DisneyQuest

DisneyQuest

Location Walt Disney World Resort, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States
Coordinates 28°22′13″N 81°31′20″W / 28.37033°N 81.52211°W / 28.37033; -81.52211Coordinates: 28°22′13″N 81°31′20″W / 28.37033°N 81.52211°W / 28.37033; -81.52211
Theme Indoor Interactive Theme Park
Operated by The Walt Disney Company
Opened June 19, 1998
Website DisneyQuest Homepage

DisneyQuest is a five-story, indoor interactive theme park located in Disney Springs West Side, formerly known as Downtown Disney West Side, at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. It opened on June 19, 1998, as part of a major expansion of Walt Disney World. On June 30, 2015, Disney announced that it was closing DisneyQuest in 2016 after 18 years in operation and will eventually be replaced by a new National Basketball Association-themed restaurant/store called "NBA Experience".[1] The deal with the NBA fell through but it is still planned to close DisneyQuest, although dates are uncertain.

Background

The DisneyQuest project was designed as a way for the Disney brand to reach populations that may not have the chance to travel to its various theme park destinations. It was meant to target large cities and urban areas. Had the project continued, Disney had plans to construct locations in many major cities in the United States, like Philadelphia. However, only two locations were built.[2]

The second DisneyQuest was built and opened in Chicago,[3] but it permanently closed on September 4, 2001 due to low attendance as well as other, broader issues.[4] After the failure of DisneyQuest Chicago, the DisneyQuest project was officially brought to an end. Construction that had begun on a DisneyQuest in Philadelphia, at the former site of Gimbels Department Store, was scrapped, and a DisneyQuest at Disneyland Resort in California never proceeded past the planning stage. Disney announced another location to be built in downtown Toronto but the project was cancelled.

After the closure of the Chicago location, Disney Regional Entertainment turned over control of the remaining location to Walt Disney World operations. On June 30, 2015, Disney officials announced that the Walt Disney World location would close in 2016 as part of the continued redevelopment of Downtown Disney into Disney Springs.[1] The facility will be re-purposed into an "NBA Experience" attraction that is scheduled to open at an undetermined date, which will include a restaurant and retail shop.[1] A spokesperson for the labor unions that represent Disney employees who work at DisneyQuest stated that displaced workers will be relocated to other positions.

Mascot

The Genie from Aladdin is an unofficial mascot of DisneyQuest. Upon entering at ground level, one is brought by an elevator (here called a "cybrolator," containing a short and humorous animation of Genie welcoming you and lampooning the airline industry) up to the center of the third floor (the "Ventureport"), where one's visit begins.* This feature of the cybrolator has since been taken out due to safety issues. He is also heard on the end-of-day closing announcements. When a game or attraction is down, a sign reading "The Genie has spotted a technical problem..." is displayed.

Attractions

Virtual Jungle Cruise
Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride
The third floor atrium
Mighty Ducks Pinball Slam
Ride the Comix

It is housed in a five-story windowless building. Guests enter the first-floor lobby and are transported via a "magic" elevator to the third floor atrium at the start of their visit. Guests enter a large arcade complete with eight attractions inside.[5]

First floor

Second floor

Third floor

Fourth floor

Fifth floor

Removed attractions

Other games

Dining

DisneyQuest features two quick-service restaurants, both of which are included on any meal plan that has quick-service meals. On the fourth floor, the Wonderland Cafe features desserts, drinks, and grab-and-go food items. On the fifth floor, food is served at Food Quest, which offers burgers, chicken, wraps and sandwiches, pizza, and salads.

Since fall 2008, alcohol has been served on the fourth floor in the Wonderland Cafe area. This includes a small selection of wines and beers.

Both of the Cheesecake Factory restaurants were closed at the end of May 2008 after the Cheesecake factory's contract expired. The restaurants were reopened in June 2008 as Food Quest, Disney owned and operated quick service outlets, which are still there as of 2015.

Price

Except for prize-play (claw) machines and photo booths, all games and attractions inside DisneyQuest are included after admission is paid, usually $26 to $36.Now $45. [8] Depending on daily attendance levels, late-night tickets are sometimes sold for half-price two hours prior to closing each night.

When DisneyQuest was first opened it had a lower admission fee but each attraction and game required a player to swipe a card to pay "credits" for it, and the card could be "recharged" by putting it and some money into a recharging station, similar to Dave & Buster's gaming restaurants. Within a few years, this was changed to a single flat fee for entry, and the cards and readers were no longer used. The card readers continued to be used for a few years as means to insert credits (the card readers were set to free mode, and pressing the green "OK" button would insert a credit), but as new games moved in and old ones were retired, the card readers began to vanish as the machines were simply set to free play within the games themselves and, while a few can still be found, they are incredibly scarce today, and have all been disabled completely.

One section of the fourth floor, called "Midway on the Moon", was devoted to redemption games. These games were not included in the admission cost of DisneyQuest, and still used the swipe cards even after the rest of the facility switched to free-play. Players could exchange tickets won at these games of skill for various prizes. However, in late 2005, the games were converted to free play and no longer dispense tickets.

Certain attractions have souvenirs available for purchase in the second floor Guest Gallery. Cyberspace Mountain has an available video of the created roller coaster, with footage of the guests riding the attraction.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Sandra Pedicini (June 30, 2015). "DisneyQuest closing at Downtown Disney". orlandosentinel.com. Tribune Newspapers. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  2. Gunts, Edward (December 10, 1998). "Disney to build Philadelphia theme park 'DisneyQuest' to be centerpiece of Market St. Development". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
  3. "Disney Quest in Chicago - Guide to Chicago Disney Quest". travelape.com.
  4. "What went wrong at DisneyQuest?". tribunedigital-chicagotribune.
  5. "DisneyQuest® Indoor Interactive Theme Park". Walt Disney World.
  6. 1 2 "Disney Quest's 'Ride the Comix' set to close this weekend". wdwmagic.com.
  7. "Disney Is Removing Redemption Games And Crane Machines From Its Florida FECs". Vending Times. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  8. "WDW History.com". WDW. 2013.

External links

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