Disney: NBA Experience will not reopen

[Disney4me]

The NBA Experience at Disney Springs will not reopen, Walt Disney World confirms.

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Disney: NBA Experience will not reopen

NBA Experience visitors competed in a game where basketballs are launched via slingshots as well as perform other basketball-driven tasks. (Dewayne Bevil / Orlando Sentinel)

 

The NBA Experience at Disney Springs will not reopen, Walt Disney World has confirmed.

The interactive attraction shut down with the rest of the resort as a coronavirus pandemic precaution in March 2020. It never reopened to the public. NBA Experience debuted in the West Side neighborhood of the shopping and dining complex in August 2019.

Its opening was attended by longtime basketball stars Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Grant Hill. Other players on the stage included then-Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon, Victor Oladipo and Dwyane Wade. Walt Disney Co. CEO Robert Iger and NBA commissioner Adam Silver spoke to the Disney Springs crowd before the official opening.

Disney chairman and CEO Robert Alan "Bob" Iger; NBA Commissioner Adam Silver; Minnie and Mickey Mouse; and NBA stars were onstage for the opening day for NBA Experience on Aug. 12, 2019. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda / Orlando Sentinel)

The decision to close was made jointly with the NBA, Disney says.

NBA Experience included hands-on, basketball-themed games of skill and chance along with exhibits and big-screen activities ranging from trivia to jumping challenges. A retail outlet was on the ground floor of the building, which was built after the DisneyQuest attraction was demolished. The exterior of the building features a gigantic curved screen that showed NBA highlights and other video content.

The building also houses City Works restaurant on the end near the still-shuttered Cirque du Soleil theater.

Disney Springs workers were alerted via email Monday. Plans for the space have not been shared.

 

 

 

Dewayne Bevil

Orlando Sentinel