Downtown Disney (Disneyland Resort)

Downtown Disney

Location	Disneyland Resort, Anaheim, California, U.S.A.
Coordinates	33°48′33″N 117°55′26″W / 33.809052°N 117.924027°W / 33.809052; -117.924027Coordinates: 33°48′33″N 117°55′26″W / 33.809052°N 117.924027°W / 33.809052; -117.924027
Owner	The Walt Disney Company
Operated by	Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
Opened	January 12, 2001
Website	Downtown Disney website

Downtown Disney (officially the Downtown Disney District) is an outdoor shopping, dining, and entertainment area, also known as a "shoppertainment center", located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, United States. It was constructed during the Disneyland Resort expansion which also included the construction of Disney California Adventure, and opened on January 12, 2001.^[1]

Location and history

Downtown Disney District lies between the Disneyland Resort's two theme parks and its hotels. The district was built on space previously occupied by the original Disneyland parking lot and Disneyland Hotel, and includes a bridge over Disneyland Drive (formerly West Street) which was regraded to accommodate the bridge. It is smaller than its Walt Disney World counterpart. No admission ticket is required for Downtown Disney District.

California's Downtown Disney District was designed to attract local residents and to encourage extended stays in the resort district.

One side of Disney's Grand Californian Hotel, and one side of the Disneyland Hotel's Adventure Tower face Downtown Disney, providing a view of the area.

Attractions

Downtown Disney District in Anaheim includes the following attractions:

Restaurants

• Catal^[2]
• Earl of Sandwich^[3]
• ESPN Zone^[4]
• Häagen-Dazs^[3]
• House of Blues^[5]
• Jamba Juice^[3]
• La Brea Bakery Cafe^[6]
• Naples Ristorante e Pizzeria^[7]
• Napolini^[3]
• Starbucks Coffee^[8]
• Rainforest Cafe^[9]
• Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen^[10]
• Tortilla Jo's^[11]
• Uva Bar^[3]
• Wetzel's Pretzels^[3]

Retail

Wonderground Gallery retail store in Downtown Disney.

• Alamo Rent-A-Car^[12]
• Anna & Elsa's Boutique^[13]
• Apricot Lane Boutique^[14]
• Build-A-Bear Workshop^[15]
• Disney's Pin Traders^[16]
• Disney Vault 28^[17]
• D Street^[18]
• Fossil^[19]
• House of Blues Store^[20]
• Lego Imagination Center^[21]
• Little MissMatched^[22]
• Marceline's Confectionery^[23]
• Pearl Factory^[24]
• Rainforest Cafe' Retail Shopping Village^[25]
• Roxy @ Quiksilver Boardriders Club^[26]
• Ridemakerz^[27]
• Sanuk^[28]
• Sephora^[29]
• Something Silver^[30]
• Sunglass Icon^[31]
• Travelex^[32]
• WonderGround Gallery^[33]
• World of Disney^[34]

Former shops

• Anne Geddes (Predecessed by Blink- By Wet Seal)^[35]
• Blink- By Wet Seal (Now Starbucks)^[8]
• Basin (now Sanuk)^[36]
• Compass Books & Cafe' (now Earl of Sandwich)^[37]
• Department 56 (now Ridemakerz)^[38]
• Island Charters (now WonderGround Gallery)^[33]
• Kitson Kids (now Apricot Lane Boutique)^[39]
• Studio Disney 365 (now Anna & Elsa's Boutique)

Other attractions and entertainment

• AMC Theatres Downtown Disney 12^[40]
• A Walt Disney Travel Company Information Center
• Live musicians whose CD's are typically available for purchase.
• House of Blues Anaheim^[41]
• Swing Dancing^[42]

Disneyland Monorail System

The Disneyland Monorail System^[43] has two stations, one located in Tomorrowland and another in Downtown Disney. Built as part of the Monorail's 1961 extension, the station was known as the Disneyland Hotel^[44] Monorail Station from 1961 to 2000. It underwent a major renovation and re-theming as part of the 1998-2001 Disneyland Resort expansion, and was re-designated the Downtown Disney Monorail Station in 2001. Admission to Disneyland Park is required to ride the Monorail.

When Downtown Disney first opened, theme park guests could purchase admission from a ticket booth adjacent to the Monorail station. However, the ticket booth was closed a few years later, leaving the Downtown Disney Monorail Station turnstiles open only to guests who had already purchased admission elsewhere.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Downtown Disney California.

• Downtown Disney District official site