NBA Experience at Disney Springs

[Dr.GrantSeeker]

I think they would have been better doing a bigger ESPN themed experience sports bar.

But that would require ESPN to open up their wallet

 

[Andrew C]

Not really 'generic', but OK. But it's still just a mall at the end of the day, so I guess that's probably more what you mean.

I do agree I don't know how long NBA Experience will be around. Who knows, it could be a hit. I think they would have been better doing a bigger ESPN themed experience sports bar.

Seems an ESPN themed experience would be more likely to be generic. But with an actual sports league putting themselves out there, I would give it a higher chance to be a unique and strong experience.

 

[jakeman]

But that would require ESPN to open up their wallet

Right? If only we knew who owned ESPN...

 

[palmickey420]

The only way I see this succeeding is to have something that appeals to people who don’t care about basketball. Because IMO a place like this can’t be sustained only by nba fans

 

[drwadadli]

NBA City was an adventure between NBA and Hard Rock Cafe when NBA City first opened in September 1999 but since then Hard Rock Cafe was sold/bought by the Seminole Indian tribe and they didn't renew the contract with NBA. That is part to why Universal didn't renew NBA City contract when it was up.

I hope NBA Experience does as well as reports of how well NBA City did. In 2005, over 500,000 people passed through the doors of NBA City.

 

[JEANYLASER]

Awesome news! I love NBA experience and I love Orlando Magic!

 

[Daveeeeed]

I guess I’m different. I like it.

It looks cool and interesting. Better than I thought. We will see what the final product looks like and what the substance will actually be...

Definitely, agree. Downtown Disney's West Side has always been about eye-popping buildings without much theme other than 'entertain'. There's a reason why it was mostly left out of the Springs theming.

 

[brb1006]

Pass

 

[THE Monorail Lime]

Any word what the fate of the cyberspace mountain cars?

 

[jt04]

Disney Springs is going to need more parking.

 

[bhg469]

Pass

rebound?? Oh we arent saying sports terms? I will also be passing on this.

 

[Andrew C]

rebound?? Oh we arent saying sports terms? I will also be passing on this.

*throws it out of bounds...turnover*

 

[c-one]

Folks probably ought to learn that just because a thing does not appeal to them doesn't mean it's destined for failure. The NBA restaurant over at Universal seemed to do well for 16 years.

 

[raymusiccity]

The only way I see this succeeding is to have something that appeals to people who don’t care about basketball. Because IMO a place like this can’t be sustained only by nba fans

Tattoo fans!

 

[DisneyRoy]

I think with the worldwide popularity of the NBA and basketball in general, and the growing amount of international guests this could do well.

 

[lazyboy97o]

NBA City was an adventure between NBA and Hard Rock Cafe when NBA City first opened in September 1999 but since then Hard Rock Cafe was sold/bought by the Seminole Indian tribe and they didn't renew the contract with NBA. That is part to why Universal didn't renew NBA City contract when it was up.

The NBA’s lease at CityWalk was not up for renewal, they were kicked out by Universal. Going to Disney is a sort of retaliation against Universal.

 

[Kman101]

Seems an ESPN themed experience would be more likely to be generic. But with an actual sports league putting themselves out there, I would give it a higher chance to be a unique and strong experience.

FWIW, I wasn't calling the NBA Experience generic. I was going off of the poster I quoted and I assume they were saying Disney Springs as a whole was generic (which I wasn't agreeing with), but I guess they could have been referring to NBA Experience.

Personally the concept art looks nice. Not sure it fits Disney Springs (though it fits in better on the west side where it's going I suppose), but it looks nice. I just think they would have been better off long-term to use their property ESPN and to include all sports and not have it geared towards just NBA.

 

[BD-Anaheim]

Definitely, agree. Downtown Disney's West Side has always been about eye-popping buildings without much theme other than 'entertain'. There's a reason why it was mostly left out of the Springs theming.

I think it's the other way around. The Springs is a relatively generic overhaul of the entire property. It has been challenging at best to retool the concept of the West Side because it's so unapologetically 90s.

There's something to be said for designs that don't dabble in nostalgia rather speak to the present. Unfortunately, they so often don't remain popular, are under appreciated, and lost to progress. This may or may not be true about the West Side. I will say this though, when the West Side was introduced, it was as exciting a place to many as EPCOTs Future World.
I've yet to see how Disney Springs lives up to that experience.

 

[DisneyJayL]

*throws it out of bounds...turnover*

Traveling.

 

[xdan0920]

Eh, 100 taps is barely a taphouse where I come from.

It's an impressive sports bar. Not sure I'm going to call it a taphouse though.

Listen, if they don't have Pliney the Elder and KBS they can kick rocks. Any REAL Taphouse obviously has those on tap. 100 taps of pure mainstream garbage I bet.