West Side
Downtown Disney

UPDATE JULY 12, 2011: The Disney Parks Blog announced that at Downtown Disney this fall, construction will begin on Splitsville, a 50,000-square-foot upscale entertainment center that combines bowling with billiards, dining, music and nightlife. To make way for this experience, RIDEMAKERZ, currently located on the West Side, will move to the Marketplace.

Downtown Disney's West Side opened in 1997 and is the home to Cirque du Soleil, DisneyQuest, Bongos Cuban Cafe and more. The West Side is the largest of the three Downtown Disney areas and includes 344,000 square feet of buildings and a 9,500-square-foot area for events and entertainment.

There is no Disney Resort Bus Stop for the West Side so be sure to use the Pleasure Island bus stop.

DINING

Bongos Cuban Cafe -- Created by Gloria Estefan and her husband Emilio, Bongos offers Cuban cuisine for express lunch and full dinner. The main dining area is themed to Cuba in the 1930s and '40s. The restaurant seats 471 persons and encompasses 20,000 sq feet. The pineapple you see on the outside is 75 feet tall. The leaves alone weigh 37,500 pounds.

Forty-Thirst Street -- Next to Pleasure Island Bridge, beverages and snacks.

House of Blues -- Southern cooking, live music, special folk art display and a Sunday Gospel Brunch! The 1,500 person House of Blues venue is modeled after the venue on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, its theme a tribute to the history of the blues. You can also find the House of Blues retail store with definitive CDs, clothing, folk art and blues accessories. House of Blues Downtown Disney has the largest public display of folk art in the country. The collection includes more than 6,000 original paintings and sculptures from 60 untrained creators, mainly African American men and women from the rural south. 

Orlando Harley-Davidson opened its newly expanded 3,635-square-foot store at Downtown Disney West Side in July 2011. The largest and most interactive Harley merchandise store of its kind, it draws guests in with a 40-foot tower and massive LCD/LED screens showing specially produced footage of motorcycles in action. Guests are also able to see and sit on some of the latest Harley-Davidson motorcycles and a brand new production studio lets guests be pictured in their favorite riding spot or transformed into real bikers. Guests can even design biker vests of their own.

Planet Hollywood -- Colorful three-floor-up-to-the-ceiling eatery with famous movie memorabilia that is open for lunch and dinner. Restaurant seats 550.  An elevator is located behind the huge staircase.  TIP: There are movie artifacts outside Planet Hollywood, too. Just to the left of the entrance way: The shrimping vessel "Jenny" used in the film "Forrest Gump."

Wetzel's Pretzels -- Opened early 2003 and features gourmet pretzels (starting at $2.99), Häagen-Dazs ice cream and more.

Wolfgang Puck Cafe -- A high energy, full-service restaurant featuring wood-fired pizzas and an array of classic Puck entrees. Restaurant seats 552 and has an outdoor seating area. There is a more upscale dining area upstairs that does accept priority seating. Read a review of the Upstairs Dining Room HERE.

Read AllEars.Net Reader Reviews of the West Side restaurants in our Rate and Review section HERE.

 

ENTERTAINMENT

AMC 24 Theatres -  24 separate theaters of which 18 have stadium seating. Recently renovated to include a Dine-In Theater, and state-of-the-art technology. The experience includes reserved seating, table-top dining, and a personal notification button that can be used to quietly call your server at any time during the movie. These theaters also offer an extensive menu that includes appetizers, entrees – like quesadillas, burgers, and flatbread pizzas – desserts, movie theater candy, and more. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages also are available. Catch the latest movies here in comfort. For a current schedule click HERE and select AMC Pleasure Island 24.

Characters in Flight operated by Aerophile -- a giant tethered balloon that takes you 400 feet above the ground. Read more about Characters in Flight and see photos HERE.

Cirque du Soleil - La Nouba  - Written and directed by Franco Dragone. "Once upon a time, a door opened and two worlds collided. Dreams clashed with reality. The mundane mixed with the marvelous. It was no longer possible to tell where one world began and the other ended. This new place was called La Nouba."

DisneyQuest - a virtual playground for all ages. DisneyQuest is an indoor interactive theme park that combines Disney's magic with cutting-edge immersive technologies, such as virtual reality, to provide adventures for guests of all ages. It is entirely contained in a large five-story building. You might call it the video arcade/virtual theme park/ entertainment center of the future, or you might just call it fun! It opened June 19, 1998. Some Disney admission tickets include DisneyQuest, so be sure to check before paying admission. Read more in our Ticket FAQ.

House of Blues - Live music and a Sunday Gospel Brunch! For concert information call 407-934-BLUE or visit their website.

 

SHOPS

Candy Cauldron -- Great theming, be sure to stop in and take a look!  It looks like a fairy tale dungeon, but it is full of sweets (especially jelly beans and fudge).   

Sunglass Icon -- The store is designed like a small movie set.  Designer sunglasses galore -- some that are exact replicas of glasses worn by celebrities in recent films. This is a full-service eyewear boutique.

D Street -- Cutting edge apparel, pop culture novelties, Vinylmation figurines and other collectibles.

DisneyQuest Emporium -- Inside DisneyQuest you can find DisneyQuest logo merchandise (which is not available elsewhere at Disney).

Hoypoloi -- Created by Ron Hoy, first in Chicago and now at Downtown Disney West Side, Hoypoloi offers up a gallery full of art glass, ceramics, sculpture and other decorative items. 

Magic Masters -- features a fireplace, a Victorian replica chandelier, cherry bookcases with old magic books and memorabilia and other items inspired by the library of Harry Houdini. The demonstrations (3 different ones) will last about 10 minutes. There is a Teaching Room where you can learn how to use the items you purchased and an Illusion Room where Pepper's Ghost will be demonstrated. Tricks start at $15.00. (The Wildhorse Saloon Store used to occupy this space.)

Magnetron -- Interestingly enough, there are NO Disney magnets in this store.  You can find plenty of Warner Brother items, however.  Specialty refrigerator magnet shop with an assortment of collector-quality magnets.  

Pop Gallery - Original, artist-signed limited sculptures and paintings, high-end gift items. (This is located on the former site of the Guitar Gallery, which has relocated elsewhere in Orlando.)

RIDEMAKERZ -- Housed in the former Virgin superstore, this is an interactive experience that allows you to build and customize your own radio-controlled vehicles. Read more about Ridemakerz and see photos HERE.

Sosa Family Cigars -- Premium cigar store features the art of hand-rolling cigars.  An authentic, solid cedar humidor room keeps the cigars fresh for a primo smoking experience. You will find cigars that aren't common back home such as the very hard to get Opus X and Fuente Hemingways. They will also ship any of the cigars EXCEPT the Opus X anywhere in the US. A must stop for cigar aficionados.

Discounts may be available at several Downtown Disney locations for Disney Vacation Club members and Annual Passholders.