12 Magical Things To Do At Disney Springs

From listening to live music to visiting the biggest Disney Store in the world, here are twelve absolutely magical things to do at Disney Springs, Florida.

Once upon a time, I flew towards Disney Springs. I flew the way you would in a modern fairytale (by plane) and landed (not so) near The Landing, one of four districts fixed on a wide, 120-acre sweep of restaurants, venues, and boutiques (the other districts: Marketplace, Town Center, and West Side).

I had two little wishes on this trip. The first was to taste a giant cookie covered in chocolate chips. The second was to wander into all the places that made Disney Springs unique. Welcome to Disney World unticketed (even parking is free), an outdoor mall with hidden mickeys, a handful of themed restaurants, and the biggest Disney store in the world.

Most shops don’t open until 11 AM, but a few cafes open at 10 AM. So grab a cozy drink (one of Gideon’s nitro cold brews, if the line isn’t too long, or a mocha from Ghirardelli) and walk around.

Here are twelve magical things to do in Disney Springs.

View Orlando From Above

In 2009, Aerophile’s largest hand-painted helium balloon climbed into the sky for the first time. It rose so high that Downtown Disney (Disney Springs’ then-name) looked like a doll’s village. On clear days when winds slacken their pace (to less than 22 miles per hour), Aerophile still launches up 400 feet. In eight minutes, Disney Springs zooms out and in while you’re secure in a basket and rooted in place (the balloon lifts; it doesn’t spin). As you go up and up, a ground-level snapshot of Lake Buena Vista shifts to a beautiful, bird’s eye view.

Art Walk

One attraction you might not spot from above? Disney Springs Art Walk, an outdoor gallery where multimedia artists’ murals scale brick walls. This alley-tucked path is heavy with foot traffic (mostly families jolting from parked buses to nearby restrooms). Disney Springs’ signs will lead you in the opposite direction, from Town Center towards the busy bus station. En-route, you’ll see twenty paintings about magic moments, happy places, and liminal spaces.

Visit World Of Disney

World Of Disney is one of the happiest shops in Disney Springs. On the shelves: huggable plushies (Winnie The Pooh, Stitch, Goofy), glittery Mickey Mouse ears, mini backpacks (Donald Duck style), and movie mugs (inspired by films like Beauty & The Beast and Mary Poppins).

Here, the largest collection of Disney character merch (in the world) fills a dozen rooms. So, if you’re looking for Disney-centric gifts, you’ll (likely) find a few.

Customize A Souvenir

And if you’re looking for souvenirs, know that customizing a souvenir is one of the most unique things to do in Disney Springs. Shop after shop advertises opportunities for personalized treats and tees.

M&M’s candy-colored store lets sweet-toothed patrons decorate chocolates with quirky text and goofy family photos. T-Rex Cafe is home to Build-A-Dino, a Build-A-Bear style workshop experience where you can cuddle fluffy friendosaurs (as the store calls its toys). Inside Lego Mini-Factory, kids design little Lego figures, styling their mini-mes with shirts, pants, and accessories.

Show Kitchens

As you ramble across wide, concrete pathways, you’ll notice Disney Springs through the looking glass. Tall windows, frosty in the cool morning hours, expose show kitchens, where cast members are constantly on the move. Prep cooks slice hunks of seasoned meat at The Polite Pig. Confectioners paint splashy, green leaves atop candy apples at Candy Cauldron. Bakers fry donuts at Everglazed, then coat the rings in icing.

Try A Themed Restaurant

Disney Springs makes a show of food. A few places that look like movie sets: Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar (a Raiders of the Lost Ark dive), T-Rex Cafe (earth, millions of years ago, with shadowy ‘saurs and cave walls as bright as lava lamps), Summer House On The Lake (the vibe: a breezy California beach home we’d fan cast in a Hannah Montana reboot).

The Edison, a deco-punk dining spot, is popular too. You’ll be led past pumps and levers, wheels and gears, to a Roaring 20s-inspired lower level. The Edison feels like the inside of a clock, a place so locked in layers that time seems to pass by on the outside.

Date-night jazz plays. Cocktails loosen lips. Double up on appetizers (The Edison’s larger entrees left me unfulfilled; each bite rope-dry and vacuumed of seasoning). Two recommendations: Electri-Fries and Clothesline Bacon. Peppery bacon, in any form, is easy to like. And fries? Well, fries before guys, always.

Eat At A Restaurant Owned By A Celebrity Chef

I can’t tell you what my mom cooked each night when I was four, but I can guess what Food Network host Rachel Ray suggested. I was raised on thirty-minute meals, Iron Chefs battling in a madcap environment, and Ina Garten gatherings. I still watch shows about food for comfort, so spotting pop-culinary-personality names while traveling seems second nature.

