What Brings you to Downtown Disney?

Well we didn't make it down there the last trip, but we plan on doing it this trip because we want to go to WOD and the art gallery and eat somewhere down there. Plus, it seems WAAAAY cooler than our DTD here at DL...ours needs some additions...

I love the huge Disney store - I can spend hours just there!

Oh the shopping! Pins... Toys... Clothes.... iPad and iPhone stuff.... Just everything! Food is just an added bonus!

i go to "browse" and by browse i mean watch my wife buy stuff!!! Then i go to the margarita bar to forget about what she just spent and then by the time we are done with that it is time to eat, and the restaurants are great dt. Then we are both happy, and don't go back dt again til next year.

We usually go for the shopping and dining. Team Mickey, the Christmas Shop and World of Disney are our favourites.

Thats so funny. The musicians are pretty awesome. I guess the things we aren't used to are cooler to us!!

Food and WoD! Earl of Sandwich and Ghirardellis top the food list...and let's not forget the Christmas Shoppe

Earl of Sandwich and World of Disney brings us there!

Team Mickey, World of Disney (several times), Ghiradelli's, EoS, Wolfgang Puck Express. Sometimes Westside for a movie.

Food, Shopping, Fun!

I pretty much agree with what everyone said....and I don't know what we could add that would make it better

I go for Portobello restaurant, Art of Disney, and World of Disney. I also love looking through the non-disney shops like Curl (awesome prices on items compared to shopping in Canada), Hoypoloi, and the Pop Gallery.

Oh, and cupcakes at BabyCakes! I guess there's quite a bit that draws me to DTD. If I were to add anything it would be the renovations in the Pleasure Island area. I keep hearing mixed information about Hyperion Wharf, but I hope a make-over of that area will happen soon!

Me and DW normally go on last day of our trip for the shops, food and to chill out from the hustle and bustle of the parks before flying home.

I think they could make a few additions that would add to the experience. An ice rink would be ideal, as families could learn to skate and on an evening they could have showings of Disney on Ice.

They could also introduce a family dinner show to compete with the likes of pirates dinner show and the dolly parton show. I would suggest a Pirates of the Caribbean dinner show maybe.

Introduce more street performers when it's busy, magicians, clowns, mimes.

There are many things to improve it, but I do like it the way it is at the moment

IDK.... Being able to have a nice dinner and watch a movie at AMC to me beats that.... heh. But I know what ya mean.

It's shopping for me!!! World of Disney and the Winnie the Pooh shop.

Earl of Sandwich, Winnie the Pooh shop, World of Disney, the pin store, Disney Quest and ghiradelli's.
As far as changes I'd bring the Adventurer's Club back. I absolutely loved that place and went just before they closed up shop.
Kungaloosh!
Dee

Disney Quest. I'm not really into shopping - of course, I always visit the Disney Store and usually visit the Ghirardelli shop, but that's about it for shopping. The DTD restaurants don't really thrill me, although I would like to try Earl of Sandwich (someday when the line isn't snaking out the door, as it was on my last visit) and also the Irish pub. As for movies, I can see them anytime. I've done movies on non-park days, but usually I'd much rather spend my spare time in Disney Quest or at some other attraction we don't have back home.

Admittedly, I haven't been to DTD in about 6 years. For the next trip, we have an evening in DTD simply b/c it's arrival day and I don't want to use a park ticket since we probably won't get to WDW until 3-4 p.m. Rather than book an ARD at one of the resorts, we'll try EoS and check out the shops. I suspect we'll not buy much since we'll want to see what's in the parks before making any purchases.

So in sum-it's something to do without burning a park ticket and there are some decent food choices.

We hadn't been to WDW or Downtown Disney for 14 years, until our trip this month. I always loved going there and wandering the stores, and the boat ride from POR is always fun.

This time, however, we couldn't believe the crowds and noise! When we poked into the Lego store, the noise level was deafening. The Disney Store was SO crowded, we couldn't actually look at anything, and again, the noise level was unbelievable. We ended up wandering a bit, and left without actually seeing the stores we had planned to. It was very disappointing. We didn't return for the rest of our vacation - it just seemed a waste of time.

For you veterans that go all the time - is this normal now, or did we just hit it on a really bad day? If we go again next year (as I hope to!), should we give it another try, or just take a pass if we don't appreciate the crowds?

What day of the week did you go on? I know alot of locals used to come on the weekends, making it more crowded. Also, it depends on what time of day you go. At night its much more crowded than afternoon. I used to work at a shop down there and I remember some afternoons where we would be bored because there would be no one ANYWHERE! and then 7pm would roll around and we'd be packed until 11pm when we closed.

I think it WAS around 7 p.m. or so, but it was mid-week. I guess everyone else had come in from the parks, and decided to go at the same time. Next time I'll know to go earlier.

Yeah we always end up going on our first day there which is a Sunday and our last day there which is a Saturday....It's always very crowded with it being the weekends and locals coming....we really need to come up with a better day to go...but like others have said...we don't like to waste a park ticket on a day when we aren't there for very long

I'd say go earlier in the day, that's right around park closing and dinner time. I like walking around early or specifically getting EoS, ghiradellis for a sundae and then going to DQuest. I might walk through the pin store, WoD and the winnie the Pooh store but I rarely shop downtown.
Dee

We go early in the day, shop, people watch, and have lunch. Even when we plan a DTD day, we never stay past 3:00. It is quiet early, but it can build and weekends . . . They can be terrifying.

If we are going to really shop, we go first thing in the morning. We shop all morning and then have lunch and then head to a park. We do like to go in the evenings to just walk around and grab an icecream. Trying to shop in the evening or weekend is just nuts. Even finding a parking space during those times is a task.

So we found out!

That's what happens when you haven't been for a long time - the last time we were there in the 90's, you could go in the evening and enjoy it. Now we HAVE to go back, just so I can wander in peace!

Disney Quest
Sousa's
La Nouba

SHOPPING!

We go to DTD to Shop, EAT, and DisneyQuest. We like staying til late in the evening and catching live music also.