Disney Springs Discussion

[SeventyOne]

Re: quick-service. It felt like they are trying to use kiosks to off-set the demand. However, BB Wolfs (and what I say of still closed Aristocrepes) do not have dedicated seating. Wolf's has three EPCOT tables right in the direct sun, and some brick walls off to the side. Fine on a Sunday morning, but going to be impossible to eat the messy (albeit delicious) Bavarian on a Friday evening.

And again, there's the question of who puts so much time into developing the menu at a sausage kiosk--but doesn't stop to wonder where guests are going to eat this gourmet treat once they have it in their hands.

 

[Blue]

It looks nice but it literally looks like any other upscale mall in Florida, with the same exact stores.

But I'm sure it'll work since it's obviously targeted to onsite guests and international visitors.

 

[GadgetGuru]

The retail is pretty disappointing. Half of the stores are generic mall stores. And the other half isn't good enough to make up the difference.

As for dining, I'm impressed by the variety. I'm alright with the lack of QS places, as I think many people either want a snack or a full meal. QS often represents the weird in-between area at malls.

 

[rioriz]

Can we just all agree that Disney Springs as a collective is not a mall but in all accounts The Town Center is? Even in the backstory they basically say Town Center was built as a way to bring in revenue to the town. The oldest part of DS is the West side as it once held "The 1950 World Expo"....on down to the newly built mall Town Center....

 

[IzzyB]

Can we just all agree that Disney Springs as a collective is not a mall but in all accounts The Town Center is? Even in the backstory they basically say Town Center was built as a way to bring in revenue to the town. The oldest part of DS is the West side as it once held "The 1950 World Expo"....on down to the newly built mall Town Center....

I am OK with saying Town Center (which used to be a parking lot) is very similar to an outdoor Florida Mall. Now whether that is good or bad, I haven't been there to judge it yet.

 

[s8film40]

Can we just all agree that Disney Springs as a collective is not a mall but in all accounts The Town Center is? Even in the backstory they basically say Town Center was built as a way to bring in revenue to the town. The oldest part of DS is the West side as it once held "The 1950 World Expo"....on down to the newly built mall Town Center....

I think DTD as a whole has always been a borderline mall. It was a little different at had some more unique offerings. Many of the things that would separate it from a generic mall are now gone and/or on their way out. I think the Town Center seals the deal for the whole place to be perceived as a mall. That's not necessarily a really bad thing at least people will understand what it is. DTD used to be a kind of hard thing to explain to guests who didn't know what it was, now it's a mall and people know what that is without further explanation.

 

[SeventyOne]

It looks nice but it literally looks like any other upscale mall in Florida, with the same exact stores.

Just a lot fewer of them. If DHS and DAK are half-day parks, this is a half-day mall.

 

[IzzyB]

Just a lot fewer of them. If DHS and DAK are half-day parks, this is a half-day mall.

Did anyone ever spend a full day in this place before? I would think most people would visit on their off park day and spend half the day in the resort pools and the other half here. I would never thing of a shopping/entertainment place like this to be a full day event. That would be like saying you can spend a full day in citywalk. You wouldn't do that either. You would spend the evening there and the day time at the pool or park.

 

[s8film40]

Did anyone ever spend a full day in this place before? I would think most people would visit on their off park day and spend half the day in the resort pools and the other half here. I would never thing of a shopping/entertainment place like this to be a full day event. That would be like saying you can spend a full day in citywalk. You wouldn't do that either. You would spend the evening there and the day time at the pool or park.

I think it could translate the same relatively. If you spend half the time at DHS you would at MK then you might spend half the time you would at the Premium Outlet mall at Disney Springs. I don't think you have to take the full/half day completely literally in this context.

 

[Nick]

I havent seen any blog postings or tweets about Uniqlo or SuperDry. Those are two brands that will make it a fairly unique high end mall and cater to a very specific demgraphic that Disney has trouble hitting. Are they just not open yet?

Both are yet to open. I think their windows both said Summer though. Uniqlo looked like it still has a decent amount of work yet to be done.

 

[Nick]

I think the busyness of the first day at the food locations are due to "first"ers and various fan media types.

