Rembering Disney Quest

[ClickyCal']

It's not going to be a thing most people on here actually went to because there was only one that ever offically opened in its full state in Chicago. It only was there for 2 years from 1999 to 2001...weirdly closing literally exactly a week before 9/11. We actually went there I think twice, one time being for my birthday when I was a kid. It was really really cool without being able to explain if you never went in. You went into a 4dish type elevator thing first with Genie from Aladdin talking and getting you ready.

Going to actual main area had pure disney stuff everywhere. There was a full Aladdin ride, like with water splashing and other stuff. There was a toy story section where you could could go on these computers and customize your own Sid kind of fusion toy. There was a crazy neon lightsaber part. Tons of other stuff. This is a good video on its background.

 

[LewieP]

This was the shit.

 

[PanzerKraken]

We had it in Orlando till like 2 years ago, the place was awesome for a while but they never updated it, it was such a cool place but they let it just age and die instead of constantly updating the software and machines

 

[Zombegoast]

I do. I spend most of my time playing in the Arcades

 

[JAT]

I went to the Chicago one for my 10th birthday. I absolutely loved it at the time, but I can only remember the elevator and some room scale pirate game where you fired cannons.

 

[Delriach]

I went to the one in Chicago when I was a kid. It's where I played Ehrgeiz for the first time :D

 

[LuigiMario]

Went to one as a kid, was something I loved being a video game obsessed 10 year old, but in retrospect kinda see why this failed. My parents could have cared less, it was basically a less tacky more expensive Chuck E Cheese from their perspective.

 

[OnionPowder]

Went to it before it closed down here in Orlando.

It was alright. We just go to bars now I guess.

 

[adj_noun]

Went something like a year or two before it closed.

I mainly remember playing that ancient Aladdin VR game and getting stuck on the build your own roller coaster thing.

 

[InfinityDOK]

Cool when it opened, but last few years it had gotten so run down an empty.

 

[FunkyStudent]

I was a few years too young for arcade culture, so going to the one in Orlando in the early 2000's was my first and only arcade-esque experience. Holy shit was it magical.

 

[Dwebble]

The Orlando one was a good time, but it aged like fine milk.

Still, Hyperspace Mountain was always a good laugh.

 

[Josh5890]

I went to the Chicago one back when I was ten. Wow that video takes me back

 

[molnizzle]

I remember going to the Orlando one when it was brand new and being absolutely awestruck. I didn't want to go back to the parks in later days, Disney Quest was that good.

 

[Keywork]

I went around the time it opened and then again a couple years before it closed. Was such a surreal experience the difference 13 or so years makes. When I went the first time you couldn't do everything, but when I went back years later your ticket let you access everything. I remembered there were so many awesome video games in the arcade and when I went back there were very few that were operational, they were quite dated, and console graphics had finally surpassed them.

 

[JangleLuke]

I had never heard of it until this video, can't say much other than Michael Eisner's fumbling business ventures are certaintly funny in retrospect:



The whole channel is also fantastic, BTW.

 

[Chrno]

what do you mean there was only 1? Orlando had it for over a decade.

good stuff - loved the retro arcade.

 

[mikeamizzle]

I was about to mention the defunctland video, it is great.

I miss it also. It was better than the NBA experience I'm sure (haven't done it yet/don't plan on it.)

Edit: I've only been to the one at The old Downtown Disney. Really interesting that you are referring to Chicago's OP

 

[Dead Guy]

Went to the one in orlando as a kid and I had a ton of fun. Spent hours with my sister designing coasters then riding them in that simulator they had. Good times man.

 

[mclem]

I really liked it, having been to the Orlando one several times, and somewhere I've still got a T-shirt and payment card from the first year.

I always thought that Virtual Jungle Cruise demonstrated a game design that I'd love to have seen applied to something like Wii MotionPlus:

Also was very much fascinated by the CAVE technology that was used in a Hercules-themed game which evolved into a (very impressive) Pirates of the Carribean-themed game, in a room surrounded by 3D screens. I've not been in recent years, so I've not seen the ride first hand, but when I read about Smuggler's Run it sounds like a natural progression of that technology.

As someone who liked both theme parks *and* computer games, it was a really interesting look into just how the two concepts could be merged, and a great insight into (then) bleeding-edge technology.. In hindsight it could never have lasted - as early as my second visit I got huge warning signs from the fact that they'd radically overhauled the payment scheme into a pay-once format (which made sense for it more than the original scheme, I think, but clearly shows it wasn't viewed as good VFM originally)

 

[JigglesBunny]

As a self-proclaimed theme park aficionado and enthusiast, Disney Quest is one of my favorite oddities from a time where Disney actually needed to take Hail Mary risks to stay on top of the public's mindshare.

Quite honestly, I think they'd hit it big if they ever revisited this idea but given the absolute dominance that Disney has over every single brand of entertainment, they have no reason to potentially risk hundreds of millions of dollars on another experiment like this.

 

[Chindogg]

I had never heard of it until this video, can't say much other than Michael Eisner's fumbling business ventures are certaintly funny in retrospect:



The whole channel is also fantastic, BTW.

Click to shrink...

Yo that whole season is one giant documentary on Michael Eisner's failings in the 90s.

 

[Darknight]

On a side note, Bright Sun Films and Jake are fantastic and he has a bunch of other good videos on things that closed up that are Disney related.

 

[manzoman96]

I never went there, but I did go to the NBA experience. Bottom line is that you only gonna really enjoy it if you're an NBA fan, and even then the offerings are pretty weak for the asking price. Seems like poor execution with plenty of room for improvement. With the history of Disney Quest, however, I don't see that being likely.

 

[mikeamizzle]

Yo that whole season is one giant documentary on Michael Eisner's failings in the 90s.

Click to shrink...

The video montage he/they did around 3mins in for the club Disney episode spoofing Full House is one of my favorite things ever

 

[Marven]

I went to the Chicago one with my brother and cousin when we were teenagers, and we stayed there for like 10 hours. It was amazing.

 

[mikeamizzle]

I never went there, but I did go to the NBA experience. Bottom line is that you only gonna really enjoy it if you're an NBA fan, and even then the offerings are pretty weak for the asking price. Seems like poor execution with plenty of room for improvement. With the history of Disney Quest, however, I don't see that being likely.

Click to shrink...

Need to ask, did you pay the asking price or get in on one of the promotional deals?

I can't believe they launched with a $35 entry fee. It seemed like a hard sell at that price even as a big NBA fan.

 

[Rapscallion]

I went during one of its last years and it was a little sad. It was free with our package and my partner had fond memories about it, so we decided to go. It had a great selection of arcade machines, but the Disney Quest specific attractions were incredibly dated or just not working. Some of them made me motion sick within moments and others just felt like poor motion simulators.

Still, I imagine it was really impressive when it opened. I would have much rather had them update it rather than tear it down. It did remind me of some of the indoor parks you see in Japan (such as Joypolis), but definitely didn't see the attention that some of those places do.

 

[HylianSeven]

I had never heard of it until this video, can't say much other than Michael Eisner's fumbling business ventures are certaintly funny in retrospect:



The whole channel is also fantastic, BTW.

Click to shrink...

Came here to post this, I love Defunctland.

I remember going to the Disney Quest in DisneyWorld in the mid 00's.

 

[manzoman96]

Need to ask, did you pay the asking price or get in on one of the promotional deals?

I can't believe they launched with a $35 entry fee. It seemed like a hard sell at that price even as a big NBA fan.

Click to shrink...

Na I paid full admission (which it's definitely not worth). I was there and I'm too much of an NBA geek not to be morbidly curious. I don't regret checking it out and did enjoy some of the stuff there, but it's hard to recommend it to anyone.

Edit: I'll provide some more scoop. I went there last September and it was pretty dead inside. Can't say there were more than 20 other visitors inside. Probably the best part for me was I ended up talking hoops with one of the cast members for like a half hour. They were clearly doing their best with what they had.

 

[SigmasonicX]

I remember a behind the scenes video on Disney Channel showing off the Aladdin VR thing and young me really really wanted to play that.

The Defunctland video linked is pretty good.

 

[infinitebento]

I always remember my best friend who passed away a few year ago when I think of Disney Quest.

We went so many times for my birthday or my sisters or his birthday with our friends. Countless fond memories running around in there for hours.

 

[MrNelson]

It's not going to be a thing most people on here actually went to because there was only one that ever offically opened in its full state in Chicago.

Click to shrink...

There was one in Orlando that was open up until a few years ago.

I remember going back in the early 00's as part of an end-of-year trip for band class and really enjoying it. The VR stuff they had was really cool, but for some reason I didn't get around to trying that "Ride the Comics" type game that they had. I kept meaning to make one last trip back there when they said they would be shutting down, but never got around to it.

 

[nekkid]

Disney Quest was always my last-day outing at WDW before travelling to the airport.

But at least we've now got mediocre food and extortionate lane fees at Splitsville, in its place.

 

[Arttemis]

One of my earlier dates with my now-wife was to the Orlando DQ. That was an incredible day across the 5 or 6 floors of games they had. It was so sad to hear that they just shut it down. Now it's a sportsbar themed restaurant.

 

[AndreGX]

I loved Disney Quest! Crazy timing considering I was just talking about it today on one of my streams this morning.

The huge Might Ducks hockey/pinball game was the shit, as was the Buzz's Astro Blasters bumper car thing. And the Jungle Cruise! I even remember the multiplayer Hercules game and the PotC attaction it turned into. Aww good memories

It's really too bad they've turned Downtown Disney/Springs into a glorified mall. I was excited to visit Pleasure Island...then they closed it down :(

 

[mute]

I had no idea there was any others outside the one that used to be in Orlando/Downtown Disney.

 

[Shang]

I went to the Orlando one in 2000 and it was amazing, possibly better than the theme parks themselves. Spent the whole day there with my brother and cousins and had so much fun with the rides and arcade games. When I went the arcade games were unlimited free play, which was mindblowing and helped me beat some games I always wanted to beat.

The highlight for me was the build-your-own-coaster ride. You better believe I put in as many loops as possible.

 

[mikeamizzle]

Na I paid full admission (which it's definitely not worth). I was there and I'm too much of an NBA geek not to be morbidly curious. I don't regret checking it out and did enjoy some of the stuff there, but it's hard to recommend it to anyone.

Edit: I'll provide some more scoop. I went there last September and it was pretty dead inside. Can't say there were more than 20 other visitors inside. Probably the best part for me was I ended up talking hoops with one of the cast members for like a half hour. They were clearly doing their best with what they had.

Click to shrink...

Thanks for the follow up! I'll be curious to see how they plan to update it/plan for the re-opening.

I have a feeling it was/is Bob Iger's pet project foreshadowing some future NBA ownership goals