The Adventurers Club

Image: Disney

The Adventurers Club, from the start, probably looks quite unlike anything you've seen at Downtown Disney before. Among the modern, repurposed warehouses of Pleasure Island, the Adventurers Club sticks out. Perhaps it's believable that this club once masqueraided as a library, but now it's easy to see that whatever it contains is probably unusual... Climbing vines entomb a single, spectacular, sandstone-colored obelisk, a curved portico supported by a seemingly-unsteady pillar. Where the stone facade has chipped away, ancient runes (undeciphered as of today, but almost certainly with a message to tell) are carved into the exterior. There's an otherworldly draw to this mysterious locale...

And as luck would have it, the veil of mystery shrouding the Adventurers Club has been pulled away. Tonight is an open house. It's New Years Eve 1937 every night at the Adventurers Club, and we have been drawn into this exceptional place's magnetic field. A banner invites us in with a simple but telling offer: "Come in a stranger, leave a little stranger."

Image: Disney

At once we're ushered inside and into the Zebra Mezzanine.

The adventure begins right away. The only character likely to greet us here is Graves, who's served as the dutiful butler to the Adventurers Club since its inception. And arriving now, he welcomes us back and assures us that, while we were away, he was certain to collect our mail. Lowering a silver platter, Graves hands us a letter. These really-for-real souvenir sealed envelopes contain gems such as this one (discovered by the amazing Jeff Lange), from Club President Pamelia Perkins:

Images: Jeff Lange

Only a few steps in the door, it's likely that you're recognizing what makes the Adventurers Club so special... And if that doesn't convince you, your next view will. 

The Mezzanine exists as the Club's grand entrance – a circular balcony acting as the top floor of the Club, encircling the iconic Main Salon. The walls and balconies of this hexagonal, grand, central atrium are littered with flags, artifacts, mementos, and oddities. This isn't simply a collection of things, but of stories; expeditions; fish tales; adventures...

The only path forward is around the balcony and to a set of steps leading down into the Main Salon.

Image: Disney

The Main Salon is where the Club's primary bar is, built around a priceless statue that – some say – is called "Zeus Goes Fishing..." An (eh-hem) modified replica of the famous Artemision Bronze, a sculpture believed to be of Zeus, but found without the lightning bolt historians presume it must've once held. With drink in hand, guests can mill about the Main Salon, meeting and greeting with some of the Club's most noteworthy members... Like Pamelia Perkins (Club President, I'll have you know), Fletcher Hodges (an absent-minded Club Curator, who claims to have "mounted every object in the Club"), Samantha Sterling (a noted explorer-slash-cabaret-singer), and our hero, Emil Bleehall. Hailing from Sandusky, Ohio, Bleehall is a Junior Adventurer, poised to win the Balderdash Cup.

And herein lies the beauty of the Adventurers Club. Dozens of characters mill about, each with a backstory that they'd happily spend hours explaining. Resident adventurers, maids, butlers, and visiting explorers have all descended on their Adventurers Club for this New Years Eve extravaganza, and three times nightly, they initiate the New Member Induction Ceremony here.

Adventurers new and old gather in the Main Salon for the membership drive, inviting visitors to pledge. In this prestigious ceremony, all members learn the Club Salute, which ends with a chorus of the Club's official greeting: "KUNGALOOSH!" Perhaps most importantly comes the recitation of the Club Creed, as established by founder Merriweather Pleasure a decade ago, in 1927:

"We climb the highest mountains,
just to get a better view.

We plumb the deepest oceans,
cause we're daring through and through.

We cross the scorching deserts,
martini in our hands.

We ski the polar ice caps,
in tuxedo looking grand.

We are reckless, brave, and loyal,
and valiant to the end.

If you come in here a stranger,
you will exit as a friend."

With business out of the way, it's time to awaken Colonel Critchlow Sunchbench, the Club Gleemeister himself, generally sitting "on duty" (read, asleep) in a maestro's box over the Salon. The Colonel is meant to lead us in a chorus of the Club's Song, but first he needs awoken with his favorite phrase, "Free drink, Colonel!" Even when it's time for the tune, he doesn't always get it right the first time... 

The Colonel is one of the Club's first ingenious secrets: a expressive, eccentric, unusual characters brought to life through live puppetry.

But there's much more to see...

The Mask Room, the Treasure Room, and the Library

One of the smallest rooms in the Club is the Mask Room, located just off the Main Salon. It's a cozy corner of the otherwise boisterous Club, decorated in dozens and dozens of masks from around the globe... many of which move and laugh. Throughout the night, the Mask Room would also suddenly spring to life with seemingly-instantaneous shows, where the Club Maid would do an impromtu stand-up routine with any guests lucky enough to be seated inside. 

Otherwise, two Bacchanalian-style masks featured prominently in the room – Arnie and Claude – were known to awaken and interact directly with guests in their own improv routines, long predating Universal's Mystic Fountain. And beware, they're not above heckling guests... 

The Treasure Room – an equally tiny side-salon – contained artifacts collected and curated by the Adventurers Club, and throughout the night, Club members would host artifact lectures, explaining their acquisitions and, inevitably, awakening the Genie Beezle in a riotous back-and-forth comedy exchange. 

Images: Jeff Lange

The largest room in the Club is, as you'd expect, the towering Library. Giving Belle's a run for its money, the Library isn't just a sprawling resource for tomes of adventure and legend. It's the venue's main stage. Throughout the evening, the Library is continuously alive with scripted shows, musicals, and special events. There's the nightly Welcome Party hosted by Samantha Sterling and Fletcher Hodges; The Balderdash Cup Competition; cabarets; sing-alongs...

One of the most memorable was a nightly Radio Broadcast wherein President Perkins and Otis Wren (Club Treasurer and resident ichthyologist) live-hosted their serial radio show, "Tales of the Adventurers Club," only to find during the broadcast that half of the cast was missing, necessitating stand-ins from the audience. In another radiothon, members of the Adventurers Club would put on a variety show in hopes of raising the $2,000 needed to save the Club's lease.

Remember, every night at the Adventurers Club is New Years Eve, and that means a celebratory fireworks finale. At 11:45, the Club proudly moves outside to watch the fireworks launch, ringing in 1938 with all the wild, eccentric fun you'd expect.

Kungaloosh

Image: Disney

Every square inch of the Adventurers Club is a part of a living world; a fully immersive themed environment; a secret society who's invited you in. Come again and again; every time you'll see familiar and new faces, become a voice in the chorus of the Club Song; come to know the Adventurers and invest in their stories; become a part of the inside jokes and the massive "history" of the Club and its founder...

With all the depth and mythos of Haunted Mansion, the scale of Pirates of the Caribbean, and a cult following inexplicably strong in an era before social media, the Adventurers Club was, without a doubt, one of the most unique attractions to ever grace Walt Disney World. We asked early on if it was a club, attraction, walkthrough, bar, or show... And in hindsight, it was all of that and more. Packed with Audio-Animatronics, puppets, special effects, unforgettable characters, and camaraderie, the Adventurers Club became a legitimate exercise in community; a beloved group of explorers; a welcoming refuge for Pleasure Island visitors; a must-see attraction that shaped and was shaped by a new generation of Disney Parks designers.

And then, it was gone. What happened? And where does the spirit of the Adventurers Club live on? That's where the story picks up on the next page...