Hurricane Irma?

[aleh021]

Arriving 9/11 afternoon. If need be, what would be better, changing our flight to come in before - maybe late Sat night, or changing it to Tues (or Wed)?

as of now, there's nothing really to worry about.

we have a flight on 9/11 at night.

90% of the reports indicate it will miss Florida and no one even knows if it will even touch the U.S.

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

And I *think* most estimates have any potential effects to the Orlando area being late 10, early 11th.

Actually, the most recent models (EURO and GFS) have it past Orlando by very late Sunday/ early Monday. That said, things can change of course. It is still 6-8 days away.

As far as Matthew timing. The hurricane reached the bottom tip of Florida around Thursday evening. The Orlando airport closed at 8pm Thursday evening. The hurricane swept by overnight on Friday. And by late Saturday morning it was in the Carolinas if I recall correctly. Orlando International reopened at 6:30am on the Saturday. So it was closed less than 36 hours.

Arriving 9/11 afternoon. If need be, what would be better, changing our flight to come in before - maybe late Sat night, or changing it to Tues (or Wed)?

I'm due to arrive on the 11th as well. IF the NHC updates the forecast to include Florida and the timing looks like it would align with Sunday/Monday we are planning to change our flight to Tues/Wed. However, the forecast won't be updated to include the US potential impacts until Wednesday the 6th or Thursday the 7th. As far as changing flights, JetBlue waived all change fees and fare differences during Matthew. I expect they will do the same for Irma if they are advised by NHC/NWS that it will impact Florida.

 

[CounselorX]

Nope. They are gone with the winds of the hurricane. Sorry.

I kinda figured. Good thing I have 3 AK days

 

[Tonyz]

Arriving 9/11 afternoon. If need be, what would be better, changing our flight to come in before - maybe late Sat night, or changing it to Tues (or Wed)?

I would wait until like Tuesday or Wed. before even thinking of changing. We don't even know if this thing is gonna affect Florida at all right now.

 

[DLM1980]

Regular messages about the curfew status and available services were placed on the phone system.

While this was true at least at CBR the phone never rang so you never knew there was a message unless you were staring at the phone for the little voicemail light to flash

That was my biggest complaint! We had a working TV, break in to programming and give us the live updates there too, not just a voicemail you may not have gotten till an hour or two has passed

So in addition to my tips previously I give you tip #3: stare at the phones voicemail light for it to start flashing

 

[HBaney84]

Also, I have gone through two hurricanes when I lived near Orlando and one aspect that sucked was how fast the shelves in the grocery stores cleared out. If they forecast this to hit, we can pretty much kiss any grocery delivery plans goodbye.

If groceries are already scheduled to deliver - will they deliver (September 6)

 

[DLM1980]

If groceries are already scheduled to deliver - will they deliver (September 6)

At this point nobody knows what's going on so it's business as usual. Once some sort of order happens from the county or your delivery company decided to halt. Then you'll know. But for now don't worry

 

[Tonyz]

I've absolutely given up trying to track this thing. It's utterly pointless and frustrating. It still misses Florida in a lot of models but there are also big shifts south so a hit to Florida could still definitely happen. No one's gonna know anything for the next few days.

I'm gonna enjoy my trip and worry about next weekend later.

 

[sln88]

Hoping I can have a serious discussion here. I don't really want to hear "nothing to worry about". I just want to make an intelligent decision.

I'm from Wisconsin, and we don't have hurricanes. I've never even personally experienced a tornado. I have no idea what to realistically expect *IF* Irma hits Orlando/Florida.

We arrive Friday night the 8th. 7 nights at bonnet Creek and then 3 nights on the gulf.

Will we be safe in the condo? My daughter is talking about going to stay with her boyfriend in Tampa if it does hit, but I've read it can be dangerous to try to evacuate too.

I don't mind dealing with rain, wind. I'll be disappointed if we have to cancel plans to see my daughter perform, but my real worry is safety. My grandson and his mom are coming along and I don't want them in the middle of a Harvey type situation.

