An Afternoon at Disney Springs Florida

By alantvuong on January 21, 2026

During a recent visit to Disney World, a friend and I got a chance to visit Disney Springs in Orlando, Florida. We had the early afternoon free since we were attending Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party later that day. That gave us a great opportunity to check out this place for a few hours.

Disney Springs

Disney Springs is an outdoor shopping, dining and entertainment complex at Disney World. It initially opened in 1975 and has rebranded several times until 2015 it was finally named Disney Springs. It is located on 120 acres (49 ha) of land and is divided into 4 different areas or lands: The Landing, Marketplace, Town Center, and the West Side.

looking at the directory

Getting There

We were staying at Disney’s All Star Music Resort, so it was very easy to get to Disney Springs. There was a bus stop right in front of the main building and all Disney guests get free bus rides within Disney World. Wheelchairs get a special shorter line to wait for the bus and are loaded on the accessible ramp before all the other guests get to board the bus.

wheelchair line for the bus

I already messaged a friend to meet us for lunch at Disney Springs for noon so we knew we had somewhere to go. The last time I was at Disney Springs, it was 4 years earlier and is was later in the evening. It was dark and we had to wear face masks everywhere except when we were actively eating food or having a drink. It should be a different experience seeing everything in the daylight without wearing face masks.

taking free shuttle bus to Disney Springs from hotel

The Polite Pig

waiting in line to order

We met my friends right beside Town Center fountain since we were going to have lunch at The Polite Pig next to it. This place is a quick service restaurant that serve modern BBQ style food and drinks on tap. I ordered their signature pulled pork sandwich called the Southern Pig for $13 and a side of waffle fries for $5.

took a bit to get a table

The place was quite busy as it took us several minutes to find a table to fit the 7 of us that is also to get to with my wheelchair. We got a nice spot on the patio as it was sunny and hot outside. The food was quite good and we were quite close to some entertainment nearby to enjoy while eating.

Southern pig sandwich and waffle fries

Attractions & Entertainment

We got to see a guy perform at The Strolling Piano while we had lunch at The Polite Pig. It was actually moving and strolling along Disney Springs while he was singing and playing the piano at the same time. It was actually really cool to see.

strolling by while singing and playing his piano

There is always something happening at Disney Springs as there is live music, movie theater, Aerophile Balloon Flight, and a volcano show at Rainforest Cafe. We happened to catch some live Jazz music at one of the outside stages. I would have to come back to try the balloon ride as it is wheelchair accessible. We did catch the end part of the volcano show as that occurs every half hour and lasts only a few minutes.

live music

There was also a directory map book with the location of 19 Christmas trees located around all of Disney Springs. We were to collect stickers for each tree and once all 19 were found, we were to trade the map book for a free Christmas tree ornament.

we found all 19 trees and stickers to get free Christmas paper ornament

Shops

Disney Springs is home to more than 150 shops and dining locations. It’s like an outdoor strip mall. There is the World of Disney store, the Art of Disney, a huge Lego store, Uniqlo, Zara, the Coca-Cola store and lots more. We tried to visit the Lego store but lines were too long, so we just took pictures of some of the Lego sculptures outside the store.

right beside the Lego store

There was also a really cool year round Christmas store called “Days of Christmas”. There were so many ornaments and decorations and some cool gifts for sure. The store was quite busy as everyone were still buying Christmas presents.

year round Christmas store

Food

Table service (sit down) restaurants can get busy, so having a reservation ahead of time is always best. We ate at a quick serve place so our wait wasn’t too long. There are also many food kiosks and snack places located throughout Disney Springs. My friends did get some snacks and drinks at Wetzel Pretzels and got 23% off with the D23 Gold membership card.

quick snack at Wetzel Pretzels

Final Thoughts

It was another great visit to Disney Springs. We didn’t plan to stay as long since we had the Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom after, but we spent about 3.5 hours at this place. It was great meeting friends for lunch and we could have spent a few more hours checking out the place. I would like to return to do more of the entertainment like the live music and the balloon ride.