ESPN Club permanently closes at Walt Disney World's BoardWalk to be replaced with The Cake Bake Shop by Gwendolyn Rogers

Mar 11, 2022 in "ESPN Club"

Gallery / 2 Photos
ESPN Club overview

Posted: Friday March 11, 2022 3:34pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Walt Disney World's ESPN Club on Disney's BoardWalk is now permanently closed.

Disney has announced that a new table service restaurant and bakery, The Cake Bake Shop by Gwendolyn Rogers, will be joining the BoardWalk and sources indicate that the ESPN Club will be the location.

ESPN Club overview

ESPN Club opened at Walt Disney World in July 1996 and offered classic American pub cuisine, sports entertainment and shopping, along with live tv coverage of sporting events. The club closed along with the rest of Walt Disney World during the pandemic and has not reopened since.

The Cake Bake Shop by Gwendolyn Rogers has two existing locations in Indianapolis, and you can see those menus for an idea of what to expect at the Walt Disney World location.

The Cake Bake Shop by Gwendolyn Rogers

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Bocabear22 days ago

We were just at Disney for our annual summer trip...we are all foodies, and I could not get anyone interested in trying the Cake Bake Shop...they read the menu and laughed at the prices and pretentious extra "e" on menu items and said "nope" no one wanted a $26 slice of cake....lol We did end up at the Helios Grand one night for cocktails and Tapas in their rooftop lounge which was all pretty good... Very nice cocktails....and the view over the new park was great... One of these days we will do the actual park....

Tha Realest23 days ago

Will the construction phase of this establishment prove to be longer than the time it operates? Are we nearing an NBA Experience situation?

TrainsOfDisney23 days ago

ESPN club was frequently at capacity - obviously when there was a big game to watch.

dmc49323 days ago

I've seen heavier amounts of complaints online about terrible service and almost entirely empty seating areas. Unsurprising but curious just how bad they might be doing

MisterPenguin23 days ago

Wasn't the cake bake controversy not too long ago?

ToTBellHop23 days ago

I'm sure the food prices will fall, too........................ Everything here is moving right on schedule for it to close up shop by 2026.

castlecake2.023 days ago

So word on the street is the cake bake just cut their front line employees hourly base pay

Tiggerish29 days ago

Could they both be her? The soldier Mulan (1) and the daughter Mulan (2)?

Bocabear29 days ago

Black Spire is completely lost on me... So I try not to comment much about it... I don't know the characters that came after the first 5 movies...and don't really care about them...or this made up location that was never even part of the film world... I like the Millennium Falcon attraction... Once.... and Rise is really well done and a great ride... But as a whole I just don't love it.

ToTBellHop29 days ago

Til the Spire!

Tha Realest29 days ago

You don’t like the alien pawn shop aesthetic they do in Black Spire Outpost? You’re not inspired to buy seemingly homemade items evocative of the sequel trilogy from CMs that look lost?

Bocabear29 days ago

I think the Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley sections of the universal parks redefined a thematic shopping experience... THey did that...creating the best ambiance for shopping ever, and Disney strips all theming and whimsy from their stores creating a boring and bland "Target" style shopping experience... I guess Disney feels it doesn't have to try anymore... The rubes will buy anything.... A sad time for a company based on creative experiences....

Comped30 days ago

Epic and Universal as a whole still lack Disney's merchandising capabilities unfortunately. It's better than what it was a decade ago, but Disney still tends to produce more and better selling items. They just completely went in the opposite direction of Universal, which themed their stores and many but not all of the items they sell in them to particular areas, when they used to be the leader in this. And it is disappointing. But for WOD in particular it's absolutely shocking considering Disney also let their retail outlets essentially die when they didn't have to...

Bocabear30 days ago

I agree...Streamlining everything down to a Target Experience does nothing as far as inspiring guests to linger and shop....and then buy....certainly not me anyway. It has become a convenience shopping experience before you head to the airport rather than a Destination Shopping experience... It no longer feels magical or whimsical...I find I never care anymore about going in and looking around to see what's new. I guess I will save that for my trip to Epic Universe...