I know it's too early to predict where this will end up, but I want to be prepared for if it does. Should I order a bunch of stuff to have it shipped to the hotel? And besides the obvious water, what? Do hotels generally have water and power?

My trip is not really cancelable. I could cancel the flights but I don't have any other vacation available to take. Condo was bought on eBay and I'm passed the cancellation period for the gulf stay.

I looked into trip insurance but I'm not sure if any of them really apply for what I need. It seems like this won't hit until Sunday or Monday so it's not like my flight will be cancelled.

I was in Disney a few years ago during a hurricane warning. It ended up just being a bad rain/wind storm that didn't last long. I guess I was always under the impression that hurricanes didn't really affect Orlando because it's offshore but it looks like this one could be different.

I've been following Mike's weather page- spaghettimodels.com

 

[Tom P.]

We are arriving on Monday, September 11th, which is right around most people on this thread seem to have been talking about. But we are driving, not flying. If I'm reading things right, it sounds like even if Irma hits Florida the models are predicting the impact over the weekend or on Monday. Is that correct? IOW, if we have a 10 day trip beginning on the 11th, it looks like even in a worst case scenario, the impact to our stay should be minimal? Or am I reading it wrong?

I know that it's going to take a couple more days for the models to really firm up and we don't know anything for sure yet. But I'm a worrier by nature and this will be our first trip in 2 years, so I'm trying to keep up with the best possible information I can.

Thanks!

 

[CAS239]

Hoping I can have a serious discussion here. I don't really want to hear "nothing to worry about". I just want to make an intelligent decision.

I'm from Wisconsin, and we don't have hurricanes. I've never even personally experienced a tornado. I have no idea what to realistically expect *IF* Irma hits Orlando/Florida.

We arrive Friday night the 8th. 7 nights at bonnet Creek and then 3 nights on the gulf.

Will we be safe in the condo? My daughter is talking about going to stay with her boyfriend in Tampa if it does hit, but I've read it can be dangerous to try to evacuate too.

I don't mind dealing with rain, wind. I'll be disappointed if we have to cancel plans to see my daughter perform, but my real worry is safety. My grandson and his mom are coming along and I don't want them in the middle of a Harvey type situation.

I know it's too early to predict where this will end up, but I want to be prepared for if it does. Should I order a bunch of stuff to have it shipped to the hotel? And besides the obvious water, what? Do hotels generally have water and power?

My trip is not really cancelable. I could cancel the flights but I don't have any other vacation available to take. Condo was bought on eBay and I'm passed the cancellation period for the gulf stay.

I looked into trip insurance but I'm not sure if any of them really apply for what I need. It seems like this won't hit until Sunday or Monday so it's not like my flight will be cancelled.

I was in Disney a few years ago during a hurricane warning. It ended up just being a bad rain/wind storm that didn't last long. I guess I was always under the impression that hurricanes didn't really affect Orlando because it's offshore but it looks like this one could be different.

I've been following Mike's weather page- spaghettimodels.com

I've lived in Florida all my life. Even though you don't want to hear it, you really don't have much to worry about.

Orlando is near the center of the state so even if it does come toward Florida, whatever you experience will be weak.

Trying to evacuate right before a storm is far more dangerous than riding it out. You guys will be perfectly fine where you're at. I don't recommend your daughter going to Tampa. Even if there was a need to and she would feel safer there, by the time she left she'd likely just get stuck in traffic on I-4. And while the storm isn't heading towards Tampa, if it makes her feel better, Tampa is one of the most dangerous cities to be in during a hurricane.

If it does come toward Florida and it would make you feel better, you could have water delivered to the room or buy some at a store when you're there. The Disney hotels likely won't lose power at all and they'll have plenty of food and water. If I'm riding out a hurricane, I'd want it to be at Disney

Realistically, you probably will be at Disney everyday of your trip and will only experience some rain and a little wind. I wouldn't worry unless you're hearing for sure it's heading right for Florida. As of now go about your trip as usual.

