Trip Warning!

KingBob is off again on one of his trips, this time to the Middle East. Because of time differences, Blog articles may appear at odd times compared to normal. Just keep checking back for our next posting. We'll have a few cruise ship club & party reports along the journey plus some trip destination articles you'll find interesting. For those of you know that know your IATA airport and airline codes, there are only 6 flights on this trip which is way less than typical for me!
MIA-FRA  LH
FRA-DXB  LH
DXB-SAW  PC
SAW-ATH  PC
ATH-ZRH  LX
ZRH-MIA  LX

Friday Funny

Yup!

DS Update: West Side Happenings

Let's cross this bridge one more time and leave the Island to check out what's new on the West Side!

Construction progress at Beatrix where Bongos Cuban Cafe used to stand.

Can't see the interior construction taking place at Ample Hills Creamery where Something Silver used to stand.

At Expo Park, the current food truck lineup.

This Weekend In Techno Town

THURSDAY FEB 27
DJ KC Cuts (USA)     Independent Bar    80's Top 40 Hits
This is a new event every Thursday night.

FRIDAY FEB 28
DJ Alex M.O.R.P.H. (D)     Bikkuri Lounge     Trance

FRIDAY FEB 28
DJ Lane 8 (USA)     The Plaza Live     House

FRIDAY FEB 28
DJ Will Clarke (GB)     Celine     House / Dirtybird House

FRIDAY FEB 28
DJ Kyle Houser (USA)     Monkey Bar     House

FRIDAY FEB 28
DJ Phunky Phin (USA)     Grumpy's Underground     Breaks / Bass / Electro

SATURDAY DAY FEB 29
DJ Matrix (USA)     Chases on the River (Sanford)     Breaks

SATURDAY FEB 29
DJ Jimmy Joslin (USA)     Bar B     80's

 

SUNDAY MAR 1 
DJ Ciszak (BR)     Elixir Bar     House  

DS Update: Still.....

Let's cross this bridge one more time to see what's taking place on the other side!

Still.....no replacement announced.

Still.....no customers spotted.

Still.....no trains at the station.

Still.....no M&M signs.

Still.....Mannequins!

Concert Report: Zone 333 Block Party (Pine Street)

Legendary DJ Danny Tenaglia (USA) was the leading headliner of yesterday's Zone 333 Block Party on Pine Street and the Blog was there.  See all the pics on our sister website Orlando Entertainment News here.

Club Reports: Wall Street Plaza, Monkey Bar, Chillers, Independent Bar, Gilt Nightclub

Saturday night culminated with DJ duo Lost Kings (USA) at Gilt Nightclub and the Blog was there! Check out Saturday night pics on sister website Orlando Entertainment News here.

Club Reports: Elixir Bar, Celine, Latitudes, Wall Street Plaza, The Patio, Aero Bar

With howling winds and temps in the 40's, Friday night downtown began rather bleak. But there were some surprises too! Check out our club reports on sister website
Orlando Entertainment News here.

Friday Funny

Portillo's Food Truck Coming To Orlando!

As you know by now, Chicago-based Portillo's is building a store approximately 2 miles from Pleasure Island. It's scheduled to open late this year. And now, Portillo's is bringing it's roving food truck to Orlando too. It will be located at Icon Park along International Drive, best known as home of the Orlando Eye.
They obviously can't offer their entire menu but their famous hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches and cheese fries will be available!
The dates are:

• February 27^th-March 1:  2pm-11pm
• March 5^th-March 9^th, 2pm-11pm

This Weekend In Techno Town

FRIDAY FEB 21
DJ Anthony Mansfield (USA)     Iron Cow     House

FRIDAY FEB 21
DJ duo Cocodrills (USA)     Celine     House

SATURDAY FEB 22
DJ duo Lost Kings (USA)     Gilt Nightclub     Big Room House / Heavy Bass

SATURDAY FEB 22
Masquerade ft. DJ Mynd (USA)     The Edison (ticketed event)     Open Format

SATURDAY FEB 22
DJ Liquid Stranger (S)     Plaza Live     Heavy Bass / Dubstep

SUNDAY FEB 23
Zone 333 Street Party ft. Danny Tenaglia (USA)     House / Tech House / Techno
Event takes place on Pine Street, The Attic & The Basement

MONDAY FEB 24
DJ Redeyes (F)     Vyce Lounge     Drum'n'Bass

MMW Week Is Coming!

It's early this year.....Miami Music Week is coming March 16-22nd!
This is the week where seemingly every DJ in the world is in Miami either playing or networking. Winter Music Conference happens at the same time, March 16-19th followed by Ultra Music Festival on March 20-22nd. If you're going, hopefully you've already made hotel arrangements. Room prices are outrageous but you can save some money (if you have a car) by staying out beyond the airport. Save Pleasure Island Blog and Orlando Entertainment News will have coverage for some of the events. 
Many of them are posted here with more added daily.

DS Update: Planet Logo Store Relocation

The Planet Hollywood logo store has relocated into PH itself. The former space will be used for an expansion of seating for the Chicken Guy restaurant next door. CG has proven to be very popular, both because it's really good food but also because it's one of the cheaper places to dine in Disney Springs!

Concert Report: Devotion 2020 (Ace Cafe)

DJ George Acosta (USA) headlined last night's "Devotion 2020" old school dance night which took place at Ace Cafe, formerly the Edge. Check out all the pictures on OEN Orlando Entertainment News here.

