Demolition Begins on the ESPN Club at Disney’s Boardwalk

ESPN Club at Disney’s Boardwalk is now being demolished, after permanently closing earlier this year.

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There are construction vehicles parked behind rolling planters on the boardwalk.

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There is a crane and cherry picker.

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The ESPN Club sign remains (for now), but crew members were removing other decorations.

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They have placed tarp on the ground to keep the planks of the boardwalk protected.

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As we watched, crews removed a light-up arch from the roof.

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The crew members in the cherry picker removed the arch and secured it to the crane straps.

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They lowered it to the ground.

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It is set to become The Cake Bake Shop by Gwendolyn Rogers sometime next year. The BoardWalk Bakery will also close and become a sandwich shop.

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How do you feel about the closure of ESPN Club at Disney’s Boardwalk? Let us know in the comments.

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Author

  • Shannen Michaelsen

    Shannen has been a Disney Parks fan and lover of dogs since childhood, despite Pluto's attempt to eat Shannen's Minnie Mouse doll the first time they met. They've made up now. You can email Shannen at shannen@mail.hkdrnt.com.

14 thoughts on “Demolition Begins on the ESPN Club at Disney’s Boardwalk”

    • This is just a Psychological tactic by Disney, to try to send a message that what they put together they can destroy, as a way to keep Florida in line. I’m not falling for it. Disney if you want to leave Florida don’t let the Ocean waves🌊 hit you on your Butt🌊 on the way out🌊

      • Long overdue. Unused space. Better access for the general public is a must(like Disney Springs). Replace some spaces with more popular shops (Nathan’s Hotdogs???). Give it a TRUE Coney Island Boardwalk feel.

  1. My son and his best friend won the Disney/NFL Trip of a Lifetime in 2020 and got to watch the Super Bowl at the ESPN Club before meeting the MVP (Patrick Mahomes) the next morning and riding in the parade. I hate that this place is closing! Is there a way to get a piece of it as a souvenir?? 😀

    • It’s a big loss for the Boardwalk and sports fans. When staying at Disney, I always knew where I could watch the Steelers or Lightning games with other fans. Very convenient. Where do we go now?

  2. Disney is taking away SO MUCH !
    IT IS GREED that is driving them.
    We always went to the ESPN restaurant and they were always FULL !
    The ESPN club was a MUST DO.
    DISNEY SUCKS !
    Bob Chapek is only concerned with profits and does not care one bit about the GUEST EXPERIENCE.
    Mr. Walt Disney is turing over in his grave .
    Disney needs to stop taking things away and stop charging more money for LESS !
    The wonderful fireworks at the Magic Kingdom has changed to projections on the castle…. WHY ? BECAUSE IT IS CHEAPER FOR DISNEY TO SHOW A MOVIE ON THE ASTLE THAN BLOW UP FIREWORKS !!!
    It makes me sick.
    I’ve been to Walt Disney World over 100 times. My 19 year old daughter has been 42 times. We are Platinum castaway Club members and 600 point DVC members.
    I WANT TO SELL MY DVC and NEVER DO ANYTHING DISNEY AGAIN.
    I AM DONE WITH DISNEY.
    Chapek is destroying the guest experience.
    Chapek needs to be fired and the Disney Board just extended his contract for 3 years.
    Walt Disney World will be destroyed in 3 years.
    SO SAD !!!

    • It’s not greed… it’s much more insidious than that. “Greed” would actually result in bigger, better experiences to drive in more guests… like any prosperous company operates and thrives. Disney has no desire to thrive or drive in more guests… quite the opposite actually. Disney is hemorrhaging money because of their decisions to emphasize their woke agenda and ignore the traditional family values upon which the company was built. And what people aren’t getting is that these corporations DON’T CARE! They don’t care if they lose money… it’s more important to them to signal their twisted ideas of virtue and mock blue-collar, Christian, family-centered America. It’s pretty remarkable that more people can’t see their vile character. In the end, the left ruins everything it touches… Disney is no different.

  3. Demolition began on the ESPN network about a decade ago. I’m surprised it’s still standing. Especially since they’ve redoubled their efforts over the last couple years…

    • Me and my wife have been to Disney at least two dozen times and the ESPN was our first stop and loved going there for College Football on Saturdays and Pro Football on Sunday used to wait in line for hours. Will never go back to Disney again. So sad how they do things, by the way that had to be a gold mine for them!!

  4. We loved ESPN Club as March Springbreakers because we could get something to eat and watch the March Madness basketball games there🏀 I hope they open a sports-themed bar/restaurant with big screens somewhere on the Boardwalk as it’s a great place to gather. We’ll miss the ESPN Club😢

    • They should move the ESPN experience to Disney Springs. It could replace the garbage NBA Experience. It would have much better public access and visibility.

  5. My wife and I checked into the Yacht Club on the first day of our honeymoon 13 years ago, and hadn’t made any dinner reservations for that evening. It was our first trip to Disney World and we didn’t know what our options were, so we headed across Crescent Lake to the Boardwalk, hoping we could find a restaurant accepting walk-ups. We stumbled upon the ESPN Club, and were seated immediately. As a sports nut, I was in heaven and didn’t really care what the food was like, but it was really, really good. We went on to eat at several other restaurants on that and subsequent trips, all of which we found equally wonderful, but ESPN Club will always have a special place in my memories.

  6. Very sad .We use to go there all the time and even had good friends that work there .Some now work at Hollywood Studio and The Water Parks. Wow.A lot of unhappy people now

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