Thursday, January 18, 2018

PI Update: Island By Daylight

Let's visit Pleasure Island during the day to see what the clubs looked like in daylight. Crossing the No. 2 Bridge, you would be immediately greeted by the map of Downtown Disney surrounded by logos for the numerous nightclub venues!
BET Soundstage was the home of Hip Hop and R&B. After the sponsorship by Black Entertainment Television (BET) ended, BET was taken off the signs and it became just Soundstage Club. During the heyday of Hip Hop in the 90's, patrons faced long lines and a packed interior!
Motion was the last club to open and since its format was Top 40.  Since most of that genre was Hip Hop, it kind of put Soundstage out of business during the final couple of years. This was also home to line dances.

8TRAX was home to 70's Disco and in the later years, 80's hits. It was decorated with tons of 80's kitsch and there was nothing like entering the packed dance floor for the Bee Gees, Abba & more!
Of course my favorite club was Mannequins Dance Palace, home of the revolving dance floor and "techno" music as everyone used to call electronic music back then. The lighting and sound system was far ahead of anything else in town and this was in the era before lasers and laptop computers! It was always great fun watching first-time visitors approach the dance floor and realize it was spinning and then try to figure out how to get on it without falling!

 The multi-level Rock'N'Roll Beach Club was the home to a live band every night playing Rock hits. If you liked Rocker chicks, this was the place to find them!
Besides the 5 dance clubs, there was also 2 comedy clubs. Comedy Warehouse was home to live improv comedy shows offered during numerous performances every night. Since it involved audience participation, you never knew what might happen!
"Arrive a stranger, leave a little stranger" was the motto of Adventurers Club which is so difficult to describe.  It involved a cast of regular characters holding club meetings and interacting with patrons attending. Whoa to the uninitiated! We miss our Pleasure Island!

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