In news of more closures at Walt Disney World, DisneyQuest on the Downtown Disney Westside will close in 2016. A new NBA Experience restaurant will reopen in that location.
This marks the end of an era for the Walt Disney Company. It once believed that location based entertainment would allow the Mouse House to extend it’s brand around the world. But attempts like Club Disney and DisneyQuest never grew beyond the few first locations. Disney Regional Entertainment’s other effort, ESPN Zone, met a similar fate.
Disney has had more success growing it’s Disney Vacation Club, Adventures by Disney, and Disney Cruise Line offerings. Other LBE projects were announced for locations like Washington DC, but we’re never built.
Are you sad to see DisneyQuest go?
Maybe they should add a Flynn’s Arcade local to Downtown Disney with classic games and merchandise inspired by it. It would also need a secret room with the laser (perhaps a bar!)
It’s a real shame my two teenage children love this place and it was great fun for the family on a day out of the park to spend a couple of hours playing the old games we all love, I think it’s a real shame this is being closed, often we could let our children play and go to a bar for a drink across from Disney Quest and meet up for dinner, it allowed U.S. adults to have adult time and the kids to just play and be kids, I agree with the first poster, they should offer an alternative even if it’s smaller.
If Disney was not so expensive to go to as well as down town Disney I think people would go more often. I for one will never go to the magic kingdom nor downtown as I can not afford it for my children.
I loved DisneyQuest and visited since its opening year (1998)! I went there 4-5 times in my last visit to WDW in 2013! Sometimes only for some classic arcades and the awesome Pirates of the Caribbean game (a must in each and every visit!), other times to enjoy all of its attractions including CyberSpaceMountain, Animation Academy and Buzz’s Astroblasters!
I second the motion to relocate those classic arcades to a place inspired either by Tron, as mentioned, or Wreck-It Ralph. I believe it would be a great hit. This arcade should keep the idea of charging a single fee to enter and play. It should remain a part of the Water Park Fun & More options (last time I only got WPF&M because of DisneyQuest as it was winter and we wouldn’t go to any water parks!)
And PotC: Battle for Buccaneer Gold should also be relocated to this arcade or even to Magic Kingdom beside the major Adventureland attraction!
I wish I could go to WDW before DQ closes, but I won’t be able to visit in the next year at least!
RIP DisneyQuest! You’ll be missed!
I’m so upset! My husband and I were planning on taking my son there next year. It looked so cool. I hope they put something similar in Disney Springs. My son is finally the perfect age to play all those video games. I feel like there is not much for tween/teens to do in Disney Springs except for bowling!
DisneyQuest will be missed. Agree with the other comments. It is a great place for the kids to enjoy hours while we adults took down time.
Sad not really, take something fun for something fun, not for a restaurant. A nice comedy club or a lounge. I think that market place should be more for children and westside for adult entertainment.
Sad to hear this news. This year was the 1st time I took my kids and they fell in love with Disney Quest. Well, I guess it’s better to have loved and lost, rather than never loved at all.
You know, DisneyQuest is kinda neat. It has some nice theming, and a few really unique attractions.
And it’s empty. Always empty. Furthermore, I would NEVER pay the price of admission if it weren’t included in the Waterpark Fun & More option on a Magic Your Way pass. It’s simply not worth it. The Virtual Reality crap is really dated, and every household in North America seems to have 2-3 consoles to play video games on, so I’m really not seeing the point in paying for what is basically a glorified arcade.
So, when we go back to WDW in September, we’ll take a final look around DisneyQuest, and have some nice memories for it, but in the end, I won’t suffer any crippling nostalgia for its loss.
What saddens me is what is replacing it. Seriously? “NBA Experience?” Yay. Something new to avoid. At least I’ll never have to pay for it. Considering the work Disney-Owned Industrial Light & Magic is doing on real-time fully immersive story telling (VR if it worked well), seems to me Disney is missing an opportunity here for an updated DisneyQuest that was actually worth going to.
I admit that as an adult with no kids I was not the target audience for this place. I went once just because I could go for free. I wandered through it and did a couple of things, and then wandered back out never having the urge to go again. Even for free. I agree with the previous poster who said the concept seemed very dated. And the price of admission seemed like WAY too much for what was being offered. The sad thing is that this doesn’t seem like it’s being taken away for something new and innovative. The NBA Experience? Seriously? Isn’t there some NBA think over at Citi Walk at Universal? And didn’t I read that it’s being removed from there? So is Disney not accepting hand-me-downs from Universal? Surely there are better options for this building once Disney Quest is removed.
While our family really enjoys spending an off-park afternoon at DisneyQuest and we’ll really miss it, I have to agree with previous comments. Replacing it with “NBA Experience” is the stupidest idea ever (well, since adding Avatarland in response to Wizarding World of Harry Potter).
I can understand wanting to put something fresher and more modern in it’s place, but an “NBA Experience” will be just another thing to walk past to get to something good.
That said, I wonder if I could get my hands on one of the POTC simulators for my basement…
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