Options are limited if you’re looking for a meal across from Disney World’s Lake Buena Vista entrance on State Road 535, The Crossroads, a Disney-built shopping center, is closing to make way for an Interstate 4 traffic reconfiguration.
The shopping center built in 1988 will soon be demolished.
Goodings, the grocery store that anchored the plaza, has already shut down. A sign states the store is “permanently closed.”
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T.G.I. Fridays is also closed and Buffalo Wild Wings is only offering take-out food. Many of the smaller shops have left.
Perkins, which was here since the beginning, is still open. McDonald’s and Pizzeria Uno still survive.
All businesses said they will be forced to be out by Aug. 31.
Shoppers like Bob Naon said he’s been coming here for decades.
“This has always been part of Lake Buena Vista,” Naon said. “A lot of history here.”
The Florida Department of Transportation calls the reconfiguration project “Beyond the Ultimate,” a reference to the 21-mile stretch of I-4 that FDOT began reconfiguring and reconstructing in 2015.
According to renderings from the FDOT, the SR 535 / I-4 interchange reconfiguration includes a direct route from the highway to Disney World with an exit looping over the old Crossroads plaza.
FDOT communications offices are closed in observance of the Fourth of July holiday and did not return inquiries about the specifics of the interchange reconfiguration or the timing of the demolition.