Hidden/Secluded Park Areas

[coastercrazy 9]

I was inspired by Six Flags Over Texas' facebook status update. Do you know any areas of a park that most people don't? Have you ever explored a park and found a great place to rest, or a shortcut in a park? Post them here! I'll start with the forested area at SFGAdv, behind the bridge between El Toro and Bizarro. Never many people, plenty of shade, and benches to cool off on. Post yours!

[Lucas The Drummer]

Big thunder mountain ranch never seems too crowded when I go.

[YoshiFan]

The walkway from Thunderhawk to Steel Force at Dorney. It goes right by Thunderhawk and has a lot of trees (for a Cedar Fair park) and a lot of benches. Usually most people take the midway that goes by Possessed and Stinger to get to Steel Force.

[cfc]

There is one place I like to cool off in at Kings Dominion--the pizza parlour in the Grove. The joint is huge and air conditioned.

[molemaster43]

Crack Axle Canyon at Six Flags New England was, literally, empty when I went there in 2011. Since Goliath is there, though, traffic should pick up.

[Chroniq]

VIP rooms at the Epcot pavilions have always been a fascination of mine. The Seas features a clear acrylic grand piano. The Siemens rooms have a cutting edge board room and the land pavilion has a great view of the living with the land ride. I wish there were more articles and photo trip reports of these areas.

[Erik Johnson]

The strange rather large area just to the right of Space Mountain at MK is where I like to go.

[SoCalCoasters]

Legoland CA has several somewhat deserted areas.

 

There's a section of path leading right facing the old Spell Breaker entrance that hardly gets any use, there's the enchanted walk, and then the pathed area where the old entrance to the sky cruiser was before they moved it.

[Ccron10]

Hersheypark:

-Boardwalk paths 9pm to closing:

Hardly anyone uses them after the water rides close and they are really relaxing to walk on to listen to the beach-themed music and take a shortcut over to Lightning Racer.

-New Skyrush Path

Once the rush of people at opening to get to Skyrush, this path is usually empty and it is fun to watch the riders.

 

Dorney Park:

-Steel Force/ Thunderhawk path:

Shaded and can be quiet at times.

 

Six Flags Great Adventure:

-Best of the West/ Log Jammer path:

Just noticed this path a few days ago and while it is kind of pointless, it does look relaxing. It goes under a portion of the back porch for the restaurant.

 

Knoebels:

Americana:

At night, I just love walking back this way. It is really quiet and feels like you are the only one there.

[larrygator]

SFGAdv - the path along the Lake from the Lakeside Grandstand to Fort Independence. Lots of shade and plenty of places to sit.

Edited June 27, 2012 by larrygator

[thrillerman1]

Bench at Rye Playland facing the water off the midway away from the rides. Pure bliss.

[Anac0nda]

Särkänniemi has a new rather hidden pathway from the bottom of Näsinneula (the tower) to the newest coaster MotoGee. It goes under the log flume. This path gives a nice advantage when the parks open to steal one or two walk-ons on MotoGee

[GayCoasterGuy]

Kentucky Kingdom

 

Oh wait... I better get outta here

[andybarnes84]

SFGAdv - the path along the Lake from the Lakeside Grandstand to Fort Independence. Lots of shade and plenty of places to sit.

 

I made use of this area in the recent 98 degree heat, very quiet and relaxing. I suppose I could suggest the gardens at Alton Towers, doesn't get any more secluded than that but you can seriously get lost in the valley. Another vote goes to the path at Dorney through thunderhawk as some have already mentioned. I enjoyed the Loch Ness Monster bridge at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, it must get pretty busy sometimes but when I was there at sunset it was just me and some tortoises bobbing up and down in the water whilst the coasters circled around us, magical!

[coastercrazy 9]

I always thought that the bridge going from The Lost Continent to Jurassic Park Area, skipping the Wizarding World Of Harry Potter, was always kind of empty.

[rolercstrluvr]

I didn't know about the shortcut by Delirium at CGA until coasting for kids. It also has a nice area to lay down on the grass and just be away from the crowds.

