Downtown Disney is home to a number of restraunts and shops along with Pleasure Island. Ken and I didn't go to Pleasure Island; we aren't the clubbing types. We did visit the stores and enjoy seafood at Captain Jack's Oyster Bar (note - at this restraunt, bar seats are just as good as table seats and are easier to get).

If you are looking to remodel your home, there's a store in Downtown Disney for you. It could be called "Bed, Mickey, and Beyond", as it's a home furnishings store where everything from the candle-holders to the shower curtains feature something Disney. I bought a very nice wooden clock and had it shipped home.

Cirque du Soleil

This is the real reason we came here - Cirque du Soleil. The show was La Nouba, and it was quite an experience. The show lasted 90 minutes and had no intermission (nor a word of English spoken). The acts just flowed in and out to music for you to appreciate. The ticket says to arrive 30 minutes early, and I would suggest this as well. There are clowns that come out before the show and poke fun at people who are arriving in that last 30 minutes. Some of the improvised bits were quite good.

From then on, the show was a flurry of activity and music. Flying doors came out from above, people ran in and out of all sides, and goofiness ensued while the acts went on. It was a mind-blowing show; it really put you in a trance and you could just absorb it.

In this act, the performer held long flowing strips of cloth that came from above, and then would gather speed and jump and just soar over the audience. It was a very dramatic piece and obviously required tremendous amounts of upper arm strength.

This finale was really something else. The building in the middle came up out of the floor. The large X on the stage was actually trampolines that the performers used to tumble all over each other. There were two large trampolines from which acrobats launched themselves up the sides of the "building" (the guy on the right is walking to the top of the building ) The acrobates also would careen from one trampoline to another(that's the blur in the picture). Up top, where the lights are, a man was singing in a very Dr. Frank-n-Furteresque outfit and over to the right is a painting of a blue sky and a woman standing in front of it singing as well (click on the picture to see a larger version).

Quite the Kodak moment. Actually, it was like being in a live TV commercial for a new type of vehicle.. or a perfume.. or a mind-altering drug.. or all three..

 

Now you can follow Scott to Universal Studios or find your own way from the list below.

 

 

---