Downtown Disney - Almost is the size of a town! (Downtown Disney)

Member Name: mr_nadge

Product:	Downtown Disney
Date:	14/07/09 (12 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Everything, Shopping, Entertainment, Eating. All varied and numerous.

Disadvantages: Could end up eating into your Theme Park time. Difficult not to buy something.

Downtown Disney is a Leisure & shopping area of Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. It is open from around 10.00 a.m. until late at night. I have been to Disney World resort on two seperate occasions so I have seen & done a lot that there is to do here.

The area is split into three sections. Market Place, Westside & Pleasure Island. I'm afraid to say that as of 2009, all the Nightclubs in Pleasure Island are now closed with no known re-opening date. You can however walk through P.I. to get from Market Place to Westside.

Market Place is where most visitors will arrive. This has the Biggest Disney Store in the world & carries most of the items that can be bought around the theme parks & hotels in stock. However be warned, if you see something in a park that you want & has the parks name on it, it may not be available in the World of Disney Shop. Also different shops in different parks have different offers. Both me & my wife bought a limited edition watch from Epcot for $10 which was not available here.
There is the Team Mickey shop which carried a large range of sportswear. The two biggest sections are Baseball & American football which compete for title of most popular sport in America. You can buy merchandise for any team from the NFL or the MLB. There is also a smaller Basketball section. An Ice Hockey section (which curiously only had merchandise from Canadian teams - no American - weird!). Plus other sports from around the world. I did see Chelsea, Liverpool & Man U stuff in here lol.
There is a Lego Store, Candy Store, Christmas Store, Pin Store & a Boutique where you can pay to have your daughter made up to look like her favourite Disney Princess.
Restaurants in the Market Place include the Rainforest Cafe, which is themed on a Rainforest. T-Rex which is a Dinosaur themed restaurant. Fulton's crab house which is on a paddle boat. Raglan Road which is an Irish themed pub and the obiligatory McDonald's.

Westside is not that disimilar in that it has shops & restaurants although I feel it's a bit more grown up.
Attractions are a cinema which i haven't been inside. A Cirque Du Soleil show called La Nouba unique to Disney World. This cost $90 per adult. We did enjoy the show although to be fair, I thought it was overpriced & would recommend other activities. Disneyquest indoor theme park which We went in & did enjoy but I could write an entire review just about that!
Shops include a Large Virgin Megastore for CD's, DVD's & video games. American PSP games will work on UK consoles. A magic shop, a Cigar shop, a Magnet shop, candy shop & Planet Hollywood clothing store.
The restaurants here are Planet Hollywood; We ate in here twice. Good hearty food. Burgers etc. I would also recommend it for special occasions as I had my Wedding meal in here which was great! House of Blues; food from the American South including Jumbalaya, Gumbo, Smoked Meats, plus the usual Burgers ETC. Really enjoyed the food in here but beware. I'm the only one in my family who likes spicy food so everyone else had to avoid a few things on the menu. Wolfgang Puck; Modern American cuisine. didn't eat in here.

There is an awful lot to do, look at, buy & eat in this area & if you are staying anywhere nearby or in a Disney Hotel you will go here a lot & enjoy it. When you're in Florida - Have a look.

Summary: Great place to go in the Evening or for Shopping or Eating