Splitsville bowling moving into Downtown Disney West Side

[sshindel]

My brother had his wedding rehersal dinner last year at a place like this in downtown Cleveland called "The Corner Alley" and it was a great time for the adult crowd. Good food, Bowling, Drinks, Billiards.
The Lucky Strike in Chicago always looked packed and a lot of fun as well.

A major win for DTD to get a place like this.

 

[mp2bill]

Pretty, pretty cool. I like their website

 

[iheartdisney91]

a bowling alley actually sounds pretty fun, and a pretty good idea!
theres really nothing like that in DTD, well assuming that its not way over priced.

i'd love to go to a bowling alley in Disney, it could be fun.
i hope they have "Character bowling balls"!!:lol:

 

[jt04]

This is right up there with what an ESPNZone would have provided or even better. Great response to D&B's. If Disney had gone with a home grown facility I hoped it would be a Marvel store/museum but since they are going third party as much as possible, this choice is near perfect. This will be a great foot traffic generator and will help all other parties on the Westend. Could even lead to a revitalized DQ.

Nice going TDO!

 

[disneyny]

I like this! I am so happy to see a positive for the PI/DTD area. This seems like a really good fit and while I am not sure it would be a must do for me I think it looks like a great option. Much better than Apricot Lane! I am also happy that they finally admitted they were "revisiting" their Hyperion Wharf plans instead of just leaving everyone wondering. I think the concept of the overall theme is good it is just the venues they need to make sure they get right- a good mix of adult places (Adventurer's Club, Comedy Cluc, etc.) plus new places like this. I am glad for some good news!

 

[wdwfan4ver]

I am not into bowling or Billiards, but this is a great fit for that building. I see it doing very well.

 

[brifraz]

So, maybe I'm going way out on a limb here, but I'm going to guess that they will not be participating in the national "Kids Bowl Free" campaign?:animwink:

As a lifelong bowler, this looks to have some great potential. It would be neat if they could offer a couple lanes for duckpin or candlestick or some of the other unique types of bowling that have been developed around the country.

 

[donvincenzo]

I've been to the Lucky Strike in Boston, which was a lot of fun. This sounds pretty similar so it could be a really good addition. Something entertaining to do late at night. As Yoda said, I can only do so much of walking around looking at merchandise...

 

[panther726]

This is great news! Our family was just talking last trip about how Downtown Disney has almost everything covered except for bowling.

 

[828tnt]

i haven't been too thrilled with too many of the decisions lately, but this one i really like! the website looks fun!

any idea of an opening date?

 

[JEANYLASER]

yeah! awesome! So i can keep practice Bowling!

 

[Mouse Detective]

Expect that upstairs will contain a decent restaurant which also caters people ordering food at the lanes. Expect the main lounge up there too. I wonder if they'll need to relocate the escalators which currently take up valuable floor space right in the middle of the downstairs.

 

[Main Street USA]

Add me to the list of people who think this is a great new development for DTD, particularly the West Side. This, accompanied with the new AMC dine-in theater experience, will mean the West Side will finally have some action, and crowds it hasn't seen in a VERY long time. This will also help a few of the establishments that have been mainstays like HoB and Bongos, and it should give Cirque some fresh traffic, too.

 

[Txrayado]

woo hoo!!! looks like this pin chaser has a job opertunity!!!

 

[GenerationX]

This is a great fit for Downtown Disney. I've been to the Dave & Buster's and Lucky Strikes in Chicagoland, and they are a lot of fun and very popular. This looks to be in the same vein. We'll try it, no question.

 

[Ignohippo]

I've seen many comments on here about games at Splitsville and comparisons to Dave and Buster's. Just so there's no confusion, they really couldn't be any more different. D&B's is more competition for DisneyQuest, not Splitsville.

Splitsville is much more of an upscale bar/lounge with bowling. I don't believe there are any arcade games there at all. Splitsville is not necessarily the place to take the kiddos for an afternoon of bowling. Sure, it will be fine for that, but it really isn't Splitsville's niche. People who are complaining about the high cost of games or shoe rentals may be missing what this place is about.

