The latest addition to Disney Springs will test the powers of logic, dexterity and perseverance of its customers in creative, competitive ways.
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Level99 opens to the public Monday with 63 challenges awaiting.
Sometimes players are asked to arrange — quickly — a series of related objects. Sometimes they must use clues to build a structure in less than 3 minutes. Sometimes teamwork is needed to transfer “alien babies” (aka pellets) from scoop to cylinder.
Sometimes they dodge swinging axes.
“We see some people who are really into the physical games, and they can do monkey bars all day. … And then there are other people who are into skill games or social-communication games or mental games,” said Matt DuPlessie, founder and CEO of Level99, during a ribbon-cutting and media preview of the experiences Thursday.
“We’ve tried to balance the 63 in the portfolio here so that there’s something for every taste,” he said.
Level99 games are spread over two levels in the West Side neighborhood of Disney Springs, a shopping and entertainment complex at Walt Disney World. All but a handful of the challenges are in self-contained, somewhat mysterious modules. Oversized graphics hint at the theme.
A self-service screen at each entrance gives instruction options, ranging from hints or tips to full-on directions.
Or some players prefer to go in cold and try to figure out the task after they’re inside and the clock is running.
“On the entry screen of each room, there’s a little light bulb icon, and you can touch that and get hints or read the full instructions for the room before you play,” DuPlessie said.
The challenges are designed for two to six people to play together. One exception for single players is called the Axe Run on the ground floor near the entrance. Players walk down a narrow beam, timing their pace to maneuver between giant, erratically swinging (faux) axes.
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Just making it to the other side is the goal, but journeys are timed. Fastest times, say, less than 8 seconds, can earn applause and mention on the daily leader board.
Disney Springs is the fourth Level99 location, all along the East Coast of the U.S.; four more venues are planned for the company, which launched in 2021. It develops its mini-games in a Massachusetts laboratory, and there is shuffling between locations. Disney Springs sports the most challenges in the chain.
“After a venue kind of reaches maturity, some number of months in, we begin rotating content, usually a cluster of rooms at a time. Two or three challenges at a time come out, and a fresh theme, fresh type of challenge and puzzle comes in, so that each time you come back, there’s something new,” DuPlessie said.
“It’s all part of the repeatability,” he said.
That extends to beating best times between the axes or going back to a challenge once players think they’ve got a better grip on the task after the initial try.
Players pay for blocks of time inside Level99, not the number of challenges attempted. Tickets start at $29.99 per player and are available in 1.5-hour and 2.5-hour denominations. The number of competitors inside is capped to encourage short wait times. Most games are merely two or three minutes long, whether the tasks are completed or not. Participants can pause their game clocks to take a break for food and beverages. A large, circular two-story bar is built between the Level99 staircases.
Disney Springs: New Level99 venue uses teamwork to tick
The space’s previous tenant was the short-lived NBA Experience, which included hands-on basketball-themed activities, but the attractions closed with the pandemic shutdown in 2020 and never reopened. Before that, this part of Disney Springs was home to DisneyQuest, an interactive venue that operated from 1998 to 2017.
“This is truly relevant to today. … where you go in, and you connect with the people that you’re with. You create these moments that become memories,” said Debbie Hart, vice president of Disney Springs.
“We want our guests to bond, connect, escape from reality, and do something different,” she said.
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