Since we arrived late afternoon in Anaheim, we didm't want to use up a full Disneyland pass (My friends bought a 5 day, we had a 4 day park hopper) they suggested we take a walk through Downtown Disney. Back in 1990, this didn't exist so it was a new experience for Mason and I.
We were thrilled to discover a double stroller in the closet so that was for our Friends' kids and we used their single stroller for Mason. Mason hasn't had a stroller in years and I think even at 1.5 his Dad and I made him walk everywhere. This environment is a different story. It's not odd to see a large child in a stroller and no one judges! The fact that you are literally walking for 8+ hrs as an adult is rough, let alone little peoples.
So we left our townhouse to walk to Disneyland. This was one of the 'cons' of stating a bit further away than say the other hotels. However where this group of townhouses is located, it's very close to the park.
8 minute walk!
The only downside is that there is not a cross walk across the 4 lane street. There is a divider which makes it a bit more safe but you literally have to wait for all cars to pass (no one bothers to stop here..tsk tsk) and then cross to the median and then wait again.
Once we walked down Magic way, there are two entrances to Downtown Disney, one via the Disneyland Hotel (we went through their lobby) or simply keep going straight and turn left on S West St.
As you progress along, you first encounter the vendors on both sides of the path. Selling anything from t-shirts, to face painting/caricatures, sunglasses (my first stop) to churro's/popcorn. Then once you get into the 'downtown' you'll see more restaurants and then shops.
The Rainforest Cafe is the first restaurant we encountered and we decided to eat early. The restaurant is an experience in itself. It's decked out in jungle theme (although all the plant life appeared to be fake) there are robot monkey's in the trees that start squeaking prior to a 'rainfall' that occurs every 15-20 mins where the lights flicker and/ you can hear rain and thunder. The kids enjoyed it. We wandered their gift shop/store? while waiting for our name to be called which took up a lot of time. Once we got seated, it was time to order. The menu was pretty extensive and reasonably priced. By the time we were served, it was pretty much 5pm! Perfect timing.
After dinner we continued to explore Downtown Disney and headed into the Lego Store.