Disney Springs Town Center, Sprinkles Cupcakes, Wolfgang Pucks, LEGO Store and More!
It was a day Emily had marked on her calendar exactly one year ago to the day. So what was so significant about May 15, 2016, you ask? It was the opening of the new section of Disney Springs ,but more importantly, the opening of the Orlando, Florida, branch of Sprinkles Cupcakes. Emily had done all but create her own Sprinkles Cupcake tee shirts in preparation for the event. Something about overpriced cupcakes with an inedible circle on the top speaks to her. She’d been lusting after them for years when she finally tasted her first one in Scottsdale, and it’s been quite the love affair ever since. She might have cried a little when she heard Sprinkles was coming to the Springs. With our sights set on one of the heavily frosted treats, we made a plan to head to Disney Springs and enjoy the day.
Our first stop of the day was Wolfgang Puck Express where we have always enjoyed their delicious breakfast. Emily and I have been devouring their breakfast pizzas for as long as we can remember, and Hunter just can’t get enough of their Chocolate Chip Waffles. We made it just in time for the breakfast to lunch cutoff which allowed us to breathe a sigh of relief. Breakfast hit the spot as always and provided us with the energy we needed to make our way to the brand new shopping section of Disney Springs.
I was lucky enough to have taken a preview tour the week before, for one of our team days at work, so I got to see a sneak peak of what was to come. They were still very much in the middle of putting the finishing touches on many of the buildings so I was excited to see how much stuff Disney was able to get done in a week. I am always blown away thinking, “there is no way they are going to get this done” and then seeing the finished product… amazing.
We entered the new section of Disney Springs which is called the Town Center, via a bridge located across from Raglan Road Irish Pub. The bridge crosses over this beautiful blue spring waterway , which really gives the center of Disney Springs a very relaxed feel. We entered this way because Sprinkles Cupcakes was just over the bridge on the left hand side. As we were crossing over the bridge, we quickly realized that Emily wasn’t the only person with the idea to visit Sprinkles on opening day. The line for both the Sprinkles shop as well as the Sprinkles ATM (more on that in a minute) were both over a 45 minute wait. I reminded her that there was no wait at the Publix bakery, but my suggestion was not met with the appreciation I had anticipated. For those of you who have not visited a select Sprinkles location, they have what they call the cupcake ATM, which works much like a money ATM only it dispenses cupcakes. This of course ensures that Guests are able to get their cupcake fix, long after the cupcake artists (my new name for Sprinkles employees) have gone home.
Emily agreed that the line was a bit long and that we should explore the rest of the new Disney Springs Town Center area and check back on Sprinkles to see if the line died down. The Town Center area was really impressive with a ton of new shops and building structures that used to be a parking lot. I am not sure the stores spoke much to me, but I don’t think I am their target demo. There is a really cool covered shopping area which I am sure will be quite popular as the summer sun is beating down on weary travelers. Emily and I were most excited about the current and future dining offerings that are coming to the Town Center area of Disney Springs. Currently there is a D-Luxe Burger location that we are excited to try. There is also a new decorative cake shop called Amorette’s Patisserie, that has impressive cakes and macarons, which are one of Emily’s favorite desserts.
Emily is most excited about two restaurants that are in the process of being built. The first one that peaked her interest is Homecomin’: Florida Kitchen & Southern Shine, which is an Art Smith restaurant, just across from Morimoto. The second location that she is equally excited about is the Frontera Fresco restaurant by chef Rick Bayless. She has followed these chefs on TV for years, and we even met Art once at an event at Epcot. Emily pretty much likes to tell people now that she is one degree of separation from both Obama and Oprah, as Chef Art has cooked extensively for them both. I am just happy that all of these new delicious locations are within walking distance from my office, which is right across the street from Disney Springs.
After we made the loop around the Town Center section of Disney Springs we agreed to split up to allow Emily to go and stand in the Sprinkles line with the other fanatics, while the sensible men of the house went to walk in circles around the Lego store. We agreed before entering the store that we weren’t going to buy anything, but it never hurts to look right? We wished Emily good luck as we parted ways, but they boys were clearly focused on the Lego paradise that lie ahead. As we entered the store, Hunter told me that he had something very important to tell me as I was working my way across the store. I was sure, of course, that it couldn’t be urgent, but deciding to slow down and listen, Hunter informed me that they had the Disney Lego Mini-figure Packs. These apparently were in almost as much demand as the Chocolate Marshmallow Sprinkles Cupcake. As we turned around we were facing a table that looked like it was out of a bad Walmart home video, huge table, 8 remaining mini-figure packs. We acted quickly and grabbed four, one for each member of the Hayes household, assuming we would be able to convince Emily that she needed to actually leave Sprinkles at some point. We made our loop around the store and exited quickly as to not be lured into the buying pressure that is the LEGO store.
Since we had been shopping at the LEGO Store for a while, we decided to go and see how Emily was faring. I was pretty sure that she either enlisted in the Sprinkles Cupcake Army or was looking for a U-haul dealership to transport her baked goods back to the house. We ended up walking in the back door of the shop to find her a few patrons from the front of the line, so we headed out to get our own snack. It had been a good 90 minutes since our last meal so it only made sense that the boys were “starving.” Since the boys always enjoy the Wetzels Pretzels, we got a couple bags to share and grabbed a corner in the shade to wait for Emily. It was a nice break out of the heat as well as a good opportunity to rest our weary feet (this 40 year old was feeling it). As we were finishing up our snack we saw Emily rounding the corner as she was happy to join us for a snack and resting break.
With a four year old and a nine year old the resting breaks never last as long as you would like them to. Since we had done a lot of boring grown up shops we decided to take the boys over to the Disney Springs train ride, just outside of the Pin Traders location. For those of you who have seen this attraction, you know that the track itself is about 100 feet long, but the boys enjoy riding the rails. After the 90 second train ride had come to a full and complete stop, it was time to hit the margarita bar, grab a few drinks, and find some shade. This was a win-win for everyone because it meant that we also got to build our LEGO mini-figures.
We got our drinks and found a table overlooking the lake which had a nice umbrella providing shade from the sun on what was becoming quite a hot day. We cracked open our LEGO mini-figures and were quite surprised on how lucky we were to get the ones that we wanted. Hunter’s favorite character is Donald (check). Sawyer has been a Space Ranger for as long as I can remember and he got Buzz (check). Emily got Minnie, and I got Captain Hook, who I mentioned wanting prior to opening the bags. Emily captured her artistic rendering of our four mini-figures above.
As we were finishing up our drinks we decided we were ready to get out of the heat so we headed back to the car to make the 30 minute drive home. We had one stop on the way home, which was to go to Walgreens to get our passport photos. Emily’s and my passports were both expiring and we were going to take Hunter the following day to get his renewed as well, so we needed to get the photos out of the way, which we did quickly.
Back at home we threw on our bathing suits and beat the afternoon heat by lounging around the pool. There is nothing better than swimming in the afternoon Florida heat. Overall, it was a really fun day. We are very excited about the new offerings at Disney Springs and can’t wait to sample the new restaurants, both open and those that are coming soon. I am also awaiting the afternoon text message from my wife telling me to stop by the Sprinkles ATM and grab her some cupcakes on my way home. Emily had one more photo op to commemorate her first trip to the Orlando Sprinkles Cupcake location shown above.
