How do you prepare??

[Dismom55]

Not sure it this is the right place for this, but here goes:

How do you prepare or what do you pack in case of severe weather while at Disney, I am not talking rain here I am talking hurricanes. We will be in WDW in Sep, since we are driving space is not a major issue, but again I do not want to crowd us. I have thought of taking some board games, decks of cards things like that and some emergency snacks/water etc since we will be in Pop Century I am smart enough to figure out that we will be staying in our rooms if the unthinkable happens. I do take a first aid kit everywhere we travel, so that is already thought of.

I just want to cover my bases as to what else to bring that I have not already thought of and of course budget minded ideas are needed. Any ideas out there.

Oh yes our group is all adult basically, the youngest will be 17 yr old at the time of the trip. But if you care to answer you might want to include things for those with small children, just in case they read this post and could use some advice.

Thanks for any ideas!!!

 

[smallworldgirl]

We went a few years ago during the hurricaines. We packed flashlights with extra batteries. Also, we brought hiking boots - or some kind of sturdier shoe - if a hurricaine hits - expect flooding - maybe just rainboots. We also brought long heavy duty raincoats - not the $1 store ones. We only wore the raincoats on one day when we had heavy, blowing rain. If you have lots of extra room - what about one of those coleman camping lanterns.

 

[Dismom55]

We do have a coleman lantern, so I will put that on my list of great ideas. Thanks for the heavy raincoat idea, had not really thought of things to wear outside the room, just things inside the room.

Thanks!!

 

[SnowWhite2]

Hurricane survivor/tourist here...make sure you have extra towels to block the rain from coming in under the door. We had water/soda, PB and Jelly, bread, chips. Remember that hurricanes will last about 12 - 18 hrs. You should have enough food to last you that long. We stayed at HI Family Suites, which is now the NIck Hotel, and they were very nice and accomodating. But i have to say that the staff seemed nicer as a HIFS than Nick, IMHO.

The hurricane hit us about 3 pm - came right over Orlando - closed the airport for several days - but we went to Epcot the next day at 9 am for rope drop. You could tell that the trees were cut off of the walkways but the rest of the debris was still on the grassy parts (tree stumps, limbs). The monorail was not running in the morning but the busses were. Guest Services folks were all over the entrance to help since the ticketing and turnstiles were not exactly working properly. I needed to upgrade my DD ticket from a kid to adult ticket and GS gave me a one day adult ticket and told me to make the switch inside whenever we had time. They never did charge us for that one day ticket or slow our day down becuase of it. Just another pixie dust moment.

many of the CMs did not have electric or running water at their houses but they came to work and were glad to have the opportunty to work and were really appreciative that we came to the park. Many people cancelled their trips due to the hurricane and many CMs thought they were going to eventually lose hours because of it. We made extra sure to be nice to the CMs as we knew they were going through a tough time a home.

Also, as a side note - make sure you fill up your car with gas before the hurricane hits. Some of the gas stations were making a killing on the price of gas. The Hess stations on WDW property NEVER raised their prices during that time. I now ALWAYS fill up my tank at Hess at WDW when we are there. I remember what they did during that difficult time and they now have my business for life.

Besides the day that the hurricane hit, our trip was not impacted (except that the cable in the hotel was out for 4 days and it killed my kids ). Many people in Central FL earn their living from tourism and cancelling a trip does hurt their economy. They work very hard to get things back to 'normal' as quickly as possible.

 

[sameyeyam]

My sister lives in Florida and they have gone to WDW when hurricanes are coming in. They like that the parks empty out and there are no lines. They stay at a WDW resort and take the last bus back to the hotel.

The first time they stayed at a value hotel and she said that was a mistake. Because you are stuck in your room during the hurricane. If you stay at one of the larger hotels you still can wander around inside a bit and not feel like you are so confined in a small space.

So her recommendation is if a hurricane is coming, see if you can upgrade to one of the bigger resorts with interior corridors. You only have to do it on expected day of the hurricane and then could move back to the value if need be to save money.

 

[Parkers_girl]

I agree with the previous poster, try and stay in one of the interior hotels. My family stayed at the contemporary one year during a hurricane and the staff and hