“Guests staying at any of the Disney Resort hotels will continue to experience special features offered at a Disney Resort hotel, including legendary Guest service and unique theming, along with benefits like the Extra Magic Hours benefit, the ability to make FastPass+ selections up to 60-days prior to arrival, (both of these benefits require valid theme park admission), the convenience of MagicBands, complimentary transportation (motor coach, buses and ferry boats) around the Walt Disney World® Resort and standard parking at Disney theme parks, Disney’s Magical Express service and the ability to purchase Disney dining plan packages. Those Guests staying in select Disney Resort hotels can also receive other services such as personalized vacation planning, merchandise delivery to their rooms, and easy access to Minnie Van service.
For 2018, we are also extending some benefits that are currently available to Disney Resort hotel Guests and Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel Guests. Each Guest, with a valid theme park admission, staying at one of the Disney Springs Resort Area hotels, which are designated Official WALT DISNEY WORLD hotels will be extended these benefits. The Disney Spring Resort Area hotels include: B Resort & Spa; Best Western Lake Buena Vista Resort; DoubleTree Guest Suites by Hilton Orlando; Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista Palace; Hilton Orlando Resort Lake Buena Vista; Holiday Inn Orlando; Wyndham Lake Buena Vista; and Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista.
Beginning Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2018, Guests at any of these Official WALT DISNEY WORLD hotels, with a valid theme park ticket, can take advantage of Extra Magic Hours benefit as each day, one of the four Walt Disney World Theme Parks opens early or extends later for Guests to enjoy select attractions.
Scheduled to begin Jan. 10, 2018, Walt Disney Travel Company packages are available for online bookings for the Disney Springs® Resort Area hotels. Also, scheduled to begin Jan. 10, 2018, Guests at these Official WALT DISNEY WORLD hotels, who have booked a package reservation for the hotel through a Walt Disney Travel Company package, will be able to link their hotel reservation on My Disney Experience, and with a linked, valid theme park ticket, these Guests can utilize a 60-day booking window for FastPass+ selections. These are benefits that are already available to Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel Guests.”
The LittleMissMatched store at Disney Springs will close at the end of the day on December 31st, 2017.
The store is one of the few in the Marketplace section of Disney Springs that is not owned-and-operated by Disney, so it has always been a bit of a mystery as to why it was placed there. Regardless, it will close at the end of the year to make way for a yet-to-be-named replacement. There has been no word as of yet if the store will relocate to another part of Disney Springs.
Star Wars – Secrets of the Empire opened today at Disney Springs at Walt Disney World, and we of course were there as early as possible to check it out.
In case you aren’t familiar with what this experience is, here’s a recap of what we knew going in:
Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire transports guests deep into the Star Wars universe, walking freely and untethered throughout the multisensory experience with friends and family. In groups of four, teams go undercover as stormtroopers to capture Imperial intelligence vital to the budding rebellion’s survival.
In basic, non-PR language, this is a very advanced virtual realty (VR) experience with characters from Rogue One present.
The lobby of Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire, where guests can check-in or buy tickets.
How was it? In short, amazing. I legitimately experienced that “wow” moment that I had felt visiting some of the most impressive theme park attractions my first time, all throughout the 13 minutes we spent running around this virtual playground. Secrets of the Empire is a reason to visit Disney Springs if you don’t already have one, especially if you are a Star wars fans. Even if you aren’t the biggest Star Wars nerd, the technology and experience is still enough of a novelty that I think just about anyone could have a good time with it. If you didn’t believe VR was the wave of the future before seeing this, you will after.
I have done other VR experiences over the last few years, and this was better in every way. The helmet and the vest were far more comfortable than any other I have ever worn (even over eyeglasses), everything worked fairly well, and the experience was seamless.
After a short preview and set-up following check in, guests are equipped with the VR equipment they will need to wear. The vest and helmet (seen above) weigh somewhere between 10-15 pounds, which could be a lot of some guests with physical restrictions, but most guests will be able to comfortable get through the 13 minutes of the VR portion of the experience without much discomfort. Guests who have done other VR experiences and have been made a little nauseous by those stated that Secrets of the Empire left them with no weird feeling afterwards.
Participants must be 10 years or older and over 48 inches in height to participate. Wheelchair access is available via transfer, and all guests sign a liability waiver as you might have guessed. Photography, videography, and recording of any kind is not allowed inside of the attraction, as you might have guessed since you are strapped to a bunch of VR equipment and wearing a headset. From check-in to exit, it should take you around 30 minutes to complete your time inside of Secrets of the Empire. In order to go through, guests will have to leave some belongings that could be in the way of the experience behind.
Guests are sent through in groups of four, so if you have more than 4 people in your party, you will be broken up, and as you might guess, you will be paired with other guests if you don’t have a full party size. Some may find this challenging as getting through the experience does require a lot of communication between teammates carrying out the mission.
