Defunctland: The History of Disneyland's Teen Nightclub, Videopolis

on September 12th 1984 the president of Paramount Pictures a 42 year old executive named Michael Eisner resigned from his position he'd been offered a new role at another notable entertainment company what would be acknowledged today is the highest level at the most prominent media giant in the world the CEO of the Walt Disney Company at the time was equivalent to the position of a captain on a sinking ship Disney for a multitude of reasons was failing and the company had just fended off a vicious takeover attempt a few months prior the sinking ship elected Eisner as its new captain but Eisner had no plans to sail on until it was submerged he had much bigger ideas he was going to dismantle the ship and build it again in that spirit he set to work revitalizing every aspect of the company this included Disney's theme parks namely Disneyland the park had not had a major edition since 1979 s Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and five years after its debut attendance was reflecting the lack of new attractions there were various passion projects floating around in wet enterprises mainly Discovery Bay an ambitious expansion that was still in the drawing board and had stalled in progress the lack of direction resulted in the parks attendance dropping nearly 20% in four years going from 11.5 million people in 1980 to just nine point eight million people in 1984 with no new attractions on the way to boost attendance the solution was fairly clear produced more rides but this would be one of the first times and eisenerz reign that he would demand those working for him go beyond the obvious answer the solution wasn't just to build more attractions but to build more exciting and thrilling rides attractions less like 1983's Pinocchio's during journey and more like Big Thunder Mountain this meant that Eisner would be going after an entirely different demographic for the park in the CEOs mind Disneyland would always attract young children and by extension their parents but what they couldn't attract is everyone in-between being a family man himself he wanted rides that someone like his teenage son Breck could enjoy after taking a trip to Disneyland with his son it was clear that the park had little to offer him we see no time Eisner began planting the seeds for thrilling attractions such as Star Tours and Splash Mountain Eisner expected these rides to be built within a year or two but he was displeased to hear that the production on attractions like the ones he was encouraging would take much longer with Disneyland's attendance continuing to fall he needed something much faster to drive in the young adults and teenage gang and sheep way to bring the youth of Southern California into Disneyland lucky for him it was the 80s [Music] 1980s are revitalization on American cultures fascination with youth and the teenage experience unlike the sock hops of the 50s which encapsulated the spirit of a generation the teens of the 1980s had a rougher edge to them with innocents having a shorter lifespan as many of the antiquated values of society changed this change was best reflected in the periods music and the birth of music television or MTV with more mature music finding its way into the mainstream at the same time more parents entered the workforce and divorce rates skyrocketed with no infrastructure to accommodate these changes the youth of the decade was pushed outside of their parents watchful eye and into a new world catering to the adolescent the generational experience was the subject of countless coming-of-age films and companies took notice of a seemingly new demographic to market toward theme parks especially saw the opportunity to attract the generation with an abundance of independence and free time while thrill rides were appealing to teens there wasn't any cheaper or easier way to bring in the youth of the day later dubbed the MTV generation than with music Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park California Disneyland's local rival had opened the largest teenage nightclub in Southern California studio K in early 1984 and along with the cloud9 Ballroom the new dance spot at rafting the area's youth and droves this was the exact type of attraction Disney needed while they continued work on eisenerz elaborate modern etickets of course Disney denied studio K or cloud9 having any influence on their plans for a teenage nightclub insisting that it was a mere coincidence in early 1985 Steve Carroll the manager of Disneyland show in operations sat at a Chinese restaurant brainstorming ideas to fulfill eisenerz decree he flipped over the place mat in front of him Johnny down an idea for a teen nightclub at Disneyland the club was to be called galaxy and it would take the place of the Tomorrowland space stage which was currently showing the 3d film magic journeys Carroll thought the space could be better used as a sci-fi dance area for teens and young adults unfortunately the space was earmarked for one of eisenerz young adult attractions a new 3d film starring Michael Jackson named Captain EO this would transform the outdoor space stage into an indoor 4-d theater despite the roadblock the idea of a teenage nightclub was well received probably because there was already a proven model right down the street but regardless it was be perfect project to begin the revitalization of the parks Carroll and his team got to work developing a nightclub for teens in order to set the venue apart from the others