A fate worse than death
Anaheim? Axed.
Toronto? Dream on.
Philadelphia? Cancelled.
Chicago? Closed.
Only the original DisneyQuest in Walt Disney World’s Downtown Disney remained. Disney Regional Entertainment (which continued to exist until 2010 thanks to the ESPN Zone line of restaurants) handed operation of the attraction over to the Walt Disney World Resort and Team Disney Orlando, internally integrating it into theme park operations.
It must’ve been presumed that it, too, would quickly close its doors. Instead, the almost-unthinkable happened: it stayed open.
But from that moment on, DisneyQuest was supplied with literally zero non-essential investment. From 2001 onward, Disney’s “cutting edge” “indoor, interactive theme park” didn’t receive a single new addition. Not one.
And, in line with our previous point, that made DisneyQuest woefully dated by the early 2000s, and outright pitiful by 2010. That means that, for a vast, overwhelming majority of its life, DisneyQuest was an unintentional retro-throwback… a laughable “showcase” of technologies from a decade ago. (And think about it – today, the most cutting edge technological marvels of even a decade ago might as well be relics, stored in museum archives.)
The “VR” that once seemed to bring the future to life became a clunky, rudimentary technology that was downright laughable to interact with. The “high definition” digital video might’ve looked a step ahead of the PlayStation, but it was a step behind the PlayStation 2 that would come out just two years into DisneyQuest’s life. The “interactivity” promised by DisneyQuest’s games felt about as lively and forward thinking as the equally aged Innoventions. The “indoor theme park” looked, felt, and was a relic of a bygone era, dripping in ‘90s design and ‘90s tech…
That’s not to say a generation didn’t still connect to DisneyQuest. Up through the 2000s and 2010s, it remained an odd aside; a roadside tourist attraction worthy of seeing if only to say you did; if only to peel back the mystery of the big blue box and witness something sincerely one-of-a-kind. DisneyQuest might’ve made its share of personal connections, but as a business venture, an arcade, and an “indoor theme park,” it was sunk…
Change springs forth
As DisneyQuest’s decline began in earnest in the mid-2000s, Disney exectives were already considering what to do about Downtown Disney as a whole. The expensive-to-operate clubs of Pleasure Island shuttered in 2008, essentially leaving a third of the property (and the one right between the West Side and Marketplace at that) boarded up. Disney’s plans to renovate Pleasure Island alone fell through when the 2008 financial crisis scared any vendors from wanting to be a part of the reinvented ‘Hyperion Wharf’ project.
Ultimately, executives must’ve agreed that the only way to push Downtown Disney forward was to reinvigorate the entire property. In early 2013, Disney announced a radical redesign that would completely transform Downtown Disney into Disney Springs, shedding much of its playful, oversized “Downtown” aesthetic in favor of a trendy, upscale outdoor town center and a unified aesthetic.
In the spirit of Disney California Adventure’s Buena Vista Street, a full-fledged story was developed by Imagineers: “Drawing inspiration from Florida’s waterfront towns and natural beauty, Disney Springs [includes] four outdoor neighborhoods interconnected by a flowing spring and vibrant lakefront.”
Indeed, as you tour the neighborhoods of Disney Springs, observant fans of themed design will note layers of added history, giving the impression that this shopping district has evolved throughout Florida’s life from a waterside village to a vibrant retail town center. (Art imitates life, after all.)
Disney Springs opened in phases through 2016, revitalizing the area with new shops, restaurants, boutiques, and cafes split among four “neighborhoods”: the West Side (blue), The Landing (formerly Pleasure Island, red), the Marketplace (green), and an entirely new fourth area, Town Center (orange), constructed on a former surface parking lot. Family-friendly retail was largely outbid by top tier brands, establishing Disney Springs as a much different destination than Downtown Disney had been.
One thing that did not change? DisneyQuest. At least, not yet…
Game over / game on
DisneyQuest survived decades of development. Even as Downtown Disney became Disney Springs around it, DisneyQuest kept going without so much as a software update. Year after year after year, rumors swirled that DisneyQuest’s time was short. It felt inevitable. And yet, year after year after year, the doors stayed open. Would Disney ever fold?
On June 30, 2015, the call finally came down: for DisneyQuest, it would be “game over” in 2016. Nearly two-decades out of date, the “indoor, interactive theme park” throwback to ‘90s family entertainment centers would finally close its doors to make way for an NBA-themed attraction. However, 2016 came and went, and DisneyQuest still stayed open. Insiders suggested that Disney’s relationship with the NBA was fizzling, and without a definitive future for DisneyQuest’s property, there was no reason to commit to closing it.
