Hi Tracey,
Personally, I can't take a trip to Walt Disney World without visiting downtown Disney (at least once). My daughter has loved Downtown Disney since she was 3 years old and still loves it as an 8 year old. She is infatuated with the arcades at the various WDW Resorts, but they can only give so much entertainment value until it seems to become "old". The resort arcades are not very large and if you really want them to have the ultimate arcade experience then I would suggest
DisneyQuest located in Downtown Disney. This will keep them occupied for days!! DisneyQuest is not just your typical arcade, it's the virtual experience that everyone will love no matter what age. Admission to DisneyQuest is an additional cost or you could use one of your Water Park admissions instead if you have the Water Park Fun and More option added to your Magic Your Way Ticket. For more information please visit the above link.
Downtown Disney also has some cool shopping such as clothes, jewellery, Lego, of course Disney merchandise (and lots of it), pin trading stations and all the pins you could possibly want to purchase, Goofy's Candy Co., Christmas merchandise (year round), etc..etc... You also have many options for dining such as, Wolfgang Pucks Café, Wolfgang Pucks Express, Planet Hollywood, Rainforest Café, McDonald's as well as the all-new T-Rex Café just to name a few. There is also a huge movie theatre and the very popular La Nouba show is there as well.
I like Downtown Disney mostly for the atmosphere...there is always something special happening whether it is entertainment, music, street atmosphere, etc... it`s all there and it is a "must do" for all of our trips to WDW. Please try it at least once just so you know what it is all about!
Best wishes,
Brigitta