Disney Fans Who Are Mad About The NBA Experience Closing In Orlando Want The Company To Bring Back Disney Quest

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.

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.

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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.