I wouldn't be surprised at all to hear about another alley being built on property for family bowling in the future. Family bowling really isn't Splitsville's target demographic.

I would imagine the focus for this location wil be for people to come in and hang out, grab drinks and get a bite. I think they're opening this location to take advantage of the limited adult offerings now available at WDW - which is brilliant. It may be that only a small portion of their customers will actually come in to bowl. The focus here may be as a bar and lounge rather than the bowling itself.

 

[flavious27]

I agree with you, they are probably regretting ever closing down Pleasure Island.

Splitsville would have made a great replacement for the Virgin Megastore's former location, wasnt a bowling alley supposed to be built at ESPN WWoS??

Well with not a mention of the term Hyperion Wharf when talking about pleasure island or the land that was pleasure island, it looks like they are rethinking what they are going to do. Having this venue in DTD is a no brainer, hopefully they can add a real brew pub (no celeb brand name) to the mix also.

Disney co needs to figure out and implement a "theme" for each of the three areas of dtd and stick to it.

West side should be the experience that guests can not really get in their local bedroom community and or the closest shopping area to them. A Dine-In movie theater with the coke freestyle machines is not something that guests will experience, unless they put in the time to travel to it. The same can be said for splitsville, not many people have an upscale bowling alley near them. At the end of west end is cirqu, and that is enough said with the train of thought I am on.

I see marketplace as the more family friendly oriented area, that will usually be more active during the day but wind down when it starts to get dark / late out. Lego and ridemarkerz makes sense to be here.

PI or whatever disney will call it in the future should be a more adult area. More of the nightlife happens here, with more clubs and restaurants that aren't tied to a national brand or chain. During the day the restaurants would be open to all guests, with table and chairs setup outside to create a bistro feel.

 

[daikonjam]

Splitsville is the place they advertise on the radio where I live (tampa bay area) for radio party events and what not. Very much adult night life. You asked, they gave. I'm excited

 

[jt04]

I've seen many comments on here about games at Splitsville and comparisons to Dave and Buster's. Just so there's no confusion, they really couldn't be any more different. D&B's is more competition for DisneyQuest, not Splitsville.

Splitsville is much more of an upscale bar/lounge with bowling. I don't believe there are any arcade games there at all. Splitsville is not necessarily the place to take the kiddos for an afternoon of bowling. Sure, it will be fine for that, but it really isn't Splitsville's niche. People who are complaining about the high cost of games or shoe rentals may be missing what this place is about.

I wouldn't be surprised at all to hear about another alley being built on property for family bowling in the future. Family bowling really isn't Splitsville's target demographic.

I would imagine the focus for this location wil be for people to come in and hang out, grab drinks and get a bite. I think they're opening this location to take advantage of the limited adult offerings now available at WDW - which is brilliant. It may be that only a small portion of their customers will actually come in to bowl. The focus here may be as a bar and lounge rather than the bowling itself.

I think the place will be so popular that if even a small percentage decide to bowl the lanes will be filled most of the day and reservations will be necessary in the evenings. I also would not be suprised if they see they need to build another somewhere else on property. This is great "counter-programming" to d&b's, whereas DQ can be more direct competition. I just wonder if Disney may not be planning other uses for the building and converting the Westend into a more adult oriented area. Just my opinion, but if the turn it into another PI without gates, I am certain they will encounter the same old problems. Splitsville is perfect because it can serve families during the day and then become more adult oriented in the evenings when younger families have left. That is a model that can work. Recreating PI would alienate guests and drive away as many people from DTD as it draws. Just adding a bit of truth to the mix and elevating above the predictable spin.

 

[bb&h]

I assume it's "regular" bowling and not candlestick? I've never heard of it before but it looks nice. And to those of you that pay upwards of $6 a game......damn!!! In NY, even the expensive places are only $4.00-$4.50.

Are you talkin' NYC or the Capital District? Big difference.