BEYOND THE THEME PARKS

Downtown
Disney
News and Basic Info
Basic Services
Recreation
Restaurants at a
   Glance
Tips & Notes

Marketplace
--Bibbidi Bobbidi
   Boutique
--Disney Tails
--Goofy's Candy Co.
--Lego Imagination
    Center
--Mickey's Mart
    (under $10)

Pleasure Island
--Adventurers Club
--Raglan Road

West Side
-- Cirque du Soleil
-- DisneyQuest

Annual Events
-- Festival of the
       Masters
-- Halloween
-- JazzFest
-- Latin Rhythm Nights
-- Mardi Gras
-- VIBE Live!

Water Parks
Blizzard Beach FAQ
Typhoon Lagoon FAQ

Disney's Boardwalk and the Epcot Resort Area
Introduction
Dining
Entertainment
Shopping

Tours
Descriptions and
  Reviews

Sports-Related Activities
Fishing Excursions
Miniature Golf
--Fantasia Gardens
--Winter Summerland
Parasailing
Richard Petty Driving
   Experience
Running/Jogging Trails
Surfing Class at
   Typhoon Lagoon
Wide World of Sports
   (WWoS)

MouseFest

Disney Vacation Club

Disney Cruise Line

Other Fun Things
Audience
   Participation
Birthday Ideas: Adults
Birthday Ideas: Kids
Carriage Rides
Collecting Character
   Autographs
Grand Floridian
   Adventures for
   Kids
Hidden Mickeys
Overlooked
   Attractions
Photography
--Film Tips
--Digital Tips
--Videotaping Tips
Pin Trading Guide
Pixies at WDW!
Pressed Penny &
   Quarter Guide
Scrapbook Ideas
Specialty Cruises
--IllumiNations
     Breathless/Pontoon
--Resort Park Cruises

Writers' Corner
Behind the Ears
Meet the Authors

AllEars.Net
   Feature Writers
-- Anita Answer
-- Debra Martin Koma
-- Brian Martsolf
-- Josh Olive
-- Amy Warren Stoll
-- Zamgwar

Orlando Area Information
Character Warehouse
   Outlet
Directions from
   Airport
Grocery Stores
Ground  Transportation
Orlando Area Outlets
Radio/TV Stations
Religious Services
Telephone Numbers

Downtown Disney's West Side opened in 1997 and is the home to Cirque du Soleil, DisneyQuest, Bongos Cuban Cafe and more. The West Side is the largest of the three Downtown Disney areas and includes 344,000 square feet of buildings and a 9,500-square-foot area for events and entertainment.

There is no Disney Resort Bus Stop for the West Side so be sure to use the Pleasure Island bus stop.

To ensure safety during the nightly Pleasure Island fireworks, the bridge linking Pleasure Island and the West Side is closed (as are the restrooms located there also) from 11:30 p.m. to 12:05 a.m. 

DINING

Bongos Cuban Cafe -- Created by Gloria Estefan and her husband Emilio, Bongos offers Cuban cuisine for express lunch and full dinner. The main dining area is themed to Cuba in the 1930s and '40s. The restaurant seats 471 persons and encompasses 20,000 sq feet. The pineapple you see on the outside is 75 feet tall. The leaves alone weigh 37,500 pounds.

House of Blues -- Southern cooking, live music, special folk art display and a Sunday Gospel Brunch! The 1,500 person House of Blues venue is modeled after the venue on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, its theme a tribute to the history of the blues. You can also find the House of Blues retail store with definitive CDs, clothing, folk art and blues accessories.

House of Blues Downtown Disney has the largest public display of folk art in the country. The collection includes more than 6,000 original paintings and sculptures from 60 untrained creators, mainly African American men and women from the rural south. 

Deb's Mini Review: I had my first Planet Hollywood Orlando experience 8/00 and it will last me a long time. While filled with all kinds of neat memorabilia to look at, the place is too LOUD! There are three huge video screens to watch film clips. The host tried to seat me next to one of the speakers, NOT! My grilled Tuscan Chicken Sandwich for $8.95 was mediocre at best. When the plate arrived, all I saw were French fries... causing me to almost stop the server and ask what happened to my sandwich. The herbed foccacia bread was very bland. The one pleasant surprise was that instead of lettuce, fresh basil leaves adorned the sandwich, a nice touch. 

