Wednesday, July 6, 2011

PI Update: Does New DVC President Help Pleasure Island?

We all know that Disney's best kept secret is what they plan to do with Pleasure Island now that it's been 3 years since they shut everything down. But the "Disney Secret" slogan actually belongs to Disney Vacation Club, the timeshare wing of the corporation. So yesterday's announcement that Karl Holz has been promoted to oversee DVC operations could bring a new angle to the Pleasure Island story. Because you see, Holz comes over having been President of Disney Cruise Line. And if there is one single place within the Disney corporation that supported the idea of adult entertainment options, it was Disney Cruise Line!

Original DCL ships Disney Wonder and Disney Magic always had areas that in the evening became adults-only. The clubs and bars became thee place to party! I recall a great time at Wavebands on the Wonder! Now DCL's newest ships, conceived under Holz's watch, include what the brochure describes as "a whole host of vibrant nightspots (that) invite you to play across an entire entertainment district." WOW, sounds just like PI. Apparently Holz understands that while you want to cater to families primarily, that does not preclude offering something for adults too. DCL is Disney's most profitable division. So hopefully Holz brings that same passion to the table at DVC, understanding that you can sell a lot more timeshare units if you offer something that broadens your prospective customer base beyond just families and retirees. Reporting directly to Tom Staggs, Holz is in a unique position to argue that the PI secret needs to get solved now and must include some adult-only options!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Karl Holtz was also the VP of DTD/PI back in the late 90's

Anonymous said...

Now that's REALLY interesting!

zulemara said...

yes in PI's best years, Holtz was in charge!

Randy said...

I'm a DVC owner and the biggest reason I bought was for the live music at Pleasure Island. I was heart broken the first time I was there after the clubs were shuttered. The new format of placing several singers and guitar players using prerecorded tracksthrough out the island is a far cry from what used to be there. I was once again dissapointed during My latest visit this last June.

zulemara said...

well now you have someone to write a letter to who was directly responsible for PI during its best days! Time to flood Karl Holtz's inbox!

Anonymous said...

yawn......

KingBob said...

Zule & others,this would be more exciting of course if Holz had been brought back to run DTD. That is not the case. His new position brings no direct authority for what is going on at Pleasure Island. I just hope he has the ability to "influence" others that a reinvigorated Pleasure Island would not only significantly increase revenue at DTD itself but also increase sales of DVC units.

Randy, you are not alone. A lot of disappointed people out there who bought units to be close to the PI fun, only to have that taken away.

Anon at 3pm, you're free to yawn all you want but since you continuously find this Blog uninteresting, perhaps you should spend your time elsewhere.

Anonymous said...

Hopefully Mr,Holtz will put in a good word for us, and realize that three years has been long enough for the clubs to be closed.
Now it's time to light up P.I. and reopen the clubs, so the adults can "Dance" and "Party"!!
P.S.
Mr,Holtz May turn things around.

Anonymous said...

Karl L Holz
President
Disney Cruise Line and New Vacation Ops
200 Celebration Pl
Kissimmee, FL 34747

karl.holz@disney.com

71 said...

Even tho he has no real authority, it's nice to have a voice of reason back at a fairly high level.

DCL probably averages fewer visitors without kids than even WDW, but each ship still has half a deck solely dedicated to nightlife for adults. Bring back some nightlife to WDW!

KingBob said...

Anyone dropping Mr. Holz an email needs to keep that in mind: He's NOT in charge of PI. But as someone who has proven his support for adult entertainment in the past at both DTD and DCL and as someone who has been given the responsibility to increase sales at DVC, bringing back adults to Disney World is certainly one way to accomplish that!