If you've ever been on a Walt Disney World vacation (and it's likely, if you're reading this), you'll know that there's not a lot of peace and quiet when you're at the parks. Your resort can be peaceful, especially at night (this was one of my knocks against the Boardwalk, as it's often bustling even late into the night) but the parks are always full of people, even on a "slow" day. What if you need to take a breather and just have some time to yourself? Is that even possible at the parks?
I got to thinking about this question recently, and I think the answer is yes. At least, I've found a few secluded places to just get away from it all while still enjoying the ambient atmosphere of being at Disney World. None of these are particularly "interesting" in the strictest sense; if they were, they wouldn't be empty!
Most of the places I'm talking about are essentially dead ends. The reason I was thinking about this lately is because Disney seems intent on getting rid of dead ends in their parks. If all the announced work comes to fruition, the completion of Villains Land at Magic Kingdom will create a path between Big Thunder Mountain and Haunted Mansion. I don't know that I would have had either of those places on this short list, but I always did like exiting Big Thunder and just standing quietly at the dead end side, looking out at Rivers of America. That time is coming to an end for different reasons ...
In a practical sense, eliminating dead ends is a good idea! I happen to really enjoy the path from Tron Lightcycle Run into Storybook Circus at Magic Kingdom - there used to be no reason to venture into those sections of the park and now they can be used as a shortcut between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. So I'm not going to mourn the loss of dead space at the parks. I'm only pointing out that for the purpose of this post, these remaining spaces are there (for now) as places that not many guests frequent.
I don't really have one particular spot at Animal Kingdom where this is the case. A cynic might say that the entirety of Dinoland is a quiet spot because no guests visit, but that would be doing that land a disservice. Instead, the best "out of the way" spot at Animal Kingdom is probably the path behind the Tree of Life as you pass between Asia and Africa. It's a nice way to see the back(side) of the tree, which is impressive from any angle and often has few guests in that section until you get into one of those sections of the park that I mentioned.
For Magic Kingdom, a spot I discovered on our recent trip is in Tomorrowland near the entrance to Space Mountain. It's near the bathrooms south of that entrance (this is a common theme, actually) and is near some small merchandise carts. If I remember correctly, there are a couple of steps down into this alcove. I actually had to make a phone call there (a rare thing for me) and was able to do so easily without having crowd noise around me.
At Epcot, there is a similar alcove on the right side of the Imagination pavilion. Once again, it leads to some bathrooms, but there are a few benches there (and there might even still be a payphone, so you can impress your kids by talking about this ancient technology). Journey Into Imagination is one of the less busy rides at this park in general, and a quiet, shady spot near a quiet ride at a dead end is as good of a place to get off your feet as you'll find there.
Possibly my favorite quiet spot at the parks is one that might be going away, if the rumors are true. Maybe that also made me think about this topic recently. In any case, it's at Hollywood Studios in the Grand Avenue section. The only things tucked into this corner are Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano and Muppet Vision 3D. As long as there isn't a huge line of people waiting to get into the restaurant and Muppet Vision didn't just let out, this is a great alcove to hang out.
There is a storefront over there called It's a Wonderful Shop that is often closed, but is used as a Santa Claus meet and greet during the holidays. This might impact the serenity of this area, but at any other time, this is just a great place to be. The rumor I referenced earlier is that the new Monsters Inc. ride/area is going to replace Muppet Vision. This is not confirmed as of this writing (and the case has been made that there is a much better location for this in another mostly empty section of the park, Animation Courtyard).
If Monsters Inc. does end up on this side of the park, however, this will certainly impact the tranquility of this area, as it will be a big draw for many years, certainly more than Muppets, which, while it has a dedicated fanbase, is not a highly visited attraction (hence the rumor in the first place). I would be sad to see this attraction go, but I would be even more sad about the loss of the best out of the way location in all of the parks.
There is nothing spectacular about any of these locations, as I mentioned. But sometimes you need to get out of the crowds and these are good places to do so. Crowds are what make Disney feel alive, but if you're there for a week, the relentless mass of humanity that you encounter at every turn can get overwhelming. I've encouraged everyone (myself included) to stop and smell the roses at Disney World, though it's hard to take my own advice most of the time. A few minutes might be the best I can get, and that's where these places come in.
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