Disney Springs facts for kids
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| Location | Walt Disney World Resort Lake Buena Vista, Florida, U.S. |
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| Coordinates | Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 614: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
| Opening date | March 22, 1975 |
| Previous names |
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| Management | Walt Disney World |
| Owner | The Walt Disney Company |
| Public transit access |   50 & 300-306Disney Transport |
Disney Springs is a fun outdoor place at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. It's a great spot for shopping, eating, and enjoying shows and activities.
This popular area first opened on March 22, 1975. Over the years, it has grown and changed its name several times. It was known as Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village, Walt Disney World Village, Disney Village Marketplace, and Downtown Disney. In 2015, it officially became Disney Springs.
The complex is about 120 acres big. It has four different areas: Marketplace, The Landing, Town Center, and West Side. You can easily get around Disney Springs and to other parts of Walt Disney World using buses and water taxis.
Contents
Discovering Disney Springs: A Fun History
How Disney Springs Grew and Changed Names
Disney Springs started as the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village in 1975. It was meant to be a shopping area. A couple of years later, it was renamed Walt Disney World Village.
In the 1980s, Disney wanted to give visitors more reasons to stay at Walt Disney World. So, they decided to add more entertainment. On May 1, 1989, Pleasure Island opened. It had nightclubs and fun places. On the same day, the Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park also opened! Later that year, the whole area was renamed Disney Village Marketplace.
In the mid-1990s, Walt Disney World was growing fast. Disney invested a lot of money to make things even better. The very first World of Disney store, which is a huge Disney store, opened in 1996.
On September 7, 1997, the Disney Village Marketplace and Pleasure Island joined together. They became a new area called Downtown Disney. A new part, Downtown Disney West Side, opened on September 15, 1997. This added more shops, restaurants, and entertainment. It featured places like La Nouba (a Cirque du Soleil show) and DisneyQuest. The World of Disney store also became the biggest Disney store in the world.
Downtown Disney's nightclubs at Pleasure Island closed on September 27, 2008. Other Disney resorts around the world also have similar entertainment areas, like Downtown Disney in California and Disney Village in Paris.
Exciting Renovations and a New Name
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On March 14, 2013, Disney announced big plans. Downtown Disney would get a major makeover and be renamed Disney Springs! This project took three years. It added 150 new shops and restaurants. The shopping area almost doubled in size.
To make room for more visitors, two large parking garages were built. New bridges were added to connect Disney Springs to nearby resorts. There were also new bridges to help people move between the different areas of Disney Springs. A new bus station was built, and the main road was made wider. A new exit from Interstate 4 was also added to make it easier to get there.
The complex officially became Disney Springs on September 29, 2015. The Town Center area, which was built on old parking lots, opened on May 15, 2016. This finished the main construction. A third parking garage opened in 2019.
On March 17, 2020, Disney Springs closed for a time due to health concerns. It started to open again in phases on May 20, 2020.
Exploring the Areas of Disney Springs
Disney Springs is split into four main areas: Marketplace, The Landing, Town Center, and West Side. It's located next to Lake Buena Vista. Disney designers were inspired by real Florida towns like St. Augustine when creating Disney Springs.
The story behind Disney Springs is that it was settled in the mid-1800s. A cattle rancher found the special springs that gave the town its name. The town then grew outwards from these springs.
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Marketplace (with the World of Disney in 2008)
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The Landing
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Town Center
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West Side (in 2015)
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Marketplace: Shops and Eateries
The Marketplace area has many shops and restaurants. Its style looks like American Craftsman buildings from the 1930s. The very first Earl of Sandwich restaurant is here. You can also find T-Rex Cafe, a fun dinosaur-themed restaurant with moving dinosaurs. Rainforest Cafe is another popular spot in this area. A walkway was built in 2015, connecting Rainforest Cafe to the Lego Store.
The Landing: A Waterfront Hub
The Landing looks like the town's old transportation center and marina. It has restaurants and shops with a nautical, or boat, theme. One cool spot is Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar. It's an aviation-themed bar based on a character from the Indiana Jones movies. The Boathouse restaurant is also here. You can even take rides on amphibious automobiles that go on both land and water!
The Landing used to be the home of Pleasure Island. This was a nighttime entertainment area that closed in 2008. Disney had plans to change it into something new, but those plans were later updated. In 2015, the area was redesigned and became The Landing.
The Empress Lilly: A Unique Restaurant
The Empress Lilly is a special building that looks like a large paddle steamer riverboat. It's located on Village Lake. Even though it looks like a boat, it's actually a building built on a concrete base.
It opened on May 1, 1977. Walt Disney's wife, Lillian Disney, named it after herself. It used to have four different dining areas. In 1995, the Empress Lilly closed for big changes. It reopened in 1996 as Fulton's Crab House. In 2016, it closed again for more renovations and became a new restaurant called Paddlefish.
Town Center: Modern Shopping and Dining
Town Center looks like the town's main business area. It features Spanish Revival buildings from the 1920s. This area also has the special "springs" that Disney Springs is named after, though these are man-made.
This area opened in 2016. It was built on what used to be parking lots. Town Center has many well-known stores. Some of the first shops to open included Anthropologie, Uniqlo, Sephora, L'Occitane en Provence, Pandora, UGG, Johnston & Murphy, ZARA, and Kate Spade.
West Side: Entertainment and Fun
West Side is designed to look like the town's exposition center. Its style is inspired by the 1950s.
The AMC Disney Springs 24 movie theater is located here. It opened with Downtown Disney West Side in 1997. It has been updated over the years to offer enhanced food service. DisneyQuest was also in this area until it closed in 2017. The NBA Experience, which was built where DisneyQuest used to be, opened in 2019. However, it closed permanently in 2021.
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Getting Around Disney Springs
Disney Springs has three parking garages: Orange, Lime, and Grapefruit. There are also four outdoor parking lots: Lemon, Mango, Strawberry, and Watermelon. You can even take a direct exit from Interstate 4 right to the Orange Garage. Parking is free, but you can pay for valet parking.
Disney Transport buses serve Disney Springs. These buses connect to all Disney resort hotels. You can't take a direct bus from Disney Springs to the Disney theme parks before 4 PM. However, after 4 PM, you can take a bus from the parks directly to Disney Springs. You can also catch buses from Disney Springs to certain resorts near Magic Kingdom and Epcot.
Ferry boats also provide transportation within Disney Springs. They also connect Disney Springs to the Saratoga Springs, Old Key West, and Port Orleans resorts. Local Lynx buses also stop at Disney Springs.
See also
In Spanish: Disney Springs para niños
