Why you don’t want to watch sports on Disney property (and where to watch them)

An unpopular opinion

When it comes to American Football, I’m a Dallas Cowboys fan. This year, they’re playing the Panthers in week 1, but in the years previous, they’ve played memorable matches against the Giants. Last season was the Cowboys blowing out the Super Bowl contender by 16, In 2016, Terrance Williams ran around with no time outs, causing us to lose by 1 when we could have kicked a field goal. In 2015, Romo fumbled the snap before hitting Witten for the game winner with 8 seconds left.

Needless to say, these aren’t games to miss.

For the aforementioned 2015 game, I found myself in WDW. I spent the first 8 hours of my day in the parks (with a 2-hour break at the ESPN Zone); but, as all sports fans do, I kept my eyes on the clock. I got back to the Caribbean Beach ‘Resort’ with thirty minutes to spare. I went down to the food court (to see if I could eat and watch), but there weren’t any TV’s playing games. Connected to the Old Port Royale Food Court was Shutters.

When I asked to see if they had any TV’s playing the games, they admitted that they didn’t. Starving for both football and food, I asked to see a menu so that I could place a to-go order; resigned to watch the game in my room. I was told that I couldn’t order to-go because the kitchen was “too backed up”. However, if I wanted, I could sit in the restaurant and eat there. I tried to get them to let me place an order, then I’d come back at halftime to pick-up the food, but I was told that they, “may not open up the kitchen to to-go tonight”.

Fuming, I left two food locations on Walt Disney World hungry, before heading back to my room.

Since I’m a fan of American Football, College Football, Soccer (International, La Liga and NWSL) and Lebron James, I watch a lot of sports. While Disney is great at taking money out of your pocket, they’ve always been bad at leveraging sporting events to do it. To contrast, Universal Orlando has: NBC Sports Grille and Brew on City Walk, Finnegans in the parks, Jake’s, The Hideaway and The Kitchen at the hotels.

I’m going to go over some places where you could watch on Disney property, but then, I’ll dive into the much better spots to see your favorite sports. Oh, and since I did get to eat at halftime, I went across the street to the gas station for chocolate milk and trail mix.

AT DISNEY:

ESPN Zone

This is where most lists begin and end. The overly popular Boardwalk spot is filled normally, but overflowing (with a Soarin-esk queue) when there’s a sporting event. With overpriced food, average service and massive lines, you might be wondering why would anyone wait for this!?

The truth is, that there’s no other “sports bars” in WDW. A quick google search of “Sports Bars in Walt Disney World” will give you:

• ESPN Club
• Sharkey’s Sports Bar (not in Disney)
• Wreckers Sports Bar (not in Disney)
• Buffalo Wild Wings (not in Disney)
• Rix Sports Bar and Grill (not in Disney)
• Miller’s Ale House (not in Disney)
• Craig Miller’s Field House Sports Bar (not in Disney)
• Hooters (not in Disney)
• Drafts Sports Bar and Grill (not in Disney)
• ESPN Wide World of Sports Grill

Two in the top 10, one of which is located at a location that most visitors don’t know exist!

Rainforest Cafe

Rainforest brings the lines and prices of ESPN Zone, without the bar popularity. Unlike ESPN, this place isn’t littered with televisions, but the bar has more than enough to watch your game. Most don’t know that the bar is open seating, so it’s a great way to skip the lines. With two locations, one of them being in Animal Kingdom, it’s a convenient place to break away to get your sports fix.

But anyone looking for a Sports Bar atmosphere or a television sports package (except for the NFL Sunday Ticket package) will be sorely disappointed. This is first and foremost a family restaurant, the bar being an afterthought.

PB&G

A more recent addition, PB&G is an outdoor spot at the Four Seasons Resort. When I want to make a day of watching sports, and I don’t have my own transportation, I bee-bop busses until I land here.

This outdoor bar and restaurant has televisions all around, as well as sports playing over the sound system! The three bartenders I’ve been with are all super knowledgeable about sports, and love to speak it with you. The food is everything you’d expect from a Four Seasons, with next level apps and hand-helds. As of now, this is a relatively unknown spot so you can park at the bar for the day and not feel guilty if you’re only ordering a pint every now and again.

While this is technically inside of the World, it’s unfortunately as inconvenient as leaving (unless you’re staying on the Monorail loop). Parking is Valet only and will set you back $30. The food is, well, Four Seasons; so don’t expect to get away on a McDonald’s budget. Appetizers will run you $12-16, sandwiches float around $20, and entrees get into the $30s. You can get a bucket of 5 beers for $35, or a local draft for $8.

