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Downtown Disney


We arrived in Orlando for our Disney vacation without a full day to spend at the parks so we took it easy and spent time reading our Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2012 and hung out a bit at Downtown Disney. It's an area that is open to the public with lots of shops and restaurants. It reminded me of a teenager's paradise of hanging out at the mall! Disney style, of course…It's a huge place, as is all of Disney's adventures. If you just arrive to Orlando, like we did, it's a fun way to break into the Disney hype gradually. We were so excited to hit the parks after spending the evening there. We picked an Irish pub to eat dinner, called Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant.


This was a very authentic Irish Pub. Many elements, including the bar, were hand-crafted from hardwoods in Ireland and sent to the United States for reassembly. The venue was huge by Irish-pub standards, but the dark polished-wood paneling, as well as the snugs (small, private cubbyholes), preserves the feel of the traditional pub. The pentagonal main room sat beneath an impressive dome where Celtic dancers preformed on a tablelike platform. Since we had just arrived, we peeked inside to look at it all and then sat outside to enjoy the weather.

We immediately ordered a Guinness 


and their must-have appetizer Dalkey Due: batter fried cocktail sausages with a mustard dipping sauce.


To tell you the truth, I was full after our appetizer so ended up just ordering a Caesar salad with grilled shrimp

and Bruce ordered the risotto with grilled shrimp.


It was delicious and hit the spot as we enjoyed the beautiful weather of our first day of vacation.

So, then we explored the rest of Downtown Disney, which also has all the other "chain" restaurants that people might enjoy

like Planet Hollywood - Disney-style, of course. 


House of Blues - a Cajun restaurant, that had live entertainment; Wolfgang Puck Cafe; Fulton's Crab House situated on a riverboat


and Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop where we stopped for ice cream. 

There was lots going on at Downtown Disney, including showings of Cirque Du Soleil.


We knew it was going to be a busy and fun week at Disney World.

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  1. AnonymousApril 25, 2012 at 1:06 PM

    I hope you are having fun, Aunt Sylvia! By the way, I nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award :) http://thisbountifulbackyard.com/2012/04/25/versatile-blogger-award/

    ReplyDelete

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