But now this is all changing. On my recent trip to Pleasure Island (May 2006) I found a very different place to the party central that I'd always known P.I. as. If you're a fan then prepare yourself; Pleasure Island is currently nothing less than a gigantic building site.

The most striking change is the disappearance of the main stage. Gone are the famous nightly New Years Eve parties that were held there every midnight; the main stage and the smaller central stage have both been demolished. And all the shops are currently closed too, in preparation for an "exciting relaunch" of the entire Pleasure Island district aimed to more integrate it into the Downtown Disney concept.

But perhaps it's time for a little history lesson here. Initially Disney built the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village way back in 1975. It was just a small area with a few shops that was going to serve a planned little residential town, Lake Buena Vista. This town would have been located where Saratoga Springs is now. While those few residential blocks never materialised (the few buildings that were built eventually became the Disney Village Resort and later the short-lived Disney Institute), the accompanying shopping and entertainment area became quite popular with resort guests. Over the years it changed its name to the Walt Disney World Village and then the Disney Village Marketplace before becoming today's Downtown Disney Marketplace.

When it was clear that these Disney's visitors were heading into downtown Orlando or going off Disney property to places like Church Street Station for their night-time entertainment, the company decided to get into the bar scene. Pleasure Island was opened in 1989 alongside the Disney Marketplace.

A further addition was made in 1995 when the West Side was created and the entire area was renamed Downtown Disney. DisneyQuest and Cirque du Soleil were brought in for its opening, as were the chain restaurants and stores.

But that popular new addition caused a problem. Both the Marketplace and the West Side had shops and restaurants and were open all day. The area between them, Pleasure Island, didn't open til 7pm, which meant that guests could not walk the entire half mile of Downtown Disney during the day. They were spending their vacation dollars in one half of the complex, but couln't reach the other.

This is now to be amended. Pleasure Island will get a whole new selection of shops to complement those in the areas at either side of it, and it will be open from around lunchtime every day. While the clubs won't be opening their doors until the traditional evening slots, the entrance gates at either end of PI have gone – you pay for entrance to the clubs now, not to the area.

The clubs that people know and love (like the Adventurer's Club, Comedy Warehouse, 8Trax etc) are remaining, and Raglan Road, the new Irish Bar, seems to be the hoped-for crowd pleaser. Its combination of Guinness, live Irish music and hearty food are already attracting resort guests and locals alike. And a new dinosaur themed restaurant to be called T-Rex looks all set to spring up soon at the junction of Pleasure Island and the Marketplace.

These new shops and dining options seem to indicate a renewed emphasis on attracting mixed groups of adults and young families, and this is bourne out when you see the plans for new Pleasure Island. All the areas original backstory of Merriweather Pleasure's disused shipyard and warehouses being turned into an entertainment district has been abandoned to bring it away from the slightly seedy, deliberately rundown look and make it fit in more with its neighbours. More open and grassy areas are planned, a new bridge will pass from PI straight into the heart of the West Side, and a new jetty is being constructed to serve the regular water taxis that will ferry guests from Pleasure Island to the Marketplace and some resorts.

It is hoped that all these changes will be in place by the end of 2006. Ironically, the new Pleasure Island should be completed just in time to host a New Year's Eve party.