Hurricane Season expected to be bad?

[FancyBrat]

Haven't seen any threads on this yet but saw on the news that they are expecting a more active Hurricane Season this year. As I'm in the North West we usually don't hear to much on this so can those of you in the South East can you shed some light on what your hearing? We are going 8/14-8/25. Thanks!

[kribit]

They predicted the same thing last hurricane season and it was pretty mild. Sometimes I think they flip a coin. :)

[Cee]

I think it's a crapshoot. From what I understand, if there is a hurricane, WDW
manages to still make it a magical experience. I've read posts where characters
knock on resort doors for visits when guests have to be in "lockdown" because
of the weather. Try not to give too much energy to worrying about it and
just resolve to enjoy whatever wonderful vacation you end up with. It's not
like you'll never go again, right? :thumbsup2

[LISAMWDW]

I wouldn't put much worry into it either! I've been many times during "hurricane season", without any problems. If by chance there is a hurricane, Orlando area being central, is pretty safe the majority of the time. The coastal areas tend to get hit harder.

[LOLA2]

Is end of October hurricance season?

[disneymom06]

We checked in on the day the Hurricane Charlie was hitting. It wasn't even supposed to hit Orlando when we left NY. And we didn't even know how bad it had gotten until we hit I-4, as we had been driving all night. The CM's couldn't have been nicer. We really felt very safe, Disney was truly prepared.

[LISAMWDW]

Usually the hurricane season runs from June 1 - Nov 30.

[harleyquinn]

I think they predict it's going to be bad since we had an El Nino winter. The following hurricane seasons are typically more active than others.

That's why I bought trip insurance!

[safetymom]

Most Floridians don't worry about until they announce it is close to their area. Several years ago Central Florida was hit pretty hard with the hurricanes.

[lazidazi07]

Thats the numero uno thing I'm worried about! Please NO!

[tinkerbella's mom]

Going 9/8/to 9/15, what is the hurricane update? Also new to this site, not a DVC member YET! And don't laugh, trying to edit my reservations wanted thread to read closed, not sure if it was done automatically after 1 week. So you experts please help! Tinkerbella's mom

[LilGMom]

Hurricane season does run from June 1 - Nov. 30 with Sept & October historically being the most active for Florida residents. Last year the experts predicted a unusually active season and, thankfully, it was a very quiet season.

As a Floridian, I do pay attention to what the experts say but hurricanes are such unpredictable beasts that until it is in the Gulf of Mexico I don't pay that much attention. But I'm not going to let hurricane season dictate when I go to Disney and actually the next time a hurricane heads towards NW Florida we'll evacuate south to Disney instead of going north. :)

[PrincessV]

Seriously, I live in West Central FL and I swear "they" tell us every year will be a more severe hurricane season than the last. No one can predict with any certainty whether or not we're going to get hit during a season. Us Floridians have learned to just roll with the punches, live life as normal, pay attention when a storm appears to be headed our way, and take action as necessary.

As an interesting note, WDW is actually one of my evacuation plans! I'd rather be there - where the fridges are full and the emergency power back-ups are hot - than stuck on an Interstate with 3 gazillion of my Florida friends! :rotfl:

[Bob P]

Going 9/8/to 9/15, what is the hurricane update? Also new to this site, not a DVC member YET! And don't laugh, trying to edit my reservations wanted thread to read closed, not sure if it was done automatically after 1 week. So you experts please help! Tinkerbella's mom

I'm not trying to be flip here, but if you want the hurricane update for September 8-15, you'll have to check back around September 5!

[caralyn817]

I live in South Florida and every year we get told it will be the worst season. This past year we were told the same thing and yet we only got a tropical storm. Knock on wood! I have been hit by many hurricanes, since I live on the coast. Think of it this way. Orlando is in the center of the state, most of the time the storm has died down before reaching there. By then it is usually, just rain and gusts of wind. In Hurricane Charlie's case, that was a severe storm and it came through unexpectingly. A lot of people didn't have time to prepare, but know they have become more prepared and wiser from the fact. Disney is very responsible for their guests when a situation like that happens and will take care of them. Don't worry about a thing! :cool1: As a South Floridian, we don't until they tell us to start getting prepared.

[FancyBrat]

Thanks all, I'm not to worried about having one while we are there just in how it will mess up flights either getting there or back home is all LOL. But we did buy Trip Insurance so will just go with what comes our way.

[gwcollins71]

We were there when Hurricane Charley hit. I couldn't think of a better place to be. Disney and the service industry in Orlando were amazing, especially if you consider that many of their own properties were damaged.

I wouldn't worry about it.