in the area the team designed the most high-tech club that they could realistically build relying on techniques typically used in large concerts rather than simple discotheques the club was to be named Vidya polis and it would utilize over 70 screens to large screens on either side of the main stage with an array of smaller screens making up a mosaic throughout the rest of the stage these would display the many popular music videos of the day that the teens could view as they danced the venue which was to be 5,000 square feet would also include seating for 1,500 this would allow Vidya Palace to show stage plays or host special events during the day and then transform into a hi-tech dance club at night the club was to have elaborate stage lighting and special effects such as light sticks that projected simple images in a way that made them appear 3d development on Vidya palace began on February 14th in 1985 and construction took place throughout the spring a site in North Fantasyland an unused meadow near its small world was chosen for the construction site this area would be a perfect place for Vidya poulos for a few reasons one it was at the very back of the park so the music and teens would be separated from the rest of Disneyland's operations another positive was that its location was right next to the launch site for the nighttime fireworks show this meant that when the fireworks were set off they would explode directly above the dance floor the only drawback to the location was that videos would be in fantasy land with its modern design and emphasis on technology Carroll was right that it would have been a better fit for Tomorrowland but then again this was at a time when Tomorrowland had the patriotic nostalgia based show America sings it was a very weird time the development and construction of video appleís was one of the most efficient disneyland builds in the parks history and at the time it was said to be the quickest from development to opening it was labeled as the 100-day miracle as it took 100 days from the first developmental meeting to opening day although some Disney press releases stated that it actually took 128 days vide apples cost three million dollars to build and save money used assets left over from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games on Saturday June 22nd 1985 video post opened its doors to the 14 to 21 year olds of Disneyland 15 technicians three rotating disc jockeys and a cover band named Donna McDaniel and network entertained the young adults throughout the night a snack bar called yums acted as the club's concession stand Jim Loman a cast member working in food and beverages was assigned the task of finding food items for vide appleís Williams would serve basic concessions such as popcorn and nachos women would add one notable item a 12-inch churro to churro carts will be placed invidious and the snack would eventually spread throughout Disneyland becoming a staple of Disney Parks there would also be a merchandise stand a decorated pickup truck that sold video plus t-shirts and other merchandise vide appleís even had its own theme song [Music] it's first few months of operation vide appleís became the subject of national news in September of 1980 two gay men were dancing together at the Tomorrowland Terrace dance floor security guards enforcing the parks ban on same-sex dancing ejected them from the park the men then sued Disneyland on grounds of discrimination Disneyland claimed that they had had the rule since 1957 when the park officially allowed dancing from 1955 to 1957 it can be assumed dancing was outlawed at Disneyland after they decided to legalize and regulate the act of dancing in their park Disneyland place strict ban on same-sex dancing the two men violated this act in 1980 when they engaged in what was referred to as homosexual fast dancing the reason for the rule was apparently because Disney was looking out for the safety of park guests saying quote we didn't want to have two women dancing and have some guy go out and hassle them they also said it was a crowd control measure and that have same-sex couples platonic or not we're allowed to dance together it would result in a larger unsafe crowd they also admitted that they were a family park that thought the quote alternative lifestyles would offend their guests but it was mainly the safety thing On June 29 to 1984 an Orange County judge ordered Disneyland to allow the two men to dance as denying them their right to dance would violate California's business discrimination policies this was a huge win for the two men and no one else because Disney claimed that all the court determined was that those two specific men should be allowed to dance and if any other same-sex couples wish to participate in the party they should lawyer up Disneyland's lawyer said quote we'll abide by the order but it doesn't apply to others if two other men show up tomorrow night to dance Disneyland won't let them on the dance floor the lawyer of the two men seemingly agreed with Disney's interpretation also admitting that this didn't mean that any same-sex couple could dance just this specific one when video op was open in the summer of 1985 many teams requested that Disney lift their ban on same-sex dancing Disney obliged and it became a huge news story with vide appleís at the center of it gay rights activists cheered the decision believing that it was a huge step forward for Disney Disney shut that down pretty fast saying quote video post brings in a lot of teenaged kids and