Pleasure Island (an area of establishments for adults) might have been fun for us older folks later in the evening, but with small children we saw no point is adventuring out here.
West Side Downtown Disney was deserted... nothing here to attract ANY visitor, young or old. All buses going to Downtown Disney are forced to make a pass at Pleasure Island (a fairly busy spot) and West Side Disney, where nobody got on and nobody got off. I got the feeling Disney was pushing these two areas upon us... it takes less time to walk to these places than it does taking the bus.
Things we missed: The Rainforest Cafe looked neat, but it had a waiting time of over an hour JUST to get in! How long supper was after that was anybody's guess, so we had to give it a pass. Next time, we'll make the time for the Rainforest Cafe.
Things we'd spend more time on: LegoLand, without a doubt, especially with small kids. How these artists pull off these amazing structures (some shown below) is beyond me, but they enthral both young and old. Plus the amount of playing the kids could do here is a must stop for young families!
Ranking: 2 out of 5. Too many shops and not enough substance. And at
these prices, who can afford anything?
One of several amazing Lego structures, this being a dragon in the lagoon.
Krystal, Jennifer and Alyssa stand in front, each interested in a different
thing. You can see the Rainforest Cafe beside the dragon's head with Cap'n Jack's
Restaurant in front of that. The tall building in back is a hotel (the Hyatt,
I believe) on Disney property, but just outside of Disney World.
Another picture of the lagoon around Downtown Disney. A bit of a better view
of both the Rainforest Cafe and Cap'n Jacks. The boat launch to West Side is
to the left, in the 'thatchy' roofed looking building. A boat rental is to
the right of Cap'n Jacks.
A bit of a blurry picture taken inside a Lego playground. Kids can slide and
climb all around the outside, while inside they build Lego imagination. Krystal
is on the left, the two others just got famous. This is just one of several
stations for children to play with Lego bricks. Even late at night, this
place was busy and full of small children slapping something together.
Another amazing Lego structure, this of an alien attempting to repair his
ailing space ship. We tried to capture the detail of the wonderful engine
work on this craft, but the picture does not do it justice. Make sure you
get a chance to get up close in the bright daylight to see the great work,
thought and detail that went into this construction.
The last picture we took of Lego Land, this of the picture of the alien's
family. Everything here is Lego, the stroller, the people, even the camera.
How this stands up to people bumping into it, running into it with carts, wind
damage, is all beyond me, but it does. That's me, by the way, hiding behind
Alyssa.