Disney fans who lamented the closing of Disney Quest now see an opening upon news that the super corporation will not re-open it after a pandemic-related shutdown last year. The indoor theme park-ish facility in Orlando, which is adjacent to Walt Disney World, has been closed for years. But upon news that the NBA Experience in Orlando is now permanently closed, there was plenty of social media celebration, shade and a slew of demands from Mickey Mouse superfans who want to see Disney Quest brought back to life.
Monday brought word that the NBA Experience, an attraction in Disney Springs, will not reopen after its abrupt closure at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020 just months after it had originally opened.
The attraction, which featured various basketball-themed activities and interactive games, closed March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
When Disney Springs and the rest of Disney World reopened, The NBA Experience remained closed with no reopening date mentioned.
The decision to close the attraction was a mutual one between Disney and the NBA, according to Disney and will not affect other partnerships the company has with the NBA or local team, the Orlando Magic.
Disney said it doesn’t currently have plans for what will replace the NBA Experience, which was a collection of 13 basketball-themed activities in a five-story, windowless building in Orlando. But judging by the shade thrown by many Disney fans on social media there’s a pretty popular idea in mind: Bring back the thing that the NBA Experience replaced.
A night time shot of the former DisneyQuest building at Disney Springs (1998-2017)
DisneyQuest was a multi-story indoor interactive theme park located at Disney World and for a short time in downtown Chicago. It was demolished and replaced by the short lived NBA Experience. pic.twitter.com/zvow85QQa7
— History@Disney (@HistoryAtDisney) August 16, 2021
Disney Quest was great if you like, say, remote control race cars and all the old arcade games you can play included with the price of admission. It was also a good way to spend a day in air conditioning while still getting a Disney experience that doesn’t include oceans of molten blacktop.
But the facility, which opened in 1998 in Orlando’s sprawling Downtown Disney, was closed in 2016 and demolished. In its place, the nearly two-decade old attraction became basketball-themed. Which is why news of its closing brought a good amount of snark about the short-lived NBA Experience and a number of calls for Disney Quest to return.
Disney Quest closed, was demolished, had the NBA Experience built, and then close again… all in the same time it’s taken to not finish Tron https://t.co/Hahx5nuuI4
— Corv
(@CorvynH) August 16, 2021
LMAO THEY CLOSED DISNEY QUEST FOR NOTHING https://t.co/IqLwiAfeTh
— samantha
(@electrotriple11) August 16, 2021
All of us asking for Disney quest to come back https://t.co/n3Ar9SfE5x pic.twitter.com/vE8CsCpZwj
— Gracie (@GracingAcademy) August 16, 2021
No theme park closure ripped my heart out harder than DisneyQuest. Please build an updated arcade in place of the NBA experience and I can feel ALIVE AGAIN pic.twitter.com/Iq1GS4GE88
— Eric Besty (@eric_besty) August 16, 2021
LITERALLY RATIO’D BY DISNEYQUEST pic.twitter.com/Q6rz4SmvAE
— Miles「Tails.exe」Prower (@foxposed) August 16, 2021
DisneyQuest Chicago was open longer than NBA Experience
— Ant
Disneyland (@the_theme_geek) August 16, 2021
Did you all say something about DisneyQuest?https://t.co/PnDwad9oNQ pic.twitter.com/4M49JGohYu
— Tharin White (@TharinWhite) August 16, 2021
The ghost of DisneyQuest watching like https://t.co/USoGUksbxU pic.twitter.com/oP2NyMDojo
— Mrs. Rachel Williamson (@cinderchellaaa) August 16, 2021
Wow, that was quick! #nbaexperience #disneyquest pic.twitter.com/AKRp09G4KI
— Is that Johnny Bronto from… (@hauntscene) August 16, 2021
We’ll have to see what Disney actually decides to do with its now-vacant real estate. Opening anything during a still-ongoing pandemic will be a challenge, but surely they believe the wants and needs of Disney’s biggest fans are worth satisfying.