Comments on: A Not-So-Modest Proposal On Disney Nightlife (Part I)

By: Tangaroa

Tangaroa — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:59:51 +0000

I think it’s even more important to have things to do at night since cutbacks always seem to come first in late-night hours at the resorts. Used to be you could at least hang out at the Fiesta Fun Center 24/7 and get a snack – now try getting into the Contemporary after hours if you’re not a guest, and even then there’s nothing to do. Roaring Fork – used to be open all night. And so on and so forth. Disneyland under Walt had the right idea. WDW in the 70s and early 80s had the right idea. Even Pleasure Island was a good idea, although execution faltered outside of the AC and Comedy Warehouse. I think West End is an embarrassment, and wish they could be rid of it. Or at least do a complete head-to-toe revamp with a single unifying theme.

With all the encroachment of development on Disney boundaries since 1990, Disney *will* lose guests and guest dollars if they don’t have some interesting evening entertainment to offer. People don’t have to drive all the way to Church St. Station anymore to find an alternative to Disney entertainment.

By: biblioadonis aka George

biblioadonis aka George — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 21:28:21 +0000

I love where you are going with this series.

Even in October, when the parks were light, DD was still packed.

People need something to do at night. Especially if they close MK early for parties and off-season reasons!

By: BeaconJoe

BeaconJoe — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 17:12:45 +0000

I agree with your thoughts – it’s not necessarily imperative for WDW to build a one-stop center for nightlife, although it was not a bad idea either. In the next piece I’ll review some options that Disneyland shows, as does the early resort life at WDW pre-PI. But events such as E ticket nights and the dinner shows clearly illustrate that movement towards Disney branded night entertainment are wildly successful as compared to empty bland dance clubs.

Stay tuned, and thanks for the feedback.

By: Zach

Zach — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:37:32 +0000

You’ve been prolific lately, keep up the good work!

Disney desperately needs to come up with SOMETHING for nighttime entertainment. PI had a lot of problems, but at least it tried. My suggestion is to work with entertainment at integrating night time entertainment into the parks (ala Disneyland). Plenty of opportunities available where you could have spaces undergo transformation when the sun goes down, and keep a select number of attractions running at the same time.