Tuesday, August 12, 2014

PI Update: West End Construction

Moving over to West End Plaza today and continuing our tour of construction updates on Pleasure Island.
This peculiar-looking device continues to take shape but I have no idea what it is.  It looks a lot like a train locomotive roundhouse turntable but since our last visit stone pillars are going up at regular intervals around the turntable.  Keep in mind this is on the Island's upper level; you can see the drop off at the top of the photo.  Does anybody know what this is?
Closeup of some of the stone pillars in front of Adventurers Club and BET Soundstage.
Immediately adjacent the turntable, the new steak house restaurant.  The front faces the upper level of Pleasure Island while the rear will face the Island's lower level.
A better view showing its immediacy to the "turntable".
Moving east along the slant of Hill Street, new construction where the old Curl by Sammy Duval store used to stand.  Like it's predecessor, this has an upper level facing the main drag and a lower level facing the backside of 8TRAX.
In this shot of the same structure one can see (middle right) the old stairtower from 8TRAX as well as the new structure built in front of 8TRAX.
The view from Hill Street of the new shops going in front of 8TRAX.
Again, from up high. This is really starting to take shape.
With three more storefronts besides the Mannequins building.
This is The now-dried-up Waterfront, future home of the "springs" of Disney Springs.
The few puddles in there are from rainwater.
Mannequins garage door was closed this weekend.  They have built a ramp up to it to facilitate whatever it is they're hauling out of the place.
Meanwhile out front...........!

10 comments:

Jeff - Gainesville said...

Still amazing that they have not touched AC and BET. Weird.

Anonymous said...

Hate to say it but the dumpster out side of mannequins garage door seems to have the orange shaded beams that are inside of mannequins.

Anonymous said...

I have to agree Anon...that was my first thought

Anonymous said...

Listen for the screams across the land when wooden planks with rounded edges start showing up in that dumpster!

KingBob said...

Yes, those do appear to be some of the corner pillars that made up the club! This ain't good.

Anonymous said...

This whole thing is beyond rediculous. To close Mannequuns and the other clubs for over 5 years just to put more shops and restaurants in is preposterous. Disney is going to need some oomph to get people in here. A nightly celebration. Would be a start and then se clubs. It's a damn crime what certain people in Disney management were able to do to Mannequins Dance Palace. Off with their heads!

Anonymous said...

I agree with what that guy said,
that they should get some of the nightclubs reopened.
They don't need anymore shops or restaurants.
P.S. It is a dang shame.

Anonymous said...

if the beams are down they kinda means the 2nd floor has to be gone or next?

KingBob said...

Anon at 10:23pm, there are relatively few nights per year when Downtown Disney needs more restaurant capacity than it already has. Sure, they plan to draw more people with the expansion but the number of new restaurant seats DTD is getting seems pretty staggering and most nights of the year, unneeded. How long these places last will be quite interesting.

Anon at 11:39pm, the rumor is that DTD/DS will be stocked with luxury stores for foreign tourists. But as the closings of Saks 5th Avenue and Nordstrom stores in Orlando show, there is only a limited need for luxury stores. There's gonna come a time when Disney wishes it still had the locals to count on.

Anon at 5:47pm, hard to say where those pillars are from or whether the 2nd floor will remain.

Anonymous said...

Did anyone else notice that the middle part of the 'locomotive turntable' is approximatley the same size as Mannequins' revolving dance floor?