Disney Springs, formerly Downtown Disney, is one of the places we always stop when we want to do Disney without going into the parks! On our latest trip to Orlando we stopped into Downtown Disney. It is a great place to wonder and window shop. Be careful though you can spend a bundle easily here! However, there is loads to see for free here too! I would suggest you go on a weekday in the afternoon, the weekends and evenings get crazy busy.
We spent a fair amount of time this trip at the T-Rex Cafe. I am not a fan of the Rainforest Cafe food, so I assume that its the same at the T-Rex. However the restaurant itself is amazing! The T-Rex (like the Rainforest Cafe) is filled with animatronics they “come alive” periodically and move and make sounds. It is really neat and pretty real!
We had a gift card for Build a Bear and guess what! T-Rex has a Build a Dino by Build a Bear! Yeah, something different and not another build a bear. She picked out a purple T-Rex and put some wings on it. It is kinda cute and nice change from the usual.
T-Rex Cafe has a Dino Pit where the kids can take paint brushes and brush away the sand to reveal dinosaur bones. You don’t have to eat there to go in and play, just walk into the gift store and you will see it.
They also have a Geode table, where the kids can pick out a geode and crack it open themselves (with a little help from a staff member). We picked up one of the small $5 ones that is supposed to be about 11 million years old. They have bigger older ones that probably are a lot more beautiful, but my daughter was thrilled with hers!
We can’t go to Downtown Disney without a stop at Ghiradelli’s. They usually hand out samples in there so who wouldn’t be happy here. The hot chocolate is the best I’e had this side of Paris.
Hop onto Disney’s free water taxi and go to any of the resorts you want, or you can just walk down the street and take the boat back. My daughter thinks its great and I do too!
Characters in Flight Balloon Ride
This one costs but looks really neat. This balloon takes you up 400 feet in the air. It is about $18 per person. I bet you can see the Magic Kingdom from up there!
My daughter likes to have her picture taken with each of the Lego creations. My photo’s aren’t so great this time because it was overcast, but it is pretty impressive.
We heard all about this new bowling alley Downtown Disney, and I will admit it was neat. We just went in and looked around, the decor was hilarious and fun. It has several bars, a sushi bar, and it is a restaurant. Pretty snazy place!
There are many, many more things to see and do, it is worth a taking a lazy afternoon stroll down the waterfront in Downtown Disney for sure!
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