The NBA Experience

[SeventyOne]

Some interactive exhibits, some chances to shoot a ball at a hoop, some photo ops for the 'Gram. What was this kid expecting in the DQ space at that price point? Animatronic Byrd v. Jordan going one-on-one? An arena with actual NBA games? I mean, it's probably $10 more than it needs to be, but hard to dismiss that as a "major fail."

I wish I knew more about sports to be witty here....But I'll just leave it at, I would much rather have Toothsome

Love Toothsome, but that's a silly comparison. This isn't a restaurant, didn't replace a restaurant. The question is, would you much rather have a crumbling arcade with stained carpet and attractions showcasing the finest in 30-year-old V.R. tech that provides a less convincing experience than the phone in your pocket?

 

[shiekra38]

Love Toothsome, but that's a silly comparison. This isn't a restaurant, didn't replace a restaurant. The question is, would you much rather have a crumbling arcade with stained carpet and attractions showcasing the finest in 30-year-old V.R. tech that provides a less convincing experience than the phone in your pocket?

Nobody is defending Disney Quest here

 

[SeventyOne]

Nobody is defending Disney Quest here

That one review on twitter ends with "Makes me beg to get DQ back."

 

[Tobias]

Michael Sheehy got to check it out.







He also shows the store itself is missing the mark as they're trying to sell jerseys for full price for players that have moved to another team. (Unlike NBA City and most elsewhere that would discount them.)



Considering Michael is a basketball geek and he couldn't love it, that honestly isn't a good sign for the experience.

 

[Nick]

Michael Sheehy got to check it out.







He also shows the store itself is missing the mark as they're trying to sell jerseys for full price for players that have moved to another team. (Unlike NBA City and most elsewhere that would discount them.)



Considering Michael is a basketball geek and he couldn't love it, that honestly isn't a good sign for the experience.

As someone who has been to the Basketball Hall of Fame (which much of the experience sounds similar to), this seems aimed at kids that are basketball fans. While I personally know a lot of younger people that would probably like this (my sister plays AAU basketball), they have a very limited target audience here imo.

CityWorks on the other hand is going to be extremely popular.

 

[OrlLover]

As someone who has been to the Basketball Hall of Fame (which much of the experience sounds similar to), this seems aimed at kids that are basketball fans.

While I personally know a lot of younger people that would probably like this (my sister plays AAU basketball), they have a very limited target audience here imo.

CityWorks on the other hand is going to be extremely popular.

Yep CityWorks is going to be the bread and butter.

 

[GAcoaster]

Wow. Who could have predicted this...

 

[ChristopherSE]

I’d be interested to see how it compares to the Basketball Hall of Fame in MA for those that have been. I went when I was in middle school and though I didn’t have any interest in basketball, I thought it was pretty fun. More of an interactive museum feel to it.

These sound really similar, but for an upcharge immersive experience, Disney should be setting the bar, not failing to reach it.

Then again, is this being produced by Disney at all? Or is this all NBA’s project?

 

[Nick]

I’d be interested to see how it compares to the Basketball Hall of Fame in MA for those that have been. I went when I was in middle school and though I didn’t have any interest in basketball, I thought it was pretty fun. More of an interactive museum feel to it.

These sound really similar, but for an upcharge immersive experience, Disney should be setting the bar, not failing to reach it.

Then again, is this being produced by Disney at all? Or is this all NBA’s project?

This is all NBA.

 

[RevFreako]

This is all NBA.

That's the problem.

 

[NotPennysBoat]

Nobody is defending Disney Quest here

So I'll defend the DisneyQuest as it was when it opened, not the run down condition it was allowed to become. If they were to have reinvested the money it cost to transform it to the NBA Experience into refurbing DisneyQuest into a more relevant experience with both new and old tech, then I believe DisneyQuest could have survived many more years to come.

 

[tielo]

So I'll defend the DisneyQuest as it was when it opened, not the run down condition it was allowed to become. If they were to have reinvested the money it cost to transform it to the NBA Experience into refurbing DisneyQuest into a more relevant experience with both new and old tech, then I believe DisneyQuest could have survived many more years to come.

Disney doesn't want to maintain 1 singular attraction that needs constant updating. They rather rent this and collect money from the NBA experience company and don't bother. It was build as a prototype many more DQ's over the US and the rest of the world but the public didn't care.

