Top 10 Quiet Corners of Disney World
Walt Disney World can be a crowded place, and there are a number of reasons you might want to seek out quiet corners in Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, or even the resorts. Perhaps you need a reprieve from the chaos, to escape other people, or simply need to decompress from the sensory overload that Walt Disney World often offers.
For many people, there’s no longer such a thing as a disconnected vacation, even at Walt Disney World. As laptops and smart phones have become ubiquitous, so too has the expectation that work calls and emails will be responded to within hours, even on vacation. It’s unfortunate, but always being “on call” is simply the reality for many people.
The best “quiet corner” at Walt Disney World is always going to be your hotel room. That’s probably a given, but I’ll nonetheless reiterate the how nice it is to start the day by sitting on your hotel balcony with a cup of coffee. It’s a blissful and decompressing way to start the day, and I have developed something of an appreciation for these quiet moments in the mornings. With that said, here’s our list of the other best quiet corners at Walt Disney World…
10. Town Center Welcome Center – Disney Springs has a lot going for it, but there are a few notable downsides–the lack of quiet spots and shade chief among them. Long ago, we stumbled upon the Town Center Welcome Center by accident. I appreciate the rocking chairs with a view out over the water, the awnings that provide shelter from the sun or storms, and the lack of crowds.
Any restaurant with a terrace out onto the water is going to have the same result, but you’ll have to pay for that experience (or rather, for food). Starbucks is a good air-conditioned option at Disney Springs, but it’s not going to be quiet. Finally, there’s the walkway behind that same Starbucks that runs along the waterfront and overlooks Saratoga Springs Resort.
9. PizzeRizzo Balcony – Tucked away back in Muppets Courtyard, this is far enough from the entrance to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge that it’s secluded from the crowds and is the least-busy area of Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
During off-hours, you’re likely to find few people up on the PizzeRizzo balcony. If you don’t need a table, finding an isolated corner in the courtyard may be an equally good choice. We love the Miss Piggy fountain!
8. Fez House – There’s a lot tucked away in Morocco at Epcot. For that reason, it’s my favorite pavilion in all of World Showcase (sorry, France and Japan). From meandering pathways to the marketplace vendors to the often-overlooked Restaurant Marrakesh deep in the back, Morocco has a ton to offer that the vast majority of Walt Disney World guests never see.
Arguably, the very best feature of the Morocco pavilion is hiding in plain sight. That’s the Fez House, which is located just to the left of the main courtyard. Through a nondescript doorway, you enter a lovely tiled room that is meant to reflect a typical Moroccan home. It’s peaceful and serene in here, with the trickle of water providing an atmospheric soundtrack and diffused light coming from the beautiful fixtures.
7. Flame Tree BBQ Seating – Animal Kingdom has a ton of quiet spaces, particularly throughout the Oasis and Tree of Life trails, but the problem with all of those spots is that these can be relatively tight spaces, so all it takes is one loud party to come your way and eliminate what was once a reprieve.
Due to that, I much prefer chilling in the Flame Tree BBQ seating area during off hours. If you’re here outside of the prime dining hours, you can typically grab a table with absolutely no one around. Few things beat a lounge spot with Everest in the background.
6. Hotel du Canada – If you head towards the sun in the photo above (to the left of the Hotel du Canada), you’ll find yourself at a location in the Canada pavilion where few other guests venture.
There are a few benches back there, and it’s the perfect environment to relax away from the crowds. I frequently head up here for the relaxing roar of the waterfall, which can also provide a nice ‘blanket’ of white noise.
5. Disney Vacation Club Community Rooms – In almost every DVC resort, there is a community room (actually, I’m not sure if the newer ones have them). These rooms usually have board games, televisions, and reading chairs. The idea, as reflected in the name, is that they’d be a gathering place for community events.
The problem (or in our case, benefit) is that almost no one ever uses them. I’ve spent hours in the ones at Old Key West, Wilderness Lodge, and Beach Club Villas and have seldom had anyone else join me in the room.
