Downtown Disney and CityWalk

On Wednesday, it was supposed to rain, but then ended up not raining. We planned on having a shopping day at Downtown Disney and then at the outlet center that's close by to us. I love walking around Downtown Disney. My favorite parts are the giant Disney store, the Disney-themed bakery, and the Ghirardelli store because they hand out free samples of their caramel chocolate squares. I also love the store they have called Mickey's Pantry because they usually have some cute tea things in there.











Downtown Disney has this section called Pleasure Island which used to be full of clubs and bars and was 21+ only (or maybe 18+). You were allowed to go into the shops during the day but at night, it was for adults. Disney decided to change the whole thing and get rid of the more adult -type entertainment and keep the whole place more family friendly. There are still bars and "nightlife", but it's not like it used to be.











We ate at Planet Hollywood since we had a coupon for a free appetizer, first priority seating, and $15 off our bill. I had a really delicious southwestern salad. We also had an amazing waitress who used to work at the parks. She went to Disney's college program and was even some of the characters such as Chip 'n Dale and Winnie the Pooh. I asked how hot it was in those costumes, and she said very. There are no air conditioning machines or anything in there. It's just a regular suit, so it gets to be pretty intense. I can't imagine being in one of those costumes in the summer when it gets to be 90-100 degrees out. I'd say the lucky people are the ones who get to work in the stores and the indoor attractions.











After we were done at Downtown Disney, we went to the outlet center. I ended up finding this really pretty pair of pumps at Naturalizer that were 60% off. They are a purply-burgundy color and I love them! That was the first thing I bought all week! I'm doing pretty good at saving my money! There were a ton of cute things that I kind of wanted at the Disney stores, but they were way too expensive and I didn't want them that much to spend that much money on any of it. It's also hard to justify buying something when you know you can find it cheaper online somewhere. I know it's the whole experience of going on vacation and bringing home souvenirs, but at the end of the day, I'm still a 24 year old grad student who is trying to save money for big adult-y things...lol.

Top: Forever 21//Shorts: Forever 21//Bag: ASOS//Shoes: Gap//Lipstick: LORAC Cosmetics

After dinner that night, we ended up heading over to Universal to go to CityWalk. CityWalk is the part of the park that you don't have to pay admission to get into. You only have to pay parking, which was $5 when we went. They have restaurants and shops there. We went to go to the Universal Store that they have, but I think they were renovating it or something because the store was just a giant tent that had been set up. I was pretty disappointed since there was no Harry Potter stuff in the store at all. They did have little kiosks with all the different characters and their merchandise. There were two Harry Potter ones, but it wasn't the same! I was also disappointed that they don't sell the bottles of pumpkin juice outside the parks.









Despite all of that, it was still nice to visit a part of Universal since it's my favorite park. I didn't want to go this year since the new Harry Potter part won't be open until this summer. I'd rather go next year when I can see something new!