For Sprinkles maybe. D-Luxe? Not so sure. I was looking to eat at around 9 PM and D-Luxe was the only place in the entirety of the area, thus it had what looked like a 30 minute wait. Sprinkles had about 15-20 min wait for ATM and same for inside.

 

[Scott W.]

 

[Nick]

Just a lot fewer of them. If DHS and DAK are half-day parks, this is a half-day mall.

We've got a problem if people are going to malls expecting to spend an entire day there and not get bored. Before about 5-6, DS is pretty boring anyway.

 

[s8film40]

For Sprinkles maybe. D-Luxe? Not so sure. I was looking to eat at around 9 PM and D-Luxe was the only place in the entirety of the area, thus it had what looked like a 30 minute wait. Sprinkles had about 15-20 min wait for ATM and same for inside.

I really wouldn't expect it to not be busy, especially at peak times. Food locations are traditionally pretty busy at malls like this, I know I've seen some pretty long waits at the Orlando Premium outlets food court too. These outlet type malls really don't have as well built out food courts like a traditional mall.

 

[Nick]

I really wouldn't expect it to not be busy, especially at peak times. Food locations are traditionally pretty busy at malls like this, I know I've seen some pretty long waits at the Orlando Premium outlets food court too. These outlet type malls really don't have as well built out food courts like a traditional mall.

I understand that about food courts and these malls. The new outlet mall in Tampa (built by the same people who did the premium outlets is nice), but the main problem is not everyone wants to sit down and if you only have one (two with Blaze Pizza) actual QS locations that serve full meals? That's even worse that the outlet malls you mention.

Luckily, DS is big enough that it has a decent amount of QS. You just may have to walk a mile to get to where you want to go.

 

[s8film40]

I understand that about food courts and these malls. The new outlet mall in Tampa (built by the same people who did the premium outlets is nice), but the main problem is not everyone wants to sit down and if you only have one (two with Blaze Pizza) actual QS locations that serve full meals? That's even worse that the outlet malls you mention.

Luckily, DS is big enough that it has a decent amount of QS. You just may have to walk a mile to get to where you want to go.

Yeah that's the problem both with the outlet malls and Disney Springs there isn't a huge food court to accommodate a large number of people. Lines for food are just part of the experience, I don't expect that to change much at either.

 

[UK-Trigg]

You don't have to like Disney Springs, but the place is 150 tenants large. Having a directory will solve a lot of dumb tourist problems.

Man, "dumb tourist" is a phrase used a lot around here.

I am tourist, I am not dumb. It is quite insulting using the word dumb when describing tourists, the very tourists who bring a lot of revenue and jobs to Orlando. You wouldn't use the word dumb when describing a gender, religion or race would you?

It's water of a ducks back to me but it could upset others and maybe make them think twice about visiting Orlando United or even Florida!!!

 

[Nick]

Man, "dumb tourist" is a phrase used a lot around here.

I am tourist, I am not dumb. It is quite insulting using the word dumb when describing tourists, the very tourists who bring a lot of revenue and jobs to Orlando. You wouldn't use the word dumb when describing a gender, religion or race would you?

It's water of a ducks back to me but it could upset others and maybe make them think twice about visiting Orlando United or even Florida!!!

Whoa there! It's just a phrase used to (admittedly) generalize the less knowledgeable tourists. No disrespect to you at all. The fact that you're on here means you'll have a much greater understanding of a Orlando vacation going in than many tour groups from say... Brazil, who come specifically to disturb the peace (as one would think).

When I use the phrase, i'm not meaning the person is"dumb", but ill-informed.

 

[s8film40]

Man, "dumb tourist" is a phrase used a lot around here.

I am tourist, I am not dumb. It is quite insulting using the word dumb when describing tourists, the very tourists who bring a lot of revenue and jobs to Orlando. You wouldn't use the word dumb when describing a gender, religion or race would you?

It's water of a ducks back to me but it could upset others and maybe make them think twice about visiting Orlando United or even Florida!!!

In my opinion and experience there are varying degrees of tourists, but there most definitely are dumb tourists. As you said your a tourist and your not dumb, we need to be specific rather than just saying "tourist".

 

[Nick]

And i'll even be honest and clarify something: After my visit there yesterday, I realized that a lot of people besides just the ill-informed will be using those directories. The place is simply huge and for many people, it's completely redone since they'll have last been there. I even found myself using it once.