Creator: Water will work for Disney Springs restaurant

Steven Schussler, CEO of Schussler Creative, made fanciful restaurants such as Rainforest Cafe, T-Rex Caf and Yak & Yeti become reality. His latest project is the under-construction Boathouse, a 400-seat eatery that will help transition Downtown Disney into a new incarnation known as Disney Springs. Schussler recently talked with Orlando Sentinel reporter Dewayne Bevil about how the nautical-themed, waterfront restaurant will work.

How long has the Boathouse been in the works?

This is something we've been pitching for six years. The waterfront here has always been the back of the house. It's unbelievable. So I've been giving talks saying we should be turning this into the front of the house, not the back of the house. Obviously, Disney Imagineering and executives have been feeling this way for a long time.

What have been the building challenges?

Three-quarters of it is built over water. So it's one of the hardest construction projects we have ever built. We're using stainless steel and using all kinds of materials that ordinarily you would never use, to preserve the integrity of everything from the pipes to the decks. It's built to last 100 years and to be able to sustain the rising and lowering of the water levels. There are environmental issues, there are construction issues, there's the issue of not making noise working at night, there's issues of bringing beams in here on barges. We had to put 175 beams in the water down X amount of feet just to support it all.

What will be happening inside?

A: We have six different rooms. Every room is decorated differently. Not only art deco, but remnants of boathouses from the past for instance, the old navigational tools that they've used. It's really refreshing all original, never been done before. You can't be at Disney and not be creative. There has to be a story. I'm very blessed to have Disney Imagineering tell the story. This is supposed to be an old boathouse and over the years we've added onto it.

What's up with the food?

We found Gibson's out of Chicago, the No. 1 steakhouse in Chicago. [It's the] first time they're leaving Chicago to come somewhere else. What I found is that whether you're creating something for teenagers or young adults or you're creating things for older people, everybody likes class, and everybody likes great food.

I know that we're building wows. I know that. But people come once for the wow factor. They come back for quality food and service. I really want to emphasis the food factor. Without that you have nothing.

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Creator: Water will work for Disney Springs restaurant