Is Downtown Disney worth taking time from the parks:

[Alpha Jeanie]

In all the trips that we have made to Disney World, we have never made it to Downtown Disney. Is it worth taking time away from the parks to go to Downtown Disney? FYI: We have a 9 year old daughter & 15 year old son.

On our last trip, we finally made it to the Boardwalk to eat at Spoodles (before Koucina) and although we liked the restaurant we were not impressed with the Boardwalk in general.

What stores, restaurants, etc. do you think are not to miss at Downtown Disney?

[Celakip]

Your kids will love Disney Quest. It's full of video games, virtual reality games, and even a giant pinball machine. It's very loud, so it gets old for the adults after a while, but the kids will love it!

[Strmchsr]

The Christmas Store, Lego Store, sports store, toy store, Art of Disney and many more are worth the trip to DTD. The Lego Store itself is worth the trip. You should do it at least once and then judge for yourself if you want to do it again. We usually spend one morning there each trip.

[Zippy 1]

We love Downtown Disney!! We go there every night after the parks close. Lots of shops, some great art to look at and a fun place for a snack. We actually did lunch there on our last trip/ We went to Planet Hollywood and had a great meal along with some terrific memorabila from the movies

[CleveSJM]

Downtown Disney is great for shopping on the last night in town. If you get all your shopping done at the resort or parks, DTD is pretty optional.

It does have a Gharadelli chocolate store and ice cream shop. Wolfgang Puck express has awesome pizza. There is a big House of Blues, Rainforest Cafe and T-Rex Cafe that are interesting.

[Alaska Disney Fan]

We love going down to DDT, we will even take a break from the parks and head down for lunch at one of the many places. DisneyQuest is great for the kids, I'm sure they would enjoy the Lego shop too. There is so much more going on, than at the Boardwalk. Ridemakerz where they can build a RC car from scratch, Characters in flight - a tethered hot air balllon right, best taken at night.

[2Epcot]

I enjoy Downtown Disney. We usually go at least once or twice during every visit, and it doesn't take time away from the parks. Often we go on arrival day evening depending on when we get in to Orlando. Depending on the time of year, we will also go after the parks have closed.

[Tink#64]

We love DTD! It's our arrival day tradition! We've been heading there after checking in at our resort since our 1st trip when DS's were 4 & 6, they're now 14 & 16 & still enjoy it. In fact one year I tried to schedule DTD later in our trip & DH & DS's balked! World of Disney store is our fav, but the Christmas Store would be a close 2nd for me, every trip we get a personalized Christmas ornament! When DS's were younger the Lego store was an absolute must & Disney Quest is a blast! But we did it on a seperate trip to DTD, we went one morning at opening & spent 6 fun packed hours there! We enjoy DTD so much, we now head back there a few evening after the parks!

We've enjoyed eating many places in DTD, but our last trip we got to experience T-Rex & Earl of Sandwhich for the 1st time & REALLY enjoyed them both!

We always enjoy The Boardwalk, but it doesn't compare to DTD! So many more shops, restaurants, and last year we experienced more live "street performers" there than ever before! For us a trip to WDW wouldn't be complete without visiting DTD!

[Tinker Fan]

We could not visit WDW without going to Downtown Disney. We go at least 3 times a trip, it's a great break from the parks. Some of our greatest memories are in Downtown Disney.

[Fastpasssteve]

I really enjoy the shopping district. So much variety!

For the adults, Pleasure Island used to be a lot more fun before they closed the night clubs. Don't get me wrong, I love the Irish bar, but that's not enough reason to make the trip.

[Janmac]

We rarely go to DD. We did take our grandkids to Disney Quest when they were about 9 and 10. Then enjoyed themselves but have not asked to go back. We went early - when DQ opened when it wasn't very crowded at all and they had a great time.

We ate once at Raglan Road and that was another place no one in our extended family has asked to go back to, though everyone seemed to enjoy themselves while they were there.

We do like to eat at Earl of Sandwich and have even gone there to get sandwiches to bring back to the resort.

The Lego Store is one place we've visited several times, but there again, even our biggest Lego fan has no trouble going to WDW without visiting the store.

I think that the resort pools have been a bigger draw - outside the parks - than DD has been, overall.

Definitely, if you have time in your schedule, go to DD.

Jan

[slegrant]

My family and I love Downtown Disney! We love all the shopping and the atmosphere is always fun. Places to eat are Earl of Sandwich and for a great dinner Raglan Road, this has become a must each trip. Go and I bet you will have a great time

[Tygger7]

We love DtD and try to go at least a couple of times during our trips. World of Disney is one of my favorite stores...I could spend hours wandering around in there. The Lego Store is really interesting and the sculptures are amazing.

One thing to note though: Disney Quest requires a separate admission fee. Our daughter is a HUGE video game fan but she didn't like it at all. There were lines for all the games and it was May while kids were still in school! We all got frustrated and left after an hour. We only went because we had gotten a free "water parks & more" upgrade and definitely would not pay to go back.

[SBETigg]

We rarely go to Downtown Disney and while we love Raglan Road, an Irish themed restaurant/pub there, we feel it often isn't worth our time compared to spending time at the resort or parks. It's a shopping area. That's pretty much it. Most of the same merchandise, you can find at the resorts and parks. My kids were 14 and 16, and gamers, when we went so they could go to DisneyQuest, and they hated it, felt it fell far short of their expectations. I don't want to be too down on it. When our trips are long, it's something else to do to add to the mix, and it is a pretty cool area. But if my time was short, and sometimes we have shorter trips, we skip Downtown Disney in favor of park/resort time.

[Dopey's Girl]

I devote at least part of a morning to DD. The World of Disney store is awesome, and I love me some Earl of Sandwich!

If you haven't been before, it's at least worth trying. If you don't find anything you like (who wouldn't love Goofy's candy store?) at least you know for next trip!

[whitney37354]

Go at least once to check it out. We went one morning & DD bought all of her souveniers there. We enjoyed Cookes of Dublin for lunch. I enjoyed looking through the shops, but DH said it was a waste of time that we could have used at the parks.

[minnie04]

Your kids will love Disney Quest. It's full of video games, virtual reality games, and even a giant pinball machine. It's very loud, so it gets old for the adults after a while, but the kids will love it!

We have been once and that was enough for us, but it is a good place when it’s raining and you want to get out...

We always take a trip to Downtown Disney every time we go to Orlando. I love walking the shops and hanging out. It’s nice to do at night. Kids like it. We always buy the few things we want at the World of Disney store it always has plenty of good stuff. I don’t buy in the parks I hate carrying bags all day or when we are trying to leave those stores on Main Street get so crowded. I do look around but I save the buying for Downtown...

I love the Xmas store
DD loves everything
DS16 loves the sports store
DS8 loves the candy store
DH loves when its time to go ...lol.. he's not a shopper

[Sylvia]

Others have already mentioned them, but I cast my votes for Earl of Sandwich, World of Disney (AP discount), Lego store, Once Upon a Toy, etc., etc., etc.

I usually head over to DD at least 3 times every trip.

[Mousemates]

we like to use it as a break from the parks...and typically sandwich a day there in the middle of our trip...like so many others our trip includes a visit to the earl of sandwich...our other personal fave is the Christmas store. We also tend to hit the big AMC theatre if something new has been released.

[DisneyDog]

We are arriving in the late afternoon next Wednesday. We will be checking in to our hotel and going straight to DTD. We love the shops, and we have dinner reservations at Raglan Rd. We never miss DTD on our trips. It is a must see.