Level99 Coming to Walt Disney World Filling Failed NBA Experience Building at Disney Springs. Disney Springs just broke the news that Level99, a unique entertainment concept that blends physical challenges, mental puzzles, and competitive games, will take over the failed NBA experience building. For those who know Disney Springs’s history, this is a great idea. Especially since this is the area Disney Quest used to be at. Disney Quest was ahead of its time, offering video games, and an early form of virtual reality rides and experiences. Most recently this building’s bottom area was used for the Harry Styles PLEASING! Pop-up shop.
Updated: Full Press Release Below
Level99 has two locations as of this writing. Norfolk, VA, and Providence, RI. Pricing for 2 hours of entertainment starts at $29.99 and caps off with an all-day play on a Friday at $55.99. Expect the pricing to be a little higher here at Disney Springs. Read more about Level99 below.
This is breaking news and we are trying to find out all the information as it becomes available. We have a ton of questions, is this a bar and adults only? Will families be able to bring the kids with them and enjoy the games?
golevel99 and Disney Springs just announced “Ready for the challenge @disneysprings? LEVEL99 is coming to Disney Springs® West Side. Let the games begin!”
What we know about Level99 – At Level99, you are working with your friends to discover new challenges, collect all the stars, find digital treasure and master new experiences… Besides challenge? Laugh, socialize, take photos, drink, eat, and have a blast.
Rooms are cooperative games to be explored, played, and conquered by teams of 2-6 players. Each room is a unique experience, falling into our PHYSICAL, SKILL, or MENTAL categories. Physical rooms will test your strength, balance, and flexibility. Skill rooms will test your accuracy, timing, and reflexes. Mental rooms will test your memory, problem-solving, spatial thinking… and more!
Duels are head-to-head challenges found throughout the Arena. Challenge a friend and lay it all on the line in one of our 7 (rather public) competitive challenges. The loser buys drinks.
Art Hunts are a low-key scavenger hunt involving the playful art found all throughout the space. Each piece of art contains a hidden Glyph. Completing Art Hunts is the surest way of seeing and exploring every inch of our bright and whimsical wonderland, so make sure to complete them while you’re “rehydrating” in your downtime between games.
Level99 Coming to Walt Disney World Filling Failed NBA Experience Building at Disney Springs
LEVEL99 Expanding to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida
Interactive, competitive social gaming venue for adults will bring real-world, physical, and mental challenges to the variety of entertainment offerings at Disney Springs/ Disney location will be LEVEL99’s fifth and largest venue and the latest step in its national expansion
NATICK, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–LEVEL99, an interactive, social entertainment experience known for its challenge rooms, with locations across the East Coast, will open its newest outpost, and first-ever Florida location, at Disney Springs West Side at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The opening at Disney Springs will mark LEVEL99’s fifth location as it continues to grow and scale its footprint, targeting national expansion.
Backed by Act III Holdings, the investment vehicle led by Panera founder and current CAVA Chair Ron Shaich, LEVEL99 is a first-of-its-kind destination for real-world, challenge-based, social entertainment for adults featuring over 50 physical and mental challenges set in artistic environments. Beyond the games themselves, LEVEL99 features best-in-class design, an award-winning culinary offering, and craft beverages that are worth the trip.
Disney selected LEVEL99 after a comprehensive review of the location-based entertainment industry. LEVEL99’s Disney location will add to the growing list of dining, shopping and entertainment options at Disney Springs, which features more than 150 shops, restaurants and family-friendly leisure activities.
With its third and fourth locations set to open in 2025 at Tysons Corner Center in Virginia and The Corbin Collection in West Hartford, Connecticut, LEVEL99 plans to open several more locations in the future, including Disney Springs.
“We are defining the category and setting the standard for out-of-home, interactive entertainment,” said LEVEL99 CEO and Founder Matthew DuPlessie, an MIT engineer and Harvard Business School graduate who leads the team behind LEVEL99. “After spending two decades in the location-based entertainment industry, it became clear there was consumer demand for a concept like this – a real unmet need. Our vision is to make ‘challenge rooms’ a mainstream concept, and the opportunity to open at a marquee location like Disney Springs is the next step in our plans to expand the LEVEL99 brand nationally.”
