World Cup Action on Pleasure Island

You can catch all the televised action of the 2010 FIFA World Cup at Raglan Road Irish Pub on beautiful Pleasure Island. The restaurant/pub will be opening at 9:45am when there are 10am matches. GO USA!!

Summer Concerts at USF & HOB

Nowhere near as impressive as the Mardi Gras concert series, this is the summer concert series at Universal Studios Florida. CityWalk clubs usually get extra crowded on concert nights. House of Blues also has a number of interesting concerts coming up: Jordin Sparks on June 23rd and Mr. Cat Scratch Fever himself, Ted Nugent, on June 27th. And still proving that girls just want to have fun, Cyndi Lauper is at HOB on August 1st!

Club Report: 80's Night at The Groove

Since it kicked off in January of 2009, 80's Night at The Groove in Universal CityWalk has been a resounding Thursday night success. They still have a few lean nights depending on the weather but for the most part it gets pretty crowded in there and everyone has a great time listening and/or dancing to 8TRAX style music. DJ Doc Wells from 8TRAX (pictured, upper left) leads the hits. You'll even hear some late 70's Disco in the mix. Last night was no exception with a large crowd on hand including DJ Tony Z (Atlantic Dance Hall) and his peeps (pictured, lower right)!

BREAKING NEWS: Celebrate Tonight Ending

One of my Pleasure Island sources is reporting this evening that the ill-conceived Celebrate Tonight show will be closing as of June 26th. UPDATE: I have now confirmed this through multiple sources.

If you look back at my February 22nd article, I speculated that CT might be closing. At that time I pointed out that CT was no longer listed in the Disney Guidemap for Downtown Disney. I have also related the closing of CT with the beginning of PI demolitions. For instance, if they are going to bring the wrecking ball to the Soundstage/Adventurers Club building, they can't have a street party taking place at Celebration Plaza because pedestrians passing through will need that space to bypass the construction walls that must go up there. So if CT is really ending, perhaps the demolitions are finally going to begin! Or maybe they just are putting Celebrate Tonight out of its misery!

I know the DJ's and staff have worked hard to try to make it work, often in crappy weather. They just did not have much to work with. If they really want to liven up the island, reopen some of the clubs!

Disney Opens New Dance Club

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Disney opened a new dance club this week but Pleasure Island fans should not get too excited. You see, this dance club is located in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom and its target audience is families with kids. It's official name is Stitch's Club 626 Dance Party and it is VERY much like Celebrate Tonight. But I give Club 626 a big thumbs up. For guests visiting MK, this is yet another attraction to visit, watch and/or participate in. There was an enthusiastic crowd on hand tonight doing the Chicken Dance and Macarena, etc. But Celebrate Tonight with similar content is just a cover-up so guests don't notice all the empty clubs and was a response to PI appearing so spooky dead at night.

The on-duty DJ at Club 626 keeps things lively because he/she is the focus. The show lasts 5 hours and thus does repeat but the audience is constantly changing. Goofy, Pluto and of course Stitch come out to dance with you. Our favorite Motion DJ Talie will be the on-duty DJ both Thursday and Friday nights at 626 so come out to see her if you can! Admission is only $79.

ABBA Coming to Orlando!

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OK, it's not really ABBA but Björn Again, performing just like you remember ABBA back in the day! The touring group is coming to Orlando for one show on Thursday, June 24th at The Plaza Theater located at East Colonial (SR 50) & Bumby Ave. Bringing bell bottom jeans & fake Swedish accents, they'll be singing all your ABBA favorites such as Dancing Queen, Waterloo, SOS, Honey Honey and many more! 8TRAX & ABBA fans should not miss this!

PI Update: New Bushes & New Rumors

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It was a bit of a drizzly evening in Orlando tonight but since Downtown Disney lies at the bottom of the rainbow, what better place to hang-out than beautiful Pleasure Island! One piece of good news for techno fans: DJ Richie Rich is this weekend's DJ for Sunday night SIN at House of Blues!

Construction around the upstairs Mannequins door has been completed. The small trees and bushes have been replaced with tiny bushes and wood chips. The promised bold new vision is taking place before our very eyes! But get this. Remember when they closed the PI clubs and they said it would take 2 years for everything to be redone? And then do you remember last year when the Orlando Sentinel spotted something in a Disney annual report stating that it would be 2012 before changes are completed; i.e. 4 years? OK, well the latest rumor is that they're giving PI management until 2013 to get things completed. If true, that would be 5 years from the closure! Again, this is just a rumor.

Got to stop by just in time for the 7:30pm edition of Celebrate Tonight. OMG! DJ Hollywood Bob spotted me taking his photo and asked over his microphone, "Aren't you the Save Pleasure Island guy?" So much for maintaining a low profile! He was asking people what ride they were looking forward to riding. He was smart not to ask me since Forbidden Journey at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is probably not an answer they want to hear down there!