The big negative is that you could be dropping around $100 to watch the game; doubling my normal daily vacation food budget. The second downside is the 6pm closing time; meaning you’ll have to find another way to watch the 4^th quarter.

Splitsville

While I’ve never been here, I’ve heard from several people who say that Splitsville is the next ESPN Zone. For me, it’s already hit the mark because the wait is too long for me to get in (I’ve tried half a dozen times to get a lane). If you’re headed here, you can grab an alley, or sit at one of the bars.

This “West Side” spot (formerly the Virgin Mega Store) offers typical Sports Bar Snacks. Sliders, Nachos, and Pizza highlight the main fare; but you can also get Bowling Alley Sushi. The prices are Four Seasons level, but the food isn’t…the choice is yours.

NOT AT DISNEY:

NBC SPORTS GRILLE AND BREW

Truth be told, if I want games, grub and I don’t want to spend a lot of green, I go to Universal’s NBC Sports Grille and Brew.

With a dozen starters, you could bring a group and munch on sharables from the 1pm games through the night games. The food is well priced, portions are large and the service has always been great. There are more televisions than people, and I haven’t found a single bad spot in the house. For those who have only gone to ESPN Zone, imagine that capacity….DOUBLED! For the ladies who want to enjoy the weather and not be entrenched in sports, they have outdoor seating available.

While many tourists are beginning to split their vacations between the two Theme Park giants, there are those who aren’t. Universal is a hike from Disney and the Uber bill alone might detour one from making the trip. Also, unlike Disney Springs, Universal’s City Walk has a steep parking fee. If you don’t have a year pass, I can see that being a big reason why not to go to Orlando’s best Tourist Sports Bar.

Craig Miller’s Field House Sports Bar

A 5-mile drive north from Crossroads will bring you to my favorite sports bar in southwest Orlando; the Field House. The food is great and I haven’t had bad service yet.

Chips and Salsa will run you $12 at PB&G; Nachos will set you back $15 at Splitsville. At Craig Millers, the prices are $3.75 and $8.95 respectively; and that’s not a special! For lunch, they run an Eight Dollar, 9in pizza, with a choice of soup or salad. Feeling extra hungry? Get 2lbs of wings for around $20 tossed in one of their 15 sauces.

The menu is massive, giving you all the American food options you’d expect to see at a Sports Bar. Sound is always playing inside, but they also have an outdoor bar. If you’re going with a family, there’s plenty of booths around the perimeter. If you’re like me (and flying solo), there’s both the bar, and bar seating around the bar!

For sports food and atmosphere, it doesn’t get much better than the Field House

The Local Chains

For those from the States, there are plenty of local chains nearby enough. Driving east on Hotel Plaza Boulevard will run you into Buffalo Wild Wings, Miller’s Ale House or Twin Peaks. To the Southwest of the World, there’s another ‘B-Dubs’ and Miller’s, but if you travel down 192 a mile or two, you can stop at Gator’s Dockside or Hurricane Grill & Wings.

All of these places will give familiar food to the domestic out-of-towner. It’ll also give the International visitor a taste of American Sports Bar chains; well-priced, fried pub food, with sports all around, served by a hit or miss wait staff.

If you’re looking for something to the Northwest of the Magic Kingdom (as Southwest through Northeast have been covered), you won’t find anything except for a desolate 429.

LAST CALL:

With a car

• If I’ve got a car and I want to see a game, I’m headed to Craig Millers Field House
• If I’m with the family and they want to go to the parks while I watch sports, they go to Universal Orlando while I go to NBC Sports Grille and Brew

With an Uber/Lyft

• If I’m staying to the Southwest (All-Star/Animal Kingdom area), I’ll take a quick ride to Gator’s Dockside and pay the minimum ride share fee.
• If I’m staying to the Northeast (Monorail Loop/Epcot Area), I’ll go to PB&G for pretzel bites and a sandwich.

Only Disney Transportation

• ESPN Zone is your best bet here. Go to the location at ESPN’S Wide World of Sports (if Disney Springs isn’t super convenient).

Pay Per View’s

• Buffalo Wild Wings has no cover for the fights, but make sure to go early (8p-9p for a 10p fight) or you may be standing by the door till 1am. There’s one to the Northeast and one to the Southeast of property.

Agree? Disagree? Don’t care? Pick your poison before writing a comment below. Also, feel free to follow the photo album from my adventures at vsco.com/albertawol