Thursday, June 6, 2013

Last Look Inside: Rock'n'Roll Beach Club

Continuing our "Last Look Inside" series of articles about Pleasure Island clubs.  When PI opened, the building that would later become Rock'n'Roll Beach Club was home to XZFR Rockin' Rollerdrome, a place where you could strap on a pair of roller skates, drink and race around the multi-level facility while listening to Rock music. What was Disney thinking?  It didn't last long. 
In early 1990 it was rethemed as Rock'n'Roll Beach Club.  It was still a multi-level Rock venue but without the skates!  And they had a live band each night.
While all the PI dance and comedy clubs closed the night of September 27, 2008, RRBC was closed much earlier on February 2, 2008.  At the time there had been no announcement about anything else closing too so there didn't seem to be much discussion about what was going on.  Island sources would later tell the Blog that the RRBC building was leased to a third party vendor so quickly that it gave DTD management the idea to shut everything down, figuring they'd have everything leased in no time!  Of course the economy tanked, nothing else ever got leased and whoever supposedly leased RRBC backed-out!
So like most everything else on the Island, it sat empty and unused.
A couple shots looking in back in September, 2010, more than 2.5 years post-closure.
With Hyperion Wharf supposedly on the way, club Motion (right rear) would be demolished in late 2010/early 2011 while RRBC waited for its turn.
And by February, 2011, Rock'n'Roll Beach Club was gone forever!
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8 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 6, 2013 at 6:53 PM

    Seed and Mulch

    ReplyDelete
  2. KingBobJune 6, 2013 at 8:17 PM

    Yes, for now. Outdoor amphitheater and boathouse restaurant coming.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJune 7, 2013 at 8:44 AM

    I miss the RRBC a lot. I had a lot of good times there! For that matter, a lot of good times were always had on the Island. The "buckets" at the Beach Club were the best...

    Although they'll never recreate what once was a night life oasis at the World, I am hopeful that some sort of nightlife will come back to Disney, somewhere!

    Thanks, Bob for your continual updates and for this series of last looks...

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJune 7, 2013 at 2:57 PM

    Let's see...they had such great pizza, used to run over from Mannequins for a slice, and jello shots! The live bands were always entertaining, we liked to go up the stairs to where the walkway went behind the DJ booth and stand there to watch the bands. We logged lot's of air hockey time there, too. As with ALL the clubs at PI, RRBC was unique and wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Island Fashion GirlJune 7, 2013 at 3:08 PM

    Visit my blog please: islandfashiongirl.blogspot.com
    thankss!

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousJune 8, 2013 at 2:34 AM

    looks like someone has a ad on here!

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousJune 8, 2013 at 11:15 PM

    City Walk is getting all the nightlife action.
    When is Disney going to wake-up and revive P.I. and reopen Mannequines, 8Trax, and Adventurer's Club so they can get some of the nightlife back.
    P.S. It's been six years, it's been long enough.

    ReplyDelete
  8. KingBobJune 9, 2013 at 1:17 PM

    I remember the shark buckets from RRBC. They were the only club on the Island that had them. We're hopeful that Disney Springs will have some type of nightlife oasis.

    This September it will be 5 years since the clubs were closed, not 6.

    ReplyDelete