Disney Springs is still the free-admission Disney fix

Disney Springs still works as a free-admission Disney day. You walk in, you wander, and you only pay for what you choose to eat, buy, or ride. That is different from the four parks. The trade-off is that the big experiences cost extra, and the food and shopping add up if you are not careful. For us it remains one of the easier places to get a Disney hit without a park ticket.

A Disney planDisney panelist confirmed in 2021 that no ticket is needed to get in, and standard self-parking in the Orange, Lime and Grapefruit garages and the Watermelon surface lot is complimentary, Disney’s parking page says. The garages open at 9 a.m., or at 7 a.m. on Tuesdays and other merchandise-release days. One thing changed this summer: since June 28, the buses from Disney Springs to the resort hotels are only for hotel guests and people with a dining or experience reservation at one, as we found while planning our holiday resort stroll. Everything after the garage is a choice, and the choices climb in price like this.

Amphicars, a balloon and Level99

The Amphicars leave from The Boathouse. They are restored 1960s cars that also float: fewer than 4,000 were built, and fewer than 400 still exist. A captain drives you into Lake Buena Vista for about 20 minutes. Tours are walk-up only, first come, first served, at the dock podium or inside The Boathouse’s shop, daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., weather permitting, Disney Food Blog reported in September, citing The Boathouse.

The Aerophile on the West Side rises up to 400 feet on a tether for about eight minutes, and on a clear day the view reaches about 10 miles. Tickets are sold at the balloon itself, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., and children under 12 must ride with an adult 18 or older. Bags, food, drinks and strollers stay on the ground, and the balloon does not fly in storms or when the wind is over 22 mph, according to Disney. The balloon flying now is new: Aerophile replaced the whole balloon in February with the same model in the same blue and orange colors, WDWMAGIC reported.

Level99 opened in late June in the two-story West Side building that housed DisneyQuest and later the NBA Experience. It covers 46,800 square feet and holds 63 short games, most built for two to six players and lasting one to four minutes. A wristband called a Veloband opens each room and keeps score, and a two-story bar sits in the middle, Disney Tourist Blog reported. In July, demand pushed closing to 11 p.m. most nights and 11:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, WDWMAGIC reported.

Our usual stops, from Blaze to World of Disney

Blaze Pizza in Town Center is a quick meal we come back to. Its menu changed this month: build-your-own went up from $11.95, and eight long-running signature pizzas were replaced by new ones, Inside the Magic reported. D-Luxe Burger is in Town Center too. For a sit-down meal with a view, Paradiso 37 overlooks the lake from The Landing.

Amorette’s Patisserie, also in Town Center, is a high-end pastry shop that also pours champagne. Its dome cakes come as Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy or Pluto and are ordered by phone at 407-934-3500 from 30 days to 48 hours ahead, WDW News Today reported. Over in Marketplace, the louder themed restaurants are T-REX and Rainforest Cafe.

Where Ghirardelli went

Ghirardelli is still one of my favorite chocolates. When I lived in San Francisco, it was always a treat to head to Ghirardelli Square for a dark chocolate hot fudge sundae, and I still do that here in Orlando. The store usually has bagged chocolate squares in all sorts of flavors, from white and milk to extremely dark, and you can buy the chocolate in bulk there. It is a fun place.

The sundaes made the move: the temporary shop serves the full menu, World Famous Hot Fudge Sundae included, Laughing Place reported when it opened in July.

For a day that still feels like Disney without the park gates, that mix continues to work.

Editor written. AI used for spelling and grammar only.