hurricane information

[binsweet007]

I would like some information from anyone who was at WDW last year during the Hurricanes. We are going in Sept (10-17) and want to know what it was like in case there is another one this year. Last time i went 5 years ago at the same time we had perfect weather (it rained 1 day for 15 minunites) - I'm hoping for a repeat

 

[ducklite]

AHAHAHAHA!

Sorry, I had to do that. I moved into my brand new house during Hurricane Frances. Click on the link in my sig below and read all about it.

At any rate, you'll be basically confined to your room during the hurricane. Limited meal service. If you drive you could face a problem getting fuel to get home. If you fly the airlines schedule could be all messed up. MCO is still repairing damage from Charley and Frances. I think they just gave up with Jeanne.

Many are saying it was a freak thing that will never happen again. Many are also saying this year is going to be worse than last. Heavy sigh.

I've got a cruise booked in October. I bought insurance. That's my best suggestion.

Anne

 

[KayleeUK]

Hi there

You might get some more info if you post this on the Theme Park Board. I am sure there will be loads of experiences to share

 

[blueeyez]

I would like some information from anyone who was at WDW last year during the Hurricanes. We are going in Sept (10-17) and want to know what it was like in case there is another one this year. Last time i went 5 years ago at the same time we had perfect weather (it rained 1 day for 15 minunites) - I'm hoping for a repeat

We're going 9/11-9/17. I've been worried about this also. After reading other previous threads by people that were affected last year, it didn't sound like it was a huge deal as far as the parks & resorts were concerned. Some people said they were confined to their hotel room for a 24-36 hour period, but the cast members were great about making sure everyone had what they needed. When all was clear and they could go to the parks, it was like a ghost town.

 

[all4fun]

We were there during Hurricane Jeanne last year. We were confined to our room for the duration of the storm. It wasn't that bad - just boring. They also had some coloring sheets and crayons and some balloons down in the lobby. The older kids had strung up a string and were playing volleyball with the balloons. Nothing too exciting. Since there was nothing but hurricane news on every channel, they piped in several channels of movies that played and replayed which helped a little. It didn't help our little 17 month old ds though, who really wanted to go out and didn't understand why we couldn't. We also ended up switching rooms afterwards because water leaked under our patio door causing the floor to get wet, but other than the inconvenience of having to move mid-vacation, the staff was very accomodating. There were a few attractions that were closed while they cleaned up and did some repairs post-storm but for the most part the next day it was business as usual at the parks.

hth!

 

[WannaBeInWDW]

Hey BINSWEET and Blueyez ...

I am in the same boat with you guys! I will be in Disney with my boyfriend (first timer) September 10-17.

I am crossing my fingers that this September will not be as bad as last September. I think if another three hurricanes hit Orlando again, it will be like the apocalypse.

Keep in mind before the hurricanes last year, the last time Disney shut down their parks was 9/11/01. My brother was down there at the same time. Point is, hurricanes aren't all that common in Orlando or Central Florida.

Keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[invaderzim]

Well, I can't vouch for WDW -- but we were on the Disney Cruise Ship Magic last August during Hurricane Francis. Very interesting experience -- our 7-day turned into a 10-day. DCL took such incredible care of us that it was overwhelming. We did have to stay at Port Orleans upon our return because our flights were delayed, but Disney paid for everything, including transport back and forth and US Air did not charge us any penalty fees for changing our reservations. (If anyone wants more details about being on Disney's ship during a hurricane, I'll be glad to go into more detail. But didn't want to hog the board with my dribble.)

Cathy

 

[Lewisc]

I was at GP during Frances. During the actual storm, about an hour, they closed off the atrium. The elevators were turned off. People on the lower floors took the stairs and the guests on the higher floors were allowed to use the service elevators. Power was turned off, only in the rooms, for a limited period of time. Any TV station that came via satellite was off for a day but local Orlando stations were on. Restaurants and most shops never closed. The lightning and rain could be seen on the top of the atrium. Employees and their families were allowed to stay in the convention center. The hotel was telling the employees they'd be safer in the hotel than in their homes.

The hotel was used by emergency workers. 1,000 of the 1,400 rooms were occupied by utility workers. The hotel had more than enough generators for the main section of the hotel. Hotel was built to survive a hurricaine. Some trees went down in the parking lot and I think a few cars got destroyed.

We tried to go over to 192 for breakfast on Sunday, we weren't in the mood for the elaborate breakfast buffet. The power wasn't restored and almost every place was closed.

 

[CajunGirl2]

We were there for Hurricane Jeanne (Sept. 25 - Oct. 2). Here's what happened with us...

We (DH, myself, DD-4 & DD-2) were scheduled to stay in a cabin at FW. On Fri. night we got a call from Disney saying that we could cancel/reschedule our trip with no penalties or be moved to a 1-bdrm villa at OKW. Since we were driving down & have lived through many hurricanes in LA, we opted to make the trip & stay at OKW. We could have postponed our trip by a few days but figured we'd get it either in FL or GA. So, we made sure we were ready to hit the road early Sat. morning. We arrived in FL at OKW at 2:30 on Sat. afternoon. We were confined to our room all day on Sun. Since we knew that we'd have a full kitchen, we brought frozen food & groceries from GA. We never lost power and were able to have our homecooked meals in our 1 bedroom villa. It really was nice to have separate room so that we were no couped up in a bedroom all day. I brought surprises to give to the girls throughout the week but wound up giving all of them to them that day. It surely did keep them from going stir crazy. On Mon., the parks were opened, the crowds were low and it wasn't very hot.

If you're worried about being confined to a room for a long period of time, either book something with a full kitchen or a deluxe where you can move about the resort indoors.