Favorite Best-Kept Secrets in WDW!

Kind of silly, but the bathrooms behind the Imagination Pavilion in EPCOT. They are pretty much always close to empty, regardless of time of day or crowd level. There are also a couple of benches back there. Ditto for the bathrooms behind the QS restaurant in the America pavilion.
 


Maybe not a secret , but after living here for 14 years and going to MK hundreds of times, Monday was the first time I ever took my kids to Tom Sawyer's Island. They are 8 and 2 and would not leave. It was so shady and quiet...very nice, especially since the park was PACKED. We walked over a bridge and found some rocking chairs the overlook thunder mnt. It was so nice just to rest there for a bit and watch. We also sat at one of the picnic tables by the little playground and had a snack.
I know it's there but we never stop....always looks like a good spot for kicking back!
 
The wine tasting "passport" available in the World Showcase. For $20, you get 3 tastings each at France, Italy and Germany (total of 9 tastings). They don't have to be used on the same day, you are given a card that is stamped in each country when you use it.

I didn't know about this! That sounds great!
 
I don't know if they still allow this, but my kids used to be able to ride and "pilot" the Liberty Belle from up top in the Pilot house. Afterwards, they got a steamboat pilot certificate signed by the captain for a souvenir.
Ask before you board if this is still being done. It's fun to watch the kids steer the big wheel and ring the bell.
 


I know many will disagree, but for me it's Mama Melrose. A lot of people either say they don't like it or just don't know about it or think of going there. We love it and never miss it on a trip. And we don't even do much table service each trip. Every time I eat there the service is great and the food is very good. Also, for Disney, the prices are reasonable.
No disagreement from me. My wife and I went there on a kidless WDW trip. I loved the food, the service, the smell and the atmosphere. I liked the background music so much that I have to play old Dean Martin and other Italian music during dinner at home (Pandora has an "Italian Dinner Music" station).

Mama Melrose isn't good for fussy eaters though. We tried it again with kids on another trip. It was a failure.
 
Here are a few of ours:

1. You can walk from Epcot to the Studios or vice-versa in about 20 minutes, deepening on your speed. This cuts out a lot of time waiting on coaches, etc. to get you from park-to-park. I use this all the time.

2. The seating to the left of the Rose & Crown is not for the restaurant, it is open seating.

3. The Fish & Chips from the Yorkshire County Fish Shop are cheaper than the restaurant itself, though you get the same portions. Inside ($19.99) Outside ($13.94) and that's even with three pieces of fish. With just two pieces it's only $9.49.
 
If you're there for Christmas, pull a late nighter at MK during one of their late-night EMH. Usually the first Friday after Christmas (this year will probably be the Sunday) the park will stay open till 2am or 3am for EMH. With a half hour left, the park is a ghost town. It's eery, because it's night and day (literally and figuratively). If you're there earlier in the day, you can't reach your arm out without touching someone. At 2am, you can walk around the park for 10 minutes before seeing someone. I know it's like this year-round, but it's really special during Christmas because - there's some awesome photo ops. We get close to the castle and snap some great pics, grab pics of an empty, decorated Main Street, and run around the park taking in the sites.

While the park may close at 2, they won't really kick you out - but everything will close up.
 
Mini golf at Blizzard Beach. Very nicely themed, not terribly crowded and they actually serve beer here and not generic stuff but descent microbrews.
 
I'll start things off......one of my favorite best-kept secrets has got to be Raglan Road! The music, ambience, and overall experience is amazing!!! Not to mention the food is perfect....love the feeling and can't wait to get back. Our first stop next trip will be here.

That's my post....what's yours? :bounce:
Not a secret, OP. You can't ever get a seat, even outside. This one is out of the bag for sure... Not even close to a secret, especially not a best kept one. So far, we like going to Poly Beach for fireworks. Not a secret, but not very crowded either.

I think Turf Club at Saratoga might be, cuz you can always get a table, but it was sooooooo good,and tremendously better than our latest EP Tutto dinner. Not a great experience, Showcase...
 
I don't know if you would call this a secret.It's a matter of timing and chance,it has happened to me twice in over 40 visits to MK.If you are the last rider on Space Mountain they give you Micky Mouse balloonl it lets the unloading staff know they can relax they send you down in a rocket by yourself,hang on tight to your balloon. Danny
 
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I love these threads ! Another vote for the rocking chairs that face BTRR on Tom Sawyers Island! Such fun to watch the ride from there. Thanks for the hint to watch Wishes from the Circus area will try next trip!:flower1:

to run
YES! this is a fave of my boys as well. it's so quiet, shaded and has lots of room to run and climb and kick back. it's always been a favorite, even though i'm sure many people have it on their skip list.

I am ashamed to say that, last year, we never even made it to Tom Sawyer's Island!:worried: Now, we have got to make it a priority next trip, especially since DD2 will be nearly 4 and LOVES to run, climb, and jump over anything. Can't wait!:yay:
 
If you're there for Christmas, pull a late nighter at MK during one of their late-night EMH. Usually the first Friday after Christmas (this year will probably be the Sunday) the park will stay open till 2am or 3am for EMH. With a half hour left, the park is a ghost town. It's eery, because it's night and day (literally and figuratively). If you're there earlier in the day, you can't reach your arm out without touching someone. At 2am, you can walk around the park for 10 minutes before seeing someone. I know it's like this year-round, but it's really special during Christmas because - there's some awesome photo ops. We get close to the castle and snap some great pics, grab pics of an empty, decorated Main Street, and run around the park taking in the sites.

While the park may close at 2, they won't really kick you out - but everything will close up.
Awesome!
 
Not a "secret" exactly but a tip for adding more enjoyment to a trip, esp if you've been many times and want to experience something "different"......
Here it is.
It's very simple

LOOK UP!

You will be surprised what things you've missed by keeping your eyes focused on your typical line of vision. WDW has soo many details for the eye to see and many of them are on the ceiling, higher up on the front of a building, in a tree, etc. On our trips now, my daughter and I always remind each other to "look up" and we've seen some pretty cool things that despite many visits, we never noticed before.
 
A few really deep cut secrets I'll reveal for you here...
- if you meet the Toy Story characters and say "Andy's coming" they'll look around and probably shrug
- you can go to any quick service restaurant and ask for ice water, and they'll give you a $10 gift card to Outback Steakhouse
- the names on the tombstones in the queue for the Haunted Mansion come from a list of Walt Disney's worst enemies
- imagineers placed small hidden mickeys throughout the parks as a message to KGB spies
- yes, someone does live in Cinderella castle. His name is Steve and he's a nice guy. Pretty quiet, mostly keeps to himself.
- the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse is not an actual tree... it is made up of over 10 artificial leaves, and over 8 pounds of steel
 

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