Downtown Disney (officially known as the Downtown Disney District) is an outdoor shopping, dining, and entertainment area themed after a garden walk located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was constructed during the Disneyland Resort expansion which also included the construction of Disney California Adventure, and opened on January 12, 2001.
Downtown Disney District lies between the Disneyland Resort's two theme parks and its hotels. The district was built on space previously occupied by the original Disneyland parking lot and Disneyland Hotel, and includes a bridge over Disneyland Drive (formerly West Street, which was regraded to accommodate the bridge). It is smaller than its Florida counterpart and former namesake, which became Disney Springs in 2015. Currently, no admission ticket is required for Downtown Disney District.
California's Downtown Disney District was designed more to attract "locals" and to encourage extended stays in the resort district.
Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa and Disneyland Hotel adjoin Downtown Disney, and a new onsite hotel was announced to open in 2021 on land currently occupied by the west end of Downtown Disney. As such, several businesses closed in June 2018, including AMC Theatres, Earl of Sandwich, ESPN Zone, Rainforest Café, Starbucks West, and Walt Disney Travel Company.[1] Downtown Disney's monorail station, originally built in 1961 as part of the Disneyland Hotel, will be replaced by a station located inside the new hotel.
Following political disputes with the City of Anaheim, the new hotel was put on indefinite hold in August 2018. By that time, businesses to be displaced by the new hotel had already been shuttered in preparation for its construction. The Downtown Disney LIVE! stage in front of the former ESPN Zone building continued hosting live music, and food trucks from Afters Ice Cream, BrewWings, and The Habit have since regularly been serving food in front of the former AMC Theatres. On September 14, 2018, the Disneyland Resort announced that Earl of Sandwich would reopen, at least temporarily.
Alamo Rent a Car • Curl Surf • Disney Dress Shop • Disney Vault 28 • Disney's Pin Traders • Dream Boutique • ESPN Zone Studio Store • The LEGO Store • LittleMissMatched • Marceline's Confectionery • Pandora • Rainforest Cafe Retail Shopping Village • Sanuk • Something Silver • Sunglass Icon • WonderGround Gallery • World of Disney
Dining
Ballast Point Brewing Company • Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer • Catal Restaurant • Earl of Sandwich • ESPN Zone • Häagen-Dazs • Jamba Juice • La Brea Bakery • Naples Ristorante e Pizzeria • Napolini • Rainforest Cafe • Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen • Sprinkles • Splitsville • Starbucks • Starbucks West • Taqueria at Tortilla Jo's • Tortilla Jo's • Uva Bar • Wetzel's Pretzels
Entertainment
AMC Downtown Disney 12 Theatres • Downtown Disney Live! Stage • ESPN Zone • Flambeaux's Jazz Club • Splitsville • The VOID (Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire)
