Quick Question - Downtown Disney - What is there to see exactly?

[209vaughn]

Ok so I haven't down to Downtown Disney for many many years. I see all the work they are doing to redesign this part of WDW - very exciting!

So during this construction phase, what is there really to see right now? I dont mean this negatively, but I'm just wondering how/when/how long I should schedule to go over to Downtown and spend some time.

How does it compare to Downtown Disney California?

 

[sweetpee_1993]

A looooot of people. :lookaroun :lol:

Actually, the Lego store is cool. Ghiradelli's has great ice cream. Love eating at the Earl of Sandwich. Always go to the Christmas shop to get our personalize ornaments taken care of. Little Miss Matched is a pretty unique store if you don't have one near you. World of Disney is like having a wide sampling everything you see in the shops all over the Disney property under 1 roof. Tren-D is very cool for the girly-girls but can be pricey. My guys all enjoy Team Mickey and now Ridemakerz. Sammy Duval's Curl is a pretty hip shop although going in there makes me feel incredibly over-the-hill (my brother & I used to frequent surf/skate shops when we were kids/teens). We've not done a whole lot of shopping outside of the Marketplace shops so can't really comment on much more. Oh! And Raglan Road...my new favorite place to eat at WDW! :slurp:

 

[NMBC1993]

All those beautiful empty buildings over at PI

 

[GoochDSA]

To add to sweetpee, La Nouba is a great CdS show to check out if you haven't seen it before. DisneyQuest is a lot of fun if you or someone in your party likes arcade games (we can easily spend a couple of hours there). Characters in Flight gives you a pretty cool view of a lot of the property. I personally like to sit and have a cigar and a couple of drinks while people watching at Fuego.

We usually do all of our shopping at World of Disney, this way we can just get everything shipped home in one shot. We are also fans of EoS, Ghirardelli and Raglan Road (which we didn't like the first time but tried it again on our most recent trip and it surprised us a bit), so we usually make 2 trips to DTD per visit, once for lunch at EoS, do our shopping and then head to Ghirardelli's (which can be a meal on its own) and then again for dinner and a nice evening walk.

 

[real mad hatter]

Plenty to do

Ok so I haven't down to Downtown Disney for many many years. I see all the work they are doing to redesign this part of WDW - very exciting!

So during this construction phase, what is there really to see right now? I dont mean this negatively, but I'm just wondering how/when/how long I should schedule to go over to Downtown and spend some time.

How does it compare to Downtown Disney California?

Well theres plenty to do,lots of great shopping,some really good eateries,it's been eleven years since we visited D/land in California so I could not compare.but you will enjoy D/Town Disney.:sohappy:

 

[209vaughn]

Cool I will definitley plan to spend some time there! I had a sort of a feeling that it was one big construction project, but I guess thats not true.

 

[ddbowdoin]

nothing really... we always pass over. Raglan Road is a pretty solid time, but coming from a major Irish-American city, I listen to live Irish music probably once a month.

 

[UberMouse]

Food and shopping. My wife and I always enjoy it, and now I have a reason to stop by the Lego store seeing as I have a twin boy and girl now. Woo! I didn't really have many toys growing up (dad didn't like clutter), so I am having a blast with my kids now.

 

[Mickey_777]

Compared to DL's Downtown Dinsney, WDW's version is larger but the buildings in Anaheim are taller for the most part. What they both have in common are World of Disney, nice movie theatres, and great places to eat. I recommend you don't miss out on Bongos, Earl of Sandwich or Ghirardelli.

Like others mentioned before you got DisneyQuest, the balloon ride, and Cirque du soleil at WDW. The year round Christmas store is awesome too. This DTD feels more like a vacation spot than DL's DTD. Out in Anaheim it feels more like a "go out on a friday" type of spot.

 

[worldfanatic]

I love Downtown Disney. It's very relaxing.
Park Commandos can't appreciate it. Which is good!
Keeps them away.:animwink:
We make a couple trips over there on every vacation.

 

[Mikester71]

We always spend our first afternoon/night at DTD. We drive down from Canada and arrive at Pop on a Saturday around 1pm-ish, so we usually check in, take a leisurely walk around Pop, and then hop on the bus to head over to DTD. We usually leave the parks (always Magic Kingdom) for the first full day.

We always hit up all the stores (especially World of Disney) and usually spend an hour or two inside DisneyQuest each trip. Funny how we only discovered the deliciously splendid Ghirardelli's on our last (fourth) trip though!!!! Man...I cannot say enough about how GOOD the ice cream and milkshakes and treats are from this place!!! :slurp: Every time my wife and I stop in for a chocolate milkshake at a Godiva's Chocolate store nearby, we both look at each other and say how we wish we were at Ghirardelli's instead.

 

[Mikester71]

I love Downtown Disney. It's very relaxing.
Park Commandos can't appreciate it. Which is good!
Keeps them away.:animwink:
We make a couple trips over there on every vacation.

Totally agree!!! Even though we are usually down there on our Spring Break and the place is packed, there is still something relaxing about being there. My wife and I like to just sit there and people watch sometimes and just enjoy each others company and the beautiful Florida weather (knowing that it is probably snowing back up where we are from at that time of the year). We find ourselves heading over to DTD quite a bit during our 10 day stays, usually at night. LOVE DTD!!!! :sohappy:

 

[MouseDreaming]

nothing really... we always pass over. Raglan Road is a pretty solid time, but coming from a major Irish-American city, I listen to live Irish music probably once a month.

Wow! I guess you and I are the only neigh-sayers. However, to be fair, I live in a town that is considered a major shopping destination, so a lot of the stores and restaurants that are there, we have here. My kids think it is hillarious that people wait in line so long to go to Rainforest there, when we have one not 10 minutes from our house. So, seeing as how I am traveling there to escape "shopping H---", it's not my cup of tea.

Now, that said, I will say the boat ride from Port Orleans resort is always a treat. Yes, we are those people who take the boat down, and get right back in line to go back.

 

[ddbowdoin]

Wow! I guess you and I are the only neigh-sayers. However, to be fair, I live in a town that is considered a major shopping destination, so a lot of the stores and restaurants that are there, we have here. My kids think it is hillarious that people wait in line so long to go to Rainforest there, when we have one not 10 minutes from our house. So, seeing as how I am traveling there to escape "shopping H---", it's not my cup of tea.

Now, that said, I will say the boat ride from Port Orleans resort is always a treat. Yes, we are those people who take the boat down, and get right back in line to go back.

yeah... same, Boston has everything there and more... so nothing really appeals to me. I used to love Quest (on a projected rainy day) but its outdated now and not worth the price of admission.

 

[RonAnnArbor]

For those worried about construction, you can not even see it -- it is so cleverly hidden while they redo pleasure island, that it doesn't look like anything is out of place...

Shopping and eating -- that's about it --

And count me in for that awesome boat ride down from Port Orleans (either resort)....Incidentally, there are also boat rides down from OKW and both SS and SSTH...

And another plus for Raglan Road -- in my opinion the best Irish food you can get -- I live in a town that has three Irish restaurant pubs very similar to RR, and in my many trips to NYC and Boston, both cities I have lived in, there hasn't been a single Irish restaurant I have found that beats the food at Raglan Road...

 

[Todd H]

We used to go to Downtown Disney every trip on the day of our arrival. Now we just buy an extra day and head to the parks as soon as we check in. Never been much of a fan of shopping.