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Disney Springs is an outdoor shopping, dining, and entertainment complex at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, near Orlando. First opened in 1975 as Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village, it has been expanded and rebranded over the years as Walt Disney World Village (1977), Disney Village Marketplace (1989), and Downtown Disney (1997), becoming Disney Springs in 2015. A similar complex is being developed on the opposite side of Walt Disney World called Flamingo Crossings. The complex includes four distinct areas: Marketplace, The Landing, Town Center, and West Side. Buses and water taxis operated by
Disney Transport Disney Transport is the public transit system of the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake, Florida. The system provides free transportation to guests of the resort and consists of buses, a monorail system, a gondola li ...
provide transportation between Disney Springs and other areas of Walt Disney World.


History


Early expansion; multiple rebrandings

The Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village, which opened on March 22, 1975, was originally envisioned as an area shopping mall. Two years after its opening, the complex was renamed Walt Disney World Village. With the advent of new management under Michael Eisner in 1984, Disney began looking for ways to keep vacationers on Walt Disney World property longer, and prevent them from leaving for entertainment beyond Disney's borders. To compete with the popular Church Street Station clubs in downtown Orlando, Disney announced the addition of Pleasure Island, featuring nightclubs showcasing Disney's quality and creativity, to Walt Disney World Village on July 21, 1986. Construction began the following August and Pleasure Island was opened on May 1, 1989, the same day as the Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park. Later that year, the complex was renamed Disney Village Marketplace. In the mid-1990s, the growth of Walt Disney World created the potential for further expansion, leading to a $1 billion investment in projects across the resort. The first World of Disney store opened October 2, 1996, in Marketplace. On June 20, 1995, a major enhancements and expansions were announced for the area, with the Disney Village Marketplace and Pleasure Island being combined into a newly branded district named Downtown Disney. The re-branding was introduced on September 7, 1997. On September 15, Downtown Disney West Side, a expansion, opened as a third shopping, dining, and entertainment area featuring venues such as La Nouba (the former Cirque Du Soleil show in residence which closed at the end of 2017), DisneyQuest, and Virgin Megastore. Major changes to the complex also included the conversion of Mickey's Character Shop into the World of Disney, becoming the world's largest Disney store, in addition to the expansion and upgrade of the AMC Pleasure Island Theatres, as well as the opening of
Rainforest Cafe Rainforest Cafe is a jungle-themed restaurant chain owned by Landry's, Inc., of Houston. It was founded by Steven Schussler. The first location opened in the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, on February 3, 1994. By 1997, the chain co ...
and Planet Hollywood. On September 27, 2008, the Pleasure Island nightclubs closed. The Downtown Disney Mall Complex gained a sister district in California on January 12, 2001, with the addition of Downtown Disney at the Disneyland Resort. Similar complexes also exist at other Disney resorts: Disney Village, which opened on April 12, 1992, at Disneyland Paris; Ikspiari, which opened on July 7, 2000, at the Tokyo Disney Resort; and
Disneytown Disneytown is a shopping, dining, and entertainment complex at the Shanghai Disney Resort in Pudong, Shanghai, China. It is the Shanghai Disney Resort equivalent of the Downtown Disney complex at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California; Di ...
at Shanghai Disney Resort.


Renovation, expansion, and renaming

On March 14, 2013, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts chairman
Tom Staggs Thomas Owen Staggs (born 1961) is an American business executive and investor. He formerly worked at Disney for nearly 27 years, beginning in 1990, serving as chief operating officer (COO) and chief financial officer (CFO) of The Walt Disney Co ...
announced that Downtown Disney would be redesigned and renamed as Disney Springs. The 3-year renovation and expansion project would include 150 new tenants, two
parking structures A multistorey car park (British English, British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian English, Canadian), parking ramp, parking ...
, and a near-doubling of mall area. Prior to this announcement, the last renovation of Downtown Disney had been in 1997. In order to facilitate the construction of the area and the increase in capacity, two large parking structures were constructed in previous surface parking lot areas. New construction features include new bridges connecting the complex to Disney's Saratoga Springs resort, with further bridges connecting The Landing to the Marketplace, The Springs, Town Center and West Side. ''High Line'' structures were built across the West Side in order to provide both theme and shade. In addition, a new bus terminal, with dedicated bus lanes on Buena Vista Drive, was built; Buena Vista Drive was widened, and a new exit ramp built from
Interstate 4 Interstate 4 (I-4) is an Interstate Highway located entirely within the U.S. state of Florida, maintained by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). Spanning along a generally southwest–northeast axis, I-4 is entirely concurrent wi ...
directly to Disney Springs, as part of the traffic upgrade. The complex was renamed Disney Springs on September 29, 2015. Town Center, built just south of The Landing in the surface parking lots, was opened on May 15, 2016, completing the major construction on the project. A third parking garage began construction in 2017 across Buena Vista Drive and opened as Grapefruit Garage on April 16, 2019. On March 17, 2020, Disney Springs closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida. On May 7, 2020, it was announced that Disney Springs would begin a phased reopening on May 20. On May 24, 2024, a nighttime drone show, Dreams That Soar, began running nightly at Disney Springs, which ran until September 2, 2024. The show was revealed with several other highlights at the Walt Disney World Resort. Disney World had also hosted a five-minute drone show titled Starbright Holidays for the 2016 holiday season.


