coffers when it opened, it brought locals onto property. It made Downtown Disney into a lot more than it was, I can't even remember what it was called. I just remember the guest groups on the 'Buena Vista Stage'. Every thing very brown and National Park like. PI also was the base that drew folks to see the West End.

Now its an awkward thing that doesn't go with the surroundings that it helped create. Perhaps another setting if they really want to court the twenty somethings. Expand the Boardwalk perhaps, the hotels around there are better suited to that anyway, and much better a walk than having to get on a resort bus drunk to get to your hotel, only to find you got on the wrong bus.... twice... or so I heard this one guy tell....

Tear down the barricades and open to wander freely. Like it started out with separate covers and free to go to the shops and the little f&b stands.

Of course while I'm in the way-back machine, I have to say the original Zyphers was great. An alien house band playing covers while drunks roller skated on the second floor. Now THAT was doomed from the start. Many a fine Zappy-hour did I have eating at the free buffet for dinner and getting an all club pass for buying a margarita and go club hopping. Not to mention meeting many European lovelies whose boyfriends either did something stupid or broke it off with them while they were in Florida.

Another pastime of mine was relating to tourists that the only place in the Disney lore that Pleasure Island is mentioned is in Pinocchio as the carnival that boys were turned into jackasses. Some made the comparison to the tourists on occasion.

But a toast to PI. Whose press events and Grand Openings (both of them) I worked long hours on. You didn't sink into the swamp but once, you contributed much, including a new public transportation dimension to the walk of shame. (Oh the stares of the children are what haunts us all). RIP my friend.

PS. I remembered, it was the Buena Vista Village!

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Chemmie Whistle-Stop

Chemmie

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Anyone who thinks PI didn't contribute much must not have been around when that area was just Lake Buena Vista Village. PI changed that entire area into what it is today.

I remember as a child, my parents always set aside one day so they could hang around LBV Village. I hated that day.

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prahaboheme City

prahaboheme

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This is not really a surprise--the CityWalk model is much more successful for Universal than PI has been in recent years for Disney. This land is not going to sit vacant for long, expect it to reopen as a new entertainment complex that caters better to the Disney demographic.

Despite Disney's very successful efforts to pull the nightlife scene away from Church Street, they were never able to back it up with the vibrancy of Church Street in it's heyday.

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JRS1 Town

JRS1

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it's a sad day. Manneqins' was awesome. 8-Trax aka The Cage were both very cool. saw Sinbad at 8-Trax in 1993.

PI was awesome. now, all those techno memories and the Phantom show at the top of every hour will be lost forever.

HOWEVER, they already deleted the Jazz club in favor of the Irish restaurant. Rock n Roll Beach Club was cool... 3 levels of it; I saw Rick Springfield in 1998 on the West End Stage.

-----------------------------------------

all I can say is this... people should've been out on Sat. night in downtown Orlando. all the venues were packed. the effects of PI have worn off in downtown... (for another thread).

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ORLANDOJBBOY Whistle-Stop

ORLANDOJBBOY

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Buddy Dyer hasn't exactly been great for Orlando, he has approved way to many condo projects and not brought in very much business to downtown, there is way to much empty office space and empty condos, and as for PI i started going there like 6 years ago, and hate the drive down there but absolutely love the clubs and the mix of music it has to offer. Once PI closes I will never go down there again, I have no reason. I can go see movies cheaper elsewhere and eat cheaper better food elsewhere. I am waiting for the next news to come out of there, Disney not allowing any Rated R movies play at the theatre. And no one allowed on property unless they are with a child 48" or shorter <_<

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spenser1058 Gigalopolis

spenser1058

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With all due respect, the supposed "giveaway" of Baldwin Park fails to take into account what was going on at the time. What had generally been the case after base closings was that they laid fallow and became eyesores and drains on the communities they were left in for years afterwards, thanks to foot-dragging by the DoD caused by everything from bureaucratic inertia to envronmental issues.

As soon as it became clear NTC Orlando was closing, Glenda, along with many others in the Orlando leadership community, put together a base closure and reuse committee to do everything necessary to make sure that redevelopment took place ASAP. It was one of the most transparent projects the area had ever seen - there were scores of community meetings and opportunities for input. The Orlando Sentinel, which still had actual reporters doing real journalism at the time, vetted the process closely, as did the editorial page.

The neighborhoods surrounding NTC (and the City of Winter Park) were scared to death that the base would end up used for affordable housing and were amenable to just about any solution that would avoid that. Also unforeseen was the great housing bubble to come which would make it possible for people to pay incredible amounts of money for housing.

The Pritzker family did what entrepreneurs do - they looked ahead and saw the potential for a great deal. While one can today see how much money was to be made, that was not at all the view from the beginning of the process. In any event, the taxes the City will net from the success of the Baldwin Park project will continue to be a plus long after everyone has forgotten about the initial process.

Glenda, in moving the Baldwin Park project ahead, was reflecting what was her greatest strength as mayor - empowering the neighborhoods to control their destinies. It was a strength in most cases, but in some instances I will discuss later (this gets complex and too much for one posting) it also was seen by some as a weakness. More in another post later.

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jack Burg

jack

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Glenda's giveaway of Baldwin Park and her fleecing of Church St to conman Pearlman could be a thread unto itself! And the only people screaming, "Buddy is our Hero!" are developers and sports team owners.
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jack Burg

jack

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Buddy Dyer hasn't exactly been great for Orlando, he has approved way to many condo projects and not brought in very much business to downtown, there is way to much empty office space and empty condos, and as for PI i started going there like 6 years ago, and hate the drive down there but absolutely love the clubs and the mix of music it has to offer. Once PI closes I will never go down there again, I have no reason. <_<
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Hisma Whistle-Stop

Hisma

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history of boybands, lol

Glad that garbage didn't pan out. Giving Pearlman the key to the city was one of the biggest PR debacles in the cities history, at least from what I can remember.

Only good thing I can say about Glenda is she really supported the arts.

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