Photo update as of Friday, May 6. Today was preview day at Town Center Disney Springs. No photography was permitted, but these maps and cards were handed out for the self-guided tour.
Overall, Town Center is very detailed and themed very well. The restaurants and food outlets are all located along the water front, as they should be. The shops that could be inspected are very upscale, similar to Las Vegas upscale hotel shopping areas. The restaurants that were open for touring only, are the stars. All are very detailed and themed to the backstory of Disney Springs.
The Welcome Center, billed as the original structure in Disney Springs, is a masterpiece. A wraparound covered porch has many rocking chairs which will be very popular for people watching, as well as cooling off. The Welcome Center serves as Guest Relations, which means eight walk-up counters for FastPass, dining reservations, purchasing tickets, and answering guest questions. Besides having several offices on the perimeter, the center lobby of the Welcome Center, where the walk-up counters are located, has beautiful furniture. The Welcome Center lobby also displays six beautiful paintings that provide a visual "history" of Disney Springs, from a single cottage along a spring (now the Welcome Center), to a small village, to a bustling market area, and finally the modern West Side addition with a depiction of a sleek train on the elevated track. Not to be missed!
The new Disney bus transportation terminal will also be open May 15. The existing Disney bus terminal near the Marketplace will close as of that date. No word of what will become of the old bus terminal area.
Observations:
1. D-Luxe Burger's inside is exceptionally themed. Not much inside dining area (front and back of building), but there is more outside dining area. This restaurant should prove so popular that it will be difficult to find seating, much like Earl of Sandwich during peak periods.
2. During the day, bring your sunglasses. The off-white stucco walls and light colored pavement reflect a lot of sunlight.
3. Public restrooms are very well themed also. Not just an industrial add-on.
4. The Lime parking garage, which will also open May 15, has it's own second level entry into Town Center, with escalators and stairway. This pedestrian cross over (not shown on map below, but it's the pathway between Number 05 and the garage) is themed with the Spanish influence of Town Center, not utilitarian as the Orange garage pedestrian access. As reported by
@Figment2005, the pedestrian cross over at the Lime garage will have wheelchair and stroller rentals. In other words, those will NOT be at Guest Relations' Welcome Center.
5. There are some surprises in the architecture and landscaping for Town Center. (See red dots for "photo opportunity" for two of them.)
6. There are some large retailers that will not be open on May 15. The goal is to have most opened by mid-to-late June.
7. Disney has raised the bar even higher after the new construction at The Landing and recent refurbishments.
P.S. There is a misspelled word on the map below. Can you find it?
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Part of the construction wall was removed last night from the bridge between West Side and the Landing. Guests can now view the on-going construction.
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Soon, perhaps on May 15, the construction wall at the base of the Orange garage pedestrian access, will be moved back closer to Planet Hollywood, opening the pathway to the new lower level bridge as shown in the photo above. This will provide a direct walkway to the lower level of STK and Morimota Asia, and the two new bridges to Town Center, without having to climb the existing bridge (whew!)
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