Disney’s BoardWalk: What’s up with Atlantic Dance?
Dewayne Bevil, Nightlife, Things to do — By Dewayne Bevil on November 5, 2009 at 11:19 am
Atlantic Dance is next to Jellyrolls at Disney's BoardWalk.
Last week I had a little overnight getaway to a Walt Disney World resort, and we ended up exploring Disney’s BoardWalk for a while. I was primarily interesting in the Atlantic Dance building, of which I had heard great things but had never visited.
Back when the Pleasure Island nightclubs were closed, there was buzz that that kind of activity would shift over to Atlantic Dance. And yet I never hear of anyone going out there.
We arrived after 10, which is early by clubbing standards, on a Thursday. I wasn’t expecting a crowd, but I also wasn’t expecting, oh, a dozen people in the house. We dwelled for an hour or so, and there was ebb and flow even in that time.
I casually asked a couple of the cast members “When does it get busy around here?” We were told Fridays and Saturdays were best, but another woman said that it was usually busier on Thursdays as well, sometimes with a standing room only crowd in the balcony.
The hall itself is pretty cool, and it had a surge in popularity during the swing dance revival of the 1990s. It’s art deco-ish with a sunken dance floor and a stage along one wall. There’s three bars on the other three walls and lots of seating upstairs and downstairs. Videos for the music are projected onto a screen over the stage.
Best of all, there’s no cover, which is a rare and beautiful thing on Disney property.
I’d like to give at another shot, perhaps an official Theme Park Rangers outing, so I’m asking you, The Daily Disney readers: What has been your experience at Atlantic Dance? Good, bad, indifferent? When is the busy night? What was the crowd like? Tourists? Locals? Young and alive? Sound off!
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Tags: Atlantic Dance, Disney World, Disney's BoardWalk
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16 Comments
My friends and I visit the Dance Hall several times a month. I have seen it totally dead and on the flip side completely overwhelming. Hard to predict. We enjoy the video requests that the DJ’s happily take. There are some regulars there but the best is watching vacationers try to dance.
Enjoy.
I’ve never been in. The sounds wafting out hold no interest. Maybe if they turned it into an interactive bar populated by, say, world explorers from the ’30s… I’m just sayin’.
I have to agree with you Chris…….I would give it more of an “Adventure” if it was an interactive “Club”.The only time I’ve been there is when a group rented the space for the night for a party.
Wife and I visited back in back when the place opened late 90’s…the place was jumping. I remember the band playing…”Champaign” was their name…probably at least 8 members…they were great and the place was rocking, dance floor packed, good place to people watch and not feel like your in the club scene…and if you wanted to dance, big area, and great sounds from the band….really enjoyed it!!!
I agree with the two posters above who would enjoy an adventurous interactive theme at Atlantic Dance. I also have never been in the place, but, have stayed in the Boardwalk/Beach Club area many times as a DVC member and would love to see a different venue at that site.
I went in there once. There was a dude smoking a cigarette so I exited.
LOVE the boardwalk though. Awesome drinks at the Bellvue Room / Lounge!!! Great place for random walks at night.
I’ve been there a few times. The Art Deco is awesome, recreating a Ballrooom from the 1940’s! It has been busy, closed and just dead on different occasions. My only real complaint, is the music. I have heard it for myself many times whereas the genre consists of “Songs played at Weddings!” If it was more upbeat and comparable to Mannequins (even without the rotating dance floor,) then I would definitely be more apt to spend my money in this stylish club.
I’ve been there only a few times. BEAUTIFUL, beautiful place, with a wonderful dance floor. The place itself, I love. But when I’ve been there, hardly anyone is there – except for families with little children running all over the dance floor in the 8 to 9 o’clock hours. I would love to see them nix the children, and turn it into 8TRAX! 8TRAX was enormously popular at Pleasure Island, and there’s nothing else around like it.
I have very mixed feelings about Atlantic Dance. During the late 90’s surge in Swing music, you could find us out there 2-3 nights a week. We lived the lifestyle once inside. 3-piece suits, fedoras, the dames, and the wise guys. It was like being dipped back in time. You saw the shift in clientele around 2000, when they started playing to more of the rock-a-billy crowd. The wise guys became greasers and it lost it’s classiness. I’ve popped in every once in a while, just for nostalgic purposes. Can’t stay more than 10 minutes. Something about top 40 music and hip hop bouncing off art deco walls, just doesn’t seem right. I’m sure it still has it’s place and can be a viable club. Just needs to find it’s way.
