Disney Springs Discussion

[Nick]

The M&M store sign was installed recently. The facade is about halfway done. I'd say this will probably open by sometime in March.

Oh, and people are waiting 11-hours for Gideon's today because apparently we rope drop and have 11-hour waits for a bakery now?

Gideon's Bakehouse Opens to an 11-Hour Wait at Disney Springs for Grand Opening

Walt Disney World news, photos, and reviews! We provide you with daily news from the Walt Disney World theme parks and beyond

blogmickey.com

 

[fryoj]

Oh, and people are waiting 11-hours for Gideon's today because apparently we rope drop and have 11-hour waits for a bakery now?

Gideon's Bakehouse Opens to an 11-Hour Wait at Disney Springs for Grand Opening

Walt Disney World news, photos, and reviews! We provide you with daily news from the Walt Disney World theme parks and beyond

blogmickey.com

I was completely perplexed until reading its a virtual queue of 11 hours. I guess there was a long line to get your name on the list, but after that you didn't have to actually wait 11 hours in line. I can't imagine theres enough Disney lifestylers to physically wait 11 hours for a cookie. But put your name on a list that you can just not come back for later if you are busy? Sure.

 

[Nick]

I was completely perplexed until reading its a virtual queue of 11 hours. I guess there was a long line to get your name on the list, but after that you didn't have to actually wait 11 hours in line. I can't imagine theres enough Disney lifestylers to physically wait 11 hours for a cookie. But put your name on a list that you can just not come back for later if you are busy? Sure.

And tbh, many will probably not come back. A lot of people probably just wanted to get a virtual reservation "just in case".

 

[Frank Drackman]

I was completely perplexed until reading its a virtual queue of 11 hours. I guess there was a long line to get your name on the list, but after that you didn't have to actually wait 11 hours in line. I can't imagine theres enough Disney lifestylers to physically wait 11 hours for a cookie. But put your name on a list that you can just not come back for later if you are busy? Sure.

last time I was there, they have someone at the door w/ a QR code -- scan it and join the list, so it is easy to join the queue there -- I thought it was bad the night my daughter wanted a milk shake, but whatever!

 

[Tristan]

Is the food even that good at the bakery?

 

[belloq87]

Is the food even that good at the bakery?

I've heard nothing but raves about the cookies (if a person likes cookies).

 

[HandsomePete]

It's only a matter of time before someone opens a kiosk at the back of the line and calls in a pickup order to East End every day.

 

[Tristan]

It's only a matter of time before someone opens a kiosk at the back of the line and calls in a pickup order to East End every day.

 

[UNIrd]

You could also just head to the original store and still have... I don't know.. 10 hours to spare?

 

[shiekra38]

Oh, and people are waiting 11-hours for Gideon's today because apparently we rope drop and have 11-hour waits for a bakery now?

Gideon's Bakehouse Opens to an 11-Hour Wait at Disney Springs for Grand Opening

Walt Disney World news, photos, and reviews! We provide you with daily news from the Walt Disney World theme parks and beyond

blogmickey.com

Perception of a greater experience I guess?

It literally looks like every store in Diagon Alley

 

[Tristan]

Looked up what this magical cookie at Gideon’s is and that thing looks disgustingly good.

 

[Victoria]

You could also just head to the original store and still have... I don't know.. 10 hours to spare?

They were giving away free swag and had limited edition cookies for sale to celebrate their grand opening.

 

[shiekra38]

Looked up what this magical cookie at Gideon’s is and that thing looks disgustingly good.

No cookie is worth 8 hours of my time, unless it has a flash drive with a full POV of Mario Kart inside

Then again, I'm not exactly a D i s n e y L i f e s t y l e r

 

[Pirate Athos]

Their cookies are ok to me. Not worth a wait, but I wouldn't say no to one if it was offered to me. Their cakes though....totally worth the wait.

 

[Tristan]

No cookie is worth 8 hours of my time, unless it has a flash drive with a full POV of Mario Kart inside

Then again, I'm not exactly a D i s n e y L i f e s t y l e r

Oh yeah I would never wait more than 10 minutes for that cookie

 

[fryoj]

I was going to say A cookie would never make me wait that long, but then I recalled that those stupid Doubletree cookies convinced me to book a $10,000 reception hall once....

 

[Nick]

It's worth mentioning I guess that Disney Springs is starting to feel some COVID effects as far as closures go. Just in the past 10 days or so, Kipling (Jan 23rd) and Kiehl's (Jan 16th) have shut their doors. Kiehl's was in a pretty good spot along the main Town Center walkway, so I imagine they'll be able to replace that fairly easily. Kipling was in an awkward spot that sees far less traffic, so i'll be interested what happens there.

Also, there was a report recently that Cirque's new show in Berlin won't be opening due to the Pandemic, so that's something to watch for when it comes to Drawn To Life.

There's also The NBA Experience, which still has not been able to reopen, and honestly, i'm sort of doubting if it ever will given it wasn't profitable even during non-COVID times. City Works has been very busy when i've been by lately, and it doesn't have enough seating for demand, so i'd think if The NBA Experience does eventually shutter for good, that CityWorks expanding into The NBA Experience building would probably be the best course of action.

 

[HandsomePete]

It honestly looks like the push into third-party retail really wasn't a good choice.

I'm sure it made sense at the time - by the numbers, Springs can run with some of the biggest malls in the country in terms of visitors per year. But that's not what it is.

 

[Nick]

It honestly looks like the push into third-party retail really wasn't a good choice.

I'm sure it made sense at the time - by the numbers, Springs can run with some of the biggest malls in the country in terms of visitors per year. But that's not what it is.

It's not like this is an empty mall by any means. It's actually an extremely busy mall, especially considering COVID times. I went to the normally bustling outlet mall last Friday at 8PM and it was absolutely dead. Disney Springs has been filling up to capacity on most weekends. And yes, it is a mall. I'm not sure what else you would call a large collection of stores and restaurants.

Kipling and Kiehl's are actually the only vacancies right now and they just had recent openings of Gideon's Bakery, Everglazed Doughnuts, and the M&M's Store will be opening soon, with other places under construction.

 

[HandsomePete]

It's not like this is an empty mall by any means. It's actually an extremely busy mall, especially considering COVID times. I went to the normally bustling outlet mall last Friday at 8PM and it was absolutely dead. Disney Springs has been filling up to capacity on most weekends. And yes, it is a mall. I'm not sure what else you would call a large collection of stores and restaurants.

Kipling and Kiehl's are actually the only vacancies right now and they just had recent openings of Gideon's Bakery, Everglazed Doughnuts, and the M&M's Store will be opening soon, with other places under construction.

When I say that's not what it is... the predominant purpose for going to a mall is to shop. There are a ton more predominant purposes for going to Springs. They sell visitor traffic to their tenants as top of market, yet there's a good deal of difference in the number of true shoppers at an Aventura or Sawgrass than at Springs.

Prior to the conversion to Springs, every operating participant location was either the #1 or #2 store in that company's portfolio. Post-Springs, that has held true for dining locations; it has not for the "mall" type third party retail stores. Probably why Apple told them, nah we're good.

The fact that there hasn't been retail turnover in big stores is kinda pointless when they're all still under their original leases. And all three things you mentioned are retail to food conversions (M&Ms less so, but a decent amount of what they sell is candy).