Disney Springs Town Center Grand Opening Mega Thread!!

[lockedoutlogic]

Is there a closing date for DQ? We're planning to use our WP+M tickets there during our June trip!

No...there are no plans to close it this year...

But the axeman has been swinging at it for literally 15 years. Disney desperately wants to close it, but it has never worked out to the point where they can pull the trigger. I have little doubt that in a year or two when springs is up and traffic flow increases that they will replace/eliminate Disney quest. Only a matter of time.

 

[Oakburl]

Has anyone had a recent experience using a WP+M ticket at DisneyQuest? I read on here that they'll accept it up until closing even though it's not officially included, but then I called Disney and asked, and they said no, it's not included.

Figure I'll try anyway, but I'd like to hear from someone who's had recent experience. Might save us the trip.

 

[Founders Fan]

Why is there so much excitement about the opening of a new shopping mall? Isn't Disney supposed to be about rides, attractions and characters and not shopping malls?

Yeah, but those things don't pay the bills.

 

[umichigan10]

I have a pretty similar concept 20 minutes from where I live at Patriot place in foxboro (go pats btw) and can definitely see the sentiments being echoed here. The springs isn't necessarily a place I'll go on every trip, but given I usually stay at old key west, its a nice option to have for future visits (plus when I turn 21 in December I need to stop in at the hangar and/or trader Sam's at the poly. Just for the theme)

 

[saskdw]

Why is there so much excitement about the opening of a new shopping mall? Isn't Disney supposed to be about rides, attractions and characters and not shopping malls?

No. WDW is a vacation destination. It needs to provide everything that most people want on a vacation and things to occupy their time when not riding rides. We go for a full two weeks to escape the nasty western Canadian winter and places like Disney Springs and the Boardwalk are great time fillers.

I'm not sure I would call the reaction to DS hype or excitement. It's more like I'm happy it's finallly done and it looks great. im looking forward to spending some time there in December, but it isn't the reason I'm going.

 

[Tinkerdreams]

If you don't mind me asking...what area are you located in?

Btw - I like this discussion...nice to get some regional perspectives on things WDW. This is what they spend a large amount of their research on.

We're in upstate NY. We have malls and quite a number of stores but they just tend to repeat from one mall to another - nothing really special.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Yeah, but those things don't pay the bills.

100%...those things actually add to the bills...and we can't have that.

 

[Alice Royal]

Remember, kids, it's been raining every night in Orlando for the past few days. I went to Sprinkles last night for my free cupcake and that was essentially why it took so long to get in. The outdoor seating isn't covered. Nobody wanted to leave the place while it was pouring buckets.

Side note--Sprinkles pales in comparison to the cupcakery in Winter Park. Save your $4.50 (!!!) and go elsewhere for cupcakes. Or go to Morimoto Street Food and get a taiyaki instead.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

...cupcakes are SOOOOO 2010

 

[Accident]

I finally felt well and had a chance to check out springs last night. I arrived while there was still some light out near 7:30 and agree that it kind of feels out of place, until it got darker and then I could see that the buildings marketplace side directly next to world of disney were somewhere inbetween the new style and old style but painted different. In fact at night I couldn't really tell the buildings weren't the same color and architecturally that blended well. I suspect that we might be seeing some facade work or at least some painting of marketplace to make it fit together even better.

The "side entrances" are a little hidden for now, but once the buses move to the new center area that will not be the case. I found the layout a little messy, I didn't use the maps and never walked past sprinkles. There is also a lot of things not opened and the new guide map reads like a coming soon poster with what isn't there yet. Once more of those stores open it'll fill in nicely. I really agree this is just a mall now. It even smelled like a mall. I'm not the demographic of who would go shopping there and I strongly think this is really for that international visitor or someone from a small town usa area where these stores just don't exist. They do all prominently display what special only available here disney themed item they have. I can see myself shopping for some of them for those special disney people in my life. My daughter noticed a store about to open which I forget the name. She's a tsum tsum addict so she is hoping they carry the only available from them tsum tsums. They only sell them in their stores in japan so we'll see if that's their special disney items when they open.

