The Happiest Arcade on Earth

by Kyle Orland { Sep 19th 2006 at 4:30PM }

Responding to our post on Japan's Sega-themed Joypolis arcade, Joystiq reader Filth sent in a tip for a similar arcade mecca in Orlando, Fla. DisneyQuest, part of Walt Disney World's Downtown Disney complex, is six floors featuring over 180 new and retro arcade games and 14 Disney-themed rides. Best of all, unlike neo-arcades like Dave & Busters, one $30 ticket gets you unlimited play on the games and rides all day long.

Opened in the late '90s, the Orlando location was supposed to be the first of a series of DisneyQuests around the country, but financial troubles stopped the project from going forward. Rumor has it that the location will be converted into another ESPN Zone in 2008, so gamers who might be planning a pilgrimage shouldn't wait too long.

Tags: aracde, disney, florida, orlando, theme park, ThemePark

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Highpower @ Sep 19th 2006 4:37PM

I could have sworn they had a Disney Quest here in Chicago a few years ago, it was massive from what I remember. It hasn't been around for at least 7 years I bet though now.

nick @ Sep 19th 2006 4:44PM

I went to the first Disney quest down in Orlando when it first opened. It was really sweet, I also got in for free since when you sign up for a unlimited park pass you get in for free.

Shikoku88Henro @ Sep 19th 2006 4:44PM

Yea I have been there, it was opened in the late 90's as a credit system a la Dave and Busters or Jillians. But now as a $30 all you want its a bunch of dated, crappy games (except for the build and ride your virtual rollercoaster using surplus military grade simulators that can roll in all axis and shake a ton)

What happens now is that some little crapheaded 13 year old just stands there and hits the start button over and over, never leaving the game so you can't play unless u camp it till he feels uncomfortable.

The concept is cool and works in Japan, in America it's crappy.

ElChibo @ Sep 19th 2006 4:52PM

Been there plenty of times and I love it!

PeachHead @ Sep 19th 2006 4:52PM

Went there several years ago....Had to leave early because I got a little woosey...The building has no, I repeat "NO" windows....

dsub @ Sep 19th 2006 4:58PM

yea, the disney thing is great...

at Dave & Busters and GameWorks near me (Columbus, OH) they usually have at least one night a week where you get unlimited play ALL DAY for like $25. The best part is they don't close until 2AM, so I can play games for literally HOURS on end. Me and my friends will usually show up around 5 or 6 pm and play until they kick us out. I literally sat and played Guitar Freaks for 4 hours straight one night.

Also...COSI a local "science museum" with a pretty fun side to it has (or had I'm not sure if it's still there) an arcade exhibit in which they had probably 50 or so classic arcade machines up and running and they were all free to play. I must have played Afterburner (the good one that moved around) for hours on end. Great stuff.

bobman2007 @ Sep 19th 2006 5:00PM

I just visited Disney World back in early June, and I was really excited about going into DisneyQuest and playing Dance Dance Revolution for the first time since before Hurricane Katrina (because the hurricane damaged the few casinos on our coastline in MS that actually had DDR in their arcades). As soon as I was able to get into the arcade and go to the floor with all the dancing machines, I found out that only one of the machines was DDR and the rest were Pump It Up. To make matters worse, the DDR machine was broken, and it had been like this for months according to one of the employees. After being severly disappointed, I walked around trying to find a good game to play. I did play Drum Master for a little while, but one of my drum heads were missing and the other one was perfect. Of course, the perfect one was being hogged by a rude little kid. Thank God I was using a park hopper card, because I definetly wouldn't have wanted to waste money on such a crappy arcade. Even though they have a lot of machines, most of them are either broken or are being hogged. On top of that, the place is not very clean. The huge, mulitplayer, immersive games are outdated and cheesy (Virtual Reality Comic Heroes, Aladdins Magic Carpet Ride, Virtual Pinball). "The Happiest Arcade on Earth" my @$$!

Chris Maguire @ Sep 19th 2006 5:01PM

One of the best arcades I've ever been to -- in addition to a large selection of modern games, they have the most extensive collection of classic arcade titles I've ever seen in one place. They even had the original Space War / Computer Space cabinet, which the hardcore will recognize as the arcade conversion of the world's first videogame.

