Is the Virgin Megastore at Downtown Disney on the chopping block?
It has been quite some time since the rumor that DisneyQuest was on its way to the chopping block first hit the internet. Many believed the interactive playground, which was not as well attended as Disney hoped, would make way for a flagship ESPNZone restaurant in the same building. Though there seemed to be a lot of momentum behind this rumor, it never happened.
Now, according to Jim Hill Media, DisneyQuest is going to stay, but the ESPNZone is coming anyway, only now the rumor is that the Virgin Megastore will be the building doing the vacating.
To explain: Just like with the Cheesecake Factory, Virgin & Cirque du Soleil’s contracts with the Walt Disney Company — at least when it comes to these West Side facilities — are up for renewal this year. And given that Megastore Orlando has never really done as well as the parent company had hoped it would, the rumor is that Virgin is now leaning toward not renewing its lease on this Downtown Disney location. Which means that the Mouse may soon find a 49,000 square foot hole in its West Side line-up.
Which is why the Imagineers are now toying with tossing an ESPN Zone into this location. An idea that — you may recall — was once proposed for the building that WDW’s DisneyQuest currently occupies.
The only thing about this rumor that seems fishy to me is the use of the phrase “toying with tossing”. Bringing the ESPN restaurant to Downtown Disney is an idea that I would imagine has been tossed around quite a bit.
So how do you feel about this? Are you happy DQ is staying? To be honest, I went inside it once in the dozens of times I have been to Disney World since the arcade opened. I didn’t find it worth the money at all. I hope this if they do keep it, they will at least invest in improving it. On the other hand, the Virgin Megastore is certainly nothing I would miss all that much. Perhaps between the two choices, the Virgin store is the better one to cut.
I would love to see the flagship ESPNZone placed in Downtown Disney. It makes perfect sense and would be a welcome addition to us adult sports fans that would enjoy a great place to see a game.
Chris said,
February 26, 2008 @ 4:14 am
I don’t consider DQ to be “just” an arcade, more like an indoor theme park. I DO think they need to do some minor upgrades, especially to the VR games but overall I really enjoy it every time I’m there and don’t play a lot of the regular video games.
Virgin is mostly a traditional music store and soon enough most people will be downloading their content online in a few seconds instead of driving to a store to buy CD’s of it. Although it’s a nice store, I don’t see it lasting much longer if trends continue the way they are.
mike said,
February 26, 2008 @ 5:25 pm
Its a fancy arcade, and a real bore