I had a chance to try poutine and I kind of liked it. The gravy looked different to me from pictures that people posted on the first day so I think they quickly got the message that it wasnt correct. I also got hit with a disney research survey asking about how I iiked it. It wasn't perfect but I really enjoyed it but did want more pepper as it was a hair bland for my liking. I also love french fries so it was nice to see a variety. One thing they were missing though was just getting french fries and not poutine. Also I was surprised that discofries with a more traditional cheese fries with gravy wasn't an option. The service and speed was excellent

I did eat later that night at d-lux burger and that will probably be the last time I ever go there. I agree with some reviews that the meat was really well seasoned but I wasn't thrilled by the flavor combinations. They didn't have just a burger and my daughter was a trooper but she didn't want anything on the menu. I agree this was a missing thing disney needed but they went too far and forgot just a really good burger. Their fries also had something on them, they actually started to burn my throat. my daughter took 1 bite of hers and threw it out and we had to find something later outside of the new area... They were really slow. you order, get a pager and wait. plenty of seating indoor and out but that wasn't obvious at first depending on which direction you passed it to get to the door. It took about 20 minutes to get about 10 families in front of me ordered, then it took abut 5-10 minutes to get our shakes, then I watched what looked like all our food under heat lamps for about another 10 minutes as the cooks were efficient but the person to get it from the bag to you was not.. This was repeated at some small kiosk style shops over and over to the point we gave up even trying to order anything else that night. It's probably just new place, new employees, new crowds but hopefully it'll get better fast or summer is going to just be miserable getting anything.

There is a huge lack of somewhere to just get something to drink (water/soda) in the new area so bring a bottle into it with you. I'm thinking there is some shops not opened yet that might fill in this gap but when I was thirsty I had to wander around and out of the area to find something. They really need to add in someone somewhere.

night entertainment fit well, near poutine had a couple living statues, more central was a violinist with a spanish feeling, and near d-lux was a acoustical guitarist playing a mix of styles but mainly classic rock. D-lux has an area with rocking chairs and it felt right and not out of place. Also some entertainment around the rest of springs seemed dialed back a hair but this was also a wednesday night so it might be that the mass of performers are going to be out and about on weekend nights. I liked it a lot..

I do have evening pictures of the area but not time to post them now and will get them up on my lunch break.

 

[nelsonj3]

Here is a quick tour of D-Luxe Burger at Town Center. I didn't get to try it because it was too busy on opening day, but I'm planning to try it next time.

 

[Planogirl]

Nice review Accident. It is hard to get a decent ordinary burger at WDW. It's a shame that this new place hasn't made that easier.

 

[PuppyJonathan]

I still want to try one of their milkshakes though :drool:

 

[momtotaryn]

Disappointing to read that about D-Luxe Burger. I am actually NOT a burger type of person, but I was kind of excited to see this new place open up and was hoping to try it out. Maybe we still might, if it's not too crowded.

 

[nelsonj3]

Here is a quick video that I took this morning that shows the new bus lanes and some of the construction progress on Buena Vista Drive heading towards Disney Springs.
You can even see a WDW Bus doing some training in the new bus lanes.

 

[Tigger's ally]

Here is a quick video that I took this morning that shows the new bus lanes and some of the construction progress on Buena Vista Drive heading towards Disney Springs.
You can even see a WDW Bus doing some training in the new bus lanes.

I can see already with the direct ramp to the one garage and the new bus lanes, that they are doing all they can to make the transportation bottleneck a think of the past. We drove to Downtown quite a bit from WL and POFQ and we never had any problems but we also came in the back door from Golden Oak area. Parking was the only problem but we usually found a place. I am hoping that with the improvements, and the addition of many stores and eateries, the people in charge of busing to and from all the other hotels will realize the need for more buses. When we did have to bus, it took forever to get there and to get back. New centralized terminal, bus lanes on the main roads in and out should help out immensely. Because I like to have a few libations, the bus and the boat are utilized at times. Love the improvements.

 

[nelsonj3]

I can see already with the direct ramp to the one garage and the new bus lanes, that they are doing all they can to make the transportation bottleneck a think of the past. We drove to Downtown quite a bit from WL and POFQ and we never had any problems but we also came in the back door from Golden Oak area. Parking was the only problem but we usually found a place. I am hoping that with the improvements, and the addition of many stores and eateries, the people in charge of busing to and from all the other hotels will realize the need for more buses. When we did have to bus, it took forever to get there and to get back. New centralized terminal, bus lanes on the main roads in and out should help out immensely. Because I like to have a few libations, the bus and the boat are utilized at times. Love the improvements.

I agree! It looks like they really are trying to make transportation in and out of Disney Springs much more efficient. It certainly was a nightmare during the construction for a couple years. It was even pretty rough before the construction when there were five different stoplights on Buena Vista Drive at each of the five different parking lots.

 

[bpesch]

...cupcakes are SOOOOO 2010

Amen to that!

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Anyone have a review of the shopping stores?

Not that I'm overly concerned...but it is in fact a shopping complex.

So far bad burgers and bus lanes seem to be hot ticket items...the cheese gods would not be pleased

 

[rteetz]

Anyone have a review of the shopping stores?

Not that I'm overly concerned...but it is in fact a shopping complex.

So far bad burgers and bus lanes seem to be hot ticket items...the cheese gods would not be pleased

Bad burgers? I haven't heard bad reviews of D-Luxe just that it's incredibly a busy.

As an FYI The Trophy Room store opens tomorrow at Disney Springs.