Gretchen

[lustergirl]

for the 2 past septembers we have enjoyed vacationing at the "house of the mouse" and had absolutely nothing to worry about. Don't drive yourself nuts about because if a hurricane happens to strike there is nothing you can do about it- just imagine you would be at disney world during it- no place like "home".

[C_leen]

I lived in NW FL for a while. Since I'm from the midwest, the whole concept of hurricane evacuation was baffling. I remember we kept a paper placemat from Sonic for hurricane tips! Our first hurricane we went to the grocery store and bought what everyone else did: beer, white bread and batteries! :rolleyes1 Later that year we got to experience evacuation with Opal. Thank God that one wasn't first! :scared1:

Well, another NW FL poster is totally right. If they come in from the Gulf, head to central FL. But I must admit, hurricanes scare me. I'm buying trip insurance for our Sept. trip.

[kimberh]

We live in Charleston, SC. I want to say that there are Hurricanes, then there are Hurricanes! They are a beast, all of their own. We had Hurricane Hugo in 1989. We looked like a Bomb went off the next morning. There was hardly a tree left standing. Boats in the middle of the streets. Houses completely gone!!! We own a Roofing Co. I don't think a roof in the whole area was spared. Power was completely gone, all of the Radio towers out. Jacksonville, FL. finally received permission to broadcast to us. We did not have a clue what had happened to us. The bridges were washed away. We were in BAD shape. Then in 1992, Andrew hit Fl. This is not the same as Charlie hitting Central Fl. I was there, We got out the night before, then saw Disney reopen. I am telling you, that if Charlie had been a Hugo or an Andrew, Disney would not have reopened the next day. The cat 4 and 5 storms are not to be taken lightly. They are Very severe. Millions if not Billions of dollars of property will be lost.

Not to scare any one, but you do need to be aware of what you are dealing with. I would buy trip insurance on my trip, I would not let it keep me from making a trip. You need to watch the weather channel, Sept 10th is the peak of Hurricane season. We had Hugo on Sept 21-22 at 12:01 am, the eye came into Charleston Harbor. I will never stay for another one. It was the scariest night of my life. I thought the roof was coming off of our house. We had the eye at our house. We did not get the storm surge.

[PrincessV]

We live in Charleston, SC. I want to say that there are Hurricanes, then there are Hurricanes! They are a beast, all of their own. We had Hurricane Hugo in 1989. We looked like a Bomb went off the next morning. There was hardly a tree left standing. Boats in the middle of the streets. Houses completely gone!!! We own a Roofing Co. I don't think a roof in the whole area was spared. Power was completely gone, all of the Radio towers out. Jacksonville, FL. finally received permission to broadcast to us. We did not have a clue what had happened to us. The bridges were washed away. We were in BAD shape. Then in 1992, Andrew hit Fl. This is not the same as Charlie hitting Central Fl. I was there, We got out the night before, then saw Disney reopen. I am telling you, that if Charlie had been a Hugo or an Andrew, Disney would not have reopened the next day. The cat 4 and 5 storms are not to be taken lightly. They are Very severe. Millions if not Billions of dollars of property will be lost.

Not to scare any one, but you do need to be aware of what you are dealing with. I would buy trip insurance on my trip, I would not let it keep me from making a trip. You need to watch the weather channel, Sept 10th is the peak of Hurricane season. We had Hugo on Sept 21-22 at 12:01 am, the eye came into Charleston Harbor. I will never stay for another one. It was the scariest night of my life. I thought the roof was coming off of our house. We had the eye at our house. We did not get the storm surge.

Hi there - a fellow Hugo survivor here and I could not agree with you more. I was living with my Dad on Isle of Palms when Hugo hit; we evacuated to Florence and found out later his house had been swept completely off the foundation and the entire contents was washed out. We stayed with friends on the mainland for weeks without power or sanitary water. Living on the coast of FL now, it drives me crazy when my co-workers talk about staying if the big one comes! Not me - I'll be outta here!

[Kriii]

No way to predict a hurricane. I've travelled in the Caribbean and FLA several times during the summer and sometimes plans are changed due to weather. Buy the trip insurance then you know you can reschedule later if you need to!

[kimberh]

Hi there - a fellow Hugo survivor here and I could not agree with you more. I was living with my Dad on Isle of Palms when Hugo hit; we evacuated to Florence and found out later his house had been swept completely off the foundation and the entire contents was washed out. We stayed with friends on the mainland for weeks without power or sanitary water. Living on the coast of FL now, it drives me crazy when my co-workers talk about staying if the big one comes! Not me - I'll be outta here!

