Downtown Disney

Lots of friends tell me that they haven't visited Downtown Disney because they don't have time for it while they're at Disney World.  Well, that's understandable, but I will tell you that my family LOVES Downtown Disney!  There are so many fun things to do there, and you don't have to have a ticket to get in!

Let's be honest here, my family loves going out to eat.  So we love all the great restaurants at Downtown Disney.  Our favorite quick service restaurant is Wolfgang Puck Express.  We ate there twice on our last vacation.  The food is unique and delicious!  I highly recommend it, especially if you're on the quick service dining plan.  I've also heard that Earl of Sandwich is good, but we've never tried it because we can't get enough of Wolfgang Puck!

There are also some great table service restaurants like Planet Hollywood, Wolfgang Puck Cafe, and Cap'n Jack's Restaurant. Those are on the table service dining plan.  But there is also Fulton's Crab House (mmm...crab legs...), Rainforest Cafe, and House of Blues, but these are not on the dining plan.  So try those out if you've got some extra cash laying around, or you just want the experience!

I have heard so much about DisneyQuest at Downtown Disney, but we've never made it there.  I think I'm going to make that a goal for our next trip.  DisneyQuest is an indoor, interactive theme park, with attractions like CyberSpace Mountain where you get to create your own coaster, Virtual Jungle Cruise where you can take a raft ride through dinosaur times, Buzz Lightyear's Astroblasters, a bumper car/asteroid shooting ride, and Pirates of the Caribbean-Battle for Buccaneer Gold where you get to steer your pirate ship, and shoot your cannons on your own pirating adventure!

And my personal favorite, the shopping!  You must visit World of Disney, the largest Disney character store on the planet!  You can find just about anything Disney-related you could possibly imagine in this store.  It is broken up into separate parts, but it is all part of one fantastic store! 

There's also my daughter's personal favorite, Goofy's Candy Company.  This is a really neat experience.  You can choose a treat like a cookie, or rice krispie treat and choose all sorts of toppings.  This year, we got a Mickey krispie treat dipped in milk chocolate, covered with sprinkles, and drizzled with dark chocolate.  But you can come up with your own combination!  You can also buy all sorts of other sweet goodies in here.

Then there's the Lego Imagination Center, where you'll definitely want to go if you have a Lego lover in your family!  I am amazed at the things you can see here built out of nothing but legos.  You can play with legos to your heart's content in this store.

There's the Disney's Pin Traders store, where you can find just about any pin you want, and trade if you want as well.  Disney Days of Christmas is also a fun store where you can get ready for a Disney Christmas!  And don't miss Once Upon a Toy where your kids can shop and play with tons of Disney toys!  If you like to shop, you'll love Downtown Disney!

There is so much to do at Downtown Disney, you really should take the time to stop by.  We don't spend a day there or anything, but sometimes we go to a park in the morning, and Downtown Disney in the evening.  It's a treat for the whole family!

Until next time...
Disney Diva