Even though they were in different capacities, sports have always been a big part of our lives. Tyler grew up playing all kinds of sports until high school (he played soccer the longest) and continued to play intramural sports in college (undefeated dodgeball champs!). And while Jessica never played sports herself (RIP her lone season of basketball) she worked in sports information all through college and grad school.

When word came out that an NBA-themed experience was coming to Disney Springs, we knew we would have to play. The NBA Experience at Disney Springs gives athletes of all ages and skill levels a chance to shoot some hoops like the pros and have a lot of fun doing it.

What is NBA Experience?

The NBA Experience is a two-story basketball lover’s dream. You can live out your NBA or WNBA career from draft day all the way through getting a championship or winning MVP. There are several interactive games that test your physical abilities like dribbling and shooting, and your mental abilities with trivia and instant replay. 

Your time at the NBA Experience at Disney Springs can be tied to your Disney Magic Band so you can get all of your fun photos and keep track of your stats. Your admission to NBA Experience lasts all day, and you can do the experiences as often as you like. It wasn’t terribly busy when we went, so we were able to play some of the games multiple times in a row in one visit!

Getting to the NBA Experience

The NBA Experience at Disney Springs is where the old DisneyQuest building used to be back in the Downtown Disney days. The easiest way to get there is to park in the Lime Garage toward the Splitsville side. You can also get there parking in the surface lot near House of Blues. 

After you pay and sign a liability waiver, you’ll head over to create your profile. Here you can choose your favorite team, skill level and a fun nickname that will follow you throughout the experience. Your team will show up anywhere you have stats showing, the skill level determines how difficult some of the experiences are and If you’ve ever wanted to call yourself one of those ridiculous names you see from people playing video games, now’s your chance. 

The Experience

The first floor of the NBA Experience features a couple of fun photo opportunities. You can take a photo with the MVP and NBA Championship trophies. Before each photo op, there is a place to touch your Magic Band or photo card so your photos are saved. The first floor also features an area with lockers which includes some items you may find in your favorite NBA or WNBA player’s locker. 

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A classic of any NBA-type experience is seeing how you measure up to the athletes – literally. Curious how big Shaq’s feet actually are? Curious about how big Steph Curry’s hand is? Or how tall Elena Delle Donne is? You can check all of this out for yourself.

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The second floor is where the bulk of the action is.

Dunk! 

This area lets you try dunking. Don’t worry about your “ups” – the rim is adjustable so you can bring it pretty low to the ground or raise it to above regulation height. There is a screen off to the side of your dunk zone where you can click the height up or down. Then, you have about 30 seconds to try out some dunks. There are NBA, WNBA and kid-sized basketballs available. Be sure and make your dunks as cool as possible because there is an automatic camera that will capture you slamming it home.

Shoot!

If you played basketball growing up, you may remember the drill “Around the World.” The Shoot! experience reminds us a lot of Around the World because you have 30 seconds to shoot from five designated areas on the floor. Where you shoot depends on the skill level you choose when making your profile. Rookies shoot mostly layups and short jumpers, advanced players shoot further back, including one three-pointer, and expert players shoot all 3’s.

Dribble!

How good are your ball handling skills? It’s time to find out. Depending on what skill level you chose, you’re going to be asked to dribble between hands, between your legs and more. An advanced tracking system will tell you how accurate your dribbles are and give you a report card at the end. Feel free to start a skill level (or two) lower than you think because you can easily start at the rookie-level and progress to pro in only one session of play.

Slingshot

This silly little game has you compete against around 20 other players in a slingshot hoops competition. Take a basketball, put it into a slingshot and try to make a basket. It’s harder than it looks!

Arcade

The arcade area has some basketball staples in pop-a-shot and NBA2k. There are two different pop-a-shots to play (one is slightly harder than the other) and there are some PlayStation and XBox consoles hooked up with the latest NBA2k game.

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Not feeling anything physical? There are plenty of ways to get into the game without needing any sort of range of motion.

Trivia

See how your basketball knowledge stacks up against your friends, family, and complete strangers. This short series of multiple-choice questions cover everything from championships to records, players, stats and beyond. Don’t worry, how you finish is sent to your My Disney Experience app so you can always have those bragging rights.

Combine

Arguably one of the most fun and high-tech experiences at the NBA Experience, this is your chance to see how you measure up to the NBA’s best. Using motion-tracking technology, you’ll be measured for your height, wingspan, jumping ability and jump shot. Once you get past knowing your 8-inch vertical isn’t enough to be an NBA center, it’s fun to see how you measure up.

Replay

Every ref is terrible and your team definitely would have won that game if they weren’t so blind…but do you think you can do better? This fun experience presents a variety of situations where NBA Replay was used and tests to see how good your eyes are. It’s not so easy when it’s you!

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The Verdict on NBA Experience?

As much fun as we had, we have mixed feelings about the NBA Experience. We had a lot of fun while we were there but honestly aren’t sure how often we’ll be back just the two of us. But that being said, this is definitely a place we can see bringing friends and family to when visiting because we have a lot of basketball fans in our lives. Is it so bad that something is good to just enjoy once? And then keep it in the back pocket for visitors? 

We had a good time at the NBA Experience, but aren’t sure if it’s worth the nearly $40 price tag for adults. Granted, annual passholders do get a bit of a deal as well, but we just didn’t feel like we spent enough time there to justify it. However, we can definitely see a family with younger basketball-loving kids having a blast here. A plus about the NBA Experience is you do get all-day in-and-out privileges, which is great if part of your group wants to shop around while the other wants to play.

Our recommendation for visiting the NBA Experience or not is tied a lot to who is going and how much they love basketball and/or sports. 

You should definitely go if you:

• Are nuts for the game
• Have young kids who enjoy playing sports (bonus if they already like basketball)
• Come from a competitive or sporty family and want to play against each other

You wouldn’t regret experiencing it if you:

• Like basketball and have an appreciation for the game
• Are relatively sporty and get a kick out of shooting hoops and playing around
• Have visiting friends or family who are any of the first two.

You should probably skip it if you:

• Don’t care for sports
• Aren’t interested in shooting or dribbling or dunking

As for us? We had a lot of fun going, probably won’t go just the two of us again. There are other experiences around Disney Springs we’d do repeatedly before going back to NBA Experience just the two of us.