The set-up inside the experience is so that every wall and item you see with the headset on (that is within reach) is really there for you to reach out and touch. Even the droids in the room with you are physically there. This makes the experience feel as real as possible, unlike VR experiences you can have in your own home. The graphics inside the game are stunning, making it feel like you are actually living a Star Wars movie thanks to the work of ILM, and the presence of actual actors from Rogue One makes the experience all the more authentic. Much like Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge promises, you are living your own Star Wars adventure here, with real consequences based on choices you make while playing through the many scenes of Secrets of the Empire.
All of this is complemented by fantastic elemental effects, such as changes in temperature, smells, air blasts, rumbling floors, and more. I hate to use the Disney-PR buzz word, but it is truly immersive. If you love to smell Rome burning in Spaceship Earth at Epcot, you’re going to love a lot of the stuff they have going on in here.
Oh, and you get to pick up blasters and shoot stormtroopers, so who wouldn’t love that? You’ll feel the gun recoil and do other things as well as you go through different portions of the story. It’s fairly cool and will allow many a fan to live out some childhood dreams of being a Rebel hero. Now we just need a chance to play the bad guys…
The story guests are thrown into is fun and easy to understand, and even has a payoff for the more hardcore of Star Wars fans towards the end. It is tremendous fan service, but accessible for everyone. There’s also a reason to come back and do this again since, as we stated above, different actions have different consequences and cause different events to take place in the attraction.
Again, I can not stress how enjoyable our experience was, from myself as a Star Wars fan, to others in my party who I would claim are more casual fans, everyone had a fantastic time and was simply blow away by the technology at play here. Get tickets now to make sure you get to see this the next time you are at Disney Springs.
Star Wars – Secrets of the Empire is now open at Disney Springs, located just behind the Once Upon A Toy store, next door to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in the Marketplace section. Tickets are $30 per person and appointments are available in 15 minute intervals (and highly recommended since this is sold out for the next few weeks already. You can find ticket information and more on Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire now at www.thevoid.com.
The experience will also open in Downtown Disney at the Disneyland Resort on January 5, 2018.
Terralina Crafted Italian will be the name of the new restaurant coming to Disney Springs early next year to replace Portobello.
Terralina will be owned and operated by the Levy Restaurant Group, the same company that owns and operates Paddlefish.
According to the Disney Parks Blog, the restaurant is expected to transport guests to “la dolce vita,” (the sweet life) essence of the spectacular Lake District of Northern Italy.
Alison Weber, Chief Creative Officer for Levy, gave details of the backstory. “The story here is of a first-generation Italian family, from the Lake District, who built a home in Disney Springs, expanding it over the years to welcome more friends and neighbors to enjoy their hospitality, and, of course, food! At Terralina Crafted Italian, every detail supports the philosophy that ‘life is meant to be savored through the simplest of pleasures.’ The table is even set that way … ready for good conversations, storytelling and moments to be enjoyed.”
The building will feature an open rotunda that welcomes guests with a rustic stone fireplace, a new outdoor patio with a veranda bar that spills out into the Disney Springs promenade, and a two-story glass conservatory that showcases stunning views of Lake Buena Vista. The restaurant will have a wood-burning oven and open display kitchen.
James Beard-Award Winning Chef Tony Mantuano will lead menu development. We’ll bring you more menu details as we get them!
Disney has shared more details on The Edison, a lavish industrial Gothic-style destination for fine food, handcrafted cocktails and exciting nightlife that will be a future Disney Springs destination. More recently, three additional food and beverages venues – Maria & Enzo’s, Enzo’s Hideaway and Pizza Ponte – were added to the list of tenants inside of the complex.
The Edison will be a landmark restaurant, bar and lounge that is sure to become a go-to hotspot for Central Florida nightlife. The building, which originally served as the power plant for the growing town of Disney Springs, showcases remnants from its past life: keep an eye out for the Boiler Bar, with its dizzying electrical display panels, and the adjacent boilers, which are still classic centerpieces of any power plant. The décor includes a one-of-a-kind mural romanticizing the golden age of innovation and a larger-than-life, working clock tower that greets guests upon arrival.
By day, The Edison will welcome families with an amazing lunch menu. In the early evening, everyone is invited to dine, but as night sets in (around 10:00 p.m.), the location transforms to an adults-only scene for guests ages 21 and up, with a groundbreaking beverage menu, delectable dining and entertainment (including gravity-defying aerialists) unlike anything else at Disney Springs. Here, you’re invited to escape the everyday and experience the era of invention and imagination.
Adjacent to The Edison is a trifecta of Italian venues, located in what was once the Disney Springs Air Terminal, a majestic Art Deco structure that welcomed guests from across the globe to a world of sun, beauty and legendary hospitality. As the story goes, the air terminal was popular into the early 1930s, but travelers diminished as the years brought on more modern flying alternatives and larger destinations. Upon its closure, the building was purchased by an Italian immigrant couple named Maria & Enzo; the duo had previously run the small bakery in the terminal’s lobby.
