Disney Springs Shopping Archives - Living a Disney LifeLiving a Disney Life

Disney vacation time is valuable! Between parks, resorts, and restaurants, scheduling and planning are important priorities. Time well spent is a good investment. That being the case, who would get the most from Disney Springs and how much vacation time should be devoted to visiting this newly enhanced area of Walt Disney World?

Walt Disney World – Time For Disney Springs?

You love to shop – If you live in a big city with loads of shopping choices or you love to shop on line, Disney Springs’ shopping district, Town Center, won’t hold much appeal. But if you live far from a city and love to browse stores like Zara, Lilly Pulitzer, Free People, Kate Spade New York, Anthropologie (my personal weakness), Uniqlo, and more! Looking for souvenirs? The Marketplace is for you. Lots of Disney everything from clothing to toys and collectibles, cell phone cases, art, ornaments, jewelry – it’s all there in one place.

It’s going to rain a lot – Sure, an afternoon thunderstorm is common (especially during the summer months) and those are usually momentary interruptions to park touring. When the weather’s going to be lousy for an extended period of time, Disney Springs offers some excellent alternatives like catching a movie at the AMC Theater and bowling a few rounds at Splitsville. We’ve not yet tried Splitsville (I hear the menu is fantastic) but we very much enjoyed seeing Rogue One at Christmastime when the parks were super crowded.

Looking for new dining options – There are now more options for dining than ever! Quick service, table service, snacks and sweets are everywhere! If you’re looking for a new place to try in every price category, don’t leave out Disney Springs. We love Morimoto Asia (both dining room and walk up counter). We think Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar is awesome and The Boathouse has great food and a wonderful atmosphere. We’re looking forward to trying many more places on upcoming visits.

Grown up and want a night out – Looking for something to do outside the parks and away from your resort? Disney Springs has more than shopping and dining. Great lounges, live entertainment, and seasonal attractions (like the special Christmas Tree display and drone show last holiday season). In the evenings, it’s crowded, but fun!

Arrival Day – No ticket necessary – Need something to do at Disney World without a park ticket? We’ve visited Disney Springs as an arrival day outing. We’ve also spent an evening at Disney Springs pre-Disney cruise when we had no park tickets but wanted to start feeling the Disney magic right away. If your family is staying at Disney World longer than the number of days you have park tickets for, consider Disney Springs. Most stores open at 10:00 am and we’ve found very light crowds early in the day.

I know that every minute of a Disney vacation is precious. Many visitors to Walt Disney World choose not to spend time at Disney Springs and at one time, we were that family too! Now we’ve come to appreciate the option of visiting Disney Springs as an alternative to Disney World’s parks and resorts and try to make at least one visit there on every trip.

Are you a Disney Springs fan? What draws you there?

Walt Disney World – Trying new things and revisiting old favorites is what makes every visit different from the one before. I’m committed to adding something new to every trip…our most recent Disney vacation was no exception.

Disney World! Always New Things to Try

Most of the items on this list rate their very own review in the future (please stand by). Today I’m going for a quick rundown of what was new (to us) and what our initial impressions were. Please feel free to weigh in on what you’re looking forward to trying for the first time on your next Walt Disney World visit.

Mad Tea Party. Yes, that’s right, Raymond and I have never, not once, taken a spin on this most iconic of Magic Kingdom attractions. Now we can say we’ve done it. Aaaaaaand that’s pretty much all I have to say about that…for now.
Disney Springs’ new offerings. We didn’t have a great deal of time to spare, but we did manage to grab lunch at Morimoto Street Food (new walk-up counter service at Morimoto Asia) and check out a few of the new stores in the new retail shopping section. Lunch was great, the stores were okay. In spite of all the fancy, new high-end offerings, I found myself pulled back to my old favorites like the Marketplace Co-Op and Disney’s Days of Christmas. That’s where I spent my money. I was inordinately happy with my Schweitzer Falls t-shirt buy…can you blame me?
Animal Kingdom’s Nomad Lounge and Tiffins – Guys! We give these new places a resounding, unanimous vote of approval! I promise more details later, but if you’re on the fence about trying one or both…get off the fence on the side of definitely going.
Epcot’s Via Napoli – Raymond and I enjoyed a special dining experience here during the 2014 Food & Wine festival, but had never made a regular ADR for a meal here until this visit. I’d been skeptical of reviews that said the pizza was fantastic (Disney pizza is typically anything but fantastic) and the food excellent overall, but I’m a believer now and cannot wait to go back! We were very happy!
Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater – All I can say in my own defense was that I thought it would be unique and fun. Yeahhhhh….not so much. Didn’t hate it, but now that we’ve given it a try, there’s no need to go back. For the price, service level, and menu, there are too many superior choices…we’ll put this in the “once and done” category. I’ll go ahead and add that for us, the service was subpar and the seating less than ideal for a party of more than four.
Frozen Ever After – Raymond and I managed to score a FastPass for this and ride it on the first day of our vacation. I hate that we couldn’t get FastPasses for the rest of our party! This attraction is outstanding. Let’s not debate its suitability for the Norway Pavilion in Epcot and just focus on the experience alone…wonderful!
Soarin’ – This was THE one thing I was most looking forward to. I’ve always been a fan and could not wait to check out the new version. I was both delighted and disappointed in equal measure. Have you ridden it yet? What did you think?