Areas

Disney Springs is divided into four areas: Marketplace, The Landing, Town Center, and West Side. The complex is bordered by Lake Buena Vista to the north and the parking garages and surface lots to the south. Walt Disney Imagineering took inspiration for Disney Springs from real coastal towns found throughout Florida, such as
St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afri ...
and
Coral Gables Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Coral Gables is known globally as home to the U ...
. Creative director Dave Hoffman said about the area, "Each neighborhood reflects its function and
he fictional He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
time period when it was developed." According to the town's fictional history, Disney Springs was settled in the mid-1800s by a cattle rancher who discovered the town's namesake springs and the town subsequently expanded from the springs outwards. File:World of Disney (2307573262).jpg, Marketplace (as pictured with the World of Disney in 2008) File:Disney Springs (27832907556).jpg, The Landing File:Disney Springs (27832916856).jpg, Town Center File:Harley-Davidson Store at Disney Springs (22883953737).jpg, West Side (as pictured in 2015)


Marketplace

The Marketplace houses many shops and restaurants reminiscent of the
American Craftsman American Craftsman is an American domestic architectural style, inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, which included interior design, landscape design, applied arts, and decorative arts, beginning in the last years of the 19th century. Its ...
-style of the 1930s. The first restaurant in the Earl of Sandwich chain is located here. T-Rex Cafe is a dinosaur-themed restaurant operated by
Landry's Restaurants Landry's, Inc., is an American, privately owned, multi-brand dining, hospitality, entertainment and gaming corporation headquartered in Houston, Houston, Texas. Landry's, Inc. owns and operates more than 600 restaurants, hotels, casinos and ent ...
, which features animatronic dinosaurs. It opened on October 14, 2008. Landry's Restaurants also operates
Rainforest Cafe Rainforest Cafe is a jungle-themed restaurant chain owned by Landry's, Inc., of Houston. It was founded by Steven Schussler. The first location opened in the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, on February 3, 1994. By 1997, the chain co ...
at this location. A walkway spanning the Village Lake and connecting
Rainforest Cafe Rainforest Cafe is a jungle-themed restaurant chain owned by Landry's, Inc., of Houston. It was founded by Steven Schussler. The first location opened in the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, on February 3, 1994. By 1997, the chain co ...
with the Lego Store—The Marketplace Causeway—was constructed and opened in 2015.


The Landing

The Landing depicts the fictional town's transportation hub and
marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...
. The Landing features nautical-themed restaurants and shops, including Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar—an aviation-themed dive bar based on the character from the ''
Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise based on the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., a fictional professor of archaeology, that began in 1981 with the film '' Raiders of the Lost Ark''. In 1984, a prequel, '' Th ...
'' films—and The Boathouse, which serves as the port for the
amphibious automobile An amphibious automobile is an automobile that is a means of transport viable on land as well as on or under water. They are unarmored for civilian use. ATVs Amongst the smallest non air-cushioned amphibious vehicles are amphibious ATVs ( ...
s that offer cruises of Lake Buena Vista. The Amphicar is the amphibious vehicle used for the cruises. The area is also home to the Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant. The Landing was in the site of Pleasure Island, a nighttime entertainment district with two comedy clubs and four dance clubs. These areas closed permanently on September 27, 2008. On November 18, 2010, Disney announced a project named Hyperion Wharf, which was planned to replace the Pleasure Island complex. Pleasure Island would have undergone extensive renovations and re-theming to transform into the early twentieth century wharf-themed entertainment area. New shopping and dining locations would have also been added. In July 2011, it was announced that these plans were delayed. The plans were later canceled because it was deemed better to totally overhaul the Downtown Disney area. With the advent of Disney Springs, the former Pleasure Island was redesigned as The Landing in 2015.


The ''Empress Lilly''

The structure originally known as the ''Empress Lilly'' is a static full-size replica of a paddle steamer riverboat on Village Lake. It is 220 feet long and 62 feet wide. Though it resembles a paddle steamer boat, it is actually a boat-shaped building on a submerged concrete foundation. It opened on May 1, 1977, when it was christened by Walt Disney's widow,
Lillian Disney Lillian Marie Disney ( Bounds; February 15, 1899December 16, 1997) was an American ink artist at the Disney Studios and the wife of Walt Disney from 1925 until his death in 1966. Born in Spalding, Idaho, Disney graduated from high school in La ...
, for whom it was named. It originally housed four separate entertainment and dining areas. In the mid-1990s,
Levy Restaurants Levy is a restaurant and hospitality company based in Chicago specializing in providing food and beverage to major entertainment and sports venues. Founded in 1978, with a single family-run delicatessen in Water Tower Place, since 2006, it has ...
signed a contract to operate the "ship" for 20 years. On April 22, 1995, the ''Empress Lilly'' closed. The interior was remodeled and the old smokestacks and paddlewheel were removed due to rust and rot. The restaurant opened as Fulton's Crab House on March 10, 1996. Fulton's Crab House closed for major renovations in 2016 to be remodeled into a new restaurant, Paddlefish. As part of the transformation, the ship received new smokestacks and a new paddlewheel.


