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Disney Springs has gone through several life cycles since it was first introduced in the middle 1970s. In its first attempt, it was called the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village, and was comprised mainly of what is now known as the Marketplace. It was later renamed the Disney Village Marketplace. In the late 1980s, Disney introduced Pleasure Island which was an area of nightclubs, restaurants, and bars. Disney initially required a separate ticket to visit this area at night. In the 1990s, Disney Village Marketplace was again renamed to Downtown Disney and shortly after that, they opened the West Side.
The area was a good place for guests to spend time and money without entering one of the parks, and also provided reasonable entertainment for locals looking for good, safe shopping and entertainment. To tell the truth, when we first moved to Florida about five years ago, there wasn't much draw for us in Downtown Disney except Ghirardelli's, the Rain Forest Café, and Earl of Sandwich. Not even a Starbucks at that time.
Since then, Disney has embarked on a major renovation of the Downtown Disney area, and it looks to us like it's going to end up being a great place to spend time. With the addition of several new restaurants and the renovation of others, plus the addition of lots of high end shopping, it's got quite a bit to offer.
The back story as we understand it says that the Springs was discovered as a water source in 1850 by a rancher named Sinclair. He and his family built a ranch called the Glowing Oak Ranch where they raised cattle. In the evenings, the ranch hands would build their camp fires under an old oak tree that sat outside the ranch house and because of the light casting from the campfires up into the oak tree, the name Glowing Oak Ranch was born.
Later, a town evolved around the Glowing Oak Ranch and this, with its Spanish influenced architecture is what is known today as the Town Center. The town expanded in the direction of the Marketplace in the 1930s with American Craftsman style buildings and across the Springs toward Lake Buena Vista with an industrial area that's now known as The Landing.
In the 1950s, the town hosted a world's fair which was built in the area that's now known as the West Side. You can see remnants of the fair in the form of the tent, which is now La Nouba, by Cirque du Soleil, and the hot air balloon—which is actually a helium balloon—near the bridge into the West Side from the Landing.
Mouseplanet's Jim Korkis submitted an article earlier this year entitled The Story Behind Disney Springs and it's worth a read if you want to know more.
With so much to offer at Disney Springs, it's impossible to bring a fully comprehensive photo tour of all the property, but we thought a brief look at some of the new areas might be fun. No doubt there will be other articles in the future as this Disney project unfolds.
It's worth mentioning that as you view the next few images, you might get the impression that the "springs" are phony, or somehow an exaggeration of someone's imagination. Our limited experience from living full time in Florida suggests just the opposite. These springs at Disney Springs look exactly like many of the fresh water springs we've seen and even dived in Florida. They may seem strange to the average person, but that's how they are in what locals call "the real Florida."
The Frontera Cocina menu was created by celebrity Chef Rick Bayless, of the PBS TV cooking show, Mexico: One Plate at a Time. The menu is described as "modern Mexican" with dishes mostly influenced by cuisine from central and southern Mexico. The restaurant is managed by Vista Springs, a company well known to Disney. In fact, they also manage one of the Mexican restaurants at Epcot, and one at Coronado Springs.
The story of D-Luxe Burgers goes way back in the lore and backstory of Disney Springs. Originally a central Florida ranch house, the Sinclair family would prepare hamburgers for their ranch hands. The cowboys would come to the ranch house and make their camp fires under the old oak tree that grew next to the house, and the tree eventually became known as the Glowing Oak, because of the camp fires in the evenings. The ranch was known as the Glowing Oak ranch, established in 1850.
The burgers became very popular among the ranch hands, and presumably everyone else because when the world's fair came to the West Side in 1952, the Sinclairs opened a burger stand at the fair. They were so popular that the family decided to open a restaurant in the old ranch house, and named it D-Luxe Burgers. Today you can still see the flavor and style of the old ranch house on the outside and interior of this restaurant.
Amorette's Patisserie is what we would term as a high-end dessert and pastry shop. We haven't tried them yet, but reviews tend to indicate that they are first class in pretty much everything they do. It's on our list when the diet allows.
Amphicars were originally manufactured in Germany between 1961 and 1968. About 90 percent of the 3,878 vehicles were imported to the United States between 1961 and 1967. In 1968, new EPA requirements went into effect that the cars were not able to meet, so imports stopped and production closed that year.
There are now fewer than 400 Amphicars left. Disney managed to round up a few cars, restored them and now use them for rides around Lake Buena Vista. There's room for three in each car since a captain is required to drive you around the lake. Each ride is about twenty minutes.
Without visiting Disney Springs, you might be tempted to say that it's just another outlet mall in Central Florida. And while it does present a vast assortment of stores for your shopping pleasure, it's a lot more. We spend a considerable amount of time here, and we're not just buying T-shirts.
There are quick service restaurants—our favorites being Earl of Sandwich and D-Luxe Burger—but there are also some great table service dining facilities that rival the best restaurants in any of the Disney parks. Our favorite table service restaurants are The Boathouse and Raglan Road, but to be fair, we haven't tried many of the newer restaurants yet. Some of our specialty foods come from Ghirardelli's and The Ganachery, and of course we have high expectations for Amorette's Patisserie when we get the chance to try them out.
With all the excitement over the new Disney Springs, it's no surprise that many of the contributors at Mouseplanet have submitted articles, and they're worth a read if you want to know more. Here are a few:
- Disney Springs: A Shopper's Paradise, by Gregg Jacobs.
- Construction of the New Disney Springs, by Mark Goldhaber. This is an earlier look at the beginning phases of construction.
- A Vacation Kingdom of the World: First Impressions of Disney Springs, by Tom Richards.
 
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