"Fun For All, And All for Fun!"

It was a surreal experience to stand at the bar in the former Fireworks Factory this evening and watch an eclectic mixture of absurdly uninformed tourists and tearful locals and cast members perform the Cha Cha Cha Slide one last time on the dance floor.

Tonight marks the beginning of the final push for Pleasure Island. The final night of operation for this piece of Disney history will be this coming Saturday, September 27, 2008.



More than the executives taking away free nighttime, adult entertainment for thousands of cast members, and more than the pain felt by many WDW passholders and repeat visitors that have enjoyed the island for many years, its what is coming to replace Merriweather Pleasure's paradise that hurts the most.

It's the fact that we're losing another piece- perhaps one of the final pieces- of Walt Disney World that made the property so unique for so many years. If they no longer have the edge, its because The Walt Disney Company makes constant decisions to provide more of the same for the guest.

Downtown Disney Vice President Kevin Lansberry during the press conference to announce the closure and "Re-Imagineering" of Pleasure Island. 


It is into this graveyard pit of despair called Jay Rasulo's "Global Initiative" that Pleasure Island's fate has fallen. The only words that can describe this latest in a long chain of despairing decisions are the following:

"If the guests don't understand the story, then it is not their fault. It is our fault because we have not told the story clearly."

And perhaps the only other thought that still counts comes from Pleasure Island's original Show Concept:

"Along the streets of this reawakened Island you can sometimes catch a glimpse of a portly, but strangely ethereal man, dressed in a yachting cap and natty plus-fours. Or perhaps you'll be sitting in a restaurant booth or a cozy corner of a nightclub when you hear a voice murmur quietly, 'Fun for all—and all for fun!' "



So Fun For All, And All For Fun, Merriweather! You'll be deeply missed.