Disney Quadraplex, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

A Corner Outpost for the Gulf Coast League

The area behind a dugout at Field C of the Disney Baseball Quadraplex, Aug-2003.

A small spectator seating area resides under a canopy.

The ball field itself, as seen from behind the plate.

Chronological Tour: Stop 257

Quick Facts:

Location: Walt Disney World, Victory Way off Osceola Parkway, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Opened: 1998
Home team: Braves, Gulf Coast League (through 2018)
Capacity: 147

Rating: Unrated

Thanks to the nature of the Gulf Coast League, the loop flew under the radar of most baseball fans. The rookie league, which consisted mostly of 16- to 19-year-olds, was a part of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (every team was owned and operated by a major league club), but it wasn’t marketed as Minor League Baseball™ was. In fact, if you didn’t know better, you’d think you were watching a sandlot game. This was pro baseball at its purest, kids playing and learning the game with very little distraction. There are no matrix boards, no public address announcers, no dizzy bat races – and, in general, no fans.

Some Major League Baseball clubs don’t like that. Only 20 of the 30 teams maintained GCL or Arizona Summer League teams; the rest of them sent all their rookies to the Appalachian or Pioneer leagues, or up another level to the New York-Penn and Northwest leagues, where the kids got a true minor-league experience. (That changed in 2021 with the abolition of short-season leagues; the spring training complex leagues were also restructured and are likely to be further scaled back in the future.)

It’s impossible for me to assign my usual baseball rating to a practice field tucked away behind a legitimate minor league stadium. Field C at Disney’s Wide World of Sports is part of the Baseball Quadraplex, out behind Wide World of Sports Stadium, which was home to the Orlando Rays from 2000 through 2003 and serves as the Braves’ spring exhibition field.

As at the other three fields in the complex, Field C has a small grandstand with seating for 147 under a canopy, so you don’t get wet or sunburned. That’s more than enough, as I counted 14 fans (people who didn’t appear to be affiliated with the teams) at the first game I attended here, including some people who wandered over from the Official All-Star Cafe, watched for a few minutes, couldn’t grasp the concept (or couldn’t take the heat), and left.

With the completion of a new complex in North Port, the Braves have left Walt Disney World, leaving the facility to use for youth tournaments and so forth. After Hurricane Ian did significant damage to Charlotte Sports Park in September 2022, the complex was pressed back into service for Tampa Bay Rays spring training in 2023.

Game	Date	League	Level	Result
632	Mon 25-Aug-2003	Gulf Coast	R	GCL BRAVES 4, GCL Red Sox 3, 13 inn
636	Wed 27-Aug-2003	Gulf Coast	R	GCL BRAVES 4, GCL Pirates 3

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