The Dining Desk Dispatch
Disney Springs Snacking: What's Still Worth the Stroll
Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney) is still WDW's no-ticket-required dining and strolling hub. Here's what's held on, what's gone, and what to actually eat.
DISNEY SPRINGS: There’s a version of a Walt Disney World trip that never touches a turnstile: no park ticket, no Lightning Lane, just an evening spent walking a waterfront shopping and dining district and eating your way across it. That trip has existed under three different names and a couple of different footprints, and it’s outlasted most of the attractions built around it.
Worth knowing: this stretch of waterfront started in 1975 as the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village, became Walt Disney World Village, then Disney Village Marketplace, then Downtown Disney in 1997. It became Disney Springs in September 2015, with the multi-year rebuild wrapping up in 2016 and roughly doubling the district’s lineup of shops and restaurants, from about 75 tenants to more than 150.
What used to anchor the district
The conga-drum-shaped building that housed Bongos Cuban Cafe was a fixture on the West Side for two decades before it closed for good in August 2019; the site is now Beatrix Restaurant, Market & Coffee Bar. The tethered hot air balloon nearby is still flying, though not under its old name: it dropped the Characters in Flight branding in 2017 and now operates as Aerophile, with an updated balloon that went back into service in early 2026. Disney Springs has reshuffled its West Side lineup more than once since the 2015 expansion, and older guides (including earlier posts on this site) still reference tenants that have since closed or moved.
What has stayed consistent is the district’s basic appeal: it’s free to walk, free to park, and open later than the theme parks most nights, which makes it the default answer for “what do we do tonight” on a trip.
The reliable stops
Raglan Road, in The Landing, has held its spot as the district’s best sit-down option for people who want a full meal and a pint rather than a snack, and the fish and chips remains one of the more consistently recommended orders across trip reports.
For something lighter, the Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop is a go-to for a post-dinner sundae, though as of mid-2026 it isn’t in its usual Marketplace spot: the original shop closed for a renovation and moved into a temporary location in Disney Springs Town Center (the old Sprinkles space), with the rebuilt Marketplace shop expected back in spring 2027. The temporary spot still has a waterfront patio, so you can sit outside near the water while you eat your sundae either way.
Smaller finds have a harder time surviving a district-wide rebuild. The vegan, gluten-free bakery once known as Babycakes NYC closed its original Marketplace storefront in 2014 to make way for construction, then reopened in early 2015 under a new name, Erin McKenna’s Bakery NYC, in The Landing, where it’s been operating ever since. If you’re chasing allergy-friendly sweets specifically, it’s worth checking current tenant lists before building a stop around any one bakery, since Disney Springs turns over its smaller retail spots more often than its anchor restaurants.
Why it’s worth the walk anyway
The math that made Downtown Disney worth a visit in 2013 still applies to Disney Springs in 2026: you can get there without a park ticket, without driving if you’re staying on property (Disney Resort hotel guests get complimentary bus service, and boats run from a handful of resorts along the Sassagoula River), and without planning a single reservation if you’d rather graze. The Skyliner gondola system doesn’t reach Disney Springs, so if your resort is Skyliner-served you’ll still need the bus for this trip. Exposition Park, the old food truck lot on the West Side, lost its last trucks in June 2026 as Disney converted the space into additional seating, so it’s no longer the place to look for a faster, less-planned bite; The Landing and the Marketplace remain the better bets for a casual, no-reservation meal.
Our read
Disney Springs earns a night on any itinerary that isn’t wall-to-wall park days, but treat any specific restaurant or shop name from an older trip report as a lead to verify rather than a guarantee. The district has changed tenants enough times since 2015 that the safest plan is picking an anchor (Raglan Road for a real meal, Ghirardelli for dessert) and letting the rest of the evening be unplanned strolling. That’s the part of the experience that hasn’t changed at all.
For more on how the district’s dining scene keeps shifting, see the rise and fall of Disney Springs’ food truck lot. And if a no-ticket evening at Disney Springs is part of a bigger day away from the parks, see 10 Things to Do at Walt Disney World Without a Park Ticket.