Woman in the Middle

I got a hankering for a little Disney in my life so Hubby, Eldest Daughter, and i went off to Downtown Disney on Saturday evening. Downtown Disney is the shopping area outside the parks and is free to enter. Well, free except for the $12 an hour parking. More on that in a minute.

The California freeways were kind to us on the way down, and only a bit of slowing was encountered. That made for a good start to our evening. Unfortunately, Disney has some weird parking nonsense going on nowadays. Every visit is different. On Saturday we followed the (permanent) signs to Downtown Disney parking, only to find out, after it was too late to make a different choice, that they closed off the entrance all the signs are pointing us to. A temporary sign directed us to go passed the posted entrance to the next stop sign to make a u turn and go back to  the street we had come from. If they had posted the temporary sign on THAT street, we could have just gone straight, and missed the turn, u-turn, and turn again. Grrrr….

Anyway, we eventually parked and walked over towards Downtown Disney. On the way, we passed the Disneyland Hotel. I realized I had never ever been inside the original hotel at Disneyland, so we wandered around there for a bit before going over to Downtown.

If you spend $20 or more on a meal or purchase, you can gt a minimum of three hours of free parking. So we ate at the Earl of Sandwich (guess what we had? LOL!) and got our three hours of free parking. That was just enough for us. Downtown Disney isn’t that big, and I have feet that tire quickly. Besides, it was really crowded, and it was reminding  Hubby and I of some of the less pleasant moments of our Disney World vacation. Strollers and more strollers, crying kids, and a whole lot of tourists stopped and staring.

In spite of it all, we did enjoy ourselves. But three hours was plenty, and then we were happy to head home, our Disney needs met once again.

Recently Hubby, Youngest Daughter and I went to Downtown Disney. It was a Saturday night and we got there at dusk so it wasn’t too hot. They always seem to have musicians playing which adds a nice touch. We sat down to rest our feet and listen to a guitar player when we were approached by a survey taker. She asked if I would be willing to take a Disney survey. I was in a good mood so I said yes. She took my email address and said the survey would be sent to me, handed me a Micky Mouse sticker and  we were done.

A few days later the survey popped up in my in box. I had agreed to take it  so I opened it up and started right in. Ten minutes later I began wondering what I had gotten myself into. I finally finished the dratted thing after wasting 30 minutes of my life on it. And what did I get from the multi-billion dollar Disney company for my troubles? A hearty “thank you.” They didn’t even offer to enter me into a drawing for something. No coupons, no little trinket. I guess the Mickey Mouse sticker was all the reward I was going to get.

So if you are ever on a Disney property and someone approaches you about doing a survey, just say “no!” Say it fast and say it loud. I love all things Disney, but they need to thank their survey takers with a little more than a sticker!

We have a Legoland in Southern California. We only went once because it opened just as my two girls were getting a little too big to go. At that time it seemed to be designed for younger children and the girls were so big for their ages that they had a hard time fitting into some of the kiddie rides. This was not a problem unique to Legoland by the way. Everyone thought my girls were going to be over 6 feet tall but they are nowhere near that height. They got their growth out-of-the-way early, I like to say.

Anyway, back to Legos. The thing I loved about Legoland was all of the sculptures made out of Legos. They were fascinating! So I was thrilled to bits when we went to Downton Disney week before last and the Lego store there had new Lego statutes. They were Disney themed, of course, and huge! Here are some photos. Enjoy!

Here is Beauty and the Beast. Note the clock and candlestick above their hands.

Here is a Toy Story themed diorama. Note the trees in the background. Aren’t they pretty? And totally made out of Lego!

Here is Prince Phillip from Sleeping Beauty fighting the dragon. Below is a photo of just the dragon, which is huge and is perched on top of the store!

Here is the Aladdin display inside the store. I love the Genie with its face inspired by Robin Williams. The rug Aladdin and Jasmine are fling on was pretty awesome, too! I have to say, female faces do not seem to be the Lego designer’s strong point. Jasmine and Belle (in the first photos) are a little round in the face….

The whole family went off to Downtown Disney on Saturday evening. I guess we hadn’t had enough Mickey Mouse in our lives and since Downtown Disney is free and Disneyland costs $87, it is certainly the place to go for a dose of Disney Magic without the hefty price tag!

Parking for Downtown Dis\ney is free for the first three hours. You can get an additional two free hours of parking with validation from “participating stores.” We have been there many times so three hours is more than enough for us to do a circuit of the shops. If you plan on eating there and looking at the shops, too, then you may need more time. Each additional hour costs $6.00.

I fully admit that my family enjoys window shopping, so Downtown Disney is perfect for us. We like to poke around in the shops, admire the merchandise,and soak up the Disney atmosphere. The girls and I like to go through the huge Disney store to see what they have managed to put Mickey on now. Hubby, bless him, tolerates our oohs and aahs. If you like pin trading then the Disney store is perfect because there are always at least a few employees wearing a lanyard full of pins and, again, you don’t have to pay to get into the park to enjoy that activity.

Another fun store (which my Hubby enjoys much more) is the LEGO store. They had a whole area set up outside the store with tables and LEGO which was being enjoyed by a number of families. They also have added two huge displays constructed of LEGO to the outside of the store and one inside the store, all with a Disney theme, of course! I will be posting photos of those on another day.

There are often entertainers scattered though out Downtown Disney. On the Saturday night we were there there was a band playing music and quite a few couples were swing dancing and even more people were gathered around enjoying the music. There was also a guitarist and a violist. Like all things having to do with Disney, these are not your typical buskers, but really amazing musicians, hand-picked I am sure to play in Downtown Disney. An entertainment schedule is available on the Downtown Disney Website.   http://disneyland.disney.go.com/downtown-disney/

Since it was Saturday night there was more entertainment but there were also more people, LOTS of people. If you prefer a less crowded experience I suggest you go earlier int he day or on a weekday.

My only complaint about Downtown Disney, ever since it opened, is that it is lacking in casual, won’t cost an arm and a leg dining places. We usually go on the spur of the moment and we do not like to pay a huge amount for dinner for the four of us.  They are finally trying to remedy that. A new restaurant called the Earl of Sandwich is ging in even as I type. Several pf the existing restaurants have expanded their outside (and more casual) dining areas. Or you can do what we often do which is eat before we arrive.

So, we were once again filled up with the magic of Disney. For Hubby and me the magic was even more magical because it didn’t cost a dime!