Live from Orlando 2006 - Part 16

[Tannerman]

It was Sunday evening, January 22, and we were hungry while at the Coronado Springs Resort & Convention Center on Walt Disney World property. Thus we decided to hop an internal resort bus and head on over to Downtown Disney.

If you envision the Walt Disney World Resort as a large compass, our hotel was located in the southwest corner, while Downtown Disney was in the southeast corner. It took only about 15 minutes to get there via bus, which isn't too bad considering that WDW encompasses 47 square miles. While there is a small Downtown Disney area at the Disneyland Resort in California, Walt Disney World has the original... and it's much, much bigger.

Downtown Disney Map

Click to view larger map

The area opened at Walt Disney World in 1975, 4 years after the resort grand opening. It was originally known as Lake Buena Vista Village, nestled within the area set aside for "official hotels" that weren't owned by Disney. Over time, it was renamed the Walt Disney World Marketplace and later the Disney Village Marketplace.

Walt Disney World Village Logo
(Source: savehorizons.tripod.com)


Disney Village Marketplace Logo

By 1989, in response to other nightlife options that had appeared in the Orlando area, Disney added Pleasure Island right next to the existing shopping area, featuring nightclubs and dining. The entire area was rebranded collectively as Downtown Disney, featuring 2 parts... the Marketplace and Pleasure Island.

Original Pleasure Island Logo


Current Pleasure Island Logo

In 1995, a third section was added to the Downtown Disney complex: the West Side. This featured a Virgin Megastore, an AMC 24-screen movie theater, a Cirque du Soleil theater, DisneyQuest, and more shopping and dining options.

Walking through the West Side


Older Downtown Disney Logo
(Note the listing of 3 districts)

The redevelopment of this area has been very successful for Disney, however there is talk about gutting and rebuilding the Pleasure Island area into something new.

Karl buys a pair of shorts

As we walked around the Marketplace section of the complex, it dawned on Karl this this was Florida and he forgot to pack any shorts. So to various stores we went, seeking clothing so that he wouldn't fry in the warmer weather. We ended up at some overpriced sporting goods store in the shopping district.

It's a Kim Possible bowling ball!

While everyone was shopping, I discovered a place that was selling customized Disney bowling balls. (I'm not quite sure there is a demand for these). In any case, I thought it was cool that they had a Kim Possible bowling ball. For those that don't know, I'm a big fan of this cartoon. It's like Alias without all that relationship garbage.

My favorite cartoon

It features a teenage crimefighter named Kim who goes to high school, but also battles villains around the world in a light-hearted, but action-oriented way. As it's targeted at the tween market, there's nothing too deep to watch... it's just fun. It debuted on the Disney Channel in 2002, but I only started watching it a few years ago thanks to reruns on ABC's Saturday morning programming. It's well-written, has good animation (for television), and has a heck of a catchy theme song. Thus, you can see why I was rather amused to see real-life Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable characters at the Disney-MGM Studios during one of our theme park visits.

Where should we go eat?

We walked around the Downtown Disney area looking for a place to eat, but unfortunately, it was a Sunday night and most places weren't open very late. Thus we ended up at Planet Hollywood over on the West Side as we planned our adventures for the next day. It was decided that we should go visit both Animal Kingdom and Epcot, as Karl and Sara had been to neither park. Because of a family situation, Sara actually had to fly out a day later, missing the conference, thus we wanted to make her one day with us count!

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