An Interview with Downtown Disney's Kevin Lansberry
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Downtown Disney Westside
DM: Is there anything specific you can tell us that�s coming to Pleasure Island or the rest of Downtown Disney?
KL: Believe me, I wish I could but I really can�t at this point. When we can, we will.
DM: The press release mentioned a tethered balloon. What specifically is that?
KL: That tethered balloon, and it�s actually a helium filled balloon � it�s a giant helium filled balloon and we have one of them operating at Disneyland Paris right now and that�s operated by an outside company there. It will operate on the Westside, not on Pleasure Island so it�ll operate right across from the green space. It�ll be moored right over the water itself and it�ll go up 300 ft, take about 30 guests at a time up to that height and come back down about six times per hour. So it�s going be a great new attraction. It�s going to be internally lit so at night it�s going to glow and you�ll be able to see it from miles around.
DM: From what I could tell Pleasure Island was particularly popular with locals and Cast Members as opposed to the typical Walt Disney World guest. Are you saying that at least one of the things that went into this change was the desire to make it more accessible to everyone?
KL: I would say more accessible to everyone, but I wouldn�t count the locals and Cast Members out as we think through what else is coming. What we plan to put back in there is going to be, we think, very appealing to both of those crowds as well as our typical tourist guests.
DM: Pleasure Island was one of the very few places at Walt Disney World geared specifically to adults. Will that change?
KL: It won�t be geared specifically to adults instead of families, but there will be a lot of options there for adults as we go forward. I think there are still a fair number of options there for adults and more coming, but it will also have a bit of a family feel to it. A lot like what we�ve got with Raglin Road and what�s coming with the South American concept restaurant [Ed Note: Previously announced as coming from the E-Brands company]
DM: Is there any possibility you�d still have some adult only locations?
KL: It�s a possibility
DM: Did the Flamingo Crossings projects play any role in this
decision?
KL: Absolutely Not
DM: A couple of years ago there were some changes to Pleasure Island with the removal of the stage and the changing of the bridge, were those changes a part of this change?
KL: No, it was not related to this.
DM: Is there any chance the name �Pleasure Island� will change with these changes?
KL: Right now the name will stay the same. As we finalize what we�re doing with that portion of that property it�s possible it could change but right now it�s going to stay the same.
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-- Posted July 7, 2008