The Ultimate Disney Springs Guide: Where to Eat, Shop and Spend Your Time
Disney Springs is one of those places that can fit into a Walt Disney World holiday in almost any way you want it to.
We have used it for relaxed afternoons, early dinners, evening meals and shopping trips, and when we stayed at Saratoga Springs it became even easier to dip in and out because of the proximity. We genuinely enjoy spending time there, but we do not think the best way to approach Disney Springs is to treat it like another park that needs to be completed.
You could spend an hour there. You could spend three or four. You could go purely for dinner, combine a meal with some shopping, stop for drinks and live entertainment, or make it part of a slower non-park day. That flexibility is one of the reasons we think it works so well.
Entry is free and parking is free, but we would not describe Disney Springs as one of Disney’s great “free experiences”. Once you start adding food, drinks, shopping or entertainment, it can become as inexpensive or as expensive as you choose to make it. The important thing is that you do not need to see everything.
Where has the spitting Stitch gone?
How We Would Use Disney Springs on a First Visit
For a first Walt Disney World holiday, we would make time for Disney Springs. If you only had a few hours, our advice would be simple: have a drink, choose somewhere good for a meal, browse the shops that actually interest you and enjoy the atmosphere. Do not spend the whole visit marching around trying to tick off every area.
Disney Springs is officially split into Marketplace, Town Center, The Landing and West Side, but you do not need to memorise those names before you arrive. They are useful for understanding the layout, but in reality most people will simply move between shopping, restaurants and entertainment as they go.
During the day, Disney Springs feels more relaxed and is easier for browsing. In the evening it gets livelier, with more energy around the bars, restaurants and live entertainment, but we have never found it particularly rowdy. Weekends are noticeably busier, so if you want a calmer wander around the shops, a weekday afternoon is usually the easier option.
For us, the ideal visit is probably an afternoon into early evening. That gives enough time to shop without rushing, stop for a drink and then have dinner before heading back to the hotel.
If you are staying on-site, Disney buses make it easy to reach Disney Springs without driving. We have also used the boat from Saratoga Springs, which is a much more relaxed way to arrive if you happen to be staying nearby.
Where We Actually Like to Eat at Disney Springs
Disney Springs has one of the strongest concentrations of restaurants anywhere at Walt Disney World, and the range is one of its biggest advantages.
At one end, you can grab a reasonably priced pizza. At the other, you can have a full waterfront dinner with steak, seafood and cocktails. That makes Disney Springs useful whether you want a quick meal or something that feels like part of the evening itself.
Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill is one of our favourites. We have eaten there across different Florida trips and have never had a bad meal. It has become one of those places we are happy to return to because the food has been consistently good and the whole experience is easy to enjoy without feeling overly formal.
The Boathouse is another restaurant we would happily return to. Our meal there was one of the standout meals of that trip, with excellent food, a great waterfront setting and service that improved considerably as the evening went on. It is not cheap, but when we want a more special Disney Springs dinner, it remains one of the strongest options we have tried.
Morimoto Asia is a beautiful restaurant and, overall, we had a good experience there. The setting feels more polished than many casual Disney restaurants and the food gives you something quite different from the usual burgers, steaks and theme-park staples.
We did have one important issue, though. Our daughter is gluten intolerant and was initially served a dish that was not gluten-free. She had already started eating when the staff came back and told us there had been a mistake. Thankfully she had no reaction, and the restaurant resolved the problem without us needing to push, but if she had had a severe allergy the situation could obviously have been much more serious. It would make us particularly careful about confirming dietary requirements there on a future visit.
Raglan Road is somewhere we enjoyed more for the atmosphere than the food. It is busy, noisy and full of energy, with Irish music, dancing and a large drinks selection. The meal itself was fine rather than memorable, so we would not rush back purely for dinner, but we could absolutely see ourselves returning for the entertainment and overall atmosphere.
For something quicker, Blaze Pizza remains one of our easiest recommendations. We have used it on more than one trip, the pizzas are good, service is quick and the prices are reasonable by Disney standards. If you want a straightforward meal without committing to a long Table-Service reservation, it is a very useful option.
D-Luxe Burger is another easy choice if you want something more substantial than a snack but do not want a longer sit-down meal. It sits comfortably in that middle ground and gives you another useful option when you want to keep the visit flexible.
The main point is that we would choose the restaurant around the kind of Disney Springs visit we wanted. A short afternoon does not need The Boathouse. A relaxed evening does not need to end with takeaway pizza. The range is broad enough that Disney Springs can work both ways.
Learn more about how the Disney Dining Plan works in reality, with our full guide.
Cookies, Cakes and Sweet Stops
Disney Springs is extremely good at convincing you that you need dessert even when you have already eaten.
We finally tried Gideon’s Bakehouse after hearing about it for years and waited around 30 minutes. We bought three cookies which were enormous, and whilst they are good, they didn't quite live up to the level of hype surrounding them.
