Pleasure family pet

Pleasure family pet
Ryan P. Wilson

Throughout the years that Pleasure Island was the nighttime destination for Walt Disney World, the tales of Merriweather Pleasure and his family that were shared and cultivated were some of the most original stories every Imagineered. Over the years these stories became less and less visible to the average guest due to the metamorphosis of the island, as well as the individual clubs. The storehouse for a majority of the narratives that remained took the form of, not surprisingly, the Adventurers Club.

The Adventurers Club was closed, along with the other clubs of Pleasure Island, in the fall of 2008. Throughout the remainder of 2008 and all of 2009, there were several events that took place in the shuttered club, before the adventurers had their last Hoopla! With announcements that Hong Kong Disneyland would gain its own Adventurers Club, many longtime fans began to wonder if we had seen the last of Pleasure’s magnificent artifacts in Florida.

To the surprise, and delight, of many several relics from the Adventurers Club have found a new home in West Side’s newest store, D-Street. The Vinylmation centric shop appears to have been cobbled together from a vast array of pieces not only from Pleasure Island, but all around Walt Disney World. My favorite piece from the Adventurers Club that can now be found on display in the D-Street is Scooter.

Scooter was the longtime pet of the Pleasures, and was a particular favorite of Merriweather’s daughter, Merriam. Scooter was given his name by the Viceroy of Ceylon, Sir Manning Hubley Sommerset, in 1931. Oh, I suppose I should mention that Scooter, Merriam’s favorite pet, was no ordinary feline or canine. As is the case with all of the stories surrounding the Pleasures, Scooter is…, well…, exotic, because he is, in fact, a peacock.