By Jim Carchidi
April 8, 2026
Disney Springs opened on Sept. 29, 2015, and is among Walt Disney World’s most popular attractions. But its design, backstory, and curated collection of retailers were more than 50 years in the making. Rebranding and renovations aided its evolution from a quaint shopping experience into an entertainment destination with each revision earning its own enduring fandom.
In appreciation of the history, The Orlando Real presents a then-and-now view of a few Disney Springs locations.
It takes a village
What's now known as Disney Springs debuted in 1975 as Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village. The collection of boutiques and family restaurants made for a pleasant day by the shore of Village Lake. A short 51 years later, the same view from across the water looks quite different.
Arribas Bros., now Crystal Arts, has been at the property since the beginning and hasn't changed much in style or location. The business is run by the same family at the same storefront, with sister locations at Magic Kingdom's Main Street U.S.A and in EPCOT's Germany and Mexico pavilions.
The seafood restaurant housed in a 220-foot riverboat replica is another venue that dates back to the early years. The Empress Lilly (named after Walt Disney’s wife) opened in 1977 and was renovated and renamed Fulton’s Crab House in 1995. A modern rebuild and rebranding as Paddlefish was part of the Disney Springs renovation.
Business and pleasure
Disney Springs is themed after the fictional tale of an old Florida town and its spring water bottling plant. In the late 1980s, Disney Imagineers developed another unique backstory for a new property meant to compete with the clubs of downtown Orlando's Church Street Exchange.
In 1989, Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village was renamed Disney Village Marketplace and welcomed nightlife-centric neighbor, Pleasure Island. The party district was based on the fictional story of industrialist/explorer, Merriweather Adam Pleasure, who founded a yacht construction business that went bankrupt after his 1941 disappearance during an Antarctic expedition. A collection of nightclubs eventually took over the abandoned industrial complex and featured a nightly New Year's Eve celebration, complete with fireworks. Its former entry bridge now links two Disney Springs districts: The Landing and Town Center.
Adventure time
The venues of Pleasure Island included The Adventurers Club, which honored Merriweather's legacy with a cast of explorers performing improvisational shows, mingling with patrons, and sharing their traditional greeting and signature drink, "Kungaloosh!"
The club was razed along with the rest of Pleasure Island after its 2008 closing. Disney Springs' electric utility building turned restaurant, The Edison, now stands where the adventurers once gathered.
Dance the night away
A nightspot needs dance clubs and Pleasure Island had plenty to choose from. The Neon Armadillo was among the property's original venues and hosted live country music bands. It was replaced in 1998 with the BET Soundstage.
Operated by Black Entertainment Television, the club featured hip-hop and R&B dance music. During the Disney Springs rehab, the building was replaced with the current home of Maria & Enzo's Ristorante.
Another Pleasure Island original, Videopolis East, was a high-energy dance club with music videos playing on 170 screens. It morphed into 8Trax in 1992 and featured dance hits from the 1970s and 80s under neon lights and disco balls. Disney Springs replaced the location with The Art of Shaving, which closed in 2024 and will soon house Six Ravens, the new grab-and-go lunch concept by Gideon's Bakehouse.
Pleasure Island's most popular dance venue, Mannequins Dance Palace, presented techno dance tracks in a three-story industrial setting with a rotating dance floor. The building now houses Morimoto Asia with a more upscale design and seating for up to 522 diners.
The Arches at The Village
McDonald's joined Disney Village Marketplace in December 1997 as part of a 10-year partnership between the fast-food giant and Disney. The location closed in April 2010 to make way for a Pollo Campero restaurant that was replaced with jewelry boutique, Na Hoku, at Disney Springs Town Center.
West Side story
The Downtown Disney concept rebranded the shopping and nightlife properties as two districts, East Side and West Side. Virgin Megastore opened at Downtown Disney West Side in 1997 and was the company’s eleventh U.S. location. The two-story building became an Orlando retail icon with music, movies, books and merchandise.
The rise of digital media caused the company's decline and the location closed in 2009. The building was renovated into Splitsville Luxury Lanes during the Disney Springs redevelopment.
Virgin Megastore was one of three larger-than-life venues at the West Side. The Cirque du Soleil theater opened in 1998 with "La Nouba" and now presents "Drawn to Life." The other, DIsneyQuest, was a five-story, 100,000 square-foot mega arcade featuring virtual reality, simulators, and themed games.
Outdated technology and declining attendance doomed the once-popular attraction. The venue was remodeled into The NBA Experience and opened in 2019 with 13 games and exhibits, but lasted only two years. A new gaming concept, Level 99, will take over this year with 60 challenge rooms, scavenger hunts, and player-vs-player duels, along with a two-story bar and restaurant.
Will the current Disney Springs concepts prove to be more enduring than their predecessors? Only time will tell.
Do you have a favorite long-lost Disney attraction? Let us know.
Sponsor: The Orlando Real is sponsored by the Pozek Group — the #1 real estate team in Orlando and the Official Real Estate Team of the Orlando Magic.
About the Author
Jim Carchidi is an Orlando journalist and photographer with previous work at the Orlando Sentinel and Orlando Business Journal. He covers development, arts, culture, and local stories for The Orlando Real.
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