The internal Cheesecake Factory is excellent (if pricey) as well.

There's a nice photo walkthrough of the place here: http://www.mouseplanet.com/articles.php?art=eo060428bb

Visit it while you still can!

adam @ Sep 19th 2006 5:04PM

i live in orlando and have visited Disney Quest multiple times over the years. however the latest trip was disappointing. for several years it operated a-la-Dave'n'Busters with purchase credit then use the cards in the machines, then they changed it to the $25.00 (FL resident fee) entrance fee and life was good. yet immeadiately following the columbine shootings Disney pulled all Action/FPS games within Disney Quest and the place started it's snowball-roll-down-the-hill. as i stated earlier, my latest trip was sad and disappointing. all of the games are dated and old and as Shikoku88Henro said, 10 year olds just stand at all the machines and continually hit the start button over and over. so it's not surprising they are closing the place...MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL HERE WE COME!

Kevin @ Sep 19th 2006 5:13PM

Whoa. I used to work at DisneyWorld in Orlando...I wish THIS would have been there then. *drool*

Vesty @ Sep 19th 2006 5:14PM

The best thing in Disney Quest is those bumper car's with the cannon's on them. I had a blast on those

Gerwurztraminer @ Sep 19th 2006 5:17PM

wow, I live in Miami and didn't know this? time to head north!

wuddersup @ Sep 19th 2006 5:24PM

I went there last summer. The "Make and Ride and own coaster" thing was probably the best part. It also had this bumper carts ride where each cart had a "nerf ball gun" attached and if you hit another cart they'd spina round, that was pretty fun. The arcade games were hogged pretty much the whole time I was there.

Sean DL @ Sep 19th 2006 5:27PM

Yeah, they were building one of these Disney Quest here in Philadelphia

They started to build it, then word came the plug was pulled after the Orlando site didn't exactly pull in people as they would liked it to.

We call that site here in Philly were it was suppose to be at downtown, the "Disney Hole".

Go Google it.

Groovy Guy @ Sep 19th 2006 5:28PM

The best thing there....or one of the only thing worthwhile...is the kick ass rollercoaster simulator. It lets you make your own coaster (or choose from pre-made coasters that vary in intensity) they ride it. the thing you sit in does barrel rolls and everything.....it's rediculous! There were five levels of intensity and I wrode a level 3 (level 5 being highest)....I'll tell you that thing is vomit inducing!

Oh....and ya the bumper cars with cannons are awesome....otherwise the place ain't so good.

Jermaine @ Sep 19th 2006 5:50PM

The best thing by far is the ability to create your own roller coaster! Man, I forgot how fun that was, I think I'm going there Friday! That's the only good thing about living in Orlando because it sure isn't for the sports :(.

number40one @ Sep 19th 2006 6:33PM

There was one of these in Chicago for several years back in the late 90s, but last I heard they took it down around 2000. It was kinda fun, and the all-you-can-play arcade was awesome. However, the VR technology was a little schitzo on several of the attractions, giving me motion sickness... and I NEVER get motion sickness.

"Cyberspace Mountain," in which you create then ride your own VR rollercoaster, was a memorable blast. Beyond that and the arcade, everything else was pretty much an on-the-rails kiddie-fest.

Philip @ Sep 19th 2006 6:34PM

Never been in that building but been around it plenty of times. I too lived in orlando and probably will move back. The drink and game place at pointe orlando closed a while back, and the place wasn't that good either. Celebration Station, and some of the arcades in Universal Orlando are better places to get some good old violent video gaming on.

Sean Reimer @ Sep 19th 2006 6:47PM

Disney Quest was terrible. For $30 I got to play a ton of crappy arcade games (most of which were broken), and the Disney themed rides were ridiculously lackluster. The Virtual Reality games had BRUTAL controls and it was a more frustrating experience than it was fun.

The only thing good I can say about it is that there's a two-story Virgin Megastore right beside it.