we see a lot of situations where two girls come together and want to dance and ask - we have always said no but we changed our minds then they double down on their inter rotation of the 1984 ruling saying quote although we lost that we only lost on removing those two men from the dancing area we continue to enforce the policy until a month ago Disney spun the lift on same-sex dancing as a necessary evil because many teenagers are shy toward the opposite sex so they might feel more comfortable dancing with a group of their friends essentially shifting blame to the young adults fears of their own heterosexuality rather than the parks own fear of homosexuality a fifteen-year-old Dominique said on the subject quote it's just as fun to dance with your friends as it is with a guy we go dancing together a lot there's nothing wrong with it completely missing the point by design despite all the semantics almost sexual fast dancing was finally allowed at Disneyland homosexuals slow dancing was another story with the first round of videos the name given to the teens visiting Vidia palace having experienced the club reviews were coming in and the consensus was that it was tubular 18 year old George said quote the videos are sure hot and the live band is really great 14 year old Chris said quote my friends are here the lights are really weird 15 year old Shannon was more critical in her review saying quote they need some slow dances 16 year old Robert praised the new edition explaining quote I like the females here there are lots of females throughout 1985 video post attracted a group of regulars and the venue seemed to be a huge success when 18-year old Ford Elise was asked whether she would rather ride Space Mountain or go to vidya AAPIs she scoffed quote you can't dance on Space Mountain in the summer of 1986 seventeen-year-old Gina said quote I even broke my leg here running to the dance floor exactly a year ago today and spent New Year's here in a wheelchair despite the positive reviews from the teens there were many outspoken critics of Vidya palace and Disneyland's efforts to appeal to teenagers and young adults many came from worried parents who thought the new club would bring in a more rowdy crowd to a traditionally kid-oriented park others were concerned about the possibility of gang violence which had been on the rise and had become a major focus of the media the sudden growth in the use and distribution of crack cocaine among other factors led to a rapid rise in youth gangs and gang violence in the 1980s and Southern California was at the epicenter of the growth typical gang numbers were between 14 and 20 sold wits identity also the target demographic for the youth discotheques and nightclubs that were popping up throughout the city this led to issues as the youth gangs would claim certain nightclubs as part of their turf and Knott's Berry Farm in Disneyland were not exempt in July of 1985 weeks after Vidia was opened Knott's Berry Farm nightclubs were involved in a prominent altercation rival gangs encountered one another at Studio K and cloud 9 and after leaving the park a brawl involving 50 teenagers broke out one nos employee had his facial bones shattered while trying to stop the fight this was just a month after a grand night party at Six Flags Magic Mountain and Valencia ended with 21 gang members being arrested after six people were stabbed Disneyland responded to these concerns by assuring guests that as per their dress code gang members visiting the park would have to remove their colors and that their security detail would be put through police training to better assist if an altercation were to happen still whether it was genuine concern or plain paranoia many felt it was only a matter of time before a tragedy would occur at the park Disney knew this was a concern going in and on top of increasing security and supervision they also implemented a series of decisions that whether on purpose or not helps keep the perceived rougher crowd of teens away while one of video poses main features was its showcasing the popular music videos the technical director overseeing the club would make sure to cut away when any of the videos displayed inappropriate images by Disney standards cameras were placed throughout the club and would periodically show the team's dancing on the big screen especially when an inappropriate section of a music video was coming up they also avoided playing many of the controversial songs of the day while this helped appease the minds of parents and keep the atmosphere Disney it also made video Plus uncool in the minds of the Southern California youth especially compared to the more relaxed atmosphere of studio K and cloud 9 at Knott's another factor in splitting the Disneyland Knott's audience was Disney's pricing plan vide Apple's Pass was created allowing teenagers admission to the park after 5 p.m. during the summer for $40 or around $95 today adjusted for inflation this was a good deal when compared to the season pass at the time which cost $85 or around $200 when adjusted for inflation knots on the other hand charged teens eight dollars after 6:00 p.m. to encourage attendance at their nightclubs while the video is past would be a better deal in the long run the lump sum approach resulted in the less fortunate kids heading to Knotts without a per night ticket if a teen wanted to go to video post without the pass it would cause fifteen dollars for the adult passport double the special ticket offered by knots this resulted in a class divide between