Disney Quest to close in July 2017

[John park hopper]

A total NBA based attraction seems very limited in focus. Just looked up the stats on pro sports and as of a 2014 Harris poll only 5% of those surveyed ranked the NBA as their favorite sport well behind the NFL and baseball and only slightly above hockey. Suprise the WWE had more viewers than NBA. I guess the bean counters know more but I don't think it will be a big success. Don't think I'll be going

 

[ElBendro]

I wonder when they will start pulling the exterior down? I'm guessing they'll gut the interior first? I know they've auctioned off the arcade machines but some of the other attractions might have reusable parts? I'm. Hoping they won't be demolishing it any time soon, I know it's not the most attractive building but those pictures of horizons being demolished in other threads are not nice to see, I can imagine a similar picture and don't really want to see it in August!

There's probably some salvageable parts from some of the attractions. They had to gut one of the best running coaster pods for parts becsuse maintenance didn't get approval for replacement parts until about midway through last year.

 

[MrPromey]

A total NBA based attraction seems very limited in focus. Just looked up the stats on pro sports and as of a 2014 Harris poll only 5% of those surveyed ranked the NBA as their favorite sport well behind the NFL and baseball and only slightly above hockey. Suprise the WWE had more viewers than NBA. I guess the bean counters know more but I don't think it will be a big success. Don't think I'll be going

Isn't this going to be a tenant? If so, I can see Disney not being so concerned as the landlord. Obviously, a failing "experience" brings down the overall experience of Disney Springs but if they don't have a direct investment, then the work needed to get people in there and the work to figuring out pricing to make it appealing and such isn't really their problem.

I'm sure if the NFL or MLB or someone licensing their brands had been willing to pay as much or more, we'd be seeing something for them going up in this space, instead.

 

[OliveMcFly]

I'm surprised the NBA Experience is coming in since the NBA City left USO. Could've been for many different reasons but if it didn't work there will it here?

 

[danlb_2000]

I'm surprised the NBA Experience is coming in since the NBA City left USO. Could've been for many different reasons but if it didn't work there will it here?

These two things are not the same. NBA Experience is going to be more then a restaurant and shop.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I'm surprised the NBA Experience is coming in since the NBA City left USO. Could've been for many different reasons but if it didn't work there will it here?

The closure of NBA City was not due to its performance. Universal kicked the NBA out of CityWalk. Their lease was terminated early and the NBA was not happy about it. In response the NBA went to Disney.

 

[Frank the Tank]

A total NBA based attraction seems very limited in focus. Just looked up the stats on pro sports and as of a 2014 Harris poll only 5% of those surveyed ranked the NBA as their favorite sport well behind the NFL and baseball and only slightly above hockey. Suprise the WWE had more viewers than NBA. I guess the bean counters know more but I don't think it will be a big success. Don't think I'll be going

I've seen comments like this and I feel like a lot of people are applying their personal views of the NBA and aren't looking at the entire sports landscape objectively at all. The NFL is obviously the overall sports king in the US, but the Harris Poll where you only pick your one favorite sport is pretty worthless since most sports fans have multiple interests. Most importantly, you have to look at demographics: the NBA has a *killer* demo (which is why ESPN and Turner paid enough to the NBA to make it the #2 most valuable league in the United States). The NBA fan base is significantly more diverse and younger than MLB and NHL with much more discretionary income than WWE viewers (where advertisers look at WWE ratings as "junk food" with high overall viewer numbers but low quality viewer numbers). At the same time, the NBA is really the only primary US pro sports league that has truly broad international reach across multiple continents, which makes it a fit for WDW that attracts a lot of international visitors. The NFL, MLB and NHL have fans in pockets in different countries (e.g. NFL in the UK, MLB in Latin America and Japan, NHL in Scandinavian regions), but the NBA has legitimate reach in places as varied as China, Brazil and Spain (the first two markets being particularly important in terms of international WDW visitors). Frankly, the NBA's reach in China alone means more than anyone else combined, similar to how movie studios now see China as important as the US for movie grosses. It's not an accident that Steve Ballmer (who can literally buy anything that he wants) chose to invest $2 billion in the *Clippers* (we're not even talking about the Lakers here). The NBA has the long-term demographics that every single other sports entity wants right now in terms of diversity and age for domestic fans and the ability to have growth in international fans across a wide range of regions.

 

[MisterPenguin]

A total NBA based attraction seems very limited in focus. Just looked up the stats on pro sports and as of a 2014 Harris poll only 5% of those surveyed ranked the NBA as their favorite sport well behind the NFL and baseball and only slightly above hockey.

And what's 5% of the tens of thousands of people visiting WDW every day?

 

[cheezbat]

Hate this decision so much.

I am an NBA fan. Having said that, I only ate once at NBA city. I didn't much care for it.
While Disneyquest was behind the times technologically, it was still a fun time.