If Gideon’s is something you have been desperate to try, then absolutely go for it. If the queue is long and you are only mildly curious, we would not sacrifice a large chunk of your Disney Springs visit for it. That is probably our clearest example of something at Disney Springs that we think is slightly overrated (we may be in the minority here).
Amorette’s Patisserie is a much easier sweet stop for us. The cakes are beautifully presented, there is usually something interesting to try and it works particularly well if you want a smaller treat rather than one enormous cookie.
The Donald Duck inspired cake!
We have also tried The Ganachery, Ghirardelli and Goofy’s Candy Co., so there is no shortage of alternatives if you simply want something sweet without chasing the most famous option.
For gluten-free visitors, Erin McKenna’s Bakery NYC is useful because of its dedicated offering. We tried one of the cakes and thought it was okay rather than amazing, but having a specialist gluten-free option in the middle of Disney Springs is still valuable.
The important thing is that you have choices. You do not have to queue for the place everybody on social media tells you is essential.
The Shops We Actually Go Back To
Shopping is a big part of why we enjoy Disney Springs. World of Disney is the obvious starting point. It is huge, carries a broad range of Disney merchandise and usually has items you will not necessarily see in every hotel or park shop. Even if you have already bought souvenirs elsewhere, we still think it is worth a look on a first visit simply because of the scale.
One small change we noticed this year was the disappearance of the giant Stitch figure that used to sit above the exterior and spray water at people below. It was one of those silly Disney Springs details that became part of the area, so it was strange not seeing it there.
Disney’s Days of Christmas is another shop we almost always visit. We like Christmas far too much and already own enough decorations to cover several trees, which does absolutely nothing to stop us looking for another ornament every time we go in.
There is a good mix of Disney decorations, personalised ornaments and seasonal items, and for us it is one of those shops that has become part of visiting Disney Springs.
We also regularly browse places such as Uniqlo, Marketplace Co-Op and some of the other mainstream shops around Town Center. The M&M’s Store went back onto the list this trip too, mainly because the kids wanted to pick their own sweets.
We used to spend more time in the LEGO Store when the kids were younger. It is still worth a look if LEGO is a big part of your family, but it is not somewhere we now automatically make time for on every visit.
The Coca-Cola Store is one we would describe as worth a look if you are already nearby rather than something we would cross Disney Springs specifically to visit. We have been in before and thought it was fine, but not especially memorable.
That is how we would approach the shopping generally. Go into the places that interest you and ignore the pressure to browse every store simply because it is there.
Entertainment Beyond Shopping and Food
Disney Springs is not just restaurants and shops. There is live music around the complex, bars where you can sit for a drink, Splitsville for bowling, the Aerophile balloon and Cirque du Soleil: Drawn to Life, which we have experienced and will cover separately because it deserves more than a couple of paragraphs inside this guide.
Be sure to check back soon for our Drawn to Life review
Level99 has also now opened on the West Side, adding a completely different type of entertainment with challenge rooms and games. We have not tried it yet, so we would not pretend to review it, but it does make Disney Springs even stronger for families with teenagers or adults who want something more interactive than shopping and dinner.
That variety is important because it means you can build a Disney Springs visit around more than just eating.
If you want a calm afternoon, have lunch and browse the shops. If you want an evening, book dinner and stay for drinks or live music. If you want an activity, add Cirque, bowling or something like Level99. You do not need to do all of it in one trip.
Is Disney Springs Good for Children and Teenagers?
Ours enjoy it. World of Disney, sweets, shopping and the general atmosphere give them enough to do that it does not feel like dragging them around an adult shopping centre. Food helps too, and Disney Springs has enough variety that everybody can usually find something they want.
When they were younger, places such as the LEGO Store held more of their attention. As they have got older, the shopping and food side has become more relevant. That said, Disney Springs is not a theme park and we would not sell it to children as though it is one.
There are no major rides and no need to spend an entire day there unless your family genuinely wants to. It works much better as somewhere you can relax after several intense park days or spend time when you want Disney atmosphere without another full park schedule.
For teenagers in particular, the mix of food, shopping and entertainment makes it easier to enjoy than a traditional shopping centre, and the addition of places like Level99 gives the West Side even more to offer.
Is Disney Springs Worth Visiting?
Yes, for a first Walt Disney World trip, we think you should make time for it. That does not mean giving up a park evening automatically. If you only had a limited number of nights and had never experienced a particular park after dark, we would usually prioritise the park.
Once you have spent plenty of time in the parks, Disney Springs is an excellent change of pace. It gives you the ability to have a good meal, wander around with a drink, do some shopping and still feel connected to Walt Disney World without needing another park ticket or another tightly planned day.
We would not try to “complete” Disney Springs and would not arrive with a list of every restaurant, shop and district we needed to see. We would decide what kind of visit we wanted and build around that.
For three hours, we would choose a restaurant, grab a drink and browse the shops that interested us most. For a full evening, we would slow it down, shop properly, have dinner and leave enough time to enjoy the atmosphere rather than constantly watching the clock. That is when Disney Springs works best. It is not somewhere you need to conquer. It is somewhere you can simply enjoy.
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