Downtown Disney
Located on the shore
of one of Walt Disney World’s many lagoons, Downtown Disney
has three distinct areas, Marketplace, West Side, and Pleasure
Island. You’ll find shopping, dining, and entertainment in
all three, but distinctive pleasures in each one.
Pleasure Island
Surrounded by a moat in the middle of Downtown Disney, and linked
to the other parts by b?idges, Pleasure Island is one of Disney’s
nighttime entertainment areas. It charges a cover after 7:00 p.m.,
and guests under 18 who arrive after that time must be accompanied
by a parent or legal guardian. A single evening admission ticket
will cost you about $20 and is included with certain WDW passes
(See “Admission Tickets,” Chapter One).
Pleasure Island includes restaurants, shops, outdoor performance
venues, and eight nightclubs: Comedy Warehouse, BET SoundStage
Club, Adventurers Club, 8TRAX, Mannequins Dance Palace, Rock ‘n’
Roll Beach Club, Pleasure Island Jazz Company, and Motion (featuring
Top 40 music and alternative rock music). The clubs open nightly
at 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. and close at 2:00 a.m. All serve alcohol.
While you must be 21 or older to imbibe, younger guests may visit
all the clubs except Mannequins and BET SoundStage Club. Mannequins
is off limits to those under 21 at all times, while BET SoundStage
restricts access only on certain evenings, generally Thursday
through Saturday. Outdoors, and open to all, the West End Stage
offers loud and lively evening concerts.
On the night of your visit, park your car and pick up a Pleasure
Island Guidemap at the entrance turnstiles for specific information
about what’s playing and when. If the parking lot in front
of Pleasure Island is crowded, you can park near either the Marketplace
or West Side.
I suggest you visit the Comedy Warehouse first. It features performances
by an improvisational group, and the two early shows (usually
7:10 or 7:30 p.m. and 8:15 or 8:30 p.m.) are the easiest to get
into. Next go the Adventurers Club, a wacky comedy club modeled
on a 19th-century British sportsman’s club. Ask the door
attendant when the next show starts (sometimes a brochure available
at the podium on the front steps will list the performance schedule).
If you enter before or during a show, you will be asked to wait
in the main club area, which features ongoing spontaneous entertainment
by Disney cast members with British accents, who interact with
the guests and do offbeat things. At show time, you will be ushered
into the Library for an unusual comedy performance.
Tip: Sit on a bar stool and ask the bartender to
make your (or your unsuspecting friend’s) stool sink slowly
toward the floor!
The other clubs at Pleasure Island have varying schedules; you
can enter and exit them as you please. The late West End Stage
show ends with fireworks near midnight.
Note: If you’d like to see Pleasure Island
but aren’t interested in nightclubbing, you can walk through
it before 7:00 p.m. without paying a cover charge. The clubs will
be closed, but you can look around and visit the shops.
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