June 27th, 2008 was a quiet summer evening in Orlando, ten years ago exactly tonight. It was a Friday night and Pleasure Island employees were summoned-in for a mandatory 7PM meeting.
That is when the bombshell was dropped by Downtown Disney's Vice President. Cast Members were informed that Pleasure Island's 6 clubs would be closing forever in exactly 3 months.....September 27, 2008. Mannequins, 8TRAX, Soundstage Club, Motion, Comedy Warehouse and The Adventurers Club would be closing for good at 2AM on that future night.
OrlandoSentinel.com broke the news on its website that evening. Sadly, the link to their article no longer works: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/orl-disney
2808jun28,0,2367595.story In its next morning print edition, the front page headline screamed "The Party Is Over At Pleasure Island".
There was such disbelief that they would really go through with it. Surely someone would come to their senses and change their mind during the ensuing 3 months. But it happened anyway despite petitions, write-in campaigns and the Save Pleasure Island Blog.
June 27, 2008. This day in history.
This was a truly sad day.....
ReplyDeleteYes, it was a real shock!
ReplyDelete