There are a lot of reasons people love to stay on Disney property while visiting the House of the Mouse, but I happen to like staying at Downtown Disney. The thing is that you get most of the perks of staying on Disney property, but without sacrificing your first-born son and all of his future offspring. It's still not a bargain, necessarily, but definitely an improvement, depending on the time of year. Downtown Disney hotels all feature the same sort of crazy good customer service that you expect from Disney. Which, by the way, is not at all surprising to me because even the Taco Bell near Disney World has better customer service than I've ever gotten at an Applebee's in Pittsburgh. Taco Bell. Good service. Wrap your brain around THAT, internet.
Anyway, one of those Disney property perks is Extra Magic Hours, the time each day when one of the parks opens early or stays open late only for guests staying on Disney property. Downtown Disney hotels get to take part in that joy.
Ever since we lucked into the whole thing a few years ago, we have made it a point to be sure to head over to Disney Studios (it hurts my head that I've been brainwashed into calling it that, btw) for the evening Extra Magic Hours.
This is why:
The shenanigans don't start until late (10:00 pm for us this time), but ZOMG! THE AWESOME!
The Disney Junior show transforms into a preschool-sized rave, complete with flashy lights, a DJ, bubbles, balloon animals, and a handful of Disney Junior characters. Some of them are Lame with a capital 'L', but still. They're there, the crowds aren't, and it all leads to a lot of dancing and chaos.
My favorite part of the little dose of Disney magic (excluding the part where my kid who hates people in giant fursuits seemingly forgets that she hates people in giant fursuits--that's a level of amazing that I can't describe) is that I get to sit on the floor in the back of the room and just sort of prop my eyelids open with popsicle sticks while Alexis does her thing.
It's beautiful.
