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People Do Like Downtown Disney

cowanfamily

cowanfamily

Well-Known Member
I never spent much time there. My last trip in november my nephew drug me down there to eat at Puck's. I fell in love with the place. I ate at DTD 3 times on the trip.
I am now officially a fan of DTD!
 
M

MickeyPeace

Well-Known Member
I'll give a shout out to Earl of Sandwich-which is soon to be in my home town of NYC. Meatball sandwich is my favorite.

I also had a very good meal of king crab legs and bloody marys at Fultons.

Lastly, La Nouba is an excellent show.
 
PolynesianPrincess

PolynesianPrincess

Well-Known Member
Personally, I love DTD (and in our family, we still call it Disney Village!!) When I'm at the parks, the last thing I want to do is shop. I'm in "attraction mode", not "shopping mode". We always make DTD a stop on our visits, whether it's an evening after the parks for dinner at Rainforest Cafe or (as on this trip coming up in May) a whole afternoon of it. I love the atmosphere there. I only once went to PI in 2001.. I was 18 and my cousin was 15 and our mom's took us to Motion. We had fun dancing and stuff but I don't think now, being 28 that I would spend a night out at a club while visiting Disney. IDK, to me, it just doesn't seem to fit.:confused:
 
T

TWICKERS

Member
Absolutely love DTD

Ghiradelli's

Shops Christmas Shop and Art Shop

Earl of Sandwich

Virgin check in

and just people watching whilst eating a Ghiradelli ice cream :slurp:

Only downside sometimes hard to park at peak times but worth the wait
 
heliumalias

heliumalias

Member
I love DTD and have loved it throughout my many years of visiting WDW. I confess though that until last summer I'd never properly explored the West Side (beyond AMC/Virgin/DQ/PH), I'd walked through it but never taken the time to go into the shops and explore (mostly because the people I was with never expressed an interest too either). I also never really saw the tourist appeal for PI. (I understood it for locals) To me if I want to go clubbing while on vacation WDW is the last place I would go. Having said that some of the theming sounds like it was amazing and it would have been nice to see it once. As a kid/teenager though I found walking through the PI district intimidating because it was all clubs (at least it felt that way) and it was right in the middle of DTD. Now I have no issues walking through that area and I'm quite excited by the HW developments. Personal favs places in DTD are:
Ghiradelli's (for both the ice cream and free chocolate sample)
Earl of Sandwich
The Art of Disney
The Pin Trading and Vinylmation stores
and The World of Disney
 
MKCP 1985

MKCP 1985

Well-Known Member
Earl of Sandwich
Ghiradelli
Raglan Road

World of Disney
Once Upon a Toy

. . .

Yeah, pretty much dining and shopping. I would be willing to try the big balloon, but haven't done it yet.

If I'm looking for an evening of "entertainment," I'm probably not going to Downtown Disney. :shrug:
 
stratman50th

stratman50th

Well-Known Member
Just looked up the Pleasure Island story after reading through this thread. Had no idea the nightclubs closed in 2008. Goes to show how much time I've spent at PI even though we go every year. I'd actually be happy to see something more family friendly go in there. It would be a nice continuation of the shopping area.

The West Side. I used to enjoy George's Guitar shop and was bummed when I came back to visit and it was gone. Went to Disney Quest once and had a great time. The second time 5 school buses loaded with inner city youth were unloading there. I haven't been back since. Saw La Nouba once. It was enough for me. My Wife, mother, and daughter loved it. The rest of the West Side is just walk around and window shop. Every year I sign up with the House of Blues notifications. There has never been anyone there I want to see at the same time we're there. Just missed some of my favorites by weeks, sometimes days. :(

Now, for the Marketplace.
Love it! :sohappy:
Mandatory stop every trip. Another major two thumbs up for the Earl of Sandwich! Best counter type food service on the property, and the best value in my opinion. Love walking through the shops. This is where we do all of our souvenir and bring them back a lousy T-shirt shopping. You can find anything you're looking for there. The art of Disney is probably my favorite and I buy something there every trip. The wife loves the Christmas Store.
 
Mansion Butler

Mansion Butler

Active Member
The loss of PI never stopped me from loving DTD, it just gave me a little less to love.

I'm not a shopper, but I do enjoy going with friends and seeing what there is to look at in the stores. The vibrant atmosphere makes it all the more fun. I love eating at Earl of Sandwich or Wolfgang Puck's. I love playing with LEGOs. I love dancing with my girlfriend to "Kiss the Girl" on the waterfront at night. I love Raglin Road. I love the nifty light effects on the West Side at night. I even like Disney Quest when I get in for free (spending most of the time on old school games and Astro Blasters).

I miss Starabilias, though. I still don't understand how a store entirely made up of stuff that doesn't match is an actual thing.
 
mrscricket

mrscricket

Active Member
I adore DTD. For me, Disney world wouldnt be complete without a visit there. Its always the place we visit first, but ive only ever been there once at night for La Nuba or however its spelt.

DTD just reminds me of my childhood. As its the first place thats filmed on our home movies so its usually the longest piece. Me and my sister running through the water fountains for aaaaaaages, and making a Mr Potato Head thing. OH! and the lego place. ahh I miss it.
And spending all your money, well not me, when we last went, my friend took $300 and spent it all on the first day at DTD, while i spent 50c on a keyring :P It wasnt fun for my friend when we had to pack our suitcases and she had to sit and jump on top of her suitcase to get it to shut.
 
bugsbunny

bugsbunny

Well-Known Member
Love DTD.

However, getting there and back is a nightmare. Unless you are staying at POR and can take the boat, using a bus is horrific. The bus stop is ridiculously designed and in a lot of cases, you end up sharing a bus with 2 or 3 other hotels. I stayed at WL and ended up sharing a bus with GF and Poly. That was a 45 minute ride right there! And when you come back, the "bus stop" is simply like 1 or 2 benches with a number sign next to it. No queue area or any semblance of a line. The bus pulls up, the door opens, and the pile up takes shape like a Walmart opening on Black Friday!
 

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