[Porsmond]

Alton Towers - There is a path that leads out of X-Sector between the Arcade and the Chicken Place, and just off that path to the right is a path leading through a tunnel which cuts through the Towers, which also goes through to the courtyard where you exit Hex, Its a good aternative path to take because its nice and peaceful,you get to walk through the historic towers taking in a bit of history,plus you avoid the hill leading upto the side of the towers if you were to walk round the normal way.

The Gardens at Alton Towers are also lovely to explore(It can be very relaxing and super secluded) but they are not really quicker/alternatie paths as you can get a bit lost if you're not quite sure where you are going and generally you will find it takes longer, but they are fantastic if you want to get away from it all, and just want a peaceful moment away from the crowds

 

Chessington - If you stand in the Center of Land of the Dragons where the entrance to Dragons Fury is, There is an alternative path you can take on the right hand side of the Overbanked turn on Dragons Fury which is a good short cut down to the Pirate Ship, Its also one of the best place to watch and take pictures of Dragons Fury, It also a "fairly quiet" path as the majority of people will generally follow the Main Midway to get to most places. Also at the bottom of the path when you reach the Pirate Ship is another alternative path off to the right hand side which cuts round to the Vampire giving some nice alterative views of Vampire(Its also another fairly quiet path which rarely gets used)

[I305KD]

I always found the pad to the Enterprise at Great Adventure relaxing. I was in the operator's booth for a while. Also, the area to the left of The Dark Knight at Great Adventure quiet. I walked over there once and all that was around me was trash cans, which reminded me of Cedar Fair parks, Batman Stunt Arena, and the Picnic Grove. I'm pretty sure Freefall was once over there. Can someone confirm this for me?

[Angry_Gumball]

Found/scored a new path credit at CGA which I never realized existed. It goes from the restrooms by Delirium right into the kids area. It's pretty well hidden as it's just a narrow path. Pretty much what Rolercstrluvr mentioned.

 

Secluded areas...would have to be the whole back area of SFDK. Sure there's people back there but after being at the front of the park where the action is, people almost seem nonexistent as you go along the back path by the Butterfly room and the flat rides back there.

[sixflagsguy5]

I always thought that the bridge going from The Lost Continent to Jurassic Park Area, skipping the Wizarding World Of Harry Potter, was always kind of empty.

 

The backside of the Jurassic Park restaurant/ museum that faces the lake in the center of the park is a good place to make a phone call or relax.

[Fire2box]

At Six Flags Discovery Kingdom the vet/nursery on the far right of the park was always kinda barre of people in the 2010 season even with like month tiger cubs on display. There were still people but mostly families and not many, if any teenagers.

[Ed Farmer]

The only place I can think of at SFGAm is the outdoor dining area with picnic tables near the season pass processing building and Firehouse Pizza (I think that's still what they call it). Prior to this year there was also Iron Wolf's queue. Such an isolated and serene place- if I didn't know any better I would have thought this is where Thoreau wrote Walden.

 

Busch Tampa is the first park that came to mind for this topic. There are quite a few spots that fit the criteria, but the one I have in mind isn't really hidden; towards the end of the day, maybe 60-90 minutes until close, the back part of the park (in the general vicinity of Kumba) is completely deserted. From time to time I'll even pass up walk-on rides on Kumba just to meander around. It's one of the things I like most about this park.

[Nyteowl]

Samurai Summit at SFMM always feels really empty to me whenever I go. I guess just because of the climb up the hill you have to take to get to the top .

[simon8899]

Last year at SFMM when Green Lantern was still under construction not many people ventured behind so Scream and Goliath had very few visitors - always so many seats free I simply kept sitting or just switched seats having multiple immediate re-rides on both then.

[Porsmond]

Just been through this thread again, I cant believe no one has mentioned the path around the back area of Seuss Landing at IOA, So if you enter the area from the Port of Entry, you will immediatly see a path on your left hand side, this is basiclly a short cut round the whole area cutting through to the other exit/entrance to lost Continent. This is surely one of the best kept secrets/shortcuts in a theme park because no one really uses it as its just not really noticeable as an alternative path round the area, I have found it relaxing around this path as its next to the lake so you get nice views of the park, Its nice and peaceful, plus I believe there is still seating around this area too so a nice place to chill and get away from the crowds