Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
OTHER WALT DISNEY WORLD VENUES
Downtown Disney, a.k.a. Disney Springs
Downtown Disney is a large shopping, dining, and entertainment complex that en-
compasses
Downtown Disney Marketplace
on the east,
Downtown Disney West
Side
on the west, and what used to be
Pleasure Island
in the middle. Downtown Dis-
neyMarketplace contains theworld'slargestDisney-character-merchandise store,up-
scale resort-wear and specialty shops, and several restaurants, including
Rainforest
Cafe
and
T-REX
.DowntownDisneyWestSidecombinesnightlife, shopping,dining,
and entertainment.
House of Blues
serves Cajun-Creole dishes in its restaurant and
electric blues in its music hall.
Bongos Cuban Café
, a nightclub and café created by
Gloria Estefan and her husband, Emilio, offers Latin rhythms and flavors.
Wolfgang
Puck Grand Cafe
, sandwiched among pricey boutiques, is the West Side's prestige
eatery. For entertainment, you'll find a 24-screen
AMC Theater; Splitsville
, an
upscale bowling alley and restaurant; a permanent showplace for the extraordinary
70-person cast of
Cirque du Soleil
La Nouba
; and
DisneyQuest
, an interactive vir-
tual reality and electronic-games venue. Access Downtown Disney via Disney buses
from Disney resorts.
Since the nighttime-entertainment venues at the former Pleasure Island were
shuttered in 2008, The Big Mouse has suffered great angst in trying to arrive at an
overall vision for Downtown Disney. After several false starts, Disney has embarked
onanexpansionwithaFlorida-waterfront-towntheme.Called
Disney Springs
,itwill
encompassthecurrentthreeareasandaddafourth.PleasureIslandwillbecome
Town
Center
and be built out toward the parking lot. Adjacent to the waterfront will be
The Landing
, with shops, restaurants, docks, and a promenade. Construction began
in April 2013 and will be completed in 2016.
Disney's Boardwalk
Near Epcot, the BoardWalk is an idealized replication of an East Coast 1930s water-
front resort. Open all day, the BoardWalk features upscale restaurants, shops and gal-
leries, a brewpub, and an ESPN sports bar. In the evening, a nightclub with dueling
pianos and a DJ dance club join the lineup. Both are for guests age 21 and up only.
There'snoadmission fee forthe BoardWalk, butthe piano barlevies acover chargeat
