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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2019 |
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NBA + WDI = NBA Experience. The National Basketball Association and Walt Disney Imagineering have combined their talents to allow you to be part of the world of professional basketball. |
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Welcome to NBA Experience, a 44,000 square-foot, two-level destination for basketball fans and basketball players of all ages and skill levels. Everyone can feel like an NBA superstar. This one-of-a-kind attraction is only at Yester Springs. In other words, even though it’s quite new, it’s no longer available to guests at Disney Springs. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2019 Former Expo pavilion? |
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Before you enter, admire the outside of the building. In the backstory of Disney Springs, the current West Side was once the 1950 Springs Centennial Expo. There are still remnants of an elevated train that served the Expo. The West Side buildings were once Expo pavilions, but they’ve been updated. After all, 1950 was a long time ago. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2020 Marquee above the entrance |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2020 Actually a huge video display |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2019 Drumming up business |
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If the high-tech video marquee above the entrance doesn’t grab your attention, perhaps a low-tech, basketball-spinning cast member will. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2019 NBA Store |
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When you first enter, you find yourself in the NBA Store. There’s a huge selection of official NBA apparel and collectibles. It doesn’t matter what your favorite NBA team is. They’re all represented here. Don’t miss the Disney products designed specifically for NBA Experience. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2019 NBA team apparel |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2019 Sports tumblers with Mickey Mouse playing for your favorite team |
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You’re not here just to shop. You’re here to experience NBA Experience. The shop is free to enter, but you need a ticket for the rest. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2019 Ticket prices |
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Adult admission charge is $34. Or, if you added the Water Park and Sports Option to your Walt Disney World theme park ticket, you can get in with that. According to Disney, here are some of the things you can expect:
Your ticket lets you access everything as many times as you wish. Spend a couple of hours, or spend all day. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2019 Not crowded |
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Along with NFL football and MLB baseball, NBA basketball is one of the three most popular spectator sports in the United States. When it comes to being a participant, not just a spectator, basketball is king. More than 26 million Americans play basketball, according to 2012 research by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA). This includes playing on organized teams and at casual pick-up games. A quarter of the players are female. Almost half are under the age of 18, but many continue to play for decades. With this huge base, you might expect big crowds at NBA Experience. The decision makers at the NBA and Disney must have thought so too. But as you look around, there’s hardly anyone here. Where is everyone? |
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NBA Experience opened in 2019 at Walt Disney World’s Disney Springs West Side—and closed after just seven months, never to reopen. How did that happen? First, let’s go back to 1998. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2011 DisneyQuest, as it looked in 2011 |
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DisneyQuest, an indoor theme park, opened at Walt Disney World’s West Side at Downtown Disney (now Disney Springs) in March 1998. It was supposed to be the first of many global locations. A second DisneyQuest opened in Chicago in July 1999, but closed just two years later. Work on additional locations stopped. It was no longer possible to spread the development cost of new attractions across many locations, so the sole location remained largely unchanged from that point forward. |
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Photo by Joao Carlos Medau, 2012, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0), edited NBA City at Universal CityWalk Orlando |
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Over at Universal CityWalk in Orlando, NBA City opened in 1999, the same year that DisneyQuest opened in Chicago. NBA City was a two-level, basketball-themed dining spot, not an attraction, although it had a gift shop and an arcade. In July 2015, Universal announced, “Several months ago, we decided not to renew the lease for NBA City so we could create an exciting, new concept for that space. We’ll announce the new concept soon and it will join all the other great experiences we’ve opened at CityWalk. NBA City closes in late August.” The concept turned out to be The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen. The valuable NBA brand was getting a new Orlando presence. In early 2017, Disney announced that DisneyQuest would close July 3 after a run of slightly more that 19 years. Its replacement would be called NBA Experience. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2018 New construction after the demolition of DisneyQuest |
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Photo, 2019 © Disney Grand opening with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and former Disney CEO Bob Iger, flanked by two mice |
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NBA Experience had its grand opening August 12, 2019. “I want to thank Bob Iger and the Walt Disney Imagineering team for capturing the authentic NBA Experience at this landmark destination at Disney Springs,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. “Disney creates memorable experiences better than anyone, and we are thrilled to share the excitement of NBA basketball with fans and Walt Disney World guests from around the world.” The NBA Store had already opened the prior month, but the restaurant was still behind a construction wall. There were soon reports that NBA Experience was failing to draw guests. Apparently, there was less overlap between Disney fans and NBA fans than expected. Disney Cast Members were given free admission for themselves and their guests, without counting against their admission allotment. Disney Vacation Club members could buy $19 adult and $14 child tickets. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2020 Restaurant still under construction in January 2020 |
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Image courtesy of City Works, 2020 / © Disney City Works Eatery & Pour House |
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City Works Eatery & Pour House, serving “classic American food with brilliant twists” and 90 draft beers, finally opened February 6, 2020. February 6 was also the date of the first death from Covid-19 in the United States. The deadly “novel coronavirus” on the other side of the world would soon be a global pandemic. The spread of the virus needed to be stopped or at least slowed down. Along with other Disney-operated businesses at Disney Springs, NBA Experience closed “temporarily” at the end of March 16, 2020. The four theme parks at Walt Disney World had already closed a day earlier. News reports at the time suggested the closure would probably continue until the end of the month. It took much longer. Disney Springs began a phased reopening on May 27, 2020, with various safety measures in place. City Works reopened June 10. The four theme parks reopened with limited capacity in mid-July 2020. But not NBA Experience. With the meager attendance before the closure, there was no rush to reopen NBA Experience to see if it could now build a following. On August 16, 2021—17 months after NBA Experience closed—Orlando Sentinel writer DeWayne Bevil reported, “NBA Experience at Disney Springs will not reopen, Walt Disney World has confirmed.” Disney had sent email to Disney Springs cast members that day. “The decision to close was made jointly with the NBA, Disney says.” It had been two years since the grand opening of NBA Experience. It only operated seven months. Considering how much it must have cost to develop NBA Experience and all its interactive features, the financial loss must have been staggering. City Works remains open, but the rest of the building is ready for a new tenant. How about an indoor theme park? They could call it DisneyQuest. |
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© 2021 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks Updated December 10, 2021 |
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