Exciting news today from Downtown Disney. It was announced today that the old Virgin Megastore building is going to be renovated and turned into an upscale Splitsville bowling alley. The building currently houses RidemakerZ which is relocating to space within the Team Mickey store in Downtown Disney Marketplace. The Princess Diana Museum temporarily occupied the Virgin space shortly after Virgin closed. Why is this exciting? Splitsville brings not only a new family entertainment option to DTD but it brings with it the possibility of adult-only entertainment later in the evening. It surely will offer some type of lounge with the possibility of live or DJ-type entertainment. I've been to the Splitsville in Tampa and it's a very cool mix of lounge, food and even bowling. The location there is relatively small; our location will be much larger on the main floor alone let alone the possibilities for upstairs!
Over on Pleasure Island, the announcement goes on to say they've completed removing some of the buildings that were not needed in their future plans. That would be Motion and Rock'n'Roll Beach Club. And while they were doing that, they identified opportunities to further refine their plans. Translation: The announced Hyperion Wharf plans need major changes! The link to this article follows below. I'd like to point out that the name "Hyperion Wharf" is never mentioned by Disney even once. I think it's dead.
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2011/07/downtown-disney-update/
Also at the Orlando Sentinel:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/the-daily-disney/os-disney-hyperion-wharf-stalled-20110712,0,5782159.story
So what are the plans? I don't know but a Blog source provided this information to us back in April which would be awesome if true:
http://savepleasureisland.blogspot.com/2011/04/pi-update-new-rumor-says-further.html
This is good news in that it isn't bad (yet).
ReplyDeleteWait..."upscale entertainment center that combines bowling with billiards, dining, music and nightlife." Music and Nightlife at DTD? There's an idea... Well, sounds like a step in the right direction atleast, but I guess we'll have to see if anything really comes from this also... That's why we love you Bob, we know you will get the inside scoop! Really curious to see what anyone knows about the future of our Island now that the Wharf is "on-hold"....
ReplyDeleteThey still have no clue what their doing.
ReplyDeleteWell, I do love the fact that it makes absolutely NO mention of HYPERION WHARF. Only Pleasure Island and its future!
ReplyDeleteThis is what I posted on the Orlando Sentinel website:
ReplyDeleteI think this is great news. The SAVE PLEASURE ISLAND BLOG reported back on April 28th that its sources were saying that some of the clubs could reopen.....as clubs, but operated by third parties and not Disney. We're hopeful that's where this announcement today is leading. There is an incredible demand for Disney to give its guests night life options beyond more restaurants and shops.
In the meanwhile, the upscale bowling alley concept has proven successful in many places and what better fit for the old Virgin store. Bravo Disney!!
There's a Splitsville at Channelside Bay Plaza in Tampa. It's pretty neat.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.splitsvillelanes.com
yawn,,,,
ReplyDeleteI hope this is a step in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteYes, King Bob hopefully it'll workout putting a bowling ally on the bottom floor, and a lounge upstairs all in the old Virgin music store.
Also glad to know we're going to keep Pleasure Island and gradually reopen the clubs, bring adult entertaintment back, and bring back nightlife.
P.S.
Lets light up P.I. and let everybody party!!
don't know if clubs are reopening-thats just a rumor.
ReplyDeletesame old Disney! will say one thing then do the other! how long have any of you lived in the Orlando area! and or been to disney?
ReplyDeleteAnyone wanna venture a guess as to what the success of Harry Potter at Universal is doing to Disney? As a result of that, City Walk is doing pretty well from what I'm hearing.
ReplyDeleteWell, it isn't the clubs that we all knew but I'm glad to see that they are doing something that makes sense. Thanks for the up the the minute report!
ReplyDeleteWow, now I can drive all the way to WDW to do something I've been able to do in Tampa for years now!
ReplyDeleteIt just keeps getting BOLDer and NEWer all the time.
Bring back the damn clubs already. At least the ones that haven't already been demolished.
It's good news--my understanding is most outlets for this chain are 18+ after 9:00. Definite step in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteThat said, it seems fairly obvious to me this is in direct response to the soon-to-open Dave & Busters. D&B has a lot of locals excited, I suspect it would have started pulling tourists, as well, like Church St. Station used to.
Anon at 10:09pm & 10:40pm, I agree that this is a step in the right direction. But nothing in this story is about clubs reopening.
ReplyDeleteAnon at 2:33am, I don't think they're purposely saying one thing and then doing another. I think things are in a state of flux.
DJ Smooth, no doubt Harry Potter has stolen 1-2 days of a one week vacation away from Disney and over to Uni, for a lot of tourists. But I'd have to guess that the booming CityWalk complex is more likely due to PI no longer competing with it than from Harry. From what I understand, CW improvements were put on hold to help pay for Harry Potter and now that Potter is bringing in lots of money for Uni, we may see some of the profits invested back into CW. We're seeing it with the new steakhouse in Latin Quarter and the new mini-golf. I expect to see some modernization at The Groove and ultimately it would not surprise me to see a new club added to the mix.
Toad, many larger cities have an upscale bowling alley but much of America does not. But more important than the bowling, it represents a change of heart at DTD to offer something for adults at night again. That's the real significance of this.
71, my initial thought was that this was a competitive attack on Dave & Busters. I no longer think that. D&B is a restaurant and lots of video games. That's competition for Disney Quest. There is also no bowling at D&B. This is a new category in itself. The only current competition is Firkin & Kegler, the upscale bowling alley out by Waterford Lakes that includes a restaurant and club.
still yawningggggggggggggg.....
ReplyDeleteand yes BOB Disney does say one thing and do the other so you do not know what is going on! Disney does not want any one to know what is going on till it is open!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of the new club at CW..just not sure where you'd put it.
ReplyDeleteIf they'd be willing to spend some money, the groove could become a serious club. You'd have to drop a lot of $$ though to really do it right; I'm talking South Beach kind of right. ;)
Disney put the breaks on the mono rails, pleasure island changed the plans for fanstyland what is next?
ReplyDeleteActually King Bob, some of the D&Bs do have bowling lanes. Perhaps not to the extent of Splitsville (or in the new Orlando locale), but some do have lanes...
ReplyDeleteSmooth, I'm told there are 2 remaining spaces in CityWalk for future clubs but the only one I'm aware of is the area currently used for storage directly across the walkway from Bob Marley's. Would love to see them improve The Groove. They have not spent much money on the place over the years.
ReplyDeleteAnon, was not aware that some D&B's have bowling lanes. The ones I've been to, MIAMI, JACKSONVILLE & ARUNDEL MILLS did not.