food IS a theme park
Disney Springs has seen so many permanent closures this year! First, it was Sprinkles Cupcakes, then Francesca’s, plus Shore, and Johnston & Murphy just closed last week.
Disney Springs
But now, we finally have some good Disney Springs news – two new stores will open soon!
When it comes to finding great dining, Disney Springs probably can’t be beat. Plus, the shopping and dining district has a little something for everyone, including a first class wine bar (with equally great food), a gourmet chocolate shop, a donut shop, and more.
Pork Belly Bahn Mi
When it comes to quick-service restaurants in Disney Springs, we’re big fans of The Polite Pig, which does BBQ dishes just beautifully. However, this month, The Polite Pig decided to change things up a bit and has a special sandwich dish to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. So we headed to The Polite Pig to check it out.
Disney Springs is home to some of our favorite restaurants, and sometimes, those restaurants have special events that make us even more excited to visit — we know a lot of you feel the same way!
Homecomin’ in Disney Springs
One of our ultimate favorite spots is Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’, which is known for having some of the best southern comfort food on property. If you love it as much as we do, or you want to experience a special event there, they’ve brought back an iconic event from last year for one day only!
Disney World is home to the best cake slices around. Don’t ask us why this is such a hotspot for massive cake slices filled with so much icing, but we will take advantage of it every single time we can.
Here we go!
We headed to Gideon’s Bakehouse at Disney Springs to try a new cake slice that has arrived, and somehow, cake keeps getting better at Disney.
We love heading to Disney Springs for a quick snack when we’re not feeling a busy theme park.
Strawberry Dubai Chocolate Churro
And while we love Disney, one dessert is a close second – Dubai Chocolate! So when we saw there was a new Dubai Chocolate Churro at Disney Springs, we had to try it!
Wow! What a week it’s been in Disney World. For starters, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad reopened after a YEAR of being closed with some pretty cool changes.
Mickey waffles at Garden Grill
On the food front, we’ve been able to enjoy some new DOLE Whip treats (ALWAYS our fave thing), and we found our new favorite summer drink in EPCOT. Of course, Disney World restaurants changed their menus this week, like they always do, so let’s take a look at those changes.
It’s been quite the week in Disney World, with the reopening of a major ride over in Magic Kingdom (that’s had some rough days following — we hope it sorts itself out soon), but Disney Springs has also seen lots of changes this week.
Disney Springs
If you’re heading to Disney World soon and plan to do lots of shopping around Disney Springs, you may notice that some of your favorite stores have closed their doors, some of them a bit unexpectedly. In addition to all the other changes going on around the resort, we feel it’s important to keep up-to-date with it all!
DOLE Whip has been a staple in Disney Parks since 1986, a full decade after Dole Packaged Foods became the sponsor of Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland. The treat spread to Disney Parks all over the world, and well, as they say, the rest is history.
New DOLE Whip Flight!
Now, DOLE Whip has expanded well beyond the standard pineapple soft serve treat we all know and love. Now, you can get DOLE Whip sundaes and DOLE Whip floats, as well as a variety of DOLE Whip flavors that go WELL beyond pineapple. One of our fave spots to grab DOLE Whip in Disney World is Swirls on the Water in Disney Springs because every so often, they offer a brand new DOLE Whip Flight (aka a sampler) with some new flavors. Well, a new DOLE Whip Flight just dropped, and we’re trying it out!
Some Disney World traditions are gone for good, and 2026 is already making that crystal clear.
People in costume riding Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster one last time
Between major attraction overhauls, permanent closures, and long-overdue upgrades, this year has reshaped the park experience in ways that longtime fans are still processing. If you’ve been visiting Disney World for years, there’s a good chance at least one of your go-to moments looks completely different now. Here’s a look at four Disney World traditions that are officially off the table in 2026.
Yes, you read that right, ANOTHER closure has hit Disney World. Disney Springs has been swamped with closures this year, like Sprinkles Cupcakes, Francesca’s, and Shore.
Disney Springs
Now, another store has formally closed its doors, and we only got a week’s warning!
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