Lego Imag. Center and Downtown Disney

Avatar for preludejf
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Lego Imag. Center and Downtown Disney
5
Sat, 07-08-2006 - 5:57pm

Not to much said about these places on the board. Just curious about both. I think my boys would love the Lego place and Goofey's Candy place. At Goofey's you can create your own snack by choosing a base (apples, pretzels, marshmallows) and then choose a coating and topping on it. Sounds like fun, plus I have never been to these places and I have been to WDW several times. It would be nice to try something new. I know my tickets have to include Downtown Disney (keep this in mind). I think Rainforest is located here also. We have never eaten there either. Might try that one too.

Any comments on any of the above would be great!

Josette

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Registered: 03-25-2003
Sat, 07-08-2006 - 6:30pm

Downtown Disney Marketplace is free admission and free parking. Great first day, last day, or downtime day activity.

I haven't been to Goofy's Candy Shop (wasn't open last time we were at DTD in 2002), but I can give you information on other places. Lego Imagination Center is a big store and more. The store sells all kinds of Lego sets and Lego souvenirs (keychains, postcards, pencils, etc). Outside, there is a playground--there are places you can actually play with Legos plus a giant playhouse that the younger kids can go in & up, slide down, etc. Then, outside that, there are gigantic Lego creations--a giant sea serpent in the water, a dinosaur family, a snoring tourist, etc. Right outside of that there is a fountain that the kids can play in, then World of Disney--basically a HUGE Disney Store. I think this is where Bibbity Bobbity Boutique is now housed.

There is a Rainforest Cafe' here as well as at Animal Kingdom. If you just want to visit, not dine, the gift shop is awesome and the thunderstorms happen in the gift shop as well as in the restaurant.

There is Once Upon a Toy, a giant toy store with some Disney exclusive items such as the Mr. Potato Head sets with Disney things.

There's a Christmas store that's so cool to go in, a scrapbook store. A bunch of shopping here. There's a carousel with horses with real hair for their tails and spinning tea cups. There's a miniature train and a sand play area with a slide playset.

Lots of photo ops galore. I got a cool picture of Aly with Cinderella & Aurora (not real characters, I've never seen real characters appear here) and with a Christmas scene that I think was a year-round scene (we also have pictures with Christmas decorations that were exclusive to the December time frame, but I think the snow scene with Pluto is permanent).

Here's a link to other things you can do at DTD: http://www.allearsnet.com/btp/dd_market.htm

Alysha


Avatar for preludejf
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Sat, 07-08-2006 - 7:13pm

Thanks! I think we are going for sure now...

Is Rainforest really worth it? The food I mean. I'll bet it is not on the dining plan....

Josette

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Sat, 07-08-2006 - 8:04pm

No, it's not on the dining plan because it's not Disney-operated, but it is on some of the pricier plans.

We've eaten at the DTD one once, the Galveston one twice, and the Grapevine, TX one once. Mike has liked every dish he's gotten, Aly has been okay with her food (typical "kids" food..she liked the mini hot dogs a lot but usually chooses the chicken nuggets), but I have not eaten one entree that I've actually liked. I do LOVE LOVE LOVE the chicken pita quesadillas off the appetizer menu though. I've tried the pizza (YUCK!), the fried shrimp (tasted like something I could get from the grocer's freezer), the fried catfish (HUGE pieces..I prefer small filets), and I think I just got a salad (which was fine) last time because I let Mike know that the quesadillas would serve as my food, to let me have more...lol. The food is very highly priced...more so than most Disney sit-down restaurants, I think.

The wait is very long, but there's ways around that. You can call them directly to be put on the list or you can buy the Safari Club card. It's $15 to join the Safari Club (never expires as long as you use it once/year, and I THINK you can use it at other Landry's establishments, but I'm not sure), you get either 10% off your entire meal or a free appetizer each visit and a $10 gift card for RFC (can be used in the restaurant or in the gift shop).

You could always just go for appetizers or for dessert (the most famous dessert here is the volcano--we've made it at home a couple times--brownies, vanilla ice cream, caramel, hot fudge, whipped cream, with a sparkler (bought the sparkling candles at Party Time).

I don't think we'll ever plan to eat a full meal at RFC at Disney again for a variety of reasons including the fact that we can go elsewhere to RFC, it's sooooo expensive, and if you do the AK one, you're wasting park time. But we will always try to visit the gift shop. Aly collects the little figurines of the main characters--she has 5, there are 8 of the originals, and then there are some others, like the frog in different outfits.

Alysha


Avatar for preludejf
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Sat, 07-08-2006 - 8:30pm

Since it is not on the dining plan, I think I would skip it anyway. What is on the dining plan at Downdown Disney?

Josette

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Sat, 07-08-2006 - 8:51pm

There's a chart on this page, and DTD is the second to last color block at the bottom: http://allearsnet.com/pl/packages06a.htm

Alysha