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| Return visit to Zen Exotic Lounge in downtown Orlando hoping that crowds have discovered it. |
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| DJ Rude had the shift last night and was putting out an incredible set of House during my visit from the incredible speaker system in the club. |
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| They've also got some great lighting in there along with numerous lasers. The only thing missing is people! |
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| It was a Pub Crawl weekend too last night and this time the theme was 80's. I'm told more than 1,000 participants were involved this round. They were all over the place! |
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| For a flat fee you're led around to an assortment of clubs where you get one included drink. |
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| The next time they do a 70's Disco crawl I'm definitely going to participate. |
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| It would be a lot of fun if The Groove could get people to dress up for their 80's Nights. |
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| Tried to stop by the newer club Heat to see how they're doing. Closed, locked, shut-down! A real blow to downtown and particularly Church Street. IMO, too much Hip Hop being played in there! |
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| Directly across the street is another new club, Touch. During my only prior visit right after they opened they were playing a lot of Hip Hop too on Saturday nights. No more. |
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| They've switched the Saturday night format to House and Top 40 Dance, delivered last night by DJ Mark Sparks. Great music mix kept me hanging there much longer than planned. |
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| Lots of people on the dance floor! |
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| The club is named for the touch screens at each table where you can order drinks directly on the built-in monitor. Ultra cool feature! |
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| Was invited into Touch Bridge, up on the overpass above Church Street. Admission is separate from the club Touch and different music is played in here. Lasts night during my fairly early visit the DJ was playing Chill music but I'm told they have different formats on different nights. Great potential up here! |
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| I then headed over to Endent Bar, formerly Independent Bar. |
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| DJ Indie John playing early to mid-80's New Wave/Old Wave video classics. |
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| The crowd was wall-to-wall. OK, they really didn't change their name. |
That sucks about Heat... Well, another one bites the dust!
ReplyDeleteI've said it before, I don't think clubs in this town are operated by people who have a clue what they're doing. I mean that in the most generic way possible. I've worked in or seen enough to know how many places in downtown operate, out by the attactions, Kirkman Rd, Clermont, etc. The list goes on and on and on.
ReplyDeleteWe're talking all aspects of operations; liquor prices, door policy, music format, decor, lighting, etc..
As a somewhat new resident, I think I have a reasonably objective opinion. :)
Was really impressed with the lighting at Dragonfly in Niagara Falls. Nothing in Orlando compares. But you did not live here when Mannequins was around. Now THAT was incredible. When Disney wants to amaze, they do! That's why I'm hoping some refurbishments are coming to the Island. They will AMAZE!
ReplyDeleteI've been in the Dixie Dance Kings record pool based out of Atlanta since 1995. I remember back in the 90s when I was working up in Buckhead and we'd have pool meetings once a year, a couple of the Djs in the pool worked at Pleasure Island and would tell stories here and there.
ReplyDeleteAlways heard about it, just not got down here to see it.
My understanding is that 3rd parties will be allowed to reopen the former clubs as clubs. They would be allowed to operate under Disney's liquor license. Disney would rehab the buildings to agreed upon specifications and then charge the 3rd party rent plus a pct of profits. Rehab of buildings would be a much cheaper option versus demolition and a complete rebuild, something apparently the 3rd parties balked at. How "incredible" something gets rebuilt is dependent on how much rent the 3rd party operator is willing to spend. But Disney's track record is excellent when it comes to the WOW factor!
ReplyDeleteYou sure about the liquor license part?
ReplyDeleteThat could be some huge liability for Disney.
Yes. My source of the rumor specifically mentioned that. Over in another internet chat forum that aspect was discussed and someone posted the Florida statute which long ago was amended to allow third parties to operate under Disney's liquor license. That gave some credibility to the rumor. Sosa Cigars and perhaps other entities in DTD already operate that way. I don't see much liability exposure to Disney given the strict controls they maintain with operators.
ReplyDelete