Disneyland's Vidya Poulos and Knott's Berry Farm Studio K and cloud nine the four moored be looked at as the overly clean whitewashed club for privileged kids while the latter would be seen as a more diverse and hip hangout spot this was the view from the eyes of the youth of the Los Angeles area but from the eyes of Disneyland and it's typical gues video post was far from the safe family friendly atmosphere gues expected from the park video appleís was essentially hookup central and the North Fantasyland bathrooms were later cited as a prime hangout spots security was tight at vide appleís but they seem to be more focused on the dance floor conga lines were off-limits at the club and that rule was strictly enforced for some reason though security had no problem with allowing the occasional older guests to join the teens 61 year old suzanne demuccio became known by the regulars as dancing mama she visited the club almost every night when asked why she explained quote the kids love me I come every week and dance all night long it keeps me young while many of the less than Mickey happenings at vide appleís were expected one of the fears the park goers and parents had from its inception was tragically realized around 1:00 a.m. on March 8th 1987 two gangs of teenagers got into an altercation in the Disneyland parking lot after the parks closing the two groups engaged in a fist fight before at eighteen-year-old pulled a gun and shot a 15 year-old boy three to four times in the back another fourteen-year-old boy uninvolved in the fight was hit by a stray bullet both victims were rushed to the hospital the fourteen-year-old suffered minor injuries but tragically the 15 year old died hours later the murderer was arrested it was Disneyland second homicide with the first taking place six years earlier when an 18 year old was stabbed to death and tomorrow and video post was blamed for attracting the gangs that led to the fight although a direct connection was never reported it was offseason for video post at the time of the shooting and unlike the summer where every night was a non-stop dance party Vidia was only acted as a dance club on Saturdays and some Sundays in the spring of 1987 the altercation took place after a Friday night at Disneyland when video post was not operating as a club still video APIs and the effort to bring in more teens to the park were believed to be the reasons for the gangs gravitating toward Disneyland although the entire situation could simply be a coincidence video post continued operation without change even expanding its reach throughout the Walt Disney Company in kt7 the video is cafe a second nightclub routines was announced as part of a new nightclub district two named pleasure island planned for the disney village marketplace at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando Florida on top of this a television show based off of video post was created for Disney Channel premiering in 1987 the show was described as American Bandstand for kids and featured host Randy Hamilton accompanied by a dancing crew of vide AAPIs regulars including a young Mario Lopez the show would see famous musical acts come by including New Kids on the Block Janet Jackson and the Jets this of course meant that the kids would have to interact with the big stars and it was painful wait wait a minute Patrick weren't you gonna offer pebbles a guided tour of videos especially the dance floor yeah sure just in case we lost doubles Patrick wants to dance with you is that alright yeah that's great the show would last until 1989 and a monthly show called vide appleís star tracks which would fall musicians on and off stage whatever from 1987 to 1990 the 1987 and 1988 disneyland state fairs would use the video apples stage as a BMX course and a show featuring goofy and the BMX group the Wizards of rad was performed in late 1987 Disneyland hosted a fundraiser to benefit the AIDS Project Los Angeles resulting in thousands of gay people being openly invited into the Magic Kingdom many believe that Disney was doing this to distract from their past behavior such as banning homosexual fast dancing and Disney agreed saying they were hosting it to quote dismiss finally all that nonsense that happened in the past hilariously and sadly around the same time three gay UCLA students dancing at Disneyland were told by a security guard that they were not allowed to slow dance they sued Disneyland for their right to engage in homosexual slow dancing whereas the security guard referred to it touch dancing the three settled out of court with Disney admitting that the security guard violated their anti-discrimination policy finally both homosexual fast dancing and homosexual slow dancing were allowed at the happiest place on earth in the summer of 1988 a railroad station was added in your video police named the video station allowing those riding the Disneyland railroad to hop off at fantasy land by this point video post was hosting nine events for all ages with some Press reports promoting video poulos as an all-ages dancefloor possibly to calm the rowdy teenage crowd in the summer of 1989 the video is cafe renamed to video apples East open with the Pleasure Island nightclub district the only non adult club in the complex vide appleís East boasted over 170 screens and an interactive game where computers allowed guests to control the lights and effects in the club video post East was the only Club on Pleasure Island to not serve alcohol and it was open nightly from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. in