Tag: Downtown Disney

When’s the last time Disney did something different? Like, really unexpected? Something so out of left field – so completely out of the box – it felt like a reinvention and a risk? Think back to the days before box-office tie-ins and IP lands. When’s the last time Disney made a move that truly surprised and excited you? Disney English? The Disney Cruise Line? The Disney Vacation Club? Maybe!

But one thing’s for sure: one of the bravest, boldest, and most surprising moves at Disney in the last few decades is one that’s no longer around (except that it is) that you can no longer visit (except that you can): The Disney Institute was a really-for-real reinvention of what Disney could do. And today, it’s gone… kind of. Just image: Would you be willing to visit Walt Disney World but skip its theme parks entirely to visit a self-contained informal education campus where you could pursue new interests and dream hobbies?

So what was the Disney Institute? A program or a place? A campus or a course? Did you study there or stay there? Did it close or continue? And for that matter, is it a Lost Legend missed by those who experienced it, or a doomed Declassified Disaster whose failings we should learn from? The answer is… yes. Today, we’ll dig into the unusual history of one of Michael Eisner’s more far-flung pet projects; how it was conceived, where it came to life, why it disappeared… and how you can still experience it today.

Wouldn’t it be nice to take a break from the everyday and escape to the magic of Disney? To sail the high seas with pirates, encounter extraterrorestrial creatures, and blast baddies with Buzz Lightyear? Millions of visitors flock to Disneyland and Walt Disney World every year, but the flight! The rental car! The hotel room! Those priceless experiences sure do come at a steep price…

But what if instead of needing to move heaven and earth to bring your family and friends to Disney’s theme parks, Disney brought its theme parks to you? What if every metropolitan area across the country could host its own Disney theme park…? One that would redefine Disney’s role in regional entertainment, connect millions of guests to its brand, and serve as an evolving testing grounds for the technologies of a new millennium?

DisneyQuest started its life as a radical new concept in what “Disney” could mean – a 21st century experiment in mass-producing modular, urban theme park experiences that made their cutting edge technologies the starring act. Two decades later, it ended its life as an abandoned arcade, left to rot in plain sight. The story of Disney’s too-long-lived “indoor, interactive theme park” is as weird as the concept itself: a ’90s time capsule of a “so-bad-it’s-good” experiment gone awry.

DisneyQuest was – by most accounts – a failure. Worse, its decaying corpse remained, looming over Downtown Disney (and criminally, still charging admission) for decades. Yet somehow, this strange sanctum of digital experiences had a hypnotic hold on ’90s kids, who hold the mystery of DisneyQuest as a formative memory. What awaited within the big blue box rising over Downtown Disney’s electric West Side? Plug in and let’s explore…