Level99 brought an entirely different kind of attraction to Walt Disney World when it opened at Disney Springs West Side on June 29, 2026. Rather than relying on traditional arcade machines, virtual reality headsets, or a single linear attraction, Level99 is built around dozens of short, highly physical and mental challenges that groups can tackle in almost any order. The result is essentially a giant real-world gaming environment—part obstacle course, part puzzle competition, part game show, and part social hangout—occupying 46,800 square feet across two floors. With 63 individual challenges at opening, the Disney Springs venue became the largest Level99 created to that point and its fourth operating location.
The concept works particularly well because the challenges are intentionally brief. Most last only one to four minutes, allowing players to fail, regroup, try something completely different, and return later rather than becoming trapped in a lengthy experience. Teams of two to six people enter individual Challenge Rooms where they may need to solve a puzzle, coordinate a physical task, test their balance, manipulate oversized game pieces, or combine several skills before time expires. Some rooms emphasize athletic ability, while others are almost entirely cerebral, making Level99 considerably broader than the phrase “indoor obstacle course” might suggest. Disney describes scenarios ranging from solving mysteries in an ancient temple to walking a pirate plank and operating an enormous version of pinball.
Challenge Rooms represent only one of Level99’s three principal styles of play. Player-versus-player Duels place friends directly against one another in short competitive games located throughout the larger arena. One of the more conspicuous examples is Axe Run, in which players navigate balance beams while avoiding large swinging obstacles. The third component, Hunt Art, turns the venue itself into an enormous scavenger hunt. More than 40 original artworks and installations are distributed throughout the Disney Springs location, with hidden glyphs incorporated into the pieces. Finding them earns additional Stars within the Level99 progression system. The opening collection involved 23 artists, including seven based in Florida, and added 55 collectible Stars specifically through Hunt Art.
That persistent scoring system is an important distinction between Level99 and a collection of unrelated party games. Players check in and receive a wearable Veloband that provides access to the games, while their accomplishments are associated with a digital player profile. Successful challenges earn Stars, performance can be tracked over time, and returning visitors can continue progressing rather than beginning with a completely blank slate. In that sense, Level99 borrows some of the most effective mechanics of video games—achievements, scores, replayability, leaderboards and progression—and applies them to physical spaces. Because each challenge can generally be attempted repeatedly, simply seeing a room is not the same thing as mastering it.
Level99 is aimed primarily at adults and teenagers rather than functioning as a conventional children’s play center, something reflected in both the difficulty of the challenges and the venue’s extensive food-and-beverage operation. A dramatic two-story bar forms one of the visual anchors of the interior, accompanied by a scratch kitchen serving Level99’s signature Detroit-style pizza, wagyu burgers and other substantial dishes. Handcrafted cocktails and local beers further reinforce the concept of Level99 as a social entertainment destination rather than merely an attraction visitors rush through before leaving. Food can be obtained independently of completing challenges, making the building useful for groups whose members may not all want to participate equally in the gaming component.
The location is especially interesting from a Walt Disney World history perspective. Level99 occupies the building most recently associated with NBA Experience, which opened on August 12, 2019. NBA Experience had replaced DisneyQuest as the major entertainment offering on this portion of the West Side, although it is important to distinguish between replacing the attraction and reusing its physical structure: DisneyQuest’s enormous blue building was demolished after that attraction closed in July 2017, and the NBA Experience complex was constructed afterward. NBA Experience then had an extraordinarily brief operational life. Disney Springs closed in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, and NBA Experience never welcomed the public again; Disney formally confirmed in 2021 that it would not reopen. The large building consequently spent years without a permanent headline attraction before Level99 was announced for the site in February 2025.
That history gives Level99 a certain significance beyond the games themselves. DisneyQuest, which opened in 1998, had attempted to create an indoor interactive theme park combining Disney storytelling with emerging gaming technologies. NBA Experience moved the property toward participatory sports. Level99, while independently operated and not built around Disney intellectual property, returns the site to something surprisingly close to its original purpose: a large-scale, indoor attraction where the guest is an active participant rather than a spectator.
The crucial difference is that Level99 is much less dependent on any single piece of technology. There is no requirement that every experience be a cutting-edge simulator or expensive virtual-reality system. A clever physical puzzle, coordination challenge or competitive game can be just as important as a technologically sophisticated room. That approach also gives the attraction unusual repeat potential. A visitor can spend an entire session trying different games and still leave with challenges unfinished, Stars unearned and personal scores that could be improved on a later visit.
Within modern Disney Springs, Level99 fills a niche that had been conspicuously absent for years. The district has no shortage of restaurants, bars, retail stores and live entertainment, but relatively few experiences capable of serving as the primary reason to spend several hours there. Situated on the West Side near Drawn to Life Presented by Cirque du Soleil and House of Blues, Level99 helps restore that portion of Disney Springs as a genuine entertainment district rather than simply another dining and shopping corridor. It is not a Disney attraction in the traditional sense—there are no Audio-Animatronics, Disney characters or elaborate franchise-based story—but its emphasis on discovery, social interaction and repeatable experiences makes it one of the more substantial additions to Disney Springs in recent years.
