Downtown Disney (Florida)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- There is also an area called Downtown Disney at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California; see Downtown Disney (California).
| Disney theme park | |
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| Downtown Disney | |
|---|---|
| Location | Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA |
| Opening Day | 1975 |
| Resort | Walt Disney World Resort |
| Theme | Downtown Marketplace |
| Website | Downtown Disney Homepage |
| Operator | The Walt Disney Company |
| Walt Disney World Resort |
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| Theme parks |
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Magic Kingdom |
| Other attractions |
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Disney's Typhoon Lagoon |
| Walt Disney World resorts |
Downtown Disney is an outdoor shopping, dining, and entertainment complex located at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Downtown Disney is open to the public and requires no admission fee. The large outdoor complex is divided into three areas; the Marketplace, Pleasure Island, and the West Side. Each area features a selection of enterntainment venues, shops, restaurants, and themeing. Notable tenants include Cirque du Soleil La Nouba, Disney Quest Indoor Interactive Theme Park, the House of Blues, Planet Hollywood, Virgin Megastore, the Lego Imagination Center, World of Disney, AMC Pleasure Island 24, and Rainforest Cafe.
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[edit] History
Until 1989, only the Marketplace existed and was known as the Disney Village Marketplace, and before that, the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village. Pleasure Island then opened, and the West Side followed in 1996. Pleasure Island and Marketplace were referred to together as Disney Village until West Side opened, at which point the entire area was collectively renamed Downtown Disney.
The Marketplace and West Side have always been free to enter, while Pleasure Island required the purchase of admission. Pleasure Island was also closed during the day. Starting in the summer of 2004, Pleasure Island became free to enter and the admission charges are now paid only by those entering the nightclubs.
[edit] Marketplace
Formerly known as the Disney Village Marketplace, the area contains many shops and quick service restaurants. Restaurants include Ghirardelli Soda Fountain & Chocolate Shop, and Rainforest Cafe. Shopping venues include the LEGO Imagination Center, Goofy's Candy Company, World of Disney, Once Upon A Toy, and Cap'n Jack's Marina offering boat rentals.
[edit] Fulton's Crab House
Fulton's Crab House is a riverboat restaurant at Walt Disney World's Marketplace shopping complex. Formerly, the Empress Lilly. Run by the Levy Restaurants company, their head chef is Frank Walason.
[edit] History
The Empress Lilly is a 220 by 62 foot static replica Paddle steamer riverboat on Village Lake in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. In reality, the Lilly couldn't go anywhere. She was not a boat at all, but a large boat-shaped building, erected on the edge of the lake. A submerged concrete foundation gave the Lilly the stability to weather a hurricane. Built for the Walt Disney World Resort in 1976, the ship contained three restaurants and a jazz lounge. She greeted guests for the first time on May 1, 1977, when Lillian Disney, Walt Disney's widow for whom the ship is named, christened the ship. The Lilly was designed by Walt Disney Imagineering to be as true to the eye as possible. The gingerbread scrollwork and stained glass detailing gave the ship an authentic feeling, harkening back to the days of Mark Twain's Mississippi River. The paddle-wheel at the aft end of the ship churned constantly, though the ship never went anywhere. The Empress Lilly was one of the first locations of the now famous Disney Character Breakfast.
Baton Rouge Lounge was located forward on the main deck. Here is where patrons could spend some time relaxing at the bar, and enjoying the musical sounds of the Riverboat Rascals. Many of these musicians played in the Baton Rouge for years, and became local legends. Some of the players who have played with the Riverboat Rascals were Fast Eddie Erickson, Dave Tobiasen, Tom Bucci, Denny Zavett, Ralf Reynolds, Mike Gentry, Randy Morris, Dan Riley, John Charles and Bill Dendle.
Steerman's Quarters was located in the aft section of the Main Deck. It specialized in certified Angus beef entrees. The décor focused on imagery from America's western cattle nostalgia. In the aft end of the room, giant windows revealed the churning paddlewheel, nearby.
Fisherman's Deck was located forward on the Promenade Deck. As its name implies, this was a seafood restaurant.
Empress Room was located aft on the Promenade Deck. This was a formal dining establishment, requiring reservations in advance. The room was extravagantly decorated, with gold trimmed walls and Rococo (Louis XIV) style flourishes. Hungarian Chef, Garry Reich, developed the original menu, to cater to upscale tastes.
Jenny, the shrimping boat used in the movie Forrest Gump is located on the north-west corner of Planet Hollywood in Downtown Disney (Florida)
In the mid 1990s, Disney began finding outside management to take over many of its restaurants. As a cost cutting move, it was decided that the Empress Lilly would come under new management. Levy Restaurants signed a contract to operate the ship for 20 years. On April 22, 1995, the Empress Lilly served her last meals. The restaurant was closed, all interiors were ripped out, and a new décor, for a single restaurant (not three) was put in place. In addition, the old smoke stacks and paddlewheel, which gave the Lilly some added authenticity, were removed due to rust and rot. They were not replaced. The restaurant reopened as Fulton's Crab House on March 10, 1996.
[edit] Earl of Sandwich
Earl of Sandwich is a restaurant franchise based in Orlando, Florida, United States. It was founded by the current Earl of Sandwich, his younger son Orlando Montagu, and businessman Robert Earl, founder of the Planet Hollywood chain. Earl of Sandwich is actually the brainchild of Orlando, who is second in line behind his brother Luke Timothy Charles Montagu, Viscount Hinchingbrooke to the title of Earl of Sandwich. He and his father are direct descendants of the 4th Earl of Sandwich, who popularized the sandwich in Great Britain in the 18th century. The first restaurant was opened on March 19, 2004, located in Downtown Disney Marketplace on the property of Walt Disney World Resort outside of Orlando, Florida. Earl of Sandwich currently has franchising plans for all over the United States and the United Kingdom, including the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The first Earl of Sandwich franchise is open in Sugar Land, Texas, and is owned by Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens.[1]
[edit] Pleasure Island
Pleasure Island is primarily a nighttime entertainment complex, with seven nightclubs including a 1930s Explorer's Club themed Adventurer's Club, The Comedy Warehouse, 8TRAX featuring 70's & 80's music, BET Soundstage, Motion, and Mannequins Dance Palace featuring a revolving dance floor and trance music, dance music & techno. There is also the Raglan Road Irish Pub & Restaurant.
[edit] West Side
Home to many full service restaurants, large stores, and entertainment venues. It includes a Virgin Megastore, an AMC 24-screen movie theater, Cirque du Soleil - La Nouba, the House of Blues restaurant and show auditorium, the five floor DisneyQuest "indoor theme park", Planet Hollywood, the Wolfgang Puck Cafè, Bongos Cuban Cafè, and other various shops and eateries.
In 2006, the Raglan Road Irish-themed pub, restaurant and gift shop opened, and the main and hub stages on Pleasure Island were demolished in order to create a direct walking path and line of sight from Marketplace to West Side. A building formerly containing shops and a fast food restaurant is being renovated and will reopen with new shops and a new fast food restaurant.
A T-Rex Cafe dinosaur-theme restaurant operated by Landry's Restaurants is to be constructed in 2007-2008 in the area of a current traffic circle, adjacent McDonald's and the E parking lot. Groundbreaking ran behind schedule but finally occurred in October, 2007.
[edit] See also
- Downtown Disney (California) at Disneyland Resort
- Disney Village at Disneyland Resort Paris
- Ikspiari at Tokyo Disney Resort
