Disney Quest Arcade closing in 2008

Many sources are reporting that Disney Quest will be closing in early 2008. If you have not heard of Disney Quest, it is a big arcade at Disney with lots of classics games and simulators. The arcade has an admission rate, I think it’s somewhere between $30 and $40, and all the games are set on free play. Redemption games cost money to play beyond the normal admission rates, but simulators are also included in the admission price. The admission price covers all-day admission to the park just like a normal theme park, and I believe you can also purchase a pass to Disney Quest in combination with other Disney resort packages.

I think this is a pretty good value, some simulators can be very expensive to play by themselves so being able to play everything limitlessly for a whole day is quite awesome. They have Max Flight coaster simulators where you can design your own roller coaster and then ride it, as well Disney-themed simulation rides such as Aladdin’s Magic Carpet. This arcade is well known for hosting a wide variety of actual, working classic arcade games, so it will be a real shame to see it go. I have heard very good things about their selection of games and the condition they are kept in, even though the games are on free play. In addition to the selection of classic games and simulators they also feature newer games like Dance Dance Revolution.

Not enough promotion of the park with other resort packages, few to no new major simulation attractions and flat attendance rates are cited as the reasons for the imminent closing this park/arcade. If you want to visit this arcade I would suggest going soon before it goes belly up. Some sources say that Disney Quest will be replaced with an ESPN Zone arcade. We will have to wait and see what will happen with that.

On another note I have a Disney Quest backpack that I picked up at a garage sale. I guess I will be holding onto it for some time to see if it becomes valuable.

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6 comments

Nick December 9, 2007 at 4:35 am

I kinda knew the place was going the way of the ghost. They never fix anything in there.

The last time I was at Disney Quest was not even two years ago, last Christmas time. I’m pretty sure they upped the rate to get in, but they did add admission if you had a Season Pass to the park.

The place was pretty cool when they first opened. They have a TON of Retro Games on one floor including DEATH RACE (yes, they have a Death Race at DISNEY WORLD) and a great selection of other classics.

What I loved where the exclusive games. They have a game called “Mighty Ducks Pinball Slam” where you stand on a giant puck and use your body to move on the giant screen against I think 7 or 9 other players.

Then they have one of the best VR games called “Ride the Comix” petty much, you get sucked into a comic book and the hero comes out and gives you a Light Saber and you swing the light saber to bat off bad guys and at the end you have a final showdown with the main villains of the comic.

It’s funny, because on my first trip there I was checking out the Cyber Space Mountain and I saw a bunch of guys in business suits taking about franchising the Disney Quest into other areas. The only other Disney Quest was in Chicago and it failed not even five years and they left the one in Disney.

They also got rid of a lot of the shirts and stuff, I still have my old Disney Quest shirt, so I’ll hold onto it.

While it’s sad to see it go, I’m glad it’s going to be an ESPN Zone, because they’ll still offer arcade games and ESPN Zones are fun to visit too.

editor December 9, 2007 at 1:25 pm

I worked on the DQ concept when I worked for Disney Imagineering. It was a great concept, shame only two sites were ever built and they broke the pricing model.

I reviewed the DQ, Orlando facility for a coming Stinger feature, the site was jumping on a Thursday we visited. So the site will make its 10th birthday only to close.

saraab87 December 9, 2007 at 4:46 pm

Yeah, you can usually tell when an arcade is gonna go belly up because its always in a state of disrepair in the months leading up to the closure. We had a namco arcade here that constantly had a bunch of broken games just sitting in the arcade, and they were there for months at a time (as broken), while this arcade had a ton of business, they could have found a place other than the main floor to stash the broken games! This arcade then closed shortly after.

editor December 9, 2007 at 5:19 pm

Yes, that old trick of claiming – hey look at the revenue numbers are down – hoping that the person checking dose not see that you are forcing all the broken machines to the front of the facility.

As I walked round DQ last month, I noticed how much they have tried to run down the venue subtly. I remember the rules that my team had asked DRE to follow on DQ operation – and all but two had been broken.

The idea of a ESPN Zone in DTD is sickening for me, I saw the NBA Zone at Universal on this venue visit and could see how DTD would want to compete… shame.

However we have to remember that the hardware used in DQ is so obsolete that most of the manufacturers don’t exist anymore. Event the managers at DQ can hide the fact that the machines are popular – but also being run into the ground!

Would love to re-develop a DQ style facility with the latest tech!

SaraAB87 December 9, 2007 at 6:06 pm

Thats terrible, I have always heard disney quest was well maintained and worth a visit. It got a lot of respect from the amusement ride community as well as the arcade community (many people from the amusement ride community are also interested in arcade games and vice versa).

ESPNzone looks crap imo, just another sports type dave and busters thing. I have seen quite a few pictures from ESPNzone and it looks crappy, same old outdated games like everywhere else in the usa, give me something different and unique that I have not seen before, not the same things that I have been seeing in arcades since 1999…

editor December 9, 2007 at 7:07 pm

The DQ attractions have yet to be bettered – using JOYPOLIS as the bar DQ beat that hands down – even SEGA’s R&D team that visited since 1999 admitted that.

I had hoped that some of these systems would have been used at other WDC venues – but only on simulator was taken to Disneyland Paris, and of course the failed DQ-Chicago.

The idea of a DQ attraction on a Cruise ship or in other park hotels seemed a no-brainer – but there was a lot of politics that wanted to ‘spin’ what went wrong at Quest.

Many of those ‘Spinners’ left with Eisner, but some remain, some involved in the failed Mission: Space attraction. Now hopefully new heads will rethink what DQ achieved.

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