Disney Springs has become quite the subject of controversy for the past few years, with some outspoken fans saying this re-imagined shopping district has become too much like an outlet mall and isn’t really keeping with the “spirit” of the former Downtown Disney district any more. However, no matter how you feel about the changing face of this location, in the three years since this shopping district officially re-opened, Disney has been making a lot of changes, opening new stores, offering great deals, and even hosting some character-based events.
This month, Disney Springs poaches a popular sweet spot from the Florida Mall, a new feature comes to D-Luxe Burger, plus more information is revealed about the upcoming Cirque du Soleil replacement show!
1. M & Ms World moving to Disney Springs
One of the big “touristy” things many out-of-town visitors do while visiting Central Florida is stop by the M&M’s World shop at the Florida mall. This giant, multi-level “experience” has a wall of M&M’s, plenty of souvenirs and items related to the history of this iconic candy.
However, it was announced that M&M’s World will be closing down its location at the Florida Mall and will be moving in to Disney Springs’ West Side, taking over the former Curl and Fit2Run stores next to the AMC Theater entrance. Construction on this new location is expected to begin immediately with an anticipated 2020 grand opening date. No closing date for the Florida Mall location has been announced yet, but given the tight timelines for the new Disney Springs location, we’d imagine it will be closing sooner rather than later.
The new state-of-the-art store at Disney Springs will be one of five M&M’S experiential stores owned and operated by Mars Retail Group, bringing the best experience of the M&M’S Brand to life in locations across North America, Europe and Asia. These include locations in New York, Las Vegas, London and Shanghai.
2. D-Luxe Burger Orders can now be ordered ahead “To Go”
Image: Disney
Guests on the move at Disney Springs can now use the Mobile Order feature in the My Disney Experience mobile app to select their order packaging preference (“For Here” or “To Go”) at D-Luxe Burger. Guests who select the “To Go” option will get their food pre-packaged and bagged, and can take it anywhere in the shopping district to enjoy. Additional locations are expected to offer this service in the near future.
3. Official name revealed for new Cirque Du Soleil show
Earlier this year Disney confirmed that the new Cirque du Soleil show coming to Disney Springs will center on the story of a young girl and her father, who is a Disney animator. In an effort to connect with his child, the father sends his daughter on a magical journey of self-discovery in the world of Disney animation. And now we know this new show will be called Cirque du Soleil: Drawn to Life!
4. Disney changes Rideshare pickup and dropoff locations
Image: Disney
Guests using Lyft and Uber to get around Walt Disney World should know that Disney has discontinued service the Grapefruit parking garage for pickup and drop off. Under this new policy the Marketplace and West Side bus loops are the only designated rideshare pickup and drop off locations at Disney Springs.
5. Disney Springs Christmas Tree Trail hits major milestone
Though Christmas Day has come and gone, the Christmas Tree Trail remains a popular offering at Disney Springs, and will remain open through January 5, 2020 so as many guests as possible can experience this holiday offering. And now Disney has announced that this attraction has recently seen its one millionth guest for the 2019-2020 season!
This season is the fourth consecutive that Disney Springs has hosted this special trail, and it is by far the biggest. As of last week the trail has experienced 500 hours of snowfall, 23,000 holiday treats served, and 166,000 Santa photos captured by Disney PhotoPass!
