It’s a running joke among the relatively small number of Americans who could care less about football: There’s no better time than game time to take advantage of traffic-free streets, and crowd-free shops, restaurants and attractions. After all, 100 million Americans will have their eyeballs glued to the biggest sporting event of the year—and this year marks its 50th—which means 1/3 less crowds everywhere else. If you could care less about this year’s NFL champs, here are the 5 best places to spend Super Bowl Sunday.
Related: These are the best Bay Area bars for watching the Super Bowl
Epcot Center| Flickr CC: Anthony Quintano
Amusement parks
Although Mickey hasn’t disclosed any official numbers with us, we have friends with boots on the ground who boldly proclaim Super Bowl Sunday to be hands down a less crowded experience at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. However, it’s also true that February is a slower month for theme parks overall than say, July, which draws in bigger numbers despite humidity and heat. Sufficed to say, if you’re looking to zip through the marquee rides in one afternoon, Super Bowl Sunday is your day.
Broadway
Even when Super Bowl XLVIII was held in New York City (or rather across the Hudson in Rutherford, New Jersey) in 2014, the Great White Way was largely a ghost town (despite the fact that showtimes were adjusted to accommodate the behemoth weekend). According to the New York Post, ticket sales that year dropped by more than 15,000 seats for the week ending on Super Bowl Sunday. Our advice? Get online right now and stake your claim to one of this year’s hottest shows.
Related: Fun things to do in New York City with kids
Golf in the Bahamas
Golf and spa resorts
Your ball may not hit a hole in one but at least it won’t lob another golfer in the head. That’s because the links see lower attendance on Super Bowl Sunday as do spas—which report a 10% reduction in attendance—so get yourself to one of many year round favorites like Pebble Beach Resort on the Monterey Peninsula, Four Seasons Resort Hualalai at Historic Ka’upulehu on the Big Island or the One&Only Ocean Club in the Bahamas, and swing your heart out.
Big Bend in Texas
National Parks
This will be a big year for the National Park Service which turns 100 on August 25, so attendance levels across the board will likely be on the rise. Instead of a Half Dome hike in high season, take advantage of Super Bowl Sunday for a getaway weekend where you can trade close encounters with humans for those of the animal variety instead. We recommend the splendors of Big Bend in Texas where February temps are balmy, a deeper dive into the Everglades or cross country skiing in Utah’s Zion.
Skiing in Vermont
Ski resorts
If you were to create a venn diagram of sports enthusiasts who enjoy both the pleasures of downhill skiing and watching football, we suspect the overall lap would be a sizable one. That would explain in part why long lines are at ski resorts are virtually nonexistent according to the New York Times which referred to Super Bowl Sunday as “a great day to ski.” Even better, expect the price of lift tickets to be slashed as a means of enticing more snow bunnies to hit the slopes so get yourself to a Colorado like Breckenridge or Vermont’s Killington now.
