Permit filed for demolition at the former NBA Experience in Disney Springs

Feb 19, 2024 in "The NBA Experience"

Closed NBA Experience at Disney Springs
Posted: Monday February 19, 2024 7:52am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney has filed a permit for the long-closed NBA Experience at Disney Springs in Walt Disney World.

The permit carries the vague description of "General construction/Demo." It has been assigned to Adena, a contractor previously working on large projects at Walt Disney World, including the recent World Celebration gardens at EPCOT and TORN Lightcycle Run at Magic Kingdom. (Thanks danlb_2000 on the WDWMAGIC forums for spotting the permit)

It remains to be seen what work will be done, or if it is related to the arrival of a new tenant. Possible demolition work may include removing the large basketball wrap-around mural covering the building or changing the interior space that was heavily customized for the NBA Experience.

Disney has been actively looking for new tenants, and several options have been explored for the large building, but Disney has yet to announce a replacement.

Recently, the facility has been used as a temporary popup location for Meta Quest and later as office space for the Summer House on the Lake opening.

The NBA Experience closed along with the rest of Walt Disney World at the height of the pandemic and did not reopen; Disney announced in August 2021 that the NBA Experience would not reopen and is now permanently closed.

The NBA Experience opened on the West Side at Disney Springs in August 2019, replacing DisneyQuest, and struggled to gain a footing among guests. Operated by Disney, several attempts were made to boost attendance, including discounted tickets and bundling admission with other passes.

There were more than 13 interactive basketball activities available - including dunk, shott, dribble, slingshot, and arcades. Pricing was $34 at the time of closing.

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Club CooloholicMay 18, 2024

You haven't played mini putt with my kids....lol 😂

J4546May 15, 2024

ive talked about the minigolf courses before and ill say it again, disney should build a new IJ themed ruinous temple mini golf course by typhoon lagoon and also film a celebrity chartity putt putt show on D+

BocabearMay 15, 2024

Indoor mini golf with cocktails... What could be more fun than that? I was surprised that the Disney Mini Golf courses were so bland considering it is DISNEY.... I always expected them to be remarkable.... but they never really were...

Cmdr_CrimsonMay 15, 2024

DISNEY: we Have Minature golf at Home..

BocabearMay 15, 2024

PuttShack is a great new concept...Miniature golf...High tech scoring plus food and cocktails...the one in Atlanta I have been too was a lot of fun, and very popular... They have the bowling already...Why not a PuttShack....and I know Disney doesn't want to own any businesses at Disney Springs anymore, but a really well themed version of Putt Shack using Disney IP and characters...and keeping the food and cocktails would be amazing and a great thing to do on rainy days...or any day for that matter...

Cmdr_CrimsonMay 15, 2024

I still think the idea of theming it around Wreck It Ralph would be a better way to go and calling it. A BarCade and Grill where each subsection is based around Sports, Action, Fighting..Etc.

Cmdr_CrimsonMay 15, 2024

Problem is they already have bowling at the Springs and Round1's other half of it's business is that...

eddie104May 01, 2024

Probably expanded too fast and now experiencing being somewhat of a Covid casualty.

danlb_2000Apr 30, 2024

Round1 has been expanding a lot in the US and they currently only have one location in Florida, might be a good option for them.

CompedApr 29, 2024

D&B are apparently, from what I've heard, been in a bit of financial trouble post-pandemic. They've had ample chance to expand their offerings in Orlando (we're probably the biggest destination that doesn't have 2 locations), but keep using their extremely small offering on I-Drive as their only location and seem uninterested in opening a 2nd location. The one all the way out in Daytona is surprisingly big...

SoFloMagicApr 28, 2024

$

Cmdr_CrimsonApr 28, 2024

We had that at Woodfield mall at one point... Let's just say...

MisterPenguinApr 28, 2024

Starfleet forbids it.

Cmdr_CrimsonApr 28, 2024

So, why haven't they brought it back to WDW? I recall pop century having a redemption booth at one point but, then they were removed..Same thing when they had the Midway on the moon section at Disneyquest..It was weird laying redemption games but no prizes.,Thus also happened in the Chicago based one as well..