Downtown Disney

src: upload.wikimedia.org

Downtown Disney (officially the Downtown Disney District) is an outdoor shopping center located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It opened in 2001 as part of an expansion of the resort from one theme park (Disneyland) to a multi-park resort complex.

Video Downtown Disney

Location and history

Downtown Disney lies between the Disneyland Resort's two theme parks and its hotels. It is considerably smaller than its Walt Disney World counterpart, which is now named Disney Springs. No admission ticket is required for the area. Downtown Disney 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.

During the late 1990s Disneyland Resort expansion which also included the construction of Disney California Adventure, Downtown Disney was built on space previously occupied by the original Disneyland parking lot and Disneyland Hotel, and includes a pedestrian bridge over Disneyland Drive (formerly West Street), which was regraded to accommodate the bridge. Downtown Disney opened on January 12, 2001.

Maps Downtown Disney

Buildings

Downtown Disney includes the following buildings:

Restaurants

Catal
Earl of Sandwich
ESPN Zone
Häagen-Dazs
Jamba Juice
La Brea Bakery Cafe
Naples Ristorante e Pizzeria
Bubba Gump Shrimp Company
Napolini
Starbucks Coffee (two locations)
Sprinkles
Rainforest Cafe
Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen
Tortilla Jo's
Uva Bar
Wetzel's Pretzels

Retail

Alamo Rent a Car
Build-A-Bear Workshop
Chapel Hats
Curl Surf
Disney's Pin Traders
Disney Vault 28
Dream Boutique
D-Street
Fossil
Lego Imagination Center
Marceline's Confectionery
Pearl Factory
Rainforest Cafe Retail Shopping Village
Ridemakerz
Sanuk
Sephora
Sunglass Icon
Travelex
WonderGround Gallery
World of Disney

Former tenants

Anna & Elsa's Boutique (replaced by Dream Boutique)
Anne Geddes (Predecessed by Blink - By Wet Seal)
Apricot Lane Boutique
Blink - By Wet Seal (now Starbucks)
Basin (now Sanuk)
Compass Books & Cafe (now Earl of Sandwich)
Department 56 (space split into three fronts, now Chapel Hats, Sanuk and Ridemakerz)
House of Blues Anaheim
Illuminations (space split into two fronts, now Fossil and D-Street)
Island Charters (now WonderGround Gallery)
Kitson Kids (became Apricot Lane Boutique)
LittleMissMatched (replaced by Chapel Hats)
Something Silver (replaced by Sprinkles)
Studio Disney 365 (replaced by Anna & Elsa's Boutique)
Quiksilver and Roxy (now Curl Surf)

Other attractions and entertainment

AMC Theatres Downtown Disney 12
A Walt Disney Travel Company Information Center
Live musicians
Swing dancing

Disneyland Monorail System

The Disneyland Monorail System 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 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.