Downtown Disney

This is the most fun for free at Disney. Besides shopping and restaurants, what's here for families? Kids can splash for an entire afternoon in the interactive water fountains (be sure to take along a bathing suit or a change of clothes), and we love the new LEGO Imagination Center, with fabulous designs made from the tiny plastic blocks, like a life-size dragon in the lagoon and the snoring man on the park bench just outside the door.

There are plenty of LEGOs for kids to play with on tables inside the store and just outside in an expansive play area, with plenty of benches for mom and dad to rest and places for restless teenagers to explore nearby. Also, Disney's Once Upon a Toy store has plenty of toys-and hands-on examining is encouraged.

Encompassing three areas-the Marketplace, Pleasure Island, and West Side-Downtown Disney is the place to shop, dine, and play away from the theme parks-nearly a dozen restaurants, 24 movie theater screens, and more than 50 shops and stores. The world's largest Disney character shop, World of Disney, is one-stop shopping for sounvenirs.

Some of the most fun restaurants in Central Florida are here-Rainforest Cafe, Planet Hollywood, House of Blues, Wolfgang Puck, to name a few. During the winter holidays, from late November to early January, Disney builds an outdoor ice-skating rink, a real novelty in 80 degree weather.

DisneyQuest is a five-story, indoor interactive theme park at Downtown Disney West Side that combines Disney's creativity with technology, including virtual reality and real-time 3-D. There are activities for every age group in four zones: Explore Zone with virtual reality attractions; Score Zone that tests game-playing skills; Create Zone, a studio for artistic self-expression and invention; and the Replay Zone, a favourite for youngsters with retro midway games and high-tech bumper cars.

Another attraction is Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Buccaneer Gold, where a crew of four boards a "ship" to enter a 3-D world of plundered towns, fortress islands, and erupting volcanoes for an action-packed, five-minutes experience. DisneyQuest is open daily from 10.30am till midnight. Admission is $29 plus tax, $23 for ages 3-9, free for children under age 3. All children age 9 and under must be accompanied by an adult.

Where Universal Studios Hollywood is essentially a tram tour with built-in surprises and several extra-large theaters, the Florida parks have lots of exciting, innovative rides, and individual shows on movie making.