On and on it limped. Only in November of 2016 – the year of its supposed closure – did Disney update guests. Yes, DisneyQuest was still going to close… they just weren’t sure when anymore.
Ultimately, DisneyQuest’s final day of operation was July 2, 2017… Frankly, a nineteen-year life is a very, very long time for an attraction entirely reliant on showcasing technology… Think about it… DisneyQuest opened ten years before the release of the first iPhone! Imagine if you had the same computer today you did in 1998… and then consider that DisneyQuest did.
Guests visiting on that last day received a commemorative lithograph and an arcade style token. Beginning that weekend, many of the arcade games from within were auctioned off to Cast Members.
Of course, that strange blue box looming over the West Side was demolished. Though it was “Game Over” for DisneyQuest, it was “game on” for the NBA. In DisneyQuest’s footprint, a curiously similar big-blue-box was built to house the NBA Experience.
When the NBA Experience opened on August 12, 2019, fans were somewhat surprised to find that the interior had a lot in common with DisneyQuest, too – from a central atrium of winding staircases connecting multiple levels, to an emphasis on interactive technology demonstrations and arcade-style games (albeit, focused on basketball), the NBA Experience is mostly oriented around “Instagrammable” moments: having a virtual crowd cheer as you make free-throws, adjustable-height “dunking” interactives, and competitive games.
Another thing the NBA Experience has in common with DisneyQuest? An eye-wateringly high entry price (currently, $34 per person), leading to a mostly-empty facility. It’s no secret that Disney’s been trying anything it can (short of a price reduction, obviously) to lure people into the NBA Experience, including giving it top billing on marketing, dispatching Cast Members through Disney Springs dribbling basketballs to attract guests in, and even restructuring ticket tiers to include the NBA Experience with the newly-renamed “Water Park and Sports” add-on.
While a generation of Disney World guests looked up at DisneyQuest in mystery and awe, folks just don’t seem that excited about the NBA Experience… including those who visit without dropping $34 per person. That makes it really, really difficult to say with any certainty that the NBA Experience is “better” than DisneyQuest… and given the state DisneyQuest was in, that’s saying something.
Concept’s crash
Here’s the thing: DisneyQuest was not a bad concept… Essentially combining a family entertainment center (think of the subject of our in-depth Special Feature, Chuck E. Cheese) with Disney branding, scale, and reach, it might have legitimately become a mainstay of American cities and a local connection to Disney Parks… Intriguing advertising, the must-see draw of the mysterious “box” architecture, the zippy promise of an “indoor, interactive theme park…” It seemed golden.
Except for one messy consideration: technology. The exponential growth of technology even in the last two decades has been so astounding, any attempt to sincerely and authentically feature “cutting edge” hardware or software would require monthly updates at least. Continuous and expensive modifications would be the name of the game and the only way to keep DisneyQuest viable – much less “re-ridable.”
At the end of the day, Disney admitted defeat with the Disney Regional Entertainment concept, essentially saying that they couldn’t price DisneyQuest in such a way that locals (or even tourists) would visit regularly while still underwriting the enormous investment it was clear that the concept would need.
What’s most unusual, though, is that DisneyQuest would’ve been a mere blip on the radar – an interesting if irrelevant failed concept remembered by very few – if the Orlando location didn’t stay alive for two decades, sincerely frozen in a state of eternal ‘90s glamour. Along the way, it earned its share of fans for what it was, even if by all logical accounts, it was just a little embarrassing that Disney kept it open at all, much less charged top dollar for access.
Was it all a waste? Not if you ask Joe DiNunzio. “The legacy that [DisneyQuest and the team that built it] provided to the Disney theme parks is the beginning of things like Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters and Midway Mania and other interactive attractions that got implemented in the theme parks. A lot of that came from the team that developed the attractions for DisneyQuest.”
DisneyQuest proved not only the power of embedding technology in Disney Parks, but the risk… It was a brave, foolish, doomed, and brilliant experiment that truly has shaped Imagineering for decades…
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Though the story of DisneyQuest may be a doozy, it’s just one of the detailed Declassified Disasters in our collectionso make the jump there to set course for another story. Then, we want to hear from you. Do you think the DisneyQuest concept stood a chance? Would you have visited a DisneyQuest in your city… or, better yet, would you have kept visiting?