 

[DLM1980]

Hoping I can have a serious discussion here. I don't really want to hear "nothing to worry about". I just want to make an intelligent decision.

I'm from Wisconsin, and we don't have hurricanes. I've never even personally experienced a tornado. I have no idea what to realistically expect *IF* Irma hits Orlando/Florida.

We arrive Friday night the 8th. 7 nights at bonnet Creek and then 3 nights on the gulf.

Will we be safe in the condo? My daughter is talking about going to stay with her boyfriend in Tampa if it does hit, but I've read it can be dangerous to try to evacuate too.

I don't mind dealing with rain, wind. I'll be disappointed if we have to cancel plans to see my daughter perform, but my real worry is safety. My grandson and his mom are coming along and I don't want them in the middle of a Harvey type situation.

I know it's too early to predict where this will end up, but I want to be prepared for if it does. Should I order a bunch of stuff to have it shipped to the hotel? And besides the obvious water, what? Do hotels generally have water and power?

My trip is not really cancelable. I could cancel the flights but I don't have any other vacation available to take. Condo was bought on eBay and I'm passed the cancellation period for the gulf stay.

I looked into trip insurance but I'm not sure if any of them really apply for what I need. It seems like this won't hit until Sunday or Monday so it's not like my flight will be cancelled.

I was in Disney a few years ago during a hurricane warning. It ended up just being a bad rain/wind storm that didn't last long. I guess I was always under the impression that hurricanes didn't really affect Orlando because it's offshore but it looks like this one could be different.

I've been following Mike's weather page- spaghettimodels.com

I'm from Wisconsin as well, well last month we moved to Tallahassee and like I said earlier was here at WDW for Matthew. It wasn't terrible though if you watched people at the food court they were taking everything and everything. It was kinda like watching shoppers on Black Friday run for their deals.

I had heard that rooms were filling up quickly, and we were scheduled to leave two days later so I went down and asked if we could extend our reservation incase we couldn't leave, Disney got us a new reservation but in the end I didn't needed it, but just knowing the ability to have a room incase the airport was closed still worked for us.

The day the parks were closed early it was overcast and misty on and off with winds picking up as the day progressed, nothing terrible. When I went to the food court to find something I found shelves wiped out everywhere I went so I just took our car and went to walmart, there you saw the bread and water being wiped out, I figured it was just gonna be something short, few days at the most so I just went and got a few lunchables and bags of chips for us. We picked up a case of soda as well and dropped that off at the resort. We then drove the car to Disney Springs, ate at Earl's, ordered an extra sandwich for the next day, then left the car in the garage and hopped a Disney bus back to our Resort. I figured the car would be better protected inside a big concrete structure than underneath a parking lot tree.

We stayed in the room for the night and most of the day. Before I headed to bed I went outside the room and peeked around the corner I was on an inside room so the wind was blowing in the other direction. Trees were swaying and blowing but nothing was too terrible but I still wasn't taking further chances so I went back into the room and spent the night. I woke up, heated up the iron and used a clean Earl's of Sandwich wrapper to wrap around my left overs and heat it up and sat on the bed all day watching coverage. By late afternoon there were people walking around and all was good, Disney Springs restaurants opened at 5 or 6 and so we took the bus back picked up the car and then drove back to the resort. Then we drove to the Poly to see if they could accommodate us at O'hana (we had reservations there, but due to the hurricane they did not honor ANY dining reservations on property) they told us it was first come first serve and it was a limited menu, but hey, it was our first time there so we were doing it anyways.


The best thing I can tell you is:

Listen to the resort employees tell you to do, they have been prepared for this before and know what to do. You know your eating habits, if you have the ability to go offsite and gather food, get food for what you know you'll eat for a day or two (I saw families taking huge garbage bags full of Doritos back to their room). If you don't eat it, be prepared to toss it out, unless you can pack a suitcase full of chips. Ice, go get it while you can, nobody likes drinking warm soda and at the Moderates and Values the ice machine is outside

Pay attention to the blinking voicemail light on your room phone, mine didn't ring the light just started flashing, thats how disney communicated to us.