Inspired by their shared love of food and travel, they opened Pizza Ponte with Sicilian-style pizza by the slice, made-to-order sandwiches and handmade Italian pastries. The success of this venue allowed Maria and Enzo to fulfill their ultimate dream to restore and transform the long-forgotten terminal to its former glory, giving it new life as a grand restaurant showcasing the flavors of Southern Italy.
Named after its founders, Maria & Enzo’s features vaulted ceilings, a geographically correct mural depicting the destinations once serviced by the terminal (New York, Daytona Beach, New Orleans and Cuba among them), and an impressive globe chandelier. (Insider Tip: Look closely and you can see that Disney-inspired locations are called out, including a marker that denotes Marceline, Missouri – the hometown of Walt Disney.) The main dining room pays homage to the original departure lounge while nearby, a more intimate dining room highlights its history as the first-class lounge with service standards that are second to none.
Steps away, the unexpected Enzo’s Hideaway offers a glimpse into another lounge – this one, a secret space that first served as a bootlegger’s hideout. A legendary speakeasy that was discovered by Enzo after he purchased the terminal, this network of tunnels was the center of the Springs’ social life during the “dry years” of prohibition. Look no further than the graffiti wall and you can begin to imagine the storied nightlife that took place here.
While we have seen a few pieces of concept art and know that the NBA Experience at Disney Springs is coming Summer 2019, we know very little about what will be inside the West Side establishment when it opens. Well, at least we didn’t until now…
For the ticketed experience inside, exhibits will be distributed over 2 very tall floors, so many of the activities will be quite large and surround a “Center Court” atrium area. The “Center Court” area in the middle is reminiscent of the circular Ventureport entry area that was in DisneyQuest, so it is somewhat surprising that they bulldozed the building rather than reuse it. Perhaps at one point they wanted to reuse the DisneyQuest building, but it just didn’t completely work out for their needs?
On the first floor, guests enter through the ticketing area, go through a entry tunnel, and walk out on to Center Court. Exhibits downstairs will include the Locker Room, Hall of Champions, Hoop Sciences, and a pair of large VR Theaters. The retail shop and dining venue are also on the ground floor, but do not require tickets. As you can see in the art above, the retail shop is to the left and the dining venue the right, with the entrance to the exhibits through the center.
The second floor will feature Pop-A-Shot, Dream Dunk, Big Shot, You Make the Call, the Dream Court. One of these experiences is rumored to utilize the simulators from Cyberspace Mountain, as they were maintained and removed from DisneyQuest with labels marking them as the property of the NBA Experience.
While we still don’t know for sure what all of these exhibits are (although some seem easy to figure out based on their names), we at least now have a list of things there will be to do inside this NBA-themed interactive playground come 2019.
The Ganachery at Disney Springs is now offering a Hot Chocolate Ganache with Bailey’s.
Hot Ganache with Bailey’s ($9)
It’s unbelievably creamy and rich, exactly what we’ve come to expect from Ganachery. It’s topped with crunchy beads and whipped cream making for a thicker sip to begin with.
The chocolate is warm without being overly hot, the Baileys poured in at the exact right time to be heated when you receive the drink. We recommend stirring the whipped cream right into the drink to make it a frothy mixture. At $9, this stands FAR above the offerings at Hollywood Studios, which come off as watery imitations of a potential real hot chocolate. Don’t miss this one, it’s a real treat.
The Edison, the long-delayed Disney Springs establishment in The Landing, will now open in 2018.
The positive note is that the opening is set for January 1st, 2018, but nonetheless pushes the opening another calendar year beyond the original, intended opening of 2016.
In case you have forgotten what The Edison is, Eater describes it as follows:
With a theme that centers around a “1920s-period electric company,” the restaurant will ‘’recall an exuberant era of invention and imagination.” The “industrial gothic” space will have 35-foot ceilings and a number of themed areas like “The Tesla Lounge,” “The Radio Room,” and “The Patent Office.” The Edison in Florida will be quite similar to its sister location in Los Angeles. As for the menu, the restaurant will serve classic American food and craft cocktails. For entertainment, there will be live music, cabaret performances, contortionists, palm readers, and DJs. The Edison is a bit saucier than other venues at Disney Springs and definitely not child friendly. It appears to be part of an effort to draw in an older (and perhaps childless) crowd.
The “Ever After Jewelry Co.” store is set to open today at Disney Springs, “featuring Disney-inspired gifts that glitter and shine, with brands like PANDORA Jewelry, ALEX AND ANI, and Dooney & Bourke to name a few”. Many of these retailers already have separate stores at Disney Springs, but this will bring all of their Disney-related product under one roof.
