Downtown Disney is the most fun for free at Disney. Besides shopping and restaurants, what’s here for families? Kids can splash for an entire afternoon in the interactive water fountains (be sure to take along a bathing suit or a change of clothes), and we love the new LEGO Imagination Center, with fabulous designs made from the tiny plastic blocks, like a life-size dragon in the lagoon and the snoring man on the park bench just outside the door.
There are plenty of LEGOs for kids to play with on tables inside the store and just outside in an expansive play area, with plenty of benches for mom and dad to rest and places for restless teenagers to explore nearby. Also, Disney’s Once Upon a Toy store has plenty of toys-and hands-on examining is encouraged.
Encompassing three areas-the Marketplace, Pleasure Island, and West Side-Downtown Disney is the place to shop, dine and play away from the theme parks-nearly a dozen restaurants, 24 movie theater screens, and more than 50 shops an stores. The world’s largest Disney character shop, World of Disney, is one-stop shopping for souvenirs. Some of the most fun restaurants in Central Florida are here-Rainforest Cafe, Planet Hollywood, House of Blues, Wolfgang Puck, to name a few. During the winter holidays, from late November to early January, Disney builds an outdoor ice-skating rink, a real novelty in 80 degrees weather.
Disney Quest is a five-storey, indoor interactive theme park at Downtown Disney West Side that combines Disney’s creativity with technology, including virtual reality and real-time 3-D. There are activities for every age group in four zones: Explore Zone with virtual reality attractions; ScoreZone that tests game-playing skills; Create Zone, a studio for artistic self-expression and invention; and high-tech bumper cars.
The latest attraction is Pirates of the Caribbean:Battle for Buccaneer Gold, where a crew of four boards a “ship” to enter a 3-D world of plundered towns, fortress islands, and erupting volcanoes for an action-packed, five-minutes experience.
DisneyQuest is open daily from 10:30 in the morning till midnight. Admission is about $29 plus tax, $23 for ages 3 to 9, free for children under age 3. All children age 9 and under must be accompanied by an adult.
Recognized throughout the world for its astounding shows, Cirque du Soleil has a permanent home at Downtown Disney’s West Side for the theatrical, spellbinding “La Nouba”, presented twice nightly Wednesday through Sunday.
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