Buisiness Travelers (re: 4/06 podcast)

[Serkazong]

Not really a full blown trip report, but there were a few questions raised as to discount park admissions after 4 pm or so for people in town on buisiness trips. Last month while I was in town, I spent two very nice evenings in Downtown Disney and highly reccomend it for solo travelers. The high points for me are:

• I can usually get there around 5pm, park for free and have plenty of time to wander around and decide what to have for dinner.
• All sorts of restaurants and price ranges to choose from.
• It is a great place to buy the required "daddy's home" souveniers due to the numerous retail shops. If it's Disney, you can buy it here.
• I also really enjoy the Magic Shop in the West Side. They offer free non-stop demonstrations of the merchandise, and have a really cool secret room behind the book case. It reminds me of the now defunct House of Magic on Main St. in MK when I was a kid.
• Very interesting (and free) artist demonstrations in the Art of Disney store.
• Almost every evening DTD has a free stage show in the market place ampitheater
• Free watrer launch transportation around the 3 DTD areas and even to Saratoga Springs if you like.
• If you have an upcoming trip, you can pick up all the current park maps in advance. Since my family and I are returning for our annual vacation in May, I was able to speak with some very helpful CMs @ Guest Relations about upcoming events during our stay.

Although it is not a theme park per se, I find that for me DTD is the perfect evening diversion. The free items mentioned above also make it easy to justify. If you have a family back home and you visit DTD (or any of the WDW parks) solo, it can make you just a fuzz sad. But after all, you are supposed to miss your family right?

[mini-V]

I've used DTD as a fill-in for not being able to go to a park. I love it, and even though it's not the "real thing", it's a touch of magic to get one through till you do get to a park.