 

[NotPennysBoat]

Disney doesn't want to maintain 1 singular attraction that needs constant updating. They rather rent this and collect money from the NBA experience company and don't bother. It was build as a prototype many more DQ's over the US and the rest of the world but the public didn't care.

Sure, I can understand that. But as others have stated, I think the audience to which the NBA Experience caters to is limited. NBA City did not last at Universal. Was this due to it being strictly being NBA, bad food, too expensive or what? If the NBA Experience does not go over well, then the rent checks may quit coming. It will probably do its best business during basketball season. But who knows, it may do great. I hope it does.

 

[Nick]

Sure, I can understand that. But as others have stated, I think the audience to which the NBA Experience caters to is limited. NBA City did not last at Universal. Was this due to it being strictly being NBA, bad food, too expensive or what? If the NBA Experience does not go over well, then the rent checks may quit coming. It will probably do its best business during basketball season. But who knows, it may do great. I hope it does.

NBA City and NBA Experience are two completely different things. One was a restaurant and one is more of a paid interactive attraction.

 

[IHateJumpScares]

#gopats

#andGoB’s

 

[NotPennysBoat]

NBA City and NBA Experience are two completely different things. One was a restaurant and one is more of a paid interactive attraction.

Yes they are!! But they both have one common denominator, the NBA. And that is the premise that I am speculating about. Did NBA City fail because of being strictly NBA and will the NBA Experience meet the same fate because of being strictly NBA. Time will tell.

 

[SeventyOne]

NBA City did not last at Universal.

It's still an apples to oranges comparison, but NBA City lasted roughly as long as DQ did. Yeah, it was never the hot table Emerils was, but it's not like DQ wasn't a ghost town its final decade either.

$7.5B industry. Plenty of WDW guests are fans.

 

[NotPennysBoat]

It's still an apples to oranges comparison, but NBA City lasted roughly as long as DQ did. Yeah, it was never the hot table Emerils was, but it's not like DQ wasn't a ghost town its final decade either.

$7.5B industry. Plenty of WDW guests are fans.

I'll wrap up my final thoughts. DQ was a ghost town at the end because Disney allowed it to become a ghost town. The concept was brilliant and with the proper upkeep and updating, it would still be there.

The NBA Experience will be wildly popular when it opens, as most new attractions are. Whether it remains that way remains to be seen. I have seen at least one fairly bad review over at WDW News Today.

I wish the NBA Experience nothing but the best!!

 

[tielo]

I'll wrap up my final thoughts. DQ was a ghost town at the end because Disney allowed it to become a ghost town. The concept was brilliant and with the proper upkeep and updating, it would still be there.

The NBA Experience will be wildly popular when it opens, as most new attractions are. Whether it remains that way remains to be seen. I have seen at least one fairly bad review over at WDW News Today.

I wish the NBA Experience nothing but the best!!

In the end Disney doesn't care if the NBA Experience succeeds or not. They get their money no mater what without lifting a finger. That is why most Disney owned shops from Disney Village Marketplace where replaced with generic brand stores over the years.
The NBA restaurant at Universal had bad food and a creepy statue that destroyed your appetite and soul while watching at it from the other side of CityWalk. No one bothered to go there.

Disney and future updating never worked in the companies history (Epcot, Tomorrowland and Quest are a painful reminder). I rather Disney opened a Museum in the former Quest building honoring their founder but maybe they were afraid it triggered the fond memories of the wonderful past of Walt Disney and make us notice current Disney is a depressing shadow of it's past.

 

[Nick]

In the end Disney doesn't care if the NBA Experience succeeds or not. They get their money no mater what without lifting a finger. That is why most Disney owned shops from Disney Village Marketplace where replaced with generic brand stores over the years.
The NBA restaurant at Universal had bad food and a creepy statue that destroyed your appetite and soul while watching at it from the other side of CityWalk. No one bothered to go there.

Disney and future updating never worked in the companies history (Epcot, Tomorrowland and Quest are a painful reminder). I rather Disney opened a Museum in the former Quest building honoring their founder but maybe they were afraid it triggered the fond memories of the wonderful past of Walt Disney and make us notice current Disney is a depressing shadow of it's past.

And on top of them collecting a check without doing anything, if the
NBA Experience fails, they at least got a new building out of it for a future tenant.

The Disney Springs business model is just for Disney to play landlord so that they have to do as little work as possible and then just collect checks.