Your staying at Bonnet Creek and so I would assume they are pretty much trained just as well but things may be a bit different

 

[Tonyz]

Hoping I can have a serious discussion here. I don't really want to hear "nothing to worry about". I just want to make an intelligent decision.

I'm from Wisconsin, and we don't have hurricanes. I've never even personally experienced a tornado. I have no idea what to realistically expect *IF* Irma hits Orlando/Florida.

We arrive Friday night the 8th. 7 nights at bonnet Creek and then 3 nights on the gulf.

Will we be safe in the condo? My daughter is talking about going to stay with her boyfriend in Tampa if it does hit, but I've read it can be dangerous to try to evacuate too.

I don't mind dealing with rain, wind. I'll be disappointed if we have to cancel plans to see my daughter perform, but my real worry is safety. My grandson and his mom are coming along and I don't want them in the middle of a Harvey type situation.

I know it's too early to predict where this will end up, but I want to be prepared for if it does. Should I order a bunch of stuff to have it shipped to the hotel? And besides the obvious water, what? Do hotels generally have water and power?

My trip is not really cancelable. I could cancel the flights but I don't have any other vacation available to take. Condo was bought on eBay and I'm passed the cancellation period for the gulf stay.

I looked into trip insurance but I'm not sure if any of them really apply for what I need. It seems like this won't hit until Sunday or Monday so it's not like my flight will be cancelled.

I was in Disney a few years ago during a hurricane warning. It ended up just being a bad rain/wind storm that didn't last long. I guess I was always under the impression that hurricanes didn't really affect Orlando because it's offshore but it looks like this one could be different.

I've been following Mike's weather page- spaghettimodels.com

The only thing I would say to this is going to Tampa probably isn't the great idea. The NYT just had a big story about how horribly prepared Tampa is for a big one.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Hoping I can have a serious discussion here. I don't really want to hear "nothing to worry about". I just want to make an intelligent decision.

I'm from Wisconsin, and we don't have hurricanes. I've never even personally experienced a tornado. I have no idea what to realistically expect *IF* Irma hits Orlando/Florida.

We arrive Friday night the 8th. 7 nights at bonnet Creek and then 3 nights on the gulf.

Will we be safe in the condo? My daughter is talking about going to stay with her boyfriend in Tampa if it does hit, but I've read it can be dangerous to try to evacuate too.

I don't mind dealing with rain, wind. I'll be disappointed if we have to cancel plans to see my daughter perform, but my real worry is safety. My grandson and his mom are coming along and I don't want them in the middle of a Harvey type situation.

I know it's too early to predict where this will end up, but I want to be prepared for if it does. Should I order a bunch of stuff to have it shipped to the hotel? And besides the obvious water, what? Do hotels generally have water and power?

My trip is not really cancelable. I could cancel the flights but I don't have any other vacation available to take. Condo was bought on eBay and I'm passed the cancellation period for the gulf stay.

I looked into trip insurance but I'm not sure if any of them really apply for what I need. It seems like this won't hit until Sunday or Monday so it's not like my flight will be cancelled.

I was in Disney a few years ago during a hurricane warning. It ended up just being a bad rain/wind storm that didn't last long. I guess I was always under the impression that hurricanes didn't really affect Orlando because it's offshore but it looks like this one could be different.

I've been following Mike's weather page- spaghettimodels.com

Based on what I've read and heard, Irma is moving a lot faster than Harvey. This is a key difference. The biggest problem with Harvey was that it stalled out right over the Houston area and dumped massive amounts of rain, almost 5 feet of rain. With how swift Irma is moving, I don't expect Irma to create Harvey-type flooding. And most models have the eye remaining off shore so the impact on Orlando will be even less. My feeling is that you will be perfectly safe in your condo at Bonnet Creek and your daughter will be much safer to stay put in the condo than to drive over to Tampa.