Club Report: Firestone Live (DJ Icey)

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World-famous DJ Icey returned to hometown Orlando last night for an approximately 3-hour set of Techno, Breaks & House music at Firestone Live. The music was awesome and he had club-goers moving all over the place!

Of course you can't have a DJ Icey concert without the girls in furry boots!

The club was jammed which might explain why some of the other downtown venues were more on the empty side than normal.

The alluring DJ Baby Anne was spotted on stage. She returns to local turntables on June 18 at Icon with DJ Überzone.

Club Reports: Antigua, Bliss, Suite B, I-BAR

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Before Icey came on, there was time for some club hopping around downtown. Antigua (above left) was unusually uncrowded. Was able to get in free via an XL106.7 promotion (register in advance on their website) but then found out that the "free drinks" promotion they've been doing there forever was not in effect. Top 40 mashups, $6 cover. Bliss Ultra Lounge (above right) was pretty spartan too early on but this is a club that can be dead at midnight and then packed a half hour later! Great Dance & House music. Admission often free before midnight and then $5.

Suite B Lounge (above left) is also a downtown venue for Techno & House but it's all non-vocal and you're not likely to recognize anything. Great music though and strong drinks. Admission free. And then there's Independent Bar (above right) which was packed packed during my visit, featuring 80's Old Wave. Admission free until 11pm and then $5. Strong drinks, great place!

PI Update: AC Patio Light Mystery

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Roving Save Pleasure Island reporters are always out 24/7 looking for a good story. Well what's up with the patio light adjacent Adventurers Club. As you can see on the right, it now shines at night with a cobalt blue color. In the left file photo taken at the AC Reunion last September, the light used to shine a bright white light as seen in the bottom right corner. Another PI mystery. The public deserves answers!

Club Reports: Large Crowds at CityWalk

RED COCONUT CLUB

LATIN QUARTER

THE GROOVE
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CityWalk clubs were a bit on the packed side last night even though the summer tourist season really has yet to kick off. Red Coconut Club (top row) had some kind of group in there early on so it was already packed before 10pm. Latin Quarter was pretty spartan early which is typical but by 11pm was quite full. (middle row) Even 80's Night at The Groove got pretty busy after midnight. (bottom row) Tonight radio station XL106.7 is running some kind of teachers event at CityWalk with possibly thousands attending!

Congratulations to New Jersey for becoming the 5th state to exceed 1,000 hits here on the Blog since the Flag Counter was added last July! Shows how widespread interest is in Pleasure Island!

DJ George Acosta Coming To Orlando

DJ George Acosta (USA) was a name heard constantly during the early 2000's but then he kind of dropped off the radar, IMO. But he's put out several big hits during the past couple years and it's good to have him back on the scene. George Acosta is coming to O-Town and we're getting him on a Saturday night, June 19th at Cameo! (Daytona gets him the night prior at Art Bar.) Known for Trance, a lot of his music crosses into Dance and is thus quite easy to enjoy. Here's his current hit True Love featuring the beautiful Trance vocals of Kathy Fisher.

This Weekend In Techno Town

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Damn, is it the weekend again already? Tomorrow night is First Thursday of the month and that means it's "I Love House Music" night at Roxy. DJ Mickey Bono will be spinning House, Dance and Top 40 Dance. Everyone drinks free until midnight. Admission $5. Mickey Bono returns to his residency at Bliss Ultra Lounge on Saturday night with more House and Dance. Free admission until midnight. Also Saturday night, DJ Icey returns to his hometown for a night of Breaks and Techno at Firestone Live. DJ Chris B starts things off; we just heard him precede Baby Anne this past Sunday night and he was great. Admission $10 advance, $12 door.

PI Update: Is Motion Reopening?

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Fresh photos taken of the inside of Motion shows that all those banquet tables & chairs that I posted in my 4/3/10 article have been removed, the dance floor is clear and the famous DJ booth (with equipment) has been placed center stage! Is Motion going to reopen?

Last year this week you'll recall that Motion was rented for a private party featuring DJ Manny Lehman, tied-in with Gay Days. See the 6/7/09 article for event photos. But as far as I know, no PI clubs are available anymore for private rentals and I've seen no mention of any Gay Days or other events at the closed club. So are they gearing up to reopen Motion?

I am scouring my PI sources to see what I can find out. The only information gathered so far is that they had a pirate-themed convention in there a few days ago. But no info about whether the current set-up is related to that convention or whether it means something more. I wouldn't get my hopes up but reopening Motion would be huge in terms of PI fan morale and revenue to Disney. The club looks ready to go!! Can you imagine the crowds Motion would draw!