Town Center

Town Center depicts the fictional town's
central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
, featuring
Spanish Revival The Spanish Colonial Revival Style ( es, Arquitectura neocolonial española) is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In the ...
architecture from the 1920s. The Town Center area also features the namesake " springs", which are artificial. The area debuted in 2016, having been built on former surface parking lots, and features many well known retailers. The area will open in multiple phases, with the first phase having opened on May 15, 2017. Retailers to have opened in the first phase of Town Center include Anthropologie, Uniqlo (the first of its kind in the Southeastern United States),
Sephora Sephora is a French multinational retailer of personal care and beauty products. Featuring nearly 340 brands, along with its own private label, Sephora Collection, Sephora offers beauty products including cosmetics, skincare, body, fragrance, n ...
,
L'Occitane en Provence L'Occitane en Provence, "the Occitan woman (in Provence)," commonly known as L'Occitane, is a French luxury retailer of body, face, hair, fragrances, and home products based in Manosque, France. Founded in 1976 by Olivier Baussan, with the pur ...
,
Pandora In Greek mythology, Pandora (Greek: , derived from , ''pān'', i.e. "all" and , ''dōron'', i.e. "gift", thus "the all-endowed", "all-gifted" or "all-giving") was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hes ...
, UGG,
Johnston & Murphy Johnston & Murphy is an American footwear and clothing company. A wholly owned subsidiary of Genesco Inc. and based in Nashville, Tennessee, Johnston & Murphy designs, sources, markets and distributes footwear, apparel, leather goods and lugga ...
, ZARA and Kate Spade and Trophy Room among many others.


West Side

West Side depicts the town's exposition center, having been developed in the 1950s, according to the town's fictional history. The expansion of the existing '' AMC Theatres Pleasure Island 24'' venue opened with Downtown Disney West Side in 1997. Renovations began in late 2010, which created theaters offering enhanced food service. The complex was renamed AMC Downtown Disney 24. In 1997, there were plans to open a
Planet Movies by AMC AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (d/b/a AMC Theatres, originally an abbreviation for American Multi-Cinema; often referred to simply as AMC and known in some countries as AMC Cinemas or AMC Multi-Cinemas) is an American movie theater chain fo ...
entertainment complex at this location by combining the Planet Hollywood restaurant with a re-branded AMC megaplex. These plans were abandoned due to Planet Hollywood's continued financial problems. The complex has now been renamed AMC Disney Springs 24. DisneyQuest was located in this area until it closed on July 2, 2017, and was subsequently demolished. The
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
Experience, which was built on the DisneyQuest site, briefly operated for 7 months from August 12, 2019, through March 2020 due to closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic. On August 16, 2021, it was confirmed that the location would never reopen.


Transportation

There are 3 parking garages at Disney Springs: the Orange Garage, the Lime Garage, and the Grapefruit Garage. There are also 4 surface parking lots: the Lemon Parking Lot, the Mango Parking Lot, the Strawberry Parking Lot, and the Watermelon Parking Lot. A direct exit exists from westbound Interstate 4 to Disney Springs which is directly connected to the Orange Garage. Parking is free although valet parking is available for a fee of $20. Disney Springs is served by
Disney Transport Disney Transport is the public transit system of the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake, Florida. The system provides free transportation to guests of the resort and consists of buses, a monorail system, a gondola li ...
buses which serve all Disney resort hotels. There is no direct bus service from Disney Springs to Disney parks. However, direct bus service to Disney Parks is available from the Congress Park bus stop at Saratoga Springs (located near Rainforest Cafe in Disney Springs) and bus service is available from Disney Springs to the Contemporary Resort (near Magic Kingdom) and the Boardwalk, Beach Club and Yacht Club resorts (near Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios). Ferry service is provided within Disney Springs and from Disney Springs to the Saratoga Springs, Old Key West, and Port Orleans resorts. Disney Springs is also served by
Lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...
bus routes 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 306 and 312 which depart from the bus terminal on the west side of Disney Springs adjacent to the Watermelon Parking Lot. A Brightline train station was planned to be built near Disney Springs which would have provided service to Tampa, Orlando Airport, and Miami, however, on June 28, 2022, Disney announced that the station would not be built nor would the train run on the Walt Disney World park property.


References


External links

* {{Authority control 1975 establishments in Florida Buildings and structures in Lake Buena Vista, Florida Tourist attractions in Greater Orlando Walt Disney World Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions Shopping malls in Florida Shopping malls established in 1975