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| I'm not positive, but I believe Atlantic Dance Hall is the only club in Orlando where patrons regularly show up wearing Mouse ears! So since I just recently realized that I'm coming up on my 7th anniversary of hanging out at ADH in the post-Pleasure Island era, I thought it would be fun to revisit the ADH DJ's who bring the fun to the venue! |
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| During my first visit ever to Atlantic Dance Hall, I met DJ Pat. My recollection is that he was the Saturday night resident DJ there predating the PI closure and he was one of the few that had not actually worked on the Island. |
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| DJ Frankie did have Pleasure Island credentials, having been part of Rock'n'Roll Beach Club and Waterfront Stage live band, Frankie & The West End Boys! |
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| DJ Pete was famous from 8TRAX & Club Motion. |
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| It's been a few years since I've run into DJ Hollywood Bob out at ADH. He was a veteran of the PI Live booth as well as Motion. |
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| There was DJ Tony B who also had worked at RRBC, Motion and PI Live. |
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| Of course everyone who frequents ADH recognizes DJ Tony Z! |
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| Currently retired from the business, DJ Talie was also the only female DJ at Pleasure Island where she was a regular at Motion and PI Live. We hope to see her back in a booth soon! |
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| Last but hardly least, DJ Willie has been at ADH all the years I've been going there. He was a resident DJ at 8TRAX back in the day! Lots of post PI memories at Atlantic Dance Hall! ADH is the only remaining Disney owned & operated dance club and is located at Disney's Boardwalk Resort. Admission is free. |
I'm sure someone here can explain this better to me, but is there any reason the local crowd/former PI folks never embraced Atlantic Dance Hall more than they have? I mean, I get the lack of advertisement hurts its attendance some, but I would assume that hurts its out-of-town audience more than it would the locals?
ReplyDeleteThe dance clubs were never my true love at PI, and I know there are a lot of differences between Mannequins/Motion/etc. and ADH, but I would have thought many of the PI regulars would have migrated toward Boardwalk after the shuttering of PI. I mean, it is free admission.
The theming is different, but if Disney worked at it, Boardwalk has the potential to be PI Lite, especially with the opening of the new magician-themed bar (and the later hours than what Disney Springs is currently operating under).
Just some thoughts! :)
Frankly.
ReplyDeleteThe "PI" Regulars did migrate to ADH. I spent plenty of nights, watching them chase out the tourists who would walk in, see these odd people who only would dance to one song, the rest of the time hang out and not drink and would chase the tourists out of the club! On the busyest of nights, when there was a mix of about 100 convention folks, 100 tourists and about 20 PI regulars, it would work, it would be jamming and a big big party... but those nights were to few and far between, most times it became nothing more than the same 6 regulars, each harassing the DJ to play "There" song, which would be a song that didn't fit the current mix of music the DJ was playing in the first place. When he or she did play it, they would rush out on the dance floor like it was there first prom ever, make a fool of themselves and then go back to hanging out at the front edge of the stage.. were the first attractive female who walked onto the dance floor would get scared off by the look of them and in some cases would actually have security complaints about the "Creepy" regulars trying to accost her.
Anon @ July 21, 2016 at 11:38 AM
ReplyDeleteare you for real?
I have been a "few" times!
if anyone leaves it is because this is NOT a club area! this area has more then just ADH!! so people want to walk around and see all!
"song that didn't fit the current mix of music the DJ was playing in the first place" really? if only regs in the club why would it matter if the DJ said OK I will play anything you want? no one would care! EVEN if the club had others in the place most dont know about mixing! and the music changes all the time to other stuff! so in short this would NOT hurt anyone!
PI people did check out ADH after PI closed but were mostly disappointed. The place is mostly like Motion and Motion people still go there. But there's nothing for the 8trax and Mannequins crowd there so those people quit going.
ReplyDeleteDJ Pat was the Audio Programmer for Universal Citywalk before Video (Coke Icon) took over. He also DJ'd at the Groove.
ReplyDeleteWhen i used to go to ADH the dj there was MilesDJ & he definitely knew how to get everyone on the floor & he was my number 1 dj there. Checkout his website Milesdj.com. I totally recommend
ReplyDeletehim.
Phew. I remember Latin night. Always left DRENCHED in sweat!!
ReplyDeleteAmy, the bartender from 8TRAX, is at the Margarita Bar by Ghirardelli on certain nights, she hasn't changed a bit!
ReplyDeleteDJ "Pat" here! Atlantic Dance Hall was an interesting place... a big, beautiful, empty room with no identity whatsoever. The article is correct - I was the resident Saturday night DJ for 11 years, second to Jd Spradlin at R&R Beach Club at 14 years. In the early days, there were literally only a few hundred songs that could be played as the media simply didn't exist. Disney's "do not play" list was longer than the list of what could be played. One guest was so offended by Devo's "Whip It" that she demanded her entire stay at Disney be comped... Guests were full of surprises! Eventually more videos were available but often months behind the radio release and sometimes years behind and other times, never available. I always wished for staples like "Copacabana" and "Dont Stop Believing" and thousands more. As an entertainer, it was an interesting challenge to figure out how to bring people together for a "Disney experience" with no guidelines at all other than the enormous list of what could not be played. So how do you move forward? My approach was simple - all requests, all the time. It was a "sort of" brand, the "pot luck dinner" of a night out at a club. In a perfect world, everybody could enjoy something, if only for a few minutes. The crowd was different every night. Sometimes a room full guests visiting from England. Sometimes the spill over from a hairdressing convention. Former Pleasure Island guests were overall the least likely to be satisfied as Atlantic Dance Hall never provided a "brand" so their expectations were all over the place and its difficult to cut and paste their fond memories of a great brand onto a blank canvas with a random audience. Like all guests, the PI crowd was important and hopefully ADH brought them some joy and the chance to hang out with old friends. In 2011 I moved on, but it was an honor to be trusted with he Disney brand for a few hours each week. Pleasure Island was a special place, Atlantic Dance Hall is a different kind of place. I hope everyone remembers to have fun wherever they go, life is short and fun is important.
ReplyDelete