Disney Springs
Disney Springs is the only outdoor shopping, dining and entertainment complex within the Walt Disney World bubble. Here you can shop major brands such as Uniqlo, Sephora and Lego and dine at fan favourites Polite Pig, Gideon’s Cookies and Wine Bar George. Disney Springs is also home to the Cirque Du Soleil show Drawn to Life. This one of a kind show follows the journey of Disney animation as it leaps from the page onto the stage.
Disney Springs is incredibly popular with local Orlando residents especially at the weekends. With free parking and live music you can have a fantastic evening out and be immersed in some Disney theming without having to buy a park ticket.
Walt Disney World guests have been able to shop on this site since 1975 when it was originally called The Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village. Over the years the name has changed multiple times and the expansion of shops and restaurants has helped to keep park guests spending their money within the Disney bubble.
You can make reservations for most of the restaurants at Disney Springs through the My Disney Experience app and indeed some restaurants like ‘Art Smiths Homecomin’ are fully booked at the 60 day window.
The current theming sees Disney Springs is divided into four areas: Marketplace, The Landing, Town Center, and West Side.
If you were staying at a Good Neighbour hotel or Saratoga Springs Resort, then you would enter the Market Place section of Disney Springs across the pedestrian bridges.
In this section you can find the currently closed ‘Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique’. Hopefully this location will reopen in 2024 otherwise the only way to experience the boutique is inside Magic Kingdom.
Phillips favourite store Disney's Pin Traders is just across the path from the Marketplace Co-Op, a fantastic store which is home to Disney Dress Shop and the Disney art store.
The fire breathing volcano outside the Rainforest cafe is a brilliant photo op, and is even more impressive at night.
If you get the bus from your resort to Disney Springs you will be dropped off at the Town Square bus depot.
To visit Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon you will have to change bus here for your onward journey
If you have a dining reservation at a resort you can get a bus to that resort from Disney Springs, just make sure you leave enough time. We nearly missed our lunch reservation for Sanaa at Animal Kingdom Lodge as we were waiting 40 mins for a bus!
Talking about buses, you can’t get a bus to the theme parks from Disney Springs so don’t try and use the free parking and then go to the parks. One sneaky thing we’ve done when we stayed at the B Resort at Disney Springs was to walk to Disney’s Saratoga Springs resort and then get a bus to the theme parks. We also used this trick at the end of a park day rather than waiting for the B Resort bus.
Our favourite store at Disney Springs is the World of Disney, the largest merchandise store on property. This store is located in the Town Square section of Disney springs.
This store has everything you could ever want with a Disney logo on it, and you could spend hours wandering the shelves spending all your money without stepping into a park.
The Town Square is where you will find almost all of the stores, including the Lego store, with its photo op giant sculptures outside.
Walking through the shopping area you could be in any outdoor mall in the America, and you can easily forget that you are at Disney.
As you continue around Lake Buena Vista you enter the West Side. This section is home to the AMC Cinema, Cirque Du Soleil and other entertainment venues.
This section is currently undergoing some renovations with the addition of new restaurants and updates to the walkways.
If you would like to see Disney World from above then you can board the Aerophile – The World Leader in Balloon Flight. This one of a kind experience is $25 per adult, but be sure to check the weather before you purchase tickets.
If you need a break from the parks then nothing beats grabbing an ice cream from ‘Salt n Straw’ and pottering around the shops.
The final section of Disney Springs is The Landing. This area is accessible by the pedestrian bridges and where you will find the majority of the restaurants. When we first visited Disney Springs we missed most of this section as there are multiple pathways to take and something tasty around each corner.
Paddlefish is a unique dining experience aboard a floating steamboat next door to this you have the always fully booked Boathouse restaurant. These restaurants along with almost all the other located at Disney Springs can be booked via the My Disney Experience app.
The Vintage Amphicar Tours, where you are driven into Lake Buena Vista are $125 per group of 4 and a great way to experience Disney Springs.
