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!
At Mk we sit either on the walkway from the castle to fairytale garden or to the right of Cheshire cat cafe . It is just a low wall and you can see the bustle but it just seems dampened.
Hi Tom,
I’m a longtime fan and reader of your blog, and love it dearly! I was Googling this exact topic and came across your article here but also one written by someone at the following link:
https://www.worldofwalt.com/places-to-do-work-in-disney-world.html. I thought you should know that that article completely rips off yours. It copies nine of your ten spots, in the exact same order that you’ve put them in here, in a manner that is so blatantly identical that it could not be just a coincidence. (He didn’t even use a correct photo of the Solarium). I figured you should know, in case the writer is doing it with your other posts as well. Pity that your effort, and deep knowledge about Disney can be ripped off so easily. Boo on that other writer!
My favorite quiet spot at Magic Kingdom is sitting on the stone wall near a little bridge that’s in front (Back?) of the Christmas shop. On the left, you can see the castle. It’s an awesome spot to watch the Festival of Fantasy parade come from Liberty Square heading towards Main Street. Lovely trees and so quiet.
A working at Disney story: Early one morning, my husband left our room in the Garden Wing of the Contemporary through the main hotel hall and then went outside to our patio so not to wake everyone up. He worked on his laptop on “our” patio for well over an hour before he saw the room curtains move and heard kids up and about. He knocked on the sliding door to have us let him in the room. Except the little girl who came to the window was not our daughter. And her dad was behind her quizzically wondering why my husband was knocking on their patio door. He’d been on someone else’s patio the entire time! He gave a wave and bolted out of there! He saw the family a couple times at the pool, but he was too embarrassed to say anything.
By the way, I’d definitely request a first floor room if staying in the Garden Wing!
Haha were you there in August of 2019? If so it may have been our first floor garden wing room you knocked on! If not maybe this is a mistake that actually happens all the time .
Yes! It was late August 2019! Lol
I used to love going into the fez house to relax and take a break. When I took my twin 8 months olds to Disney in November 2019 I thought that’d be the perfect place to take them for their nap. Wrong! They’ve changed it to be racecar themed … complete with a loud constantly running virtual car that revvs its engine every five seconds. Such a disappointment!
Sorry, technically not the fez house… the gallery of arts which is attached to the fez house. Either way, we were very disappointed that they made this once quiet and peaceful building into such a loud display.
I endorse Josh H. hard on this. I bristled and said out loud, “People pretend control in a chaotic world with them!! And it’s so blissful!” What are you even doing with your assumed anxiety and control issues Mr. Tom?!
When you say grab breakfast and head to the Tomorrowland Terrace, two questions come to mind…1- is this before the park officially opens (can you access it pre-welcome show) and 2- where do you grab breakfast?
One of my favorite spots to just sit & chill is sitting on the fountain inside the Mexico pavilion where you can soak up the atmosphere but the sound of the fountain drowns out all the people noise. I also agree with you about the patio behind Katsura Grill. Love it back there with the lanterns and the fountain in the pond drowning out some of the park noise. Unfortunately on our last trip that patio was absolutely packed!
This is one of our favorite Epcot/WDW spots and if it’s packed it’s just not as much fun or nearly as nice. When we’ve been the only ones there on occasion the ducks and ducklings waddled by and it was very peaceful!
I love the solarium at the Beach Club! I just stumbled across it about a year ago after staying at the resort several times.
Wilderness alcoves are the best. We were exhausted at a day in the park. Plopped down on sofas in front of fire with the gorgeous lobby music–not a soul in sight (it was very late). So very serene. Not so much when lobby is packed or Whispering Canyons is in full swing (why they didn’t put up walls around this restaurant that can get super noisy is beyond me). And the area you mentioned in Beach Club is perfect to have coffee or pastry, although as you said, not from the marketplace–food is just awful. Grab some butter cake from Ample Creamery instead.
What? You don’t use spreadsheets?!? Tom, you’re missing out!! They’re a dream come true for us obsessive-compulsive analytical types (and based on your awesome blog, I suspect you have a bit of that).
I can’t believe you aren’t already using them to plan your blog posts, organize your hotel and restaurant reviews, track all your personal points and miles, manage your business finances, and run computational scenarios on everything from free dining to ticket prices to DVC ownership. When it comes to making order out of chaos, the possibilities for spreadsheets are endless!
I agree. You can’t beat a good spreadsheet.
Tom, are the DVC community room accessible to non-DVC folks? Not knowing where they are we’d have to wander a bit to find them and I don’t know if they’re in areas off-limits to non-DVC guests…
They’re not off limits. But getting to them from a theme park would involve taking Disney transportation. I’m familiar with the ones near Epcot (Beach Club and Boardwalk.) They are an easy boat ride from the International Gateway near the English Fish and Chips restaurant.
Thanks. I meant where are they within each resort themselves…
When I’m the Magic Kingdom, we like to go to Pecos Bills later evening, for a snack before the fireworks. It’s usually near empty and the walkway is quiet.
I like the rocking chairs at Aunt Polly’s on Tom Sawyer Island, so you can look at the water and watch the ferry.
Also, not on the island but across from it, we watched the fireworks with no crowd from the walkway beside the river once. Even had a bench seat!
I waited an hour for a rocking chair : ). It was almost worth it.