Club Reports: Celine, Ember, Iron Cow

After cruising the Bahamas last weekend, it was back on the Orlando scene last night including seeing DJ Magic Mike (USA) at Ember. All the pics are on sister website Orlando Entertainment News here.

Devotion 2020 Arrives Tomorrow Night!

It's Devotion time!  Tomorrow (Saturday) night, returning to Ace Cafe in downtown Orlando, you won't want to miss this next edition of the show that won an award from Orlando Weekly for "Best Reclamation of Local Music History".  Old School it was but this year we see it including not only Breaks and Bass but expanding into House and Trance. There were more than 1,200 in attendance last year for Devotion 2019 and another huge crowd is expected this year. Tickets will be available at the door but advance purchase here will save you time.

SET TIMES:

// Main room //
6pm   Heather Collins
7pm   James Wolfe & Bobby Buzz
9pm   Single Cell Orchestra • LIVE
10pm Mike & Charlie • greatest hits dj set
11pm Storm & Johnny Dangerously
12mid Sam Mollison • LIVE
1215am Planet Soul aka George Acosta
130am Dynamix II • LIVE

// Patio //
6pm  Jason Brown
645pm Si-Dog
730pm DJ Security
830pm Davie-D
930pm DJ 43
1015pm Dave London
11pm Rainbow Bridge
12mid Stylus
1am  Prophecy • LIVE
130am  Edge closing set

// Progressive room //
6pm  DJ Rob-E • special trance set
7pm  DJ Orlando
8pm  DJ Chang
9pm  Chris Domingo
10pm Mariner • LIVE
11pm Joe C.
12mid Andy Hughes
1am  Scott Riley • “The Club” closing set

EDC-Orlando Update

Pasquale Rotella, the head of Insomniac, published his annual "State of Insomniac" newsletter this week and he made this comment about EDC-Orlando:
"Last year we added a 3rd day to EDC without increasing our ticket prices. Our goal is to keep those prices similar this year and continue enhancing our EDC experience. Orlando has grown to 75,000 Headliners a day, and I can’t wait to return to the Sunshine State!"
So yes, there will be an EDC-Orlando again this year and it will be the 10th Edition so it should be really special. One of our sources indicated late last year that Insomniac was in negotiations with the City of Orlando to take over another current parking lot area to add yet another stage. We'll keep you updated on any more EDC news!

This Weekend In Techno Town

FRIDAY FEB 14
DJ Rob Bates (USA)     Manikins - Sanford     Goth / Dark Wave / Industrial

FRIDAY FEB 14
DJ Mathew Scot (USA) & Ed Abisada (USA)     Iron Cow     House

SATURDAY FEB 15
Devotion 2020 ft. DJ George Acosta (USA)     Ace Cafe     Breaks / Electro / Classic Dance

SATURDAY FEB 15
DJ Getter (USA)     Gilt Nightclub     Dubstep / Trap / Heavy Bass

SUNDAY FEB 16
DJ Chad Andrew (USA/D)     The Patio     Techno / Minimal

Riding With Brightline

Brightline is offering free round trip tickets (1 per email address) on their trains so we took advantage of it this past weekend. Instead of driving all the way to Port Miami for a cruise, we got off I-95 in downtown West Palm Beach, parked at the station, and took the train! Brightline is the only privately owned (non-government) intercity passenger railroad in the country.

The connection to Orlando International Airport (and perhaps later to Disney and Tampa) is currently under construction so the only available route now is West Palm Beach - Fort Lauderdale - Miami. Taking the train didn't save any time but WPB parking was cheaper than at the Port and it was way more relaxing. A less than $8 Lyft ride completed the connection from Miami Central Station to the ship.

There are trains every hour and the travel time between West Palm Beach and Miami is just over one hour. Brightline's Miami Central Station is adjacent the Metrorail and Metromover stations at Government Center.

Select Class (coach) seating is a very comfortable 2 & 2 with lots of legroom, free wi-fi and you can arrive at the station 10 minutes before departure and not have to worry about TSA lines. (There is security though.) 

Brightline is in the process of transitioning to the Virgin Trains brand.
Can't wait for them to open in Orlando!
Use this link to get your free round trip ticket here.

Club Report: Abba Mania (Celebrity Infinity)

After a splendid day in Nassau, it was back to the club on cruise ship Celebrity Infinity. And a first for me on a cruise, an Abba (S) Mania Sing-A-Long Party!

Live band Indigo (UA) was providing the music which included Abba hits such as "S.O.S." and "Gimme Gimme Gimme".

But no one was singing to the sing-along and only a few were dancing.

"Dancing Queen" did bring a crowd to the floor!

Abba Mania thankfully only lasted an hour and then it was time for DJ Seon (STV) to take over.

And business on the dance floor began to pick up!

It was open format so the songs were hits from the 80's, 90's, 00's & today. The crowd was far-smaller than what we saw the previous night at the Silent Disco.

Line dance passing through!

 I've commented previously about how Royal Caribbean (of which Celebrity Cruises is a part of) did not feature their DJ's like Carnival, MSC, and Norwegian Cruise Line do. Even DJ's in their clubs were often sequestered in closed sound rooms. I've complained to them about it and now having their DJ actually operating in their dance club is a big improvement!

A good time was had by all.