Here's hoping the new NBA restaurant tanks or somebody pulls an Enchanted Tiki Room...

 

[danlb_2000]

Hate this decision so much.

I am an NBA fan. Having said that, I only ate once at NBA city. I didn't much care for it.
While Disneyquest was behind the times technologically, it was still a fun time.

Here's hoping the new NBA restaurant tanks or somebody pulls an Enchanted Tiki Room...

This is not going to be just a restaurant, a restaurant is just part of the overall complex.

 

[cheezbat]

This is not going to be just a restaurant, a restaurant is just part of the overall complex.

I know...still a waste of space to me.

 

[Thebolt]

And what's 5% of the tens of thousands of people visiting WDW every day?

No it isn"t. A poll of Americans is not representative of the mix of visitors to WDW.

The NBA concept comes across as similar to the Coca Cola attraction. It isn't somewhere most people are going to build a trip around... its going to attract people who catch a glance of it when they are already there.
Disney Springs needs something to make people go out of their way to make a trip there if it is to work better than Downtown Disney.

 

[Bolt]

I know...still a waste of space to me.

Oh wow, I didn't realize all the details had been announced to call it a waste of space. Can you post a link of how you came to the conclusion? Thank you!

 

[Karakasa]

On the one hand I really have no interest in any major sport, so NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, wouldn't make a difference for me. It's not of interest to me. So naturally I'd prefer DisneyQuest or something similar (hell I'd take a 50 dollars admission price for a full day of free arcade games kinda deal) as a person into video games and such. I'd also argue video games and the idea of virtual reality being cool is even more relevant today than when DisneyQuest opened.


However there are a lot of people who like basketball. Like a lot a lot. So this will draw people, surely.

Hopefully there'll be something I like about it but if not, isn't like there aren't other things to do at Springs I do enjoy.

 

[ThemeParkJunkee]

Not an NBA Fan, not a fan of Disney Quest. I really wish they would have turned this space into something a majority of WDW visitors might enjoy but I really don't know what that would be.

 

[MisterPenguin]

No it isn"t. A poll of Americans is not representative of the mix of visitors to WDW.

The NBA concept comes across as similar to the Coca Cola attraction. It isn't somewhere most people are going to build a trip around... its going to attract people who catch a glance of it when they are already there.
Disney Springs needs something to make people go out of their way to make a trip there if it is to work better than Downtown Disney.

I seem to have to be doing a lot of math for people today:

Foreign visitors are 20%. So, of the 150K visitors per day, 120K are Americans. Of that 120K, 5% say basketball is their favorite sport. That's 6K visitors per day showing up to WDW who have basketball as their favorite sport. And that's not even counting the 2 million Americans that live in the greater Orlando area who can park free at DS and go there.

The idea that there aren't enough basketball fans at WDW to make an NBA Experience viable is borne of people who don't grasp... I don't know... math? the popularity of sports?... the reality that other people have different likes and tastes than oneself?

Personally, I don't understand how the Tsum Tsum or Funko markets exist since I regard both those products as ugly and dumb... for me. But I surmise there must be enough people who are into it to keep it afloat. You'll just have to accommodate yourself to the same reality that there are enough people to make an NBA Experience work.

 

[Jeff456]

I have no interest in the NBA but if this attraction was to incorporate decent attractions and or food I'd still give it a go, I'll miss Disney quest even if it had been somewhat neglected!

 

[cheezbat]

Oh wow, I didn't realize all the details had been announced to call it a waste of space. Can you post a link of how you came to the conclusion? Thank you!

Thanks for reading my ENTIRE comment. I said it was a waste of space to ME.

Knowing Disney and how things work at Disney Springs, any other leftover space will most likely just turn into more pointless mall shops. I will be beyond shocked if they actually put something else with true entertainment value in that spot.

 

[Nmoody1]

Thanks for reading my ENTIRE comment. I said it was a waste of space to ME.

Knowing Disney and how things work at Disney Springs, any other leftover space will most likely just turn into more pointless mall shops. I will be beyond shocked if they actually put something else with true entertainment value in that spot.

We are getting short on entertainment options... we already have a cinema, bowling alley, cirque show. Aside from an indoor skating rink (think of the insurance claims)... What do people suggest as an entertainment offering? Sure the Broadway show thing may pop up... bit that hasn't been a success in Shanghai (personally I think it may work better in orlando as the marketing qouldnbe much better), but I can't see Disney building a theatre that cannot double as something else during the day.

 

[cindy_k]

NBA is pretty popular internationally, certainly moreso than the other American pro sports leagues. We shall see....I'm a pretty big NBA fan but I'm not sure if this will be such a rousing success in the long term. I'd rather see Virgin Megastore come back (hahaha I know that's never happening).

If they were going for international sports appeal, I would expect a soccer thing. That's huge around the world and a popular youth sport here.