A group of us went to the Boardwalk to go to the piano bar that is across from the dance hall & that place was packed. After we had enought of the piano bar we went over to the dance hall & it was dead. There was almost nobody there. We stayed for about an hour and left. This was on a Saturday night in February 2008.
How easy is it to hook up with a tourist there? That’s more important.
ADH really sucks at times. I agree; it’s like a bad wedding reception.
The REALLY need some theme nights as opposed to we play whatever bad music the ugly, old convention guests requests.
I’ve been there probably 10 timesover the last 5 years & it’s always dead. I’ve only gone on Sat nights too. I think the problem is that it’s too big. That dance floor is not inviting – you feel like you’re on display to everyone. If they cut that building into 2 more intimate clubs I think it would be more successful. Also, the drinks are outrageously expensive even at theme park standards & poured very weak, do beer instead. It’s such a sad waste of space right now.
Wow, there is some inaccurate information being floated around.
First of all, no under 21 is EVER permitted to enter ADH during regular business hours. If there were children in the club, it was a private gathering. ADH is used for weddings and other gatherings on a pretty frequent basis.
Regarding the “always dead” comments, I can largely agree. However, if everyone who came at 9:15(note: they open at 9pm) would STAY instead of saying “I’ll come back,” the place would get busier and thus attract more people. Instead of 20-30 people doing the same thing, if they all stayed, it would look busier and thus more people would be drawn in.
Having said that, the place is still very hit or miss. The primary reason is that its sole purpose is to cater to conventions at the Swan/Dolphin. ADH is run by Disney, but is part of the contract with the Swan/Dolphin along with EPSN and Jellyrolls to be on the boardwalk for the purposes of the convention crowd. For this reason, it can be packed on a Tuesday and dead on a Saturday. The unfortunate thing is that Disney will not let them open a second bar unless they are swamped one night and are told the same amount of people will be back the next night. So if they aren’t expecting a big crowd(and they rarely ever are) and they get one, drinks will take a while to get. Regarding alcohol content, I’ve never had a problem. Especially when it comes to locals, the more you tip, the more alcohol you’re gonna find in your drinks.
Music – It should be carefully noted that this is an all request format. Although I would agree it is like a wedding, I wouldn’t say a “bad” wedding because in several areas of the country, a good wedding DJ starts old and works newer and throws in requests. I was a mobile DJ for the largest midwest DJ chain for 1.5 years and I’m very picky about DJs, but they do a pretty good job at ADH. The other thing to note is they have a rotation of 7 or 8 different DJs. Thus, you get different djs night to night and week to week. This keeps things fresh and if you like one particular genre, it’s best to find the DJ you like, talk to him/her, and find out the schedule he/she will be DJing.
The downside to those of us looking for a mannequins style of music is that ADH wants videos with most of its songs. Some of the DJs do carry a pretty good dance selection and if you ask for a mannequins set, I’m sure they will oblige. There is also a mannequins light tech who works occasionally and she really gets the lights going with mannequins style music.
I agree that ADH should start theme nights. The problem is they won’t because they don’t want Tuesday to be “mannequins” night and then have a convention of 400 show up all in the 40+ age bracket. That is why they keep it an open format. I doubt, unfortunately, that it’s going to change.
Another note on attendance – Disney doesn’t promote this place AT ALL. They don’t care, they get their money no matter how well the club does. I’ve seen security guards have to “shush” the drunks coming out of the club due to the close proximity to hotel rooms. VERY VERY VERY sad.
If you want somewhere on Disney property to go to dance, this is, unfortunately, the only place. You’re gonna have to put up with music you don’t like at some point, but just be patient and keep feeding the requests and I’m sure you will be fine. If you want an actual nightlife destination, it pains me to say go to citywalk, since it seems Disney has given up on this demographic
oh and the smoking thing – There are now nicorette only cigarettes that don’t put any smoke in the room. That might be what you saw in the club. I guarantee you that if you saw a cigarette that was lit like a normal cigarette, management would surely ask that person to step outside. It’s possible no one saw it and if so, did you take the initiative to bring it to someone’s attention? If not, then you have no right to complain.