Lake Buena Vista Travel Guide

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The Disney Marketplace has many shops and restaurants including the first Earl of Sandwich shop, plus Pollo Campero (a Latin chicken quick service restaurant) and Wolfgang Puck diner and highlighted by both the T-Rex Cafe (a dinosaur-themed restaurant which features life-sized animatronic dinosaurs) and the famous Rainforest Cafe here.

Attractions include:
Marketplace Express
Old fashioned Carousel
T-Rex Cafe Dinosaur Dig
Downtown Disney Marina

Restaurants:
Earl of Sandwich
Ghirardelli Soda Fountain & Chocolate Shop (free samples)
Pollo Campero
Rainforest Cafe
T-Rex Cafe

Shopping:
Build-a-Bear Workshop (New for 2014)
Build A Dino by Build-a-Bear Workshop
Cap'n Jack's Marina
Disney's Pin Traders
Goofy's Candy Company
Lego Imagination Center
Once Upon A Toy
Team Mickey
Tren-D (The Dooney and Bourke hub of the Walt Disney World Resort.)
World of Disney
Under $10 shop

There are also other specialty shops plus kiosks with everything from ice cream bars and snacks and margaritas.

NOTE: All of the Walt Disney World resorts offer transportation to Downtown Disney.

NOTE: Construction begins in April 2013 on Disney Springs, a complete remake of the section, which will be completed by 2016

What to buy: Of course the items here are dominated by Disney icons, Disney shapes and Disney-related memorabilia or gifts but there are also many other items from food to drinks to practical items for purchase.

One of the most unique parts is the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for all those little girls dreaming of being a Disney Princess. There are 10 salon stations where girls can get their hair, nails and makeup done and reservations are recommended. And for the boys there is a the Knight Package which is hair styling, plus a sword and shield ,

What to pay: You can expect to pay more here than at a local store or Wal Mart, Super Target, etc....but, you will not have the convenience, the quantity, the quality nor the variety that you would get while shopping on property.

Disney World is a major tourist trap. It's overpriced, there are long lines, and it's so big that it seems like a maze and you have to do a lot of walking, but despite all this, it's still worth seeing!

Unique Suggestions: Expect to wait in long lines, and to pay ridiculously high prices for everything. Don't buy too many souvenirs, they'll eat up all your money!

If you are a certified diver, you can dive into the Living Seas tank (a misnomer as while the fish are alive, all the coral is fake) at Epcot.

There are two dives with 8 divers each - one meets at 4:30 pm and the other meets at 5:30 pm. After the 5:30 dive, the Epcot Divers feed the fish.

After an eight-minute introductory video, divers are shown to locker rooms to change into bathing suits and shortly wetsuits, and then to the dive deck above the aquarium. Dive gear is set up on the edge of the dive deck and ready to be strapped on. The group of eight divers is divided into two groups of four, given a predive briefing and a divemaster to follow into the aquarium for a half-hour dive. After the dive, the group returns to the locker rooms for a hot shower, and then to watch a video of the dive, which may be purchased for $35. The entire program takes about two-and-a-half hours

I was sorry that I did this without any of my family there (I did it in the evening of my conference before they got there). It would have been nice to have someone to wave to in the restaurant that surrounds the tank and have pictures taken with.

Equipment: It was $140 each and all the equipment you use is provided, although I think they allowed me to use my own mask with prescription diopters in it.

I did this. In addition to being surprised that the coral was fake (I expected something like the coral reef tank at the Smithsonian), I was *really* surprised at how COLD the water was. You really had to have a wet suit to be comfortable. They supply the wet suits too. I had to have help getting into mine as the large sizes fastened in the back.

No photography other than the official photography is allowed, so no one will have any photos other than those unless they have someone who will take a photo of them from the restaurant. There are some copyrighted photos on the website