4. Katsura Grill Outdoor Seating – There have been several times when we’ve opted to eat at Katsura Grill not because we were in the mood for Japanese cuisine, but because we wanted to escape the crowds at the outdoor seating area up here.
There’s rarely anyone around this area of the Japan pavilion, and it’s especially serene at night with the lanterns hanging overheard and the reflecting ponds nearby.
3. Crescent Solarium – I would hazard a guess that there are lifelong fans who don’t even know this exists. I didn’t until stumbling upon it by chance a few years ago.
Located in a quiet wing of Beach Club as you head towards the Villas, this hallway and airy atrium rarely has many people in it, making it a great place to work or decompress. (Pro tip: it’s also a great spot to eat whatever you order from Beach Club Marketplace, should you be forced into eating there.)
2. Tomorrowland Terrace – A quiet seating area with shade and a view of Cinderella Castle? This one is nearly impossible to beat. While it “closes” early to set-up for the dessert parties and sometimes is actually operational as a restaurant, early in the day, it’s perfect.
Pro tip: grabbing breakfast and taking it here to eat with no one around–and a castle view–is the perfect way to start a day!
1. Wilderness Lodge Fireplaces – The fireplace in the main lobby of Wilderness Lodge is “okay.” It’s so popular it sometimes has multiple rows of rocking chairs sitting out at it, which is fine if you want to see the back of someone’s head. The good news is that Wilderness Lodge must’ve bought its fireplaces in bulk, as they’re all over the place. For a more secluded experience, head upstairs to the alcoves, which have fireplaces and overstuffed reading chairs and couches around them. #SERENITYNOW
Even if you have no intentions of ever answering a work email on vacation or putting together a spreadsheet of [insert whatever people do with spreadsheets–I don’t use them!], hopefully this list gives you some insight into where you can find some quiet corners at Walt Disney World. Now, don’t make me regret sharing these with you by being loud and obnoxious in any of them! 😉
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Your Thoughts
What about you…do you have any quiet places you like to go to get down to business (or just escape the crowds) at Walt Disney World? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Since I mostly camp at Fort Wilderness when visiting Disney, I get to spend an hour or so each morning under my camper awning in my gravity recliner with my laptop keeping my email flow at bay and answering any questions folks might have. I hear the early morning train whistle from the Magic Kingdom and the boats coming and going from the dock, hear birds, and folks getting ready to start their day at the “World”. I don’t mind spending a bit of time each morning “working” while on vacation as we don’t leave for the parks till late afternoon anyway. Staying connected allows me to “vacation” longer as I’m using less PTO.
Hey Tom, great article! Any chance of doing an article like this for Disneyland? Inquiring teleworkers want to know!
White Water Snacks in the GCH all the way. Quiet, great view, and free refills from the coke freestyle machines.
I know this is a much older comment, but my favorite quiet spot at Disneyland is in front of the New Orleans Square train station. It’s almost always quiet and uncrowded back there and it’s a perfect spot for people watching without feeling surrounded. The view of the Rivers of America from back there is lovely too.
I also love the solarium at Beach Club. In fact, I’ve had some of my most relaxing moments in life there. It’s very peaceful with soft music. There’s a smell there, probably a cleaner of some kind, that I can still smell from time to time that takes me back.
The alcoves at Wilderness Lodge are also nice. I’ve never been able to get seated in them, however. Someone else beats me to them.
I’ve eaten my only Mickey head ice cream deal on a bench at Innoventions.
Perfect timing Tom! I have to work 1/2 a day in 2 weeks and am staying at BCV for the first time, so now I know where I’ll set up shop! Thanks!
On my recent trip, I wanted to work on a project while the rest of the family was napping in the afternoon. We were staying at AKL, and I found the Sunset Lounge to be a nice place to work. It was pretty quiet in the middle of the afternoon, and I got to see a giraffe walk by.
The two at the beach club are my all time favourites! When they put a pool table in the one and a TV in the other it made it less quiet, though. I’ll be anxious to try the Tomorrowland local. Thanks for a great party.
