Disney Springs' New Season Arrived Before Its Calendar Did. Here Is the Fall Map for Golden Oak.

Six Ravens held its Grand Opening Congregation at 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 17. By then it had been selling coffyns, which are hand pies made from yeast rolls, for about ten weeks. The soft opening was August 3, and the ribbon came afterward.

The same pattern runs through this fall at Disney Springs. The holiday shopping opened weeks before the holiday season starts, and Town Center filled its storefronts one at a time. If you live inside the Golden Oak gates, Disney Springs is the shopping and dining district in your own resort, so the dates that matter are the days the doors opened.

The Headline Date Came Second

Six Ravens is the clearest example. It comes from the team behind Gideon's Bakehouse and works the same way, with ordering inside and eating outside. The Disney Parks Blog described the coffyns as stuffed with savory fillings inspired by medieval European pastry cases. They come with smashed potatoes and dips like sweet heat and homemade honey mustard. The detail locals will care about is the beer list. Six Ravens pours local beers made in partnership with Sideward Brewing and The Ravenous Pig.

LEVEL99 is the straightforward exception, opening on the day it promised. The operator announced on June 16 that its Disney Springs West Side venue would open Monday, June 29. That's a 46,800-square-foot gaming space with a two-story bar, cocktails, local beer and pizza.

The Hallmark pop-up shows the gap against the season. Hallmark announced it at D23 on August 16 and set an early October opening. WDW News Today reported a ribbon-cutting on Wednesday, October 7. Disney's own holiday season doesn't start until November 13. The store built for holiday shopping has been open more than five weeks before the holiday calendar begins.

Town Center Changed Hands Store by Store

Most of the new storefronts sit in Town Center, and they arrived without one moment you could circle on a calendar.

• Hallmark Holiday Pop-Up. It's in the former Francesca's storefront near Frontera Cocina. It's built around the Hallmark Channel movie Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True, which was filmed at Walt Disney World. Alongside the movie merchandise it carries Hallmark greeting cards, Keepsake Ornaments and Disney-inspired gifts. Hallmark describes it as a limited-time store.
• Ghirardelli, temporary location. Disney moved its sundae counter into a temporary Town Center spot while the longtime Marketplace shop is renovated. The renovation adds more indoor seating and a refreshed layout, and Disney points to 2027 for the return. Disney's directory now lists Ghirardelli in Town Center, open 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
• Vans. The Disney Springs listing places it in Town Center, with footwear, skate shoes and apparel and the same 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. hours.
• Cole Haan. Disney's directory marks it "New!" in Town Center. Its detail page calls the store the brand's only Central Florida flagship.

Disney's pages for Vans and Cole Haan still show "Coming Soon" banners next to their posted hours. A quick phone call before a special trip is the dependable move.

What Left, and Where It Leaves the Gaps

The departures came early in the summer. Inside the Magic reported that the 4 Rivers Cantina Barbacoa Food Truck and GoJuice served their last guests at Exposition Park on June 7. Cilantro Urban Eatery had already disappeared from the same lot. Those trucks were the quick, inexpensive end of a Disney Springs evening. Six Ravens now covers much of that grab-and-go territory, with a local-brewery tap list the trucks never had.

The Marketplace side lost its Ghirardelli storefront for the renovation, but the brand didn't leave. Its menu moved to Town Center, and the sundae itself stayed the same.

The Season by Date

Here is the order things actually happened, and the dates still ahead as of late October:

1. June 7: 4 Rivers Cantina Barbacoa and GoJuice close at Exposition Park.
2. June 29: LEVEL99 opens at West Side.
3. August 3: Six Ravens soft-opens.
4. October 7: The Hallmark pop-up opens in Town Center.
5. October 17: Six Ravens holds its Grand Opening Congregation.
6. November 13: Walt Disney World's 2026 holiday season begins.
7. November 28: Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True premieres at 8/7c on Hallmark Channel, then streams on Hallmark+ the next day.
8. December 24: Santa's last day at Disney Springs.
9. January 6, 2027: The holiday season ends.

The Disney Springs Christmas Tree Stroll presented by AdventHealth is confirmed for 2026, but no start date has been posted. The official Tree Stroll page still describes the 2025 trees and asks visitors to check back.

What the Holidays Add on November 13

Disney's 2026 holiday guide lists a handful of Disney Springs additions that run alongside what's already open:

• Nightly snowfall in Town Center. That's the same district where the Hallmark pop-up, Vans, Cole Haan and the temporary Ghirardelli now sit.
• The Tree Stroll. Expect themed trees inspired by Disney, Pixar and Star Wars. The Toy Story tree is back this year.
• Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar Holiday Overlay. The bar adds holiday decorations and serves seasonal bites, brews and libations.
• Live music at the AdventHealth Waterside Stage. On select nights, regional and local bands play, with first-come, first-served seating.
• Santa. He visits Disney Springs through December 24. Times and locations go up in My Disney Experience rather than on a fixed schedule.

Taken together, the timeline points to an early start. Holiday shopping at Disney Springs began on October 7, and the snow and music arrive on November 13. If your guests' list includes Keepsake Ornaments or merchandise from the Hallmark movie, the quieter weeks before the season opens and before the November 28 premiere fall right now. After the premiere, more viewers will have seen the film and will know the store exists.

Hosting Guests on the New Map

Out-of-town visitors arriving over Thanksgiving week will find a Disney Springs that has moved around since their last trip. An easy evening could start with coffyns and a Sideward or Ravenous Pig beer at Six Ravens. From there you might go to LEVEL99 at West Side for a group that wants something to do, or to Town Center for snowfall and a sundae at Ghirardelli's temporary counter. For a sit-down dinner, Disney notes that Morimoto Asia and The Polite Pig are both recognized by the MICHELIN Guide.

Golden Oak's private club calendar runs on a schedule of its own, which our earlier look at Golden Oak's two fall calendars covered. The Hallmark pop-up, Six Ravens and the temporary Ghirardelli counter are all open now, ahead of the November 13 start of the holiday season.

If you're hosting this season and thinking about how your home in the resort will serve your family over the years ahead, Toni Cafferty would be glad to talk it through quietly, from what owners in Golden Oak are asking today to what your property's place inside Walt Disney World means for its next chapter. Request a Confidential Consultation whenever you're ready.