Disney also revealed its plan to change the name of the area to Disney Springs in order to give it a small-town feel, playing off and highlighting an existing lake. We were told that the number of restaurants, shops and venues would double to 150.

Downtown Disney at Walt Disney World officially changed its name to Disney Springs in 2015 to facilitate a massive expansion and provide a more cohesive "storyline" for the district. The transition was not just a rebrand but a complete reimagining that nearly doubled the number of shops and restaurants. Imagineers created a fictional "backstory" based on a typical Florida waterfront town that grew up around a natural spring in the early 1900s. This narrative allowed Disney to organize the area into four distinct "neighborhoods"—The Landing, Marketplace, West Side, and Town Center—each with its own architectural style reflecting a different era of Florida's history. By dropping the "Downtown" moniker, Disney distanced the area from the "party" reputation of the former Pleasure Island (which closed in 2008) and repositioned the district as a sophisticated, family-friendly retail and dining destination that feels more like an extension of the Disney "magic" rather than just a commercial shopping mall.