Friday, August 21, 2009

Will This Building Reopen As A New Club? (Updated Monday)


A few months ago this Blog reported that a high-ranking Disney Entertainment official had ordered Mannequins and 8TRAX to be "made show ready". Nothing ever happened. Awhile later some of the clubs were made available for private rentals but not the Mannequins/8TRAX building which was, as a PI employee told me, "off limits". Recently we reported on a slew of rumors about Soundstage, Adventurers Club, Rock'n'Roll Beach Club and Motion being torn down soon. During that spate of rumors no mention was made of the Mannequins/8TRAX building. Then an anonymous person in the Comments section of the August 15th entry posted that the Mannequins/8TRAX building was staying. So today I was out on the island snooping around and I asked a managerial level employee what the latest PI rumors were? She said that she had just heard about a week ago that 2 clubs were going to be opening on the island. Hmmm. As long as there are rumors, there is hope.
Hopefully we'll hear something announced at the D23 Convention next month in Anaheim!
Sunday Update: Fresh rumors on the Island about Mannequins and 8TRAX reopening, possibly as soon as October. Latest gossip has AC reopening as well which of course is contrary to last week's rumor about all the waterfront club buildings being demolished. Stay tuned to this Blog for all the latest rumors!
Monday Update: Lots of denials out there that any PI clubs are going to reopen. In particular, Adventurers Club artifacts are to be shipped to HKDL come this October so no way is it going to reopen. But supposedly the first piece of construction to take place....this Fall....will be the removal of the former PI Live booth atop the Fuego Cigar Bar, to be replaced with an upstairs outdoor patio for smoking and drinking. No further word on the Mannequins/8TRAX building.

16 comments:

zulemara said...

interesting that she says she only heard it 2 weeks ago. With people reporting mannequins/8trax will stay, but "no mention" of what it will become, it does make you wonder.

There is also the fact that someone just wandered into mannequins, meaning something was happening, be it good or bad.

As usual, only time will tell

KingBob said...

Well she had not heard about the "lighthouse" rumor so wherever she heard that, it was not from the internet.

Anonymous said...

OMG lets hope so... I was saying to Dwayne that we miss Mannequins so much and ADH is like Motion which is ok... but, NOT Mannequins. Dancing on a spinning floor with 10000 watts of music blaring away and the CO2 cannons blasting away cooling the floor 20 degrees in 4 seconds, how can you replecate this? OPEN IT BACK UP....

Anonymous said...

Amen. You said it all.

Virtual Toad said...

It seems weird that they would announce the Mannequins and 8Trax reopening at D23 unless the AC was also included in that announcement. D23 doesn't seem like exactly the right target audience for the first two clubs, but announcing the reopening of AC would definitely be something the D23 crowd would get excited about.

Anonymous said...

Well it would be great if they reopened, however, who's to say what music format they would have! Let's hope it's not an indoor version of Celebrate Tonight on a spinning dance floor! I'm crossing my fingers for the original formats along with the AC opening as well.

KingBob said...

Toad, that's a valid point. But I could see them make announcements at D23 about what their plans are for Pleasure Island in general. We're just hoping a couple clubs are reopening but there are Disney CM's who insist...point blank...that clubs are NOT going to reopen.

DHass22 said...

What is the date for the D23 in Anaheim? And will the event stream on the internet?

Anonymous said...

I couple see 8Trax working with a slightly updated 70s/80s/90s format, to cater to the convention / adult weekend getaway crowd. But if, by some miracle, the clubs were to reopen, I can't imagine anyone in management being clueful enough to go with a pure dance format again. I suspect top 40/light hip-hop would look better on paper if we're talking about offering the choice of just two music clubs.

(But no, that's not what I or any regular Mannequins attendee would want, either.)

KingBob said...

Yeah, more likely a Top 40 Motion/Groove format would be more successful in the long run because that's what most people seem to want. But we need the club back first!!

Anonymous said...

Please Please Please re-open Mannequins it would be so good if they do,and would make two very happy uk visitors!

Anonymous said...

All we have right now is rumors. I have had 2 sources tell me that they heard that AC is the only club re-opening. At this point, I'd be happy with Mannequins and or 8 Trax. Not AC.

KingBob said...

MlbgNavy, the D23 conference is September 10-13.

Anon above, AC is reopening....as a restaurant....at Hong Kong Disneyland. I assume that your rumors pertain to AC at PI. I am VERY skeptical though that AC is reopening locally. It just seems so unlikely.

Anonymous said...

I'm getting excited. I've spoke with several cast members and all agree that one or more likely two clubs will re-open. Who knows for sure but I like what I'm hearing!!

Bill said...

If they break any news at Congaloosh, I'll consider it my first duty to report it here. :)

KingBob said...

I was really tempted to buy a Congaloosh ticket....even for $100....but while I appreciated AC for its uniqueness and cleverness, I just was not a fan overall. I sure hope it reopens because there are THOUSANDS that would be thrilled! I doubt anything will be announced at Congaloosh since it's just a private party using some of the AC CM's. But if those CM's have any information, who knows what might get leaked!