Finding Zen in WDW

WDW can be a crazy place - between all the crowds, kids, parades, shows, fireworks, and the sounds of people gnawing on turkey legs - sometimes you need a breather, but you don't necessarily want to go to back to the hotel. Over the years, my family and I have discovered a few spots around the parks that offer a respite from the noise and excitement. I'll share some of my favorites here, and I hope you'll do the same in the comments:

Epcot - Morocco Pavilion: An interesting thing happens in the World Showcase at night. When the sun goes down, the people all take their seats at various restaurants or claim their standing spots by the lagoon, and all of a sudden ... the pavilions are deserted. It's an incredible thing. All the fun of Epcot by day, but without the crowds. My favorite place to experience this is the Morocco pavilion, where the winding paths and hidden shops truly make you feel like you're in a different place. Everything melts away, except for the smells coming from Restaurant Marrakesh and the ambient music. And then, when it's time to return to reality, you walk back out to the main path and see this:

Animal Kingdom - Maharajah Jungle Trek: I admit, you have to hit this at the right time of day, or there's nothing zen about it.  But if you go early in the morning, while everyone else is gobbling up FastPasses for Everest, the pathways are quiet, the animals are active, and all the noise just drops away. It's like taking a peaceful nature walk, but with tigers.

Magic Kingdom - Main Street USA: I hear the whaaaa? in your head. No, I'm not living in Opposite Land, where "quiet" means "noisy" and "Duffy the Disney Bear" means "Great Idea." On our last trip to WDW - and I don't know why we've never done this before - but we stayed around after Wishes was over. The crowds all flooded out in a rush to get to the buses, the stores quietly finished cashing out their last customers, and we just kind of ... loitered. But it meant that we got to see Main Street all lit up, nearly deserted, with the castle just ahead of us. It was sublime, it was gorgeous, it was one of my favorite Disney memories.

Namaste.

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Related Links:
* Better Know a Disney Fan: Interview with Mouse of Zen
* Disney Dining: Restaurants to Avoid
* The Disney Dining Plan, or "How I Learned to Stop Worrying About My Figure and Love My Sweatpants."

One of these things is not like the others.

 

Yes friends, Tinkerbell and her friends have set up shop … in Epcot. Because nothing says “city of tomorrow” like straight-to-DVD characters who are purely fantasy.
(Hat tip to @PaulChadkin)

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Related Links:
* In Defense of the Living Seas
* What Do Your Disney Maps Say About You?
* Overheard in Walt Disney World

Three Disney Characters I'd Rather Spend Valentine's Day With

Valentine's Day is less than a week away, and no, I don't have a date. And no, I don't particularly care, given that Valentine's Day is second only to Halloween in its uselessness as a holiday. But it does get me thinking - if one really wanted to wallow in one's singledom, a Disney movie marathon (plus a bottle of wine) is really the way to go. Where else do such perfect men exist, so chiseled and handsome and devoid of real flaws or character development? And so, while y'all are having romantic dinners with strolling violinists and ridiculous bouquets or whatever couples do these days, I'll be spending my Valentine's Day with men of a more two dimensional sort:

Eric: He's handsome, he's a prince, and he's easily manipulated. If a sea witch could hypnotize him into thinking she's a beautiful woman, I think I could convince him to pick up his socks. And he doesn't really care for conversation, which means he'd keep his trap shut while I'm watching The Millionaire Matchmaker.

Aladdin:  He's pretty perfect, yes? Sure he lied about who he was and where he came from and pretty much everything else, but he did it FOR LOVE. And yes, maybe he's a gold digger. Okay, fine, he's a scumbag. But I've always been a sucker for a brunette.

Hercules: He's hot. He has a sports drink named after him. Our love will go the distance. Enough said.

So, lovelorn readers, you're up - what Disney character would you want to date?
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Related Links:
* The Five People You Meet in Line at WDW
* An Open Letter to 3D
* Golden Oak: If You're Not Rich, Then Why Are You Reading This?