Downtown Disney - Overview

Photo: smallworldvacations.com

Downtown Disney (DD) is an area of Disney World that has restaurants, shopping, shows, and lots of family activities. 

DD is open at 9 a.m. daily, and stays open as late as 12 am or 1 am on the weekends, depending on the season.  You can drive and park if you're traveling by car, or get there by bus from any of the Disney resorts or theme parks, OR you can even get there by boat if you are staying at Port Orleans Riverside, Port Orleans French Quarter, Old Key West, or Saratoga Springs resort.

DD has recently expanded to include The Boathouse, a signature dining experience, and "Amphicars", amphibious water cars that you can ride out over the Downtown Disney lagoon for about 20 minutes.  

One of the newer experiences is called Characters in Flight - a hot air balloon that takes you for a short ride up and over Downtown Disney and the surrounding lagoon.  Looking at the YouTube videos, it looks like a beautiful view of a LOT of the Disney World surrounding area, and I look forward to trying it on my solo trip in October!

Some of the best shops are found at DD, including a huge store called World of Disney, billed as the "largest Disney character store" in the world. You can find just about anything Disney in this store for a good souvenir.

There is a Cirque show called La Nouba on the West Side of DD, as well as a large AMC theater, bowling alley, DisneyQuest (an indoor gaming extravaganza), the House of Blues, Rainforest Cafe, Earl of Sandwich, a Ghirardelli's shop, and food trucks with tastes from around the world.

DD is the best place to go on one of your "off days" - either a day in the middle of a long trip when you want to take it a bit slower, or on the day you arrive when you don't want to waste a partial day at the park when you've paid for a full day or park hopper ticket (these are covered separately under ticket options).

Check out the options on the Walt Disney World Resort website here: Walt Disney World Resort.