March 22 - Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village

Image copyright Disney

On this day, in 1975, the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village opened its doors for business. The Village is built on an area of land that Walt decided he wanted at the last minute. His lawyers had been trying to avoid the parcel wedged between I-4 and 535, but Walt decided it could be a prime shopping and entertainment area. The lawyers were actually winding down the land acquisition part of the Florida Project but couldn't say no to the boss and would have to spend an additional year negotiating just to get this new lot. It's taken a few decades, but the time spent was (eventually) worth it.

Image courtesy d23.com

The Village was the first Disney shopping experience not located within a theme park (the first Disney Store was still 12 years away) and was envisioned as a local shopping mall. The original offerings of the new shopping district included a Gourmet Pantry, a Bath Parlour, the Captain's Tower, It's a Small World After All Shop, the 2 R's - Read'n & Rite'n, Toys Fantastique, The Pottery Chalet and Posh Pets among various other boutique shops. Just two years later, the area got a mild theme makeover into a European boutique and was renamed the Walt Disney World Village. The Empress Lilly riverboat restaurant was also added at that time.

Image copyright Disney

When Michael Eisner became CEO, he began looking for ways to keep guests from having to go off property to find entertainment. In 1989, Pleasure Island, a night club complex, was built next to the village to do just that. In order to rebrand the whole area another name change was instituted and the village was now referred to as the Disney Village Marketplace (a name I still sometimes use without thinking). By the mid Nineties, Disney was booming and all sorts of upgrades and investments were being made all across the Florida Project, including the Marketplace area. More restaurants and shops, as well as DisneyQuest and the Cirque Du Soleil, were built on the far side of Pleasure Island in a new area called the West End. All three areas (The Disney Village Marketplace, Pleasure Island and the West End) were again rebranded under the umbrella name Downtown Disney starting in 1997. The 2001 expansion of Disneyland in California created a similar district with the same name on the West Coast.

Image courtesy tripadvisor.com

In 2013, the first major renovations to the area in 16 years were announced (there had already been some changes happening since the closing of Pleasure Island five years before). The Downtown Disney area would be doubling the number of venues it contained, be expanding into four districts and getting another new theme and name. Instead of the trendy area Downtown Disney tried to be, the new shopping district would be themed after an early twentieth century seaside resort and would be called Disney Springs. The area now includes the original (but extensively renovated and expanded) Marketplace, The Landing (the former Pleasure Island area), the West Side and Town Center (an all new area that used to encompass parking lots). Since the parking lots were turned into shops, Disney World also built its first two parking garages for guests to accommodate the space squeeze.

Image courtesy orlandoinsidervacations.com

In the four decades it's been open, the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village has undergone enough changes to make it almost unrecognizable (although for the sharp eyed there are still a few small details that have survived). What I find marvelous about the latest iteration, is that it seems like it has finally become a destination in its own right. With multiple live music choices, a restaurant for every taste and entertainment options from bowling to a movie to renting an aquacar, a person can spend an evening breaking the bank or just stroll around, spending nothing at all. 54 years after Walt pointed to a map and began casting a vision, it's finally coming true.