ESPN Club moving?

[travelbug]

A couple years ago I remember hearing numerous times that ESPN might be moved to DTD. Did that turn out to be just a false rumor or did the plan change?

 

[michelleiada]

I have never heard this rumor?? I hope not. I love it right where it is!

 

[OKW Lover]

Never heard that rumor before. There is certainly nothing currently happening about it. In fact, ESPN is shortly going to be renovating the gift shop/arcade area which would indicate they plan on staying right where they are for a while.

 

[HiHoOffWeGo]

I here that you can not make reservations at ESPN club. Is this true?

 

[OKW Lover]

I here that you can not make reservations at ESPN club. Is this true?

Your heard correctly - ESPN does not take reservations.

 

[vandy]

I did hear that rumor as well, that it was being relocated to DTD/Pleasure Island area. If I recall, that rumor came off sounding like it was pretty much going to happen. Never heard anything more of it so not sure what happenned. Personally I prefer it at the Boardwalk.

 

[andyman8]

I believe moving ESPN to Pleasure Island was part of that whole "DTD revitalization project" (aka Hyperion Wharf) that seemed to never surface.

 

[OldsDr]

I thought ESPN Club was staying put and the rumor was an ESPN Zone that was going in DTD. If thats the case it probably died when disney got out of the ESPN Zone buisness.

 

[Dano1182]

I have heard that the Bakery on the boardwalk is expanding into part of the ESPN Zone .THe aprt where the arcade is now.

Most of the ESPN resturants have clsed don compleltly si I do see expansion in thier future.

We go there every year. Last year we noticed that many of the staff we had gotten fo know were no longer there.

Seems that "Corporate" had implemented new mangement plans.

 

[tjkraz]

Going back about 7-8 years, rumor was that DisneyQuest would close and be converted to an ESPN Zone. It was a reasonable conclusion given that the gaming focus of the ESPN Zones could have leveraged a number of existing DQ attractions.

And continuing along those lines, the assumption was that Disney would not want to operate two separate ESPN venues...thus the Club would close.

Most of the furor began here:

http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_chief1/b/jim_hill/archive/2006/04/25/2051.aspx

Obviously none of this ever happened. Either Disney changed plans over time or Jim Hill got some really bad information.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Obviously none of this ever happened. Either Disney changed plans over time or Jim Hill got some really bad information.

I'd lean more towards the latter, but the former probably played a part.

 

[travelbug]

Thanks for your replies, everyone. Very interesting background and puzzle pieces, for sure.

 

[tjkraz]

I'd lean more towards the latter, but the former probably played a part.

Perhaps. Jim Hill has taken a lot of heat over the DisneyQuest closing prediction.

Personally I at least give him credit for putting his name to the rumors he decides to publish. Other self-professed insiders seem content to hide behind anonymous message board pseudonyms. And when their rumors fail to pan-out, the excuse is typically along the lines of "well, it was going to happen but plans changed."

I suspect most Disney rumors have some grain of truth to them. The challenge is trying to differentiate between the highly speculative, blue sky stuff and more probable moves which are on the fast track.

Hill was clearly wrong in the article linked above. But he wasn't the first and won't be the last. Still waiting for that DHS Cars Land announcement...Monster's Inc coaster...new Epcot pavilions...Ft Wilderness DVC...Australian expansion at DAK...

 

[Lewisc]

I'd lean more towards the latter, but the former probably played a part.

Disney dumped ESPN Zone. I read DQ makes a lot of $$$ with local (birthday) parties.

I suspect JH info had some info to support his rumor.

 

[HiHoOffWeGo]

Thank you OKW Lover and by the way what is there to look for, shops etc... at OKW?

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Most of the furor began here:

http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_chief1/b/jim_hill/archive/2006/04/25/2051.aspx

Obviously none of this ever happened. Either Disney changed plans over time or Jim Hill got some really bad information.

Yes, it was that article by Jim Hill on April 25, 2006.

The truth is that the ESPN Club at Disney's BoardWalk was never part of the ESPN Zone chain. Even if DisneyQuest at Downtown Disney had been converted into an ESPN Zone in 2008, as Jim claimed it would be, it's unlikely that this would have caused the ESPN Club at Disney's BoardWalk to close. The ESPN Club has its own following serving the guests staying at the Epcot resorts around Crescent Lake.

In June 2011, Disney Regional Entertainment shut down the ESPN Zone chain. Two ESPN Zones remain in Southern California, but they're not operated by Disney Regional Entertainment. See ESPN Zone at Yesterland for details.

Meanwhile, it's business as usual at the ESPN Club at Disney's BoardWalk and DisneyQuest at Downtown Disney at WDW -- although I wonder how much longer DisneyQuest will last. Now that Splitsville has moved into the former Virgin Megastore, my guess is that Disney would gladly shut down DisneyQuest if another company wants to rent a large space at Downtown Disney.