michygoomy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2003
Well, I'm back, and I promised I'd post a reply, so here goes! Details will be in my trip report.
We headed over to PI Monday night early after torrential rains and tornado warnings drove us out of AK. We stayed in the hotel for a couple of hours, but the kids were going stir-crazy in that little room so it was time to go somewhere, regardless of the rain.
It was still raining and lightening really good when we arrived in our ponchos and water shoes (our sneakers were still soaked from that afternoon) looking like geeky tourists next to the youngin's in their dancing clothes. We walked onto the island (I got carded and didn't have my ID, so no drinking for me! Dagnabbit, I'm 35! I have grey hairs! I was with my 10-year-old!) to find hardly anyone there at all. A CM directed us into 8-trax, where DD7 went right to the empty dance floor. She loves to dance, which is why I wanted to do PI, and it was a treat to see her out there dancing away. The few adults in the club would look at her and smile. It was really dead, no more than a couple of people in there at a time.
After a couple of songs we headed off to the Adventurer's Club. There were quite a few kids, and the Club President was teasing a little guy there (younger than my kids) in her act. Not in a mean way, just including him in her show. We headed into the library for the show. It was great, we all loved it. Appropriate for children? Nothing as racy as a Herbal Essence commercial. There was some double-entente jokes that went right over the kids heads. DS10 loved this show.
We headed to the Comedy Club and saw a show. Again, rather tame and other kids were there. They actually picked two older kids to come up and be part of the show. DD10 loved this too.
We headed out then because everyone was tired but all agreed that we would come back. We headed out about 9pm, so I think we beat the majority of the adult crowd.
We went back Tuesday, our last night, arriving a little later this time. The rain wasn't as bad, so it was a little more crowded, but there were still a lot of kids. Went to the Adventurer's again and saw two new shows--one in the library and one in the map room. They were great and I adore Sonny (Sunny?). Again, the humor was very mildly adult, nothing that had me concerned, though other parents may have a different tolerance level. We went back to 8Trax which was playing 80s music (yeah for Mommy!) and DD7 and I danced for quite a while. There was a woman on the dance floor who was very well-endowed and wearing a tube top and dancing in a way that would have been considered suggestive 20 years ago, but is nothing compared to how teens dance today. I've seen worse at some weddings, and DD7 was paying absolutely no attention. Also on the dance floor was a man and a woman with their young teen daughter, having a great time dancing.
We got in line for the comedy club after that, I think it was for the 10:30 show, and at that point the line was all adults. There were still kids walking around PI, but none in line with us. It was at this point that I started to feel self-concious with the kids. We all decided we'd rather go get some ice cream and head back to the room, so we left the line.
So, for those parents out there considering it, here's some salient points:
-There are young couples in love there displaying PDAs, but nothing extreme.
-Some of the adults, even older adults, are there in "club clothes", but it certainly is more conservative than some of the bikinis at BB and TL!
-The shows contain some double-entente type material. It will either go over your kids heads or if they understand it already, then, I guess they've heard much worse!
-Early in the eve seems much more family-friendly than after 10pm.
-Yes, there are kids of all ages there, not in the numbers you see in the park, but more than you would expect from an "adult" environ.
-The kids are singled out often in the shows, but not in any different way than they are in the park. It's not mean-spirited at all.
-Didn't start seeing enebriated people until after 10pm and that was just by looking into their eyes, not by an outward displays of drunkeness.
Sorry this is so long but I'm big on getting as much info as possible and letting people make their own decisions based on their tolerance levels. DH comes from a very large, boisterous family, and I don't feel I exposed the kids to anything more than they would see at our average family get-together, but your tolerance levels might be very different from mine. I agree, though, if it's really meant to be an adult place, they shouldn't allow children, but it still has a Disney atmosphere, at least early in the eve.
For the record, DH and I had one alcoholic drink a piece both nights we were there (even the night I got carded, I admit.)
Have a magical trip, original poster!