Here’s the thing: Disney Springs has an outsized number of celebrity chef-owned dining spaces. Morimoto Asia serves Iron Chef Morimoto’s house-roasted, fat-bellied, crisp-skinned Peking Duck on teardrop plates. Chef Art Smith (Oprah’s former personal chef) brings Southern-style, farm-to-table comfort cooking to Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’. José Andrés, the star of the Spanish show Vamos a Cocinar, condenses tapas-style dining into Jaleo. And in 2023, Maneet Chauhan (a regular judge on Chopped) opened Eet, a fast-causal Indian-American canteen.

Listen To Live Music

One mainstay Disney Springs event? Live music (here’s a link to the official entertainment calendar). Most weeknights and weekends, after 6 PM, performances pour out of Waterview Park (next to The Boathouse), Advent Health Waterside Stage (across from World Of Disney), and during the holidays, Orange Stage (a winter pop-up near AMC Theatre).

Setlists are short, but settling into a wooden bench in an outdoor venue (first come, first seated) post-dinner is one of the best free things to do in Disney Springs.

House Of Blues is another music spot to note. It’s a more intimate venue, small and packed. Inside the music hall, on concert days, you’ll see a whole gamut of styles: rock, rap, country, hip-hop, and, well, blues. Indoor concerts are ticketed. Courtyard concerts are not. House Of Blues’ outdoor concerts begin after five or six pm (you can check their calendar here), so grab some loaded nachos from The Smokehouse (a lil’ food shack), snag a seat on The Front Porch, lean back, and listen to local artists carry tunes.

Bowl At Splitsville

My favorite part of Disney Springs is its casualness; here, you’ll find the kind of casual that makes you want to return with your family for an evening or two.

Splitsville is one of those places: low-key, leisurely, kid and adult-friendly. You’ll walk into a two-story dining space, bright and clean, and home to over twenty modern bowling lanes (styled to look retro). Splitsville claims to have luxury lanes. Though the lanes themselves are standard-sized, the experience is a bit snazzy: glossy bowling balls, decent pub food (get the BBQ Chicken Pizza), just enough space to hit pins, and a striking location on the West Side of Disney Springs.

Watch Drawn To Life

Drawn To Life is a story about motion told through motion. Acrobats twist and contort. Gymnasts vault and summersault. Unicyclists pedal and twirl with the fairy grace of figure skaters. Each movement is an emphasis, a spotlight on a sweet story that feels like it could have only been crafted by Disney (and it was).

Drawn To Life is a Disney and Cirque du Soleil collaboration, so circus performers, in an imagineered theatre, share the inner, creative journey of Julie, a young girl who discovers an unfinished piece of animation. Once upon a time, Julie’s father was a Disney animator, and this little piece is from him. Memories flash: lines and squiggles, drafts and sketches. Animation is deconstructed and reconstructed and given life through human movement. If you like Disney shows, you’ll love Drawn To Life.

Split A Drink Flight

Disney Springs has more than a pint-sized presence of alcohol. Almost every restaurant serves drink flights, samplers of beer and bourbon and whisky best shared with friends. Heads up: the pours are generous (usually between one to three ounces for hard liquors, more for beers and wines) and lean towards light and sweet.

Raglan Road’s Four Provinces Beer Flight showcases four thick, foam collars rimming pilsner glasses. The Polite Pig’s Polite Flight is chill and easy to sip with crisp, clear finishes.

Read Next: 12 Best Restaurants In Disney Springs

You can order a nonalcoholic flight at The Coca-Cola Store’s rooftop bar. Popular is The Around The World Tray, sixteen sparkling shots of sweet soda from Italy to Madagascar (each flavor is unique, too different to be pleasant on the tongue when stacked, making it hard to follow one shot after another). I’d recommend a summery ice cream-infused beverage tray or seasonal holiday float flight for a smoother experience!

Christmas Tree Stroll

When it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, Disney Springs hoists up big green trees, needles dotted with decorations: sparkling Mickey and Minnie Mouse baubles, wooden masks crowned in bristles (like those from The Lion King Musical), framed photos of Coco’s family members. Each tree feels like a bird’s nest, a gathering of this and that from different Disney movies. Picture a fabric garland as icy blue as Elsa’s dress woven through a Frozen-themed tree, a bakery display (that looks like a teeny version of the one behind Tiana when she’s serving beignets) snug in a Princess & The Frog-inspired tree, and tiny doors webbed in yellow bringing a little Madrigal Family magic to an Encanto tree.

To take part in this annual event, pick up a map from City Works Eatery & Pour House (a few other Disney Springs locations supply maps as well), and gently stroll from West Side to Town Center to Marketplace. You’ll pass by 21 themed Christmas trees and all the little (and large) places that make Disney Springs unique. A wish come true.

What are your favorite things to do in Disney Springs (for adults or for kids)? Let me know in the comments below! As always, we love hearing from you.