Potty Talk: Hidden Restrooms of Disney World
Avoiding long lines at Walt Disney World attractions is without question one of the best ways to ensure a successful vacation. So consider another way you can cut your time in line—knowing about the World’s hidden restrooms. Restrooms are seldom top of mind when planning a trip to Walt Disney World, but some knowledge about “where to go when you gotta go” can save valuable time and just might make that bathroom break more of an actual break than just another wait in line.
A word about the criteria for “hidden”: some of the highlighted restrooms are indeed hard to spot, but others are more “hidden in plain sight.” Once you “see” them, you’ll be forever thankful as you duck in while the crowds hurry by.
We’re delighted to add Sarah Graffam to our blogging team. Sarah is a DVC member who travels with her husband and two sons. Her next Disney trip is to Aulani, the lucky woman.
Walt Disney World Hidden Restrooms
Magic Kingdom
- Starting your day with a stop in a restroom near the park entrance will let you enjoy the relatively short morning lines for attractions uninterrupted. So first up in Magic Kingdom are the bathrooms adjacent to City Hall just as you start down Main Street, U.S.A. These roomy bathrooms are often bypassed by people rushing to their first attraction, though they can get crowded later on.
- There is also a stop before you get inside the park. It’s to the right of Guest Relations (where you buy your tickets). The Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC) also has restrooms if you need to hit them before boarding a ferry or monorail to Magic Kingdom.
- If you make your way down Main Street and then realize you really should have found a restroom first thing, hang a left at Casey’s Corner. The restrooms between Casey’s Corner and the Crystal Palace are at one of the busiest intersections in Magic Kingdom but go unnoticed by many throughout the day.
A restroom can be found upstairs at the Columbia Harbour House - In Adventureland, you might want a bathroom break after being surrounded by all that water while experiencing Pirates of the Caribbean. You’ll find one of the most hidden bathrooms in Magic Kingdom in the gift shop to the left as you exit the attraction.
- The restrooms in restaurants can be very busy, but one exception can be found upstairs at Columbia Harbour House.
- Another surprisingly less busy restroom is between Space Mountain and Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress.
Epcot
- Epcot also has some convenient restrooms to visit at the start of the day. Before the turnstiles to the right side of the entrance, you will find some usually quiet restrooms. In fact, you pass right by them if you are walking from the buses.
- Once you enter the park, look for the restrooms just after walking under Spaceship Earth. Restrooms flank the ball here, giving two good options depending on which way you’re heading in the park. Or watch which way most people are heading, and go to the bathrooms on the opposite side.
- Some usually vacant restrooms are inside the same building as the Character Spot, facing the Land side. You can also access them from the Fountain View Starbucks.
Epcot’s Odyssey Center is used for special events, but the restrooms are open (photo by Tom Bricker) - The Land Pavilion has one of the most overcrowded restrooms in Epcot, located just outside of Soarin’. For this reason, one of my favorite restrooms in Epcot is on the upper level of the pavilion just around the corner from the Garden Grill restaurant. I have often been just one of a few people in this restroom when there is a huge line downstairs.
- Other good restroom options in Future World are in Innoventions East across and down the hall from Sum of All Thrills, to the right behind Journey Into Imagination With Figment, and in the Odyssey Center, which is a great stop before you make your way from Future World into World Showcase.
- When you get to World Showcase, the challenge of finding an uncrowded restroom definitely ratchets up. Restrooms in World Showcase often have only a couple of stalls, are located in busy restaurants, or both. The new multi-stalled restrooms in the American Adventure Pavilion indicate that Disney is aware of this shortcoming.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- “Glass blocks.” That is what a cast member recently said when I asked for the closest restrooms (and I knew exactly what he meant!). These restrooms, which have glass blocks recessed into their outside wall, are left of the Great Movie Ride, just behind the theater for the American Idol Experience and down a small set of stairs. The stairs seem to make them one of those “hidden in plain sight” restrooms, despite their convenience to the central plaza area.
- A bit closer to the park entrance are the restrooms just inside the entrance of the Hollywood Brown Derby. These restrooms are easily overlooked in the morning rush and are especially quiet before the restaurant opens.
- Another restroom that is very quiet, though mostly during the morning hours, is in the hallway connecting Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater and ABC Commissary. A door to the right of the Sci-Fi entrance provides quick access.
- If you are at the end of Streets of America when a Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show hasn’t just let out, there is a spacious and often empty restroom at the entrance to the show.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
- Unless a show has just let out, some of the best off-the-beaten-path restrooms in Disney’s Animal Kingdom are located close to the exit for Finding Nemo—The Musical. If you are facing the building, they are up the walkway on the right side.
Take advantage of the restrooms at the Finding Nemo – The Musical exit - Although escaping the crowds can be a challenge in DinoLand U.S.A., the restrooms at the end of the walkway near Primeval Whirl are large enough to handle the crowds. Bonus: after experiencing DINOSAUR, you can reach these bathrooms via the Cretaceous Trail.
- Many guests don’t make it back to Rafiki’s Planet Watch, but if you do, you will find a large and generally line-free restroom at Conservation Station.
This completes my roundup of hidden restrooms at Walt Disney World. I would love to know of any other restrooms you have found to offer short or no lines—World Showcase in particular seems to be lacking in this area. In the meantime, good luck avoiding restroom lines so that you can maximize your efforts at a much more crucial (and fun) task—avoiding long lines at the attractions.
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You mentioned my favorite restroom, the one in Adventureland just next to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride/store. We found it years ago, and it’s usually not too busy. Thanks for the post, always good to know where to go!!!
Isn’t there a hidden family restroom at the figment ride?
