There’s something fitting about what has happened to this particular corner of Disney Springs.
Longtime Walt Disney World fans will remember when the West Side was home to DisneyQuest, Disney’s five-story experiment in indoor interactive entertainment. The attraction closed in 2017 (we were there for their final day) and its building was demolished to make way for the NBA Experience, a 44,000-square-foot basketball playground that opened in August 2019. The NBA Experience had barely gotten started before Walt Disney World shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. It never reopened, and Disney officially confirmed its permanent closure in 2021.
Level99 opened June 29 at Disney Springs, transforming the former NBA Experience into a sprawling, two-story collection of physical challenges, puzzles, competitive games, artwork, food and drinks. At 46,800 square feet and with 63 mini-games and challenges, it is the company’s largest and most game-packed location to date.
Think escape room meets “Double Dare,” “Legends of the Hidden Temple,” an arcade and an exceptionally competitive family game night.
And yes, it is as much fun as that sounds.
How Level99 Works
We visited Level99 on opening day (as is tradition) — paying our own way, with no sponsorship or hosted experience — and returned about a month later to see how the attraction was settling in.
The basic concept is wonderfully simple.
Guests receive an RFID-equipped Veloband at check-in, form teams of two to six players and head into an arena filled with Challenge Rooms. Tap your band at a room, wait for the doors to open and your team is suddenly confronted with a task.
You might need to solve a logic puzzle. Or memorize a pattern. Or navigate an obstacle. Or throw something. Or climb something. Or coordinate movements with your teammates while everyone simultaneously yells increasingly unhelpful instructions.
Most challenges last just one to four minutes. Succeed and you earn stars. Fail and you can move on or get right back in line and try again. Progress is saved to your account for future visits.
That’s an important distinction between Level99 and a traditional escape room. Failure doesn’t end your experience. It usually makes you want another shot.
There are also Player-vs.-Player Duels and Hunt Art, an interactive scavenger hunt involving original artwork scattered throughout the building.
The Disney Springs location features more than 40 original pieces of art in addition to its 63 games and challenges.
Our Favorite Rooms
Our favorite was Retro Vinyl, followed closely by Crystal Visions and Retro Coinsweeper.
Rounding out our top five were Ninja Paths and Brain Cells, followed by Chroma Chameleon, Ninja Dojo, Comic Smash, Ninja Swing and Pirates Plank.
Then there was Island Shrine.
Island Shrine earns special recognition as the hardest challenge we attempted. We won’t spoil what happens inside — discovering what you’re supposed to do is half the fun — but let’s just say Level99 isn’t afraid to make you work for those stars.
We also tackled Island Bash, Submarine Crew, Construct Cubes, 8-Bit Binary, Magician Assistant and Construct Skyscraper.
The variety is one of Level99’s biggest strengths. A player who isn’t particularly athletic can become the hero in a puzzle room minutes after the group’s resident gym rat carried the team through a physical challenge. Some rooms reward memory, others communication, dexterity, balance, reaction time or good old-fashioned problem solving.
And some seemingly reward the ability to remain friends with your teammates while under pressure.
Here’s how we ranked the ones we played, from our favorite to the room that humbled us most:
- Retro Vinyl
- Crystal Visions
- Retro Coinsweeper
- Ninja Paths
- Brain Cells
- Axe Run
- Chroma Chameleon
- Ninja Dojo
- Comic Smash
- Ninja Swing
- Pirates Plank
- Island Shrine — The hardest game we played!
- Island Bash
- Submarine Crew
- Construct Cubes
- 8-Bit Binary
- Magician Assistant
- Construct Skyscraper
Level99 sells timed all-access admission rather than charging individually for games.
As of August, a 1.5-hour ticket starts at $29.99 per person Monday through Thursday and before 5 p.m. Friday, increasing to $35.99 during prime periods and $39.99 on Saturdays and holidays.
The 2.5-hour option starts at $39.99, with prime admission at $45.99 and peak admission at $49.99. Prices are subject to change.
We chose 1.5 hours for both visits.
It was enough time to play quite a bit — but not remotely enough time to see everything. That’s actually part of Level99’s appeal. Rather than walking out feeling as though we’d exhausted the attraction, we immediately had a list of rooms we wanted to try next time.
There is no additional charge each time you enter a challenge, so you can attempt games repeatedly during your allotted time. You can even pause your play to get a drink, go to the restroom, or sit down for a quick bite to eat.
Our second visit, about a month after opening, also demonstrated that word has gotten out. The building was noticeably busier than it had been on opening day.
One small change caught our attention, too. The comfortable elastic-style wristbands we received during the opening had been replaced by a more utilitarian plastic punch-card-style band during our return visit. The basic function remains the same: Your band is your key to the games.
Level99 could probably survive on its games alone, but one of the smartest decisions was putting a huge two-story bar right in the middle of everything.
This isn’t simply a concession stand attached to an attraction.
The venue has a full food-and-beverage operation serving scratch-made dishes, cocktails and local beers. Signature food offerings include Detroit-style pizza, loaded elote guacamole and a wagyu house burger. Drinks can be ordered from the main bar, while satellite beverage carts are available upstairs.
We stopped for drinks and tried their version of the classic Mai Tai along with the nonalcoholic Pineapple Banana Painkiller, plus two unlimited-refill sodas.
All were very good, and the bar adds something important to Level99: It makes the venue somewhere you can actually hang out rather than simply complete an activity and leave.
The Third Time May Be the Charm
The history of this piece of the West Side makes Level99 particularly interesting.
DisneyQuest lasted nearly 20 years and became a cult favorite among Disney fans before closing in 2017. Its replacement couldn’t have had worse timing. The NBA Experience opened Aug. 12, 2019, with 13 interactive basketball activities across two floors. It closed with Walt Disney World just seven months later in March 2020 and never welcomed guests again.
Level99 feels less like another attempt to figure out what to do with a giant building and more like a modern successor to the interactive entertainment that made this corner of Disney Springs memorable in the first place.
It is physical without being a traditional sports attraction. It’s competitive without requiring much gaming experience. It works for families with older kids, teenagers, groups of adults, date nights and groups of friends. And because there are far more challenges than most guests could reasonably complete in a single session, Level99 has something many location-based entertainment concepts struggle to create: a built-in reason to return.
After two visits, we still have plenty left to play. More importantly, we want to.