early November 1989 Disneyland announced that they were going to close vide appleís to make way for a musical stage show tribute to the works of Walt Disney entitled one man's dream the show which had premiered the year prior in Tokyo Disneyland was to celebrate the parks 35th anniversary Disney Land managements said the video palace might return after the show's run but they were still deciding on its future in the meantime they told teens that they could join the rest of park goers for an all-ages dance party at the Tomorrowland Terrace dance floor the regulars took this as the end of their favorite hangout spot in the video to write video post would close on November 26th 1989 and never reopened for teens the stage will continue to use the name Vidya Palace and was still sport it's exceptionally 80s design but only family shows would occupy the stage disease official reason was to repurpose the space but many speculated whether the gang incident and other issues with the teenagers contributed to the decision it is still unclear what the exact reason for the apple's disclosure was but it does seem slightly suspicious that the sole reason for its closure was the addition of one man's dream as the space had hosted four different stage shows and countless special events in its four and a half years of operation it is also possible that one man's dream was more elaborate than the other shows and the stage and seating area was altered to accommodate it no longer making the dance club possible at night while the show was performing some speculated that low attendance of vide appleís toward the end of its run was another factor in disclosure while Vidya Paz was closing Studio K and cloud nine were expanding but the party wouldn't last much longer than Vidya AAPIs not school teen hangouts would close in 1991 just two years after vide appleís shut its doors Vidya was East would continue to operate despite vide Opelousas closure but within pleasure island's first year of operation the diablos East was replaced with cage a nightclub for those over 18 or children accompanied by an adult Vidya voz East like its West Coast counterpart had attracted a consistent group of teenagers visiting the club and unfortunately also like at West Coast counterpart had led to fights in vid Yama's East case a fight between 27 teenagers that led to two boys being stabbed Disney denied that the replacement of the club was prompted by the violence in 1992 another venue named vidi appleís would open in Disneyland at Euro Disneyland in France while was rumored to also be a nightclub for youth before its debut it would end up is simply a large theater for stage shows very interesting stage shows [Music] Vidia Poulos and Anaheim would host four additional shows after one man's dream before the theater would be refurbished into the fantasy land theater in 1995 in 1993 the video ah blows train station had been renamed and redeemed to the Mickey's Toontown train depot with the Toon Town expansion the Fantasyland theater is still operating today currently showing the stage show Mickey and the magical map as it has been for over six years [Music] vide operas did live to see one more day On January 29th 2020 when the Fantasyland theater was transformed back into the nightclub for the Disneyland after dark 80s night event the event even included a choreographed dance to the club's rockin theme [Music] perhaps vidi appleís was destined to die before the start of the 90s it was a concept born specifically from the teenage culture of the 80s and it died with the decade vidi appleís despite its many controversies was a huge success drying and thousands of teens on popular nights and it along with Heiser's other attractions resulted in Disneyland's attendance reaching a high of 13 million in both 1987 and 1988 a 30 percent increase since Eisner took over vidi AAPIs is fondly remembered by its regular videos many lifelong friendships and even marriages began at vide appleís and the MTV generation of the area still thinks of the teenage hangouts as the embodiment of the 80s whether they were dancing at Studio K in cloud 9 were going to the top at vidi appleís [Music] you [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Defunctland

Views: 1,370,184

Keywords: defunctland, kevin perjurer, theme park, extinct, abandoned, defunct, history, disney, disneyland, disney world, previous, attractions, on ride, lights on, videopolis, defunctland videopolis, disney teen nightclub, cloud 9 studio k knott's berry farm history, disney teen nightclub videopolis history, videopolis history, videopolis tv show history, disneyland history, disneyland fantasyland history, disneyland nightclub 80's, disneyland 80's nite, disney nightclub, pleasure island

Id: aAAamVPS9QA

Length: 23min 58sec (1438 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 01 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/Razzyjellybean]

I’m gonna go to bed early tonight... Defunctland uploads a new video Shit.

[u/wookieeboogie]

I don’t know about anyone else but I would kill for a sweatshirt with that “Homosexual Fast Dancing” logo on it.

[u/The-Bigger-Fish]

I really like these updated versions of old episodes and i hope I can see more of them. It's a good compromise between the more "serialized" Season 3 episodes and the previous seasons' more "episodic" style videos.

[u/reallymkpunk]

I enjoyed it. Not sure what classic episodes should be redone.

[u/[deleted]]

Great vid as always. Your editing skills are top notch.