The latest on the stalled Pleasure Island redevelopment at Disney World

When is Disney going to do something with the old Pleasure Island? Disney fans have been clamoring for an answer since the company’s plan to develop “Hyperion Wharf” stalled almost two years ago.

Pleasure Island has been shuttered since 2008. Its replacement – a dining and entertainment area built around a “dockside” theme – was originally supposed to be complete by early this year.

Disney concept art of the Hyperion Wharf area.

Instead, the company hit the brakes in 2011, saying on the company blog, “During the course of this site work, we identified opportunities to further refine our master plan and are pausing to evaluate them. What does this mean for you? While we’re moving quickly, it will admittedly cause a delay in construction. But we’re willing to bet that any delay will be worth the wait once we’re able to share details about the exciting work we’ve been doing.”

And that, Disney fans, was the last we heard, about 18 months ago.

Since then, Pleasure Island remains little more than a hill to climb between Downtown Disney and the Marketplace (with all due respect to Paradiso 37, which is a lovely stop along the way).

Is Disney finally inching toward making a new announcement? Maybe.

After reporter Richard Bilbao speculated in the Orlando Business Journal that the project was dead or mothballed, the company broke its silence in its usual enigmatic way.

“Work continues on bringing our vision for Downtown Disney to life,” the company told the reporter. “As with any project of this size and scope, our plans have continued to grow and evolve over time, and we are looking holistically at the entire Downtown Disney experience. We look forward to sharing additional details soon.”

That doesn’t tell us much, except that it seems we can forget the Hyperion Wharf name.

I do like the idea that Disney is looking at the area holistically – and hopefully not just Downtown Disney, but the whole sprawl, from Cirque du Soleil theater all the way (huff, puff) to the Art of Disney store.

What do you think Disney should do with the old Pleasure Island?