Save Pleasure Island Blog roving reporter Thommy just got back from a cruise aboard the newer ship Disney Dream. The on-board dance club is called Evolution and one of the club nights is called 8TRAX! This is his report. Thanks for this great report, Thommy!
I was extremely excited to take my second
trip aboard the Disney Dream. While I love many aspects of Disney Cruise Lines, I've
noticed the nightlife has gotten worse over the past several years.
But last year DCL brought back their 70's and 80's night by calling it
“8TRAX Night,” a clear ode to the now closed night club on
Pleasure Island. I was greeted upon entering the Evolution Night Club with a couple cast members in costume:
I proceeded further inside only to find something I didn't expect:
A PACKED dance floor! There wasn't
even enough room for me to get out there and do the Electric Slide!
The music, put out by guest DJ Ryan, was classic 8TRAX music, but
often with another song underneath it. This particular DJ never
really seemed to just play a song and in this case it was quite
annoying as KC and the Sunshine Band needs no underlying song to make
it work.
The party continued for a few minutes
when I noticed the entertainment CM's handing out glow necklaces to 5
guys. I knew exactly what was coming next as they were taken off the
dance floor shortly after. On the Disney Wonder in 2005, they would do the
same thing and then teach a "YMCA" routine to the guys they picked. Sure
enough, that's what it was! Not long after, out came the 5 guys in
their Village People outfits leading the "YMCA"!
Next up, the Evolution Dancers came out
and did a routine. I was disappointed as I thought maybe they would
do a retro-themed routine but instead they did a Top 40 number. Right after
that, the music switched to Top 40 remixes and stayed that way the
rest of the night. What I noticed though was that the crowd was
mixed age range during the 8TRAX music and then entirely younger
once the transition to Top 40 happened. Disney frequently states
“we have something for everyone” on their ships. They're getting
there, but have more to do. All in all, it was a LOT of fun, even
if it only lasted about 20 minutes all in all. They used to do much
more involved theme nights on Disney Wonder and it seems like they are
trying to come half way between what they had in March 2011(read:
nothing) and what they had in Spring 2005 until Dec 2010 (a
full theme night).
Having said that and despite my
annoyances with the DJ on 8TRAX night, I have to give a shout out to
him because of what he did on the first night after the club had cleared of guests around
midnight. Blog roving reporter William and I stayed with the DJ and
light show entirely to ourselves and were given one hell of a show
for two straight hours! The DJ and light tech have apparently worked
together for ten years and are very much in sync. It was one BPM
dance hit after another, with 16+ R2's, a color-lighted dance floor
and a full inventory of strobes to keep us in awe! Just like the
light show at EPCOT on NYE, it really shows what Disney is capable of
when they put their mind to it!
and the closing of PI clubs shows you how dumb they can be as well
ReplyDeleteThat disco stuff is a pain to beat mix because the instruments were real and the tempo fluctuates. I can't imagine trying to constantly run other songs underneath disco. Could you hear when the drums were not lined up? It might have sounded like a mini train wreck unless you had a REALLY good Dj.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember for the life of me what he played under september, but I remember very distinctly "shots" by LMFAO being played underneath Bon Jovi's shot through the heart. Clever, but not needed.
ReplyDeletehis mixes were good, not once did I hear a trainwreck, it's just I don't personally feel that style of music requires an underlying track to keep people on the dance floor.
I recall a different guest DJ on Disney Dream last year. There were like 10 people in Evolution (5 or 6 were in my group). We made song requests and he said no because he had to music for "everyone" and then he continued to play his ghetto hip hop music which clear drove away anyone who came into the club. DB. He sucked.
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