This is a great post! I recently was out in Florida for work, and needed good places to get work done before my family flew out to join me for park time. I opted for my hotel room (which was awesome with a pool view and a quick trip to the gift shop for a Mickey Bar) but these places seem cool too.
When it’s lovely out I go for the grassy area of the hub in the Magic Kingdom. Alternatively the big empty circus tent area by Silly Pete’s Sideshow is covered and also provides power outlets!
This post could also be called…the best places to nurse an infant in WDW. We took ours a few years ago. I found innoventions and the tomorrowland terrace to be great places to nurse!
To Tom Bricker
I just want to know
What The (Innoventions)
Was about? Like what was
It before? And was it a good
Place before it closed down?
Great idea! I might need to bookmark this. So far the only two times we have to do emergency work in the parks we just stopped in lesser used thoroughfares. Since no one else has reason to stop in these areas, the noise wasn’t too bad to interrupt a phone call.
Great list, can’t wait to try these out. Especially useful since some rooms – or even entire resorts – aren’t particularly great for working.
I have actually brought my laptop into the parks with me and while finding a quiet place wasn’t a problem, consistent wi-if connectivity was. Any tips around this?
This list is great. I’ve been looking for good places to get work done.
Before anybody tells me to “Enjoy your vacation!”, I moved to Kissimmee a few months ago (15 mins from TTC) and work from home. Spending a day in the parks would be a welcome change from my home office.
While these might be great places to get some work done, the thought of actually DOING WORK while at Disney is completely foreign and vulgar to me. Assuming you are with your family or loved ones, what is the point of going on vacation if you can’t devote your time to them? I understand “emergencies” can pop up which require your attention, but to actually plan time to get some work done… nope, not in my family. No excuses!
Yep, I’m pretty sure that this is a YMMV kind of post. This might be foreign and vulgar to you, but to some, this might help in making a decision of taking a vacation or not depending on your line of work. The tut-tutting and lecturing really doesn’t work here.
Thanks for that, Bob. I’m REALLY REALLY glad that some people are lucky enough to not have to work while at Disney World, but the place I work at might shut down if I weren’t occasionally available to provide solutions (or else they may hire someone to replace me . . .)
Hi Tom! Long time reader – first time commenter. One time I was at Magic Kingdom on vacation and forgot to reschedule a conference call. Yikes! I found that a quiet corner of the second floor of Columbia Harbour House was actually somewhat relaxing. Don’t know if it would make top 10 but worth a mention!
The second floor of Columbia Harbour House is AWESOME. I didn’t even think about it while making this list, but it probably deserves a spot on it. Perhaps in place of Innoventions, which is basically on its way out, anyway…
You are correct Tom. In 2014 we ate lunch @ 2nd Floor Columbia Harbor House and a gentlemen sitting behind us was quietly working on a laptop. I said hello and realized he was watching the WorldCup!
This post makes me sad, partly because it’s necessary and partly because I know I’ll be doing some email checking/phone call making/other work junk at Disney World – but, vacations don’t pay for themselves…
While I agree many of these places are calming places to sit and relax, I need minimal distractions to work. A guest walking through, people calling to each other, and children merrily playing and exploring will distract me enough that my productivity drops to zilch.
Best places for me to work on vacation: On the plane to/from Disney. In my room, with the balcony door slightly ajar so I don’t feel confined.
Best solution: Don’t work on vacation. You’re supposed to relax!
I saw the title of this post and assumed it would be essentially “best places to be a cast member.” Perhaps that’s a future post.
Sounds like a few people were confused, so I added “do” to the title.
The other idea would be interesting, but I don’t have the knowledge to write that…
lol I definitely thought the same…
This was my thought, too. I got really excited, because working at WDW might be my dream retirement job (except for living in Florida year-round). But this topic is probably a lot more relevant to me!! 😀
When I read the headline, I thought this post was going to be the top 10 places in the parks you would want to work if you were a Disney Employee! This was interesting too…