Wetzel's Pretzels -- Opened early 2003 and features gourmet pretzels (starting at $2.99), Häagen-Dazs ice cream and more.

Wolfgang Puck Cafe -- A high energy, full-service restaurant featuring wood-fired pizzas and an array of classic Puck entrees. Restaurant seats 552 and has an outdoor seating area. There is a more upscale dining area upstairs that does accept priority seating. Read a review of the Upstairs Dining Room HERE.

Deb's Mini Review: Wolfgang Puck Cafe is my favorite place for lunch at Downtown Disney. Excellent soups, salads and pizza for lunch. It's a very busy and loud restaurant serving excellent food! Seating fills up quickly at the dinner hour so get there early if you don't like to wait.

ENTERTAINMENT

AMC 24 Theatres -  24 separate theaters of which 18 have stadium seating. Catch the latest movies here in comfort. For a current schedule click HERE and select AMC Pleasure Island 24.

Cirque du Soleil -  La Nouba  - Written and directed by Franco Dragone. "Once upon a time, a door opened and two worlds collided. Dreams clashed with reality. The mundane mixed with the marvelous. It was no longer possible to tell where one world began and the other ended. This new place was called La Nouba."

La Nouba is performed five days a week, twice daily at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Visit our Cirque du Soleil page here for details and Reader Comments on this exciting show!

DisneyQuest - a virtual playground for all ages. DisneyQuest is an indoor interactive theme park that combines Disney's magic with cutting-edge immersive technologies, such as virtual reality, to provide adventures for guests of all ages. It is entirely contained in a large five-story building. You might call it the video arcade/virtual theme park/ entertainment center of the future, or you might just call it fun! It opened June 19, 1998. Some Disney admission tickets do include DisneyQuest (the Ultimate Park Hopper for one), so be sure to check before paying admission.

DisneyQuest 1 Day - $36.21 (adult 10 and up); $29.82 (Ages 3-9), includes tax.

House of Blues - Live music and a Sunday Gospel Brunch! For concert information call 407-934-BLUE or visit their website.

SHOPS

Candy Cauldron -- Great theming, be sure to stop in and take a look!  It looks like a fairy tale dungeon, but it is full of sweets (especially jelly beans and fudge).   

Celebrity Eyeworks Studio -- The store is designed like a small movie set.  Designer sunglasses galore -- some that are exact replicas of glasses worn by celebrities in recent films. This is a full-service eyewear boutique.

DisneyQuest Emporium -- Inside DisneyQuest you can find DisneyQuest logo merchandise (which is not available elsewhere at Disney).

Hoypoloi -- Created by Ron Hoy, first in Chicago and now at Downtown Disney West Side, Hoypoloi offers up a gallery full of art glass, ceramics, sculpture and other decorative items. 

Magic Masters -- features a fireplace, a Victorian replica chandelier, cherry bookcases with old magic books and memorabilia and other items inspired by the library of Harry Houdini. The demonstrations (3 different ones) will last about 10 minutes. There is a Teaching Room where you can learn how to use the items you purchased and an Illusion Room where Pepper's Ghost will be demonstrated. Tricks start at $15.00. (The Wildhorse Saloon Store used to occupy this space.)

Magnetron -- Interestingly enough, there are NO Disney magnets in this store.  You can find plenty of Warner Brother items, however.  Specialty refrigerator magnet shop with an assortment of collector-quality magnets.  

Mickey's Groove -- lots of Mickey items.

Pop Gallery - Original, artist-signed limited sculptures and paintings, high-end gift items. (This is located on the former site of the Guitar Gallery, which has relocated elsewhere in Orlando.)

Sosa Family Cigars -- Premium cigar store features the art of hand-rolling cigars.  An authentic, solid cedar humidor room keeps the cigars fresh for a primo smoking experience.  You will find cigars that aren't common back home such as the very hard to get Opus X and Fuente Hemingways.   They will also ship any of the cigars EXCEPT the Opus X anywhere in the US.  A must stop for cigar aficionados. 

Starabilias -- Restored jukeboxes, vintage Coca-Cola machines,  themed key chains, posters,  autographed celebrity photos and clothing can be found here. 

Virgin Megastore -- A huge, state-of-the-art music, video and book showplace with more than 300 audio and video preview stations, in-store cafe and outdoor stage. Cafe seats 50.

Discounts may be available at several Downtown Disney locations for Disney Vacation Club members and Annual Passholders.