For the ultimate Disney fan, seeing a rare character can be just as exciting as seeing a celebrity! We love ya, Mickey, but having a conversation with Pain and Panic from Hercules doesn’t happen every day. Part of the excitement of meeting a lesser-known or hard-to-find Disney character is the exclusivity of the event. After all, who doesn’t want to feel like they’re part of a special club?
Speaking of special clubs, we found some Disney characters during the Tower of Terror 10-Miler in Disney World that you may remember from the Adventurers Club. It was glorious — let us show you!
First, if you’re not familiar, Disney World hosts runDisney events throughout the year. These Disney-themed races feature special foods and drinks, characters, and medals.
In early April, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler sent runners all across Disney World, with surprise character meet and greet appearances along the way. During the race, we saw Scrooge McDuck, Jiminy Cricket, Perry the Platypus, Woody and Bo Peep, and more!
We were especially starstruck when we happened upon characters from Disney World’s Adventures Club! If you’re not familiar, the Adventurers Club was an immersive entertainment experience that opened in 1989 with Pleasure Island. Over time, the club grew to amass a loyal following of fans who knew all the Adventures Club characters and storylines. Think of it like a retro, first-generation version of the new Star Wars hotel, which combines story, character interaction, and living in one location.
The story of the club was inspired by a fictional 1930s-style gentleman’s adventurer club. Each night, guests acted as visitors to the Adventurers Club on New Year’s Eve 1937 as the Club held an open house for the purpose of recruiting new members. Throughout the evening, guests may have run into a cast of kooky characters including Pamelia Perkins, Hathaway Browne, and the Colonel.
Sadly, this interactive play-like experience came to an end in 2008. Eventually, the area where Pleasure Island was once located became Disney Springs and the rest, as they say, is history!
These characters have been known to come out for select runDisney races, though you’ll have to pay the cost of registration to have the chance to meet them (which can be HUNDREDS of dollars). But, if you’re a Disney fan, a runner, or if you really miss The Adventurers Club, it just might be worth the price — and, you never know who else you might meet along the way! Stay tuned to AllEars for more of the latest Disney news and updates!
Character Meet-and-Greets You Will NEVER See in Disney World
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Did you ever visit the Adventurers Club? Let us know in the comments!
The Adventurers Club and the Comedy Club were the best! I went there on every visit.
It’s so sad they’re gone.
Some of the best nights out and the most fun my now wife and myself had in Disney were the nights spent at the Adventurers Club. Prob in our top 3 experiences we ever got to spend time doing. It is truly missed! I still have the business card I got randomly from someone we met in the parks years later. I have to dig it out. They were trying to get people to email and post to Disney to bring it back.
I was lucky enough to go to a soft opening of the Adventurers Club in May 1989; then never missed a night on every subsequent Florida trip, probably a hundred times across 1992 to 2008. I wish it were more. It was of the greatest attractions Disney’s Imagineers ever created.