As for power and water in case Orlando does get hit hard, you are less likely to lose water service than power, but one of the hurricane preparation precautions is to fill the bathtub with water. If it makes you feel better, you could do that. Losing power is a possibility. Disney resorts have an excellent history of maintaining power during hurricanes, but I don't know how Bonnet Creek has fared in prior storms and what their contingency plans are for dealing with large storms. It would make sense to pack a few flashlights just in case.

Food is a trickier question, just because you won't be getting there until Friday night. If the predictions by then have this storm hitting the Orlando area, Florida residents will likely already be stocking up by then and the shelves might be getting empty. It might make sense to go ahead and order some water and groceries for delivery. Or maybe just pack some protein bars and other non-perishable snacks in case you can't find what you want at the grocery when you get there. In all likelihood, you will be stuck in the condo for 24 hours or less.

 

[Polydweller]

While this was true at least at CBR the phone never rang so you never knew there was a message unless you were staring at the phone for the little voicemail light to flash

That was my biggest complaint! We had a working TV, break in to programming and give us the live updates there too, not just a voicemail you may not have gotten till an hour or two has passed

So in addition to my tips previously I give you tip #3: stare at the phones voicemail light for it to start flashing

Actually, take it from a hotelier, that is the best way to get the non-urgent messages to everyone. Not everyone has TVs on all the time ( they read etc), some are out of their rooms, some are having showers, sleeping etc for the minute or two the message would be on. A vouce mail on the phone reaches every room. And it would be really annoying to most be to have a constantly repeating message on TV interrupting your program.

Emergency message are a different issue since there is a need to act immediately. None of the messages during Matthew were emergency messages. They were storm status updates, Orange County curfew updates, availability of food, reduced housekeeping services and such. If there had been true emergencies they would have gotten out the message differently. Really, a guest just had to occasionally check the light. That's all we did and it worked well.

 

[sln88]

I'm from Wisconsin as well, well last month we moved to Tallahassee and like I said earlier was here at WDW for Matthew. It wasn't terrible though if you watched people at the food court they were taking everything and everything. It was kinda like watching shoppers on Black Friday run for their deals.

I had heard that rooms were filling up quickly, and we were scheduled to leave two days later so I went down and asked if we could extend our reservation incase we couldn't leave, Disney got us a new reservation but in the end I didn't needed it, but just knowing the ability to have a room incase the airport was closed still worked for us.

The day the parks were closed early it was overcast and misty on and off with winds picking up as the day progressed, nothing terrible. When I went to the food court to find something I found shelves wiped out everywhere I went so I just took our car and went to walmart, there you saw the bread and water being wiped out, I figured it was just gonna be something short, few days at the most so I just went and got a few lunchables and bags of chips for us. We picked up a case of soda as well and dropped that off at the resort. We then drove the car to Disney Springs, ate at Earl's, ordered an extra sandwich for the next day, then left the car in the garage and hopped a Disney bus back to our Resort. I figured the car would be better protected inside a big concrete structure than underneath a parking lot tree.

We stayed in the room for the night and most of the day. Before I headed to bed I went outside the room and peeked around the corner I was on an inside room so the wind was blowing in the other direction. Trees were swaying and blowing but nothing was too terrible but I still wasn't taking further chances so I went back into the room and spent the night. I woke up, heated up the iron and used a clean Earl's of Sandwich wrapper to wrap around my left overs and heat it up and sat on the bed all day watching coverage. By late afternoon there were people walking around and all was good, Disney Springs restaurants opened at 5 or 6 and so we took the bus back picked up the car and then drove back to the resort. Then we drove to the Poly to see if they could accommodate us at O'hana (we had reservations there, but due to the hurricane they did not honor ANY dining reservations on property) they told us it was first come first serve and it was a limited menu, but hey, it was our first time there so we were doing it anyways.


