Skip to main content

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.

Labels:

Comments

  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

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Trader Joe's Gluten-Free Oatmeal, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't have very many gluten-free cookies on my blog because quite frankly, I usually don't like gluten-free.  But occasionally, I do find a good recipe and this is one that is from the back of the Trader Joe's oatmeal and it's a good one.  My friend brought some over to our house last weekend when Nick and family were here for our birthday celebrations  and we all loved them. My friend lives a few blocks away and we walk the neighborhood together on weekends.  We can easily go 5 miles in no time, talking non-stop.  She loves exploring our neighborhood as much as I do and we discover so many favorite little spots.  We even found a property with a horse (or more like a pony, I should say.)   The views are always quite lovely, too.  Bruce and I had our thirty-ninth wedding anniversary on July 18th and I made a point of walking past the house where we had our wedding reception.  I told my friend, "Thirty-nine years ago today, t...
2 comments
Read more

Meatloaf by Mark Bittman

Once again, I turned on the television yesterday and saw that Mark Bittman was on the Today show and was making his version of  meatloaf .  This must be meatloaf season.  It was surprisingly similar to the  Pioneer Woman's version  who was also recently on.   I was a little surprised of his version because Mark Bittman is into healthy eating and has lost a lot of weight and improved his health by changing his diet which he writes about in his book,  Food Matters .  His meatloaf recipe also included bacon and cheese!  I must be doing something wrong.  The thing to remember, which he writes about in his book, is that you can eat healthy without going extreme or changing your whole life.    If you don't know who Mark Bittman is, he is a food writer and a four star chef with multiple cookbooks who loves to eat but changed his food philosophy to improve his health.  He tells his story in Food Matters and provides ...
5 comments
Read more

Two-Bean Soup with Kale

This hearty vegetarian soup warms up chilly nights.  Use any type of canned beans you happen to have on hand and add chicken or Italian sausage for a heftier dish, if you prefer. Makes 4-6 servings 3 Tbsp. olive oil 1 cup chopped onion 1/2 cup chopped carrots 1/2 cup chopped celery 1/2 tsp. salt, divided 2 cloves garlic, minced 4 cups vegetable broth, divided 7 cups stemmed, chopped kale (about 1 bunch) 2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, rinsed, drained and divided 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar 1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary or 1 tsp. dried rosemary 1.  Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add olive oil to pan; swirl to coat.  Add onion, carrot, and celery, and saute 6 minutes or until tender.  Stir in 1/4 tsp. salt and garlic; cook 1 minute.   2.  Stir in 3 cups vegetable broth and kale.  Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simme...
3 comments
Read more