Hi, Once you have lived through the REAL Deal, You have a lot of wisdom. Wasn't Isle of Palms devasted? I saw it after the National Guard let us back in, we had some jobs to look at, I could not believe my eyes. As far as a Trip for Disney, there is not a way to figure out the Hurricane's, I have a trip planned for this Sept. I did want to add, that you can't live in fear of Hurricane season, just don't under estimate it. Buy the trip insurance and be ready to evacuate, if a major Hurricane heads for Fla.

[diseyore]

Just like in WA state, they tell you a 10 point earthquake is coming, but you never know. At least down here you can prepare for the hurricanes. We had just moved from WA state right before all 3 hurricanes came through.

[emerymt]

I lived in NW FL for a while. Since I'm from the midwest, the whole concept of hurricane evacuation was baffling. I remember we kept a paper placemat from Sonic for hurricane tips! Our first hurricane we went to the grocery store and bought what everyone else did: beer, white bread and batteries! :rolleyes1 Later that year we got to experience evacuation with Opal. Thank God that one wasn't first! :scared1:

Well, another NW FL poster is totally right. If they come in from the Gulf, head to central FL. But I must admit, hurricanes scare me. I'm buying trip insurance for our Sept. trip.

Now you've stumped me! Tornadoes are way scarier than hurricanes because you often have no clue when they're coming (remember- it's a warning only after someone sees it) and they're fast. Forecasters can spot hurricanes as they're building- sometimes for weeks. A midwesterner shouldn't be scared by a hurricane. As long as you can get out of evacuated areas, you should be all right. The scariest thing that ever happened to me was landing in a midwestern airport in a tornado watch and having to drive to our home 30 miles in the middle of nowhere- when they changed it to a warning and there were sightings in three directions from us!:scared:

Buying trip insurance, sure. Being scared? Nope. I wonder though, how bad it has to get before trip insurance will honor a cancellation on weather. Has anyone ever used their insurance for this? I'm just thinking their threshold is going to be pretty high considering how frequent hurricanes are and how often they strike vacation spots.

[emerymt]

Here's another comforting thought- lightning kills more people than hurricanes or tornadoes, and Florida is the lightning capital of the US. :)

[safetymom]

Hurricane Charley came from the gulf side and did a lot of damage in Central Florida. Most of my roof was blown off from that one. They said that was the first time since the 60's that hurricanes took that path. We were unlucky enough to have two that season that came right through our county.

[bush]

I live in the Houston area and was almost caught in the really bad traffic scare for Hurricane Rita. However, seeing the damage to Beaumont plus Katrina, I won't stay for a Cat 4 or 5.

On the flip side, we were at Disney when the tropical storm came through early last June. There was lots of wind and rain but the parks were open and we just stayed wet for a day or two! There really were very few rides closed during that time. We're going back this year but maybe that's why I've moved our vacation up a week.

[crtarheels]

Haven't seen any threads on this yet but saw on the news that they are expecting a more active Hurricane Season this year. As I'm in the North West we usually don't hear to much on this so can those of you in the South East can you shed some light on what your hearing? We are going 8/14-8/25. Thanks!


Im from wilmington North Carolina and ive been through many hurricanes/tropical storms. Last year they predicted that we would have like 8 and at least 2 bad ones... we got 1 tropical storm :woohoo: . It pretty much just comes down to mother nature. youll just have to sit and wait popcorn::
You will know a few days ahead of a hurricane so be sure to watch the weather channel and make sure to pack you rain gear!!!:thumbsup2

[nbodyhome]

I'm not trying to be flip here, but if you want the hurricane update for September 8-15, you'll have to check back around September 5!

LOL! That is what I thought.

We were told that last year that it would be a busy season - it wasn't. And there are a number of states/countries that can get hit by a hurricane. Here in central Florida, the only bad one I remember for us was Charley. We few out to Europe (and back) last September, I don't consider hurricanes one way or the other in my travel plans. September is traditionally slow here in FL, and October busier - not because of hurricanes but because of kids going back to school (for September).

Bad weather CAN happen anytime. The worst tornadoes/storms lately were on Christmas Day and Groundhog day (this past year). Unlike Charley, people in Central Florida died from the latter storm (not sure on the Christmas one - thankfully a lot of people were away from their homes that day).

[nbodyhome]

Buying trip insurance, sure. Being scared? Nope. I wonder though, how bad it has to get before trip insurance will honor a cancellation on weather. Has anyone ever used their insurance for this? I'm just thinking their threshold is going to be pretty high considering how frequent hurricanes are and how often they strike vacation spots.

Much of the worst part of hurricanes come from storm surges. We (being in the Orlando area) aren't on the coast.

Remember also that Disney, in the past, has allowed for changing reservations in the case of a hurricane. If one came through Disney, I'd just stay put - the parks could be closed for a day or a few hours in most cases. I'd feel safer at Disney than a lot of other places.