by Disney Magic Diva

If you’re looking for something entertaining to do on arrival or departure day during your Walt Disney World Resort vacation or just plan on having a “no park” day in the middle of your trip, here’s a tip that will make you the “kingpin” of your family – take them to Splitsville Luxury Lanes in Disney Springs!

Located close to the AMC Theater in Disney Springs’ West Side, Splitsville is a fabulous and fun destination for all ages. This is not your grandparents’ bowling alley!  Sure, there are two stories of bowling lanes; but there are also lots of dining options (inside, outside, upstairs, downstairs), bars, live music, dancing, billiards, and delicious food! (One Table Service credit on the Disney Dining Plan)

We arrived around 7:00 pm on a Saturday evening. As you enter the building, you are guided to different lines depending on if you’d like to just dine or bowl.  If you choose to bowl, you are welcome (but not required) to order food from your lane and have the food delivered there.  That seemed like a “striking” combination to us, so we chose to bowl AND dine.

Not surprisingly, it was busy on a Saturday evening, so we were told it would be about a 90 minute wait. Pre-payment for bowling is required.  Instead of paying based on the number of games, you are allotted a certain amount of time for your lane, and you bowl as much as you like for that designated time.  Your time “frame” is based on the number of people in your party.  For our party of 2, we were allotted one hour and were able to play a little over three games.  Parties of 3-4 receive 1 hour 15 minutes, 5-6 have 90 minutes, and groups of 7-8 have 1 hour 45 minutes.  The price varies based on the time of day: daytime (10:30-4:00pm) is $17 per person and evening (4:00-close) is $22 per person.  Weekend rates are $22 from 10:00 am until close.  There is also Early Bird Bowling which offers a discount until noon on certain days, and a discount for Annual Passholders and Cast Members.  Bowling shoes are included with your admission. Click here for more information.

After we paid for bowling, we were given a pager and were happy to be told our pager would work within a limited range of Splitsville, so we could roam around nearby areas in Disney Springs. Actually, since we had a long wait, we roamed a little outside the range for the first 30 minutes or so, but returned to be within range by the time our pager signaled our lane was ready.

We returned the pager, were given our shoes, then escorted upstairs to our designated lane. I was impressed with the layout of Splitsville.  The interior was well designed in that it had several groups of lanes scattered throughout the building.  I never had the impression that I was in a huge bowling hall – instead as you walked around you saw small pockets of activity – bowling lanes, dining, bars, etc. – never wide open spaces.  This gave it a much more intimate feel – something I wouldn’t expect when bowling!

It has been decades since I last bowled, but we were just here for some fun, so I didn’t worry about the score. It’s a good thing, too, because I would never have remembered even HOW to score.  But the electronic score boards did all the work for us.  Even our names had been programmed in, and all we had to do was start rolling the ball down the lane.  We had several balls to choose from, with a wide range of weights.  Some of them even had adorable Mickeys and Minnies on them!

Soon our server came by with menus, and we ordered the Macho Nachos to share. The menu describes them as “Loaded with seasoned ground beef, shredded cheddar jack cheese, queso, black bean corn salsa and pickled jalapenos. Drizzled with avocado ranch and served with a side of sour cream.”  They were fabulous, and definitely “macho” enough to feed the two of us!  If you’re interested in more upscale food, though, Splitsville has so much more to offer than traditional bowling alley cuisine.  Choose from 11 varieties of sushi, grilled salmon with mango chutney, fish n’ chips, chicken alfredo, ahi tuna, steak and mushrooms, or of course pizza and burgers.  There’s also an extensive beer, wine and cocktail menu.

A few times we had some trouble with the pins not resetting correctly on our lane. There is a button by your table to push which notifies a cast member you need assistance.  Each time they came to help, they also added more time to our allotment, so we wouldn’t feel like we had “wasted” part of our bowling time.  (Actually, it also gave us a few minutes to devour those yummy nachos, so it really was a win-win!)  Our time allotment was displayed as a countdown timer in the bottom corner of our scoreboard, so we always knew how much time we had remaining.

We had a fabulous time at Splitsville – more fun than I thought I would bowling. It was low-key, high energy, and over the top fun!  Be sure to check it out on your next Disney vacation!  (Going to Disneyland?  There’s a Splitsville in Downtown Disney!)

And speaking of your Disney vacation, be sure to contact Patricia at All for Dreams Travel to help with booking your trip. Her services are FREE!!!

***Disclaimer – We at Tips from the Disney Divas and Devos hope you enjoy reading our articles, and encourage you to share any you feel may be of interest to someone else. We do ask, however, if you choose to share the photographs attached to our articles, you give credit to the photographer. Thank you for your cooperation and sharing our love of Disney!

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