Is Downtown Disney worth taking time from the parks:

[jwallace378]

DTD is great at night! The stores, restaurants, or just relaxing on a bench on the lake is a wonderful break after the theme parks.

[Mickey052501]

Definitely worth it!

[LoveofEVERYTHINGDisney]

DTD is a must for us as well! Love the shops! We usually do all our souvenir shopping at World of Disney.
As for Disney Quest - we will never spend the extra $ again! At first we loved going b/c it was relatively empty. We were able to enjoy everything DQ had to offer without standing in line. Don't know if it was the time of year we went or even the time of day. We always go in Disney in May (43 days and counting!). That all changed for us a couple of years ago. We planned on doing a morning at DQ. At he time my DD was 15 and loved arcade games. When we arrived at DTD we noticed a hoard of school busses in the parking lot. That should have been our cue to return to our resort bus and head to one of the parks. We had no idea that DQ has become a school fieldtrip destination! It was awful! The whole place was filled with unruly children with nary a chaparone in site!. We tried to enjoy ourselves but after about an hour my DD had had it with the middle-school aged brats. We have learned our lesson - never again!

[MinnieMommie]

We love DD. Try to make it there on every trip. End up walking through all the stores although do have favorites. Usually eat, get sundaes at Ghirardelli and try to catch a move at AMC.

[MrPeetrie]

Put us in the We-Love-Downtown-Disney class, too. Our DD8 INSISTS we schedule at least one trip there. Possibly two, if we have the time. She LOVES the Disney Store and the Once Upon a Toy store. My wife loves all the stores there. I like the food options. Wolfgang Puck Express is a hard-to-beat counter-service option.

Sometimes, when we're there, we do an inverse dinner (to be performed ONLY in Disney):
Eat all the Ghirardelli's Ice Cream you can fit into your belly, THEN go have a dinner afterwards if you have room. This is a Disney-only tradition!

You should definitely give it a shot!

[kemps@wdw]

our game plan is always to arrive @ WDW around 5-7 pm (if we drive), spend our 1st night in the DTD area. Our stops...World of Disney, House of Blues, Ghiradelli's, and just kinda stroll around and gearing up for for the wonderful week ahead! There are some great places to eat for the kids. Planet Hollywood, Earl of Sandwich, Rainforest Cafe, make-your-own-tee shop, the Lego displays alone are awesome, and one could spend DAYS in the World of Disney store and the Team Disney sports store!

[LudwigVonDrake]

I usually spend an afternoon doing some shopping in DTD but that's about it.

[Seasonscraps]

We always go to DTD for Earl of Sandwich. We'll usually go for lunch or dinner one day, walk around the area a bit, maybe shop, sometimes have a drink at that bar kiosk close to the water. It's a nice time. We don't consider it a "time away from parks" situation - we are just doing something else we enjoy on vacation.

[TikiGoddess]

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?

It depends.

How long is your trip? If you are at WDW for, say, a week, then yes, take half a day and visit DTD. It's a nice way to get your Disney fix on a day when you're taking a break from the parks.

If you have a shorter vacation planned, I would skip it. DTD is really about shopping and dining. There are some great shops -- and I enjoy shopping (my husband will confirm that!) -- but for me, I get enough shopping in the parks. I would rather spend time in the parks (and so would my kids, especially my DD9).

It's an interesting area to visit, but just be aware it doesn't offer much past shopping and dining.

Kathy

[Mogie]

Definitely worth checking out at least once. See Cirque de Soleil and have dinner. Might be a good filler for an arrival day if you don't start using your park passes until the following day. A lot of it is shopping and commercial, but it still feels like youre in Disney.

[ANG]

We also like to go on our arrival day since we arrive in the evening and don't want to pay for a park ticket.

We enjoy the shopping but also the atmosphere

[caryrae]

We also love to go a couple times a trip. We like to go and just wander around at a slow pace, it is a nice change from the go go go at the Parks.

[AJ Springfield]

I enjoy DTD... but we would never skip park time to go. We usually go over in the evening for dinner (or after dinner) when we are done with the parks. Once we headed over on check out day and shopped for a couple hours before getting in the van for the long drive home.

We enjoy walking around and going into World of Disney-- biggest store on property. We have eaten dinner at Earl of Sandwich (very good) and ice cream at Ghiradelli's (expensive, but good)... as well as various pretzels and frozen lemonades.

One evening in June 2010, there was a live performer near the water...he was a riot and involved the whole audience. We hope something of this nature will be happening this June.

You can always take a bus to Port Orleans French Quarter or Riverside (connect at MK) and take the boat to DTD. It takes longer than a bus straight to DTD, but if you have an open evening it's a fun way to spend it.

[goofy-4-disney]

I find that DTD is a nice break from the parks. We usually try to make it there a few times each trip. Different restaurants/food than you can get in the parks, different stores with different merchandise and a much more relaxed atmosphere. At night it can get pretty crowded, but during the morning/early afternoon its much more relaxed. I think its worth the trip over and take a look around. If its not for you, you can quickly hop on a bus and go somewhere else! Thats whats great about Disney, theres always a way to get to something else very quickly!

[i'm grumpy]

It has seemed such a hassle to get there. And DTD is always crazy busy.

[cuteduck223]

We go on arrival day, and sometimes after AK closes (since it closes earliest). We love it, and try to go two-three times per trip.

[finaldynasty]

Yes...DTD is a good change of pace.

[P.Sherman42]

DTD is great at night! The stores, restaurants, or just relaxing on a bench on the lake is a wonderful break after the theme parks.

I completely agree with this. The shops are great at night, and can be extremely relaxing for one night of your vacation!

[mdricks]

I do an adult trip every year and we spend at least one or two nights at DTD.

Fulton's for stone crabs with a cigar and mojito at Sosa's afterwards. Get a pint and the tunes at Raglan road.

The lego store is the bomb. Not a huge fan of trex or raniforest althought that might be a draw for your kids.

The shoping is far better than the resorts and you dont need a park ticket to get in.

If you have a travel day and dont want to use a park ticket this is the best "standby".

[tjstrike]

I would try it once at least, plenty of great things to do and places to eat. It's usually our 1st stop after we get checked in.