I found a fave restroom some yrs ago. I was having tummy trouble and needed a quiet uncrowded place, to relax and get away from the madding crowd at Epcot. The Marakkesh restaurant restrooms are actually beautiful, cool and usually empty midday. I seem to remember getting a quizzical look from the hostess at the entrance, since I was not dining there at that time, but I’m sure there is no rule against using any restaurant restroom at Disney.
I have always loved the outdoors., and when my husband booked us a trip to Sloth Island Nature Resort in Guyana, S.A I was a bit sceptical,but that changed.Once we landed and got to the resort I was in awe at the things I saw,the name really does speak for itself.
My family and I were nestled in a wonderful colonial style house for the weekend where we got to see the sloth’s, over 188 different species of birds which Id say are the wonders of the rainforest there., the hospitality was exceptional.,the locals are so friendly. There were so many things to do;trail walks,boating, bird watching amongst others. Id advise my fellow
American citizens to take this trip it is well worth it.Visit their website at http://www.slothisland.com/index.html for details about your stay and packages offered.
This is such a far cry from the usual vacations., its wonderful..
I went to the toilet in my pants.
Re: ” … is in the hallway connecting Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater and ABC Commissary. A door to the right of the Sci-Fi entrance provides quick access.” – There isn’t a restroom to the right of Sci-Fi. I checked the official map, no restroom. Are you referring to the restrooms next to ABC Sound Studio? Or maybe the ones inside Sci-Fi (maybe a secret entrance)?
Yes, these are the restrooms for the Sci-Fi. To get there from the restaurant, you go through a door into a hallway connecting to ABC Commissary. Or you can get to the same hallway from the outside of the building through a door to the right of Sci-Fi. They are not on the map, and it seems that Disney often doesn’t put restrooms located inside restaurants on the map, same for Brown Derby and Columbia Harbour House.
Excellent topic. I particularly like the info on the bathrooms before you go into the park. Handy if you are standing around for RD and would prefer not to have to waste some precious time hitting the bathroom first thing into the park.
What a clever topic. I will say I’ve never been more disoriented in my life than when I travelled to Disneyland for the first time. Everything was so familiar, yet none of the bathrooms were where they were “supposed” to be!
Don’t suppose you’re doing the same for Disneyland? Or should we just bust through random employee entrances screaming “WE NEED A BATHROOM!”
In World Showcase my favorite “hidden” rest rooms are on the terrace behind the outdoor restaurant seating in the Japan Pavilion. Single stalls, but almost always empty.
My favorite restroom…is actually a restroom story.
A favorite Cast Member enjoys breaking the usual routine when approached by a mom or dad with child-in-tow doing that little dance children do when it’s becoming “urgent.”
When they breathlessly ask, “Where’s the closest place to go to the bathroom?”
The reply: “See that tree? (Wait 2 beats) Well, it’s just around the corner.”
The look on their faces in that brief, quiet moment is worth the price of admission. 🙂
Love that! I bet that joke has brightened up the day of many a frazzled parent. Thanks for sharing.
What about a map showing these locations? Are they part of the park map you get upon entry?
Generally, these restrooms appear on the park guidemaps. However, the ones that don’t seem to be shown are those in restaurants, like in Columbia Harbour House or the Brown Derby, as well as some that are within larger buildings, like the one near Sum of All Thrills in Innoventions East or near the Garden Grill in the Land.
This article would have been so useful last year!
I invited my in-laws with us on a 10 day WDW trip, and I don’t regret that (it was great for my kids to have their grandparents along), but I never realized just how much more 60 year olds need to use restrooms than the rest of us…
I totally agree with you that having some Disney World restroom knowledge is especially helpful for multi-generational trips. I hope it helps other families traveling with grandparents and that you get to put it to use on another trip, even if not with the in-laws.
I feel your pain. We just went last fall with grandparents and a 2 year old who had just potty trained. Our toddler wanted to stop at absolutely every bathroom we passed.
One almost always empty restroom is in EPCOT just after you enter the turnstiles immediately go aaaaaall the way to the left where Cast Members enter the park. It a bit of a walk but a good one to hit when entering or just before leaving EPCOT if others are busy.
Great Information for someone like me who uses the bathroom a lot (especially with young children who need to go immediately). I have used every bathroom talked about in the Magic Kingdom (which shows how often I go the bathroom since I’ve only been there about 3 times). My theory is go when you see one because you never know where you will be when you need to go again!
Great article! Next, how about hidden outlets for charging phones?
We ran that for Magic Kingdom 2 years ago with a 2-parter from Todd Perlmutter – http://blog.touringplans.com/2012/02/16/park-plugged-in-magic-kingdom-part-1/ and http://blog.touringplans.com/2012/02/23/park-plugged-in-magic-kingdom-part-2/. I’ll ask around it anyone want to take up the cause for an update and the other parks.
I love this post! Hidden restrooms are what separate the men from the boys in WDW (or something…). Here are a few other options- MK: the restrooms up in the Tomorrowland Terrace; DAK: the restrooms aaaallll the way in back of the new FotLK section of Harambe; DHS: before you enter the park, to the left of the turnstiles and the little giftshop; Epcot: (I’m hesitant to give this away) if you park at the Boardwalk back lot to walk in via the International Gateway, hit up the spotless, empty restrooms in the Boardwalk convention center (assuming there isn’t an event going on). Cloth hand towels ftw!
Thanks Ashley! Great to know about the restrooms near the new Festival of the Lion King show. I can’t wait to check out the new show (and the restrooms).
Hopefully, if you are parking at the Boardwalk, you are staying there. This is NOT a ‘day visitor’ parking lot to be used for access to either EPCOT or DHS. Please do not take valuable parking spots from those staying at the Boardwalk Inn or Boardwalk Villas.