Considered by most to be the inventor of today’s modern escape room industry, DuPlessie launched the first escape room style concept in the world in 2004. He opened the first LEVEL99 location in 2021 after contemplating for years how to build a more durable and broadly appealing experience that combined all the mechanics people love about video games with creative physical and mental challenges that could be repeatedly enjoyed in a competitive, real-life, social setting.
LEVEL99’s proprietary entertainment offerings are developed in the company’s game design studio where creators and engineers dream up and produce a variety of new challenges every year to keep the experience fresh and ever changing.
“We see immense potential in what the LEVEL99 team has built and are excited to bring the future of interactive entertainment and social gaming into the mainstream,” said Ron Shaich, CEO and Managing Partner of Act III Holdings, the investment vehicle he founded to help companies scale into becoming nationally dominant brands. “When Matt shared his vision for LEVEL99 with me seven years ago, I saw that this business had the potential to define a new category with enormous opportunity for growth on a national scale, making it an ideal investment for Act III.”
LEVEL99 has established a footprint in New England where it has experienced industry-leading guest traffic fueled by players driving on average over half an hour to visit. A typical experience at LEVEL99 includes at least 2-3 hours of entertainment play, followed by drinks and food at its scratch kitchen and bar, with some players staying all day. LEVEL99 features challenge rooms, where teams of 2-6 players work together to beat a themed physical or mental challenge that typically lasts 1-4 minutes; arena duels, dispersed throughout the gaming arena for player-vs.-player showdowns; and an art hunt, where players search for hidden glyphs amongst hundreds of pieces of commissioned, local art that are unique to every location.
The Disney Springs location will be LEVEL99’s largest to date including the most entertainment options, with over 60 challenge rooms and duels. LEVEL99 will occupy over 45,000 square feet in a two-level venue that will host upwards of 1,000 players at a time in the interactive gaming and bar/dining space. A two-story bar serving handcrafted cocktails and local beers will serve as the centerpiece of this location, accompanied by its chef-crafted menu including LEVEL99’s signature, award-winning, Detroit-style pizza.
This will be LEVEL99’s only location serving the greater Orlando area, and the company plans to hire over 100 roles for its team there.
To learn more about LEVEL99, visit https://www.level99.com/ or follow us on LinkedIn.
About LEVEL99
LEVEL99 is a collection of first-of-its-kind entertainment venues offering proprietary face-to-face physical and mental interactive challenges, scratch kitchens, and handcrafted beverages for a complete sensory adventure. The company is headquartered in Natick, MA, with a second location in Providence, RI, and two more opening this year in West Hartford, CT and Tysons Corner, VA. LEVEL99 is backed by Act III Holdings, led by Panera founder Ron Shaich. More information is available at www.level99.com.
About Act III Holdings
Act III Holdings, LLC is an evergreen investment vehicle formed by Ron Shaich, founder and former Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Panera Bread and current Chair of CAVA, Tatte Bakery, Life Alive Organic Cafe, and LEVEL99, to build tomorrow’s market-leading restaurant and entertainment companies. Act III invests in emerging restaurants, entertainment and technology brands and helps them build a dominant position in powerful categories within their respective industries. Act III also partners with public companies to provide strategic advice and capital. Shaich and team are known for their long-standing track record of building competitive advantage by successfully fostering innovation and thoughtfully scaling private and public companies to positions of dominance. For more information, visit www.act3holdings.com.
About Disney Springs
Disney Springs is a one-of-a-kind retail, dining and entertainment district at Walt Disney World Resort. With beautiful open-air promenades and lakefront views reminiscent of Florida waterfront towns at the turn of the 20th century, the area features more than 150 shops and restaurants, including top-name retail brands, specialty boutiques and dining experiences created by celebrity and award-winning chefs.