Filth @ Sep 19th 2006 6:56PM

Well... I went there like a little more than a year ago and it was really fun. My brother went back again after that and said it was good too. When I was there, everything was in working order so I can't share some of your distate for the place. All in all I loved it!

PS. The rollercoaster was awesome, but made me feel sick.

rudimentalist @ Sep 19th 2006 7:18PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zodB_c0A3s

If you can stomach it Geoff Mendicino tours this place in Game Life Episode 7. He draws dongs on the animation thing and is just generally a rude jerk to everyone.

Dansk @ Sep 19th 2006 7:30PM

I went first when it was new, and its was AWESOME...

Then I returned some 3 years later, and much to my disapointment, THE MACHINES LEFT WERE THE OLD ONES! Not only that, everything that could be considered violent was removed (like all fighting games and Time Crisis 2)
Plus, everything was half broken...so yeah, it didnt mature well, which is such a shame...

BuzzLightyear's bump kart is/was still awesome, though.

editor @ Sep 19th 2006 7:33PM

It was built 1997 to have new software each year, its amazing the e-attractions still work let aloan play.

The money problems, Disney Regional Entertainment, and ESPN Zone / Club Disney are all related... if only!

Forgive my sharp comments, but I worked on this project as an Imagineer for three and half years and have yet to see a project that beat its originality.

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MSaccarello @ Sep 19th 2006 9:10PM

As a former resident of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, I'd like to point out another "mecca", the Sega Playdium. It includes a massive arcade complex, and if you get sick of playing hours of video games, you can go outside and check out their 1km go-kart track, rock climbing, 18 hole mini golf, and batting cages.

if you care: www.playdium.com

Joe @ Sep 19th 2006 9:34PM

Ya know, I wanted to go there SO BAD at Disney a few years ago but my grandfather insisted on Cirque de Soleil. 72 bucks per person for some crappy acrobatics show that I hated, or 30 for unlimited video games?

Damn, bad luck.

FrozenIpaq @ Sep 19th 2006 9:57PM

I'm shocked you guys didn't know about this LOL.

I just went there recently and not much has changed since I went there 5 years ago. The only games for hardcore gamers are the Need for Speed Games, Soul Caliber 3 arcade game, Mario Kart: Arcade GP, and a few other titles. Other than that, Pirates of the Carribean is a great interactive game :)

The best thing to do is stay at a resort within disney world and get one of those all-in-one passcards so you can go to whatever park you want whenver basically :) My brothers and I said - hey, I think we'll go to Disney Quest today. So, I took my NDSL, headed on the Disney bus and went to downtown disney that took me only about 15min from the Polynesian Resort in Magic Kingdom. It's the best during the night, and right next to Disney Quest they have a huge electronics store - although they do overcharge as expected ;)

Matt Dusza @ Sep 19th 2006 9:57PM

I loved the Disney Quest in Chicago, the whole 2 1/2 years it was open.... why'd they cloded it i didnt kmnwo considering there were assloads of people inline to get in it everyday. I liked it and it was so freakin sweet

Feep @ Sep 19th 2006 10:22PM

I found a game at DisneyQuest called "Flash Beat", by Sega. It's one of the absolute best two-player games I've ever played...imagine five consecutive games of pong going on at once, realized through tubes of shifting light, and you can attack your opponent more effectively when your strikes are on the beat of a great selection of electronica. Wonderful stuff.

ivanjrn @ Sep 20th 2006 3:57AM

Yeah, there was one here in Chicago on Ohio St. It closed and became an ESPN Zone.

DaveKap @ Sep 20th 2006 4:42AM

I've been to DisneyQuest twice and both times were a total nerdgasm. Keep in mind that out of the 6 floors, only 2 really consist of the free arcade, while the other 4 are food, disney-shelled internet access, little kid crap, and "make your own roller coaster" rides that honestly aren't all that fun, even if the thing does flip you upside down.

Honestly, I'm asking my friend (who is starting up a lancenter company) to try and implement something similar with his new business. Who wouldn't pay, say, $50 just to play the latest and greatest arcade games as much as they want for a day? Or maybe for a week pass? *sigh* I really wish arcades didn't die so hardcore after DDR took over the world then lost its grasp.