>Can We go to Spring Training?

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For those of you new to Tips from a Teenager Tuesday, my 15 year old son, John helps me with Tuesday’s articles. This is our actual conversation transposed as he said it. I ask the same question I ask every week:

What is something that you like in Walt Disney World that everyone should know about?

ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex. I’m thinking sports; I’m in spring training mode.

What is it?

It is a Sports complex that has a nice shop and a pretty good restaurant.

What do you mean by sports complex?

I believe there is a Baseball field, is there a football field? I know they have the baseball field; they have football, because they have the games there. Is that it?

Not only do they have a baseball field, they have 4. Two of them have lights, and they are surrounded by batting tunnels, pitching machines, and 10 bullpen areas. The Atlanta Braves hold their Spring Training here on Champion Field, a 9,500 Seat stadium that also has four luxury skyboxes.


The ESPN Wide World of Sports also has the Hess Sports Fields, which is where football, soccer, lacrosse, baseball, and softball are played. The Jostens Center, which according to the ESPN WWOS Website “is a state-of-the-art multi-sport facility with more than 44,800 square feet of competition space.” This is where they wrestle, play basketball, hockey, and volleyball and now they even have Friday night fights there. The HP Field House houses some of the sports played in the Jostens Center, but they also host the Jump Rope and Cheerleading Championships you see on ESPN 2. There is also a Track and Field Complex, a Tennis Complex, the ESPN Wide World of Sports Grill and the Play Station Pavilion.

Why should people know about it?

Although there usually aren’t a lot of people there, there are interesting things to do.

Depending on the time of year and what is going on, there may be very few people there. Or if there is an event going on, you may have a lot more people in the complex.

What can you do there?

During Spring Training you can watch the Braves play baseball, you can shop at a store, and eat at a restaurant with good food. Does it have TVs too? It does. What else?

John was very excited, but we have only been to ESPN’s Wide World of Sports once, and then it was the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex. As I stated above, there are many activities that they have throughout the year.

Have you ever seen any sporting events there?

No, but I would really love to, who doesn’t love spring training baseball?

Where is the complex located?

In Disney World? I actually have no idea. You’ll have to tell them. I usually just sit in the truck and you drive. Isn’t it across from the Pop Century Resort?

It is actually located on Victory Way off of the Osceola Parkway which takes you to Pop Century. The Complex sits on land surrounded by World Drive, Osceola Parkway, 192 and route 4.

Do you know any other things that take place there besides Spring Training?

Don’t they have a skills thing for Football? Am I right or am I wrong?

Yes, he was right, they do have football skills for college and pro quarterbacks there and they also have all the events I listed above and The Outdoor Games are held there as well as activities for ESPN the Weekend and they host the Harlem Globetrotters every now and then.

Is there anything else you’d like people to know about the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex?

The restaurant was very good and didn’t have any lines when we were there.

We ate at the All-Star Café when it was still called the Disney Wide World of Sports. Since then, they have changed it from a sit down sports bar, to a quick-serve restaurant.

Anything, Else?

Can we go to Spring Training?

Thank you John,

You’re welcome Dad.

*Today’s pictures are from when we were at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex, before they renamed it the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, so some of the things you see here may be different now.

>The Last of the Zones

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The baseball playoffs have begun and tonight the Braves play in their first post season game since 2005, you might not know this fact about them, but they started this season at the Walt Disney World Resort, as they do every year. Their Spring Training facility is at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The ESPN Wide World of Sports complex* is an enormous multi-sport venue, where Pro and Amateur athletes can come to compete. This is a neat fact, but an Unknown Magic that Sports Fans may need to know more about when they are in Walt Disney World is the only ESPN Zone that is still open is on Disney’s Boardwalk.

The ESPN Zone is all the way at the end of the Boardwalk, on the side that is closest to the International Gateway leading into Epcot. The ESPN Zone on the Boardwalk is the last surviving ESPN Zone of the Franchise Bar/Restaurants that ESPN used to own and operate. The others were in Los Angles, Las Vegas, Anaheim, Chicago, New York, D.C. and Baltimore. The one in Disney World is a little smaller than the others were, but just as great.

The Bar area is great for watching a game, with TV’s all around and plenty of sports memorabilia, much of it with a Florida feel; i.e. Florida Marlin and Tampa Bay Buccaneer Jerseys which enhances the atmosphere. The bar has ample seating for the big game and the food is your typical bar fare with Wings and sandwiches. They also offer soup and desserts. The ESPN Zone is on the Disney Dining Plan, but the reason you will go here is definitely for the sports.

There is a Small dining room, (The food in the dining room is the same food that is offered in the bar) with a stage, that is home to special guests and radio shows from time to time. Once when I was in Disney they were taping an ESPN show for Television about former players and what they were doing now. That week they had Rick Barry, Grant Fuhr, and other former players every afternoon at the ESPN Zone, for the filming of the show. It was free to go in and watch and be part of the studio audience, and you could eat an early supper too. It was a neat Magical Experience that I got to have.

My son’s favorite thing about the ESPN Zone is that they have televisions in the bathroom so that you don’t miss any of the game, although he also likes the arcade/gift shop. The Arcade is a nice size, works on Token Cards and has enough different games to entertain the kids or the family for a while and create a Magical Experience for all of you . Over all this is a great place to go and watch a game, because even the kids will be able to hang out here for a while, without getting antsy.

So, now that you know, for sports fans, there is chance for a Magical Experience if your team is in the big game and you’re dying to see it while you’re in Disney World, or if you just want a decent meal at an ESPN themed Sports Bar. All you need to do is head down to the Boardwalk and go to the last of the Zone.

*You can click here to find out more about the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.