The best thing I can tell you is:

Listen to the resort employees tell you to do, they have been prepared for this before and know what to do. You know your eating habits, if you have the ability to go offsite and gather food, get food for what you know you'll eat for a day or two (I saw families taking huge garbage bags full of Doritos back to their room). If you don't eat it, be prepared to toss it out, unless you can pack a suitcase full of chips. Ice, go get it while you can, nobody likes drinking warm soda and at the Moderates and Values the ice machine is outside

Pay attention to the blinking voicemail light on your room phone, mine didn't ring the light just started flashing, thats how disney communicated to us.

Your staying at Bonnet Creek and so I would assume they are pretty much trained just as well but things may be a bit different

I did call bonnet Creek. Talked to what I assume was a low level employee. She said they'd have electric and water in the event of a hurricane. She also said "they had hurricanes every year", which I don't think is really true, right? I mean there are hurricanes in Florida but I always thought most of them hit the coast and Orlando just felt the outer edge (wind/rain storms)- not a direct hit.
One of Irma's paths has it going right thru Orlando, so if that's the case, this would be much worse, right?

My daughter was on curfew last year (I think?) For a hurricane in Orlando. It ended up turning and was just a bad storm and things were pretty much fine after a day. I just don't want to have to be rescued by someone in a rowboat because the streets are flooded.

I'm really hoping this thing just turns out to sea.

 

[DLM1980]

Actually, take it from a hotelier, that is the best way to get the non-urgent messages to everyone. Not everyone has TVs on all the time ( they read etc), some are out of their rooms, some are having showers, sleeping etc for the minute or two the message would be on. A vouce mail on the phone reaches every room. And it would be really annoying to most be to have a constantly repeating message on TV interrupting your program.

Emergency message are a different issue since there is a need to act immediately. None of the messages during Matthew were emergency messages. They were storm status updates, Orange County curfew updates, availability of food, reduced housekeeping services and such. If there had been true emergencies they would have gotten out the message differently. Really, a guest just had to occasionally check the light. That's all we did and it worked well.

They could have done a crawl across the screen.

And while the message is the best way the phones could have rang to alert you instead of having to occasionally check for a blinking light

 

[steeners81]

Following this thread now too. Supposed to go down from the 8th to the 18th. We live on the Jersey shore so we are hoping the probability of it heading up the coast doesn't increase because then we have to make the decision of do we stay in NJ and ride it out or head to Disney. Honestly would much rather ride it out in Disney.

 

[nikkyluvsmickey]

Following this thread now too. Supposed to go down from the 8th to the 18th. We live on the Jersey shore so we are hoping the probability of it heading up the coast doesn't increase because then we have to make the decision of do we stay in NJ and ride it out or head to Disney. Honestly would much rather ride it out in Disney.

I am due to be onboard disney dream on the 8th so if they dont cancel the cruise and reroute us do u think it is more probable they will take us to mexico,jamaica or grand caymen to avoid irma?

 

[tsme]

I did call bonnet Creek. Talked to what I assume was a low level employee. She said they'd have electric and water in the event of a hurricane. She also said "they had hurricanes every year", which I don't think is really true, right? I mean there are hurricanes in Florida but I always thought most of them hit the coast and Orlando just felt the outer edge (wind/rain storms)- not a direct hit.
One of Irma's paths has it going right thru Orlando, so if that's the case, this would be much worse, right?

My daughter was on curfew last year (I think?) For a hurricane in Orlando. It ended up turning and was just a bad storm and things were pretty much fine after a day. I just don't want to have to be rescued by someone in a rowboat because the streets are flooded.

I'm really hoping this thing just turns out to sea.

You'll be fine in the resort. Disney will take care of you. I wouldn't stay on the beach, but staying at Disney during a hurricane wouldn't worry me at all. For reference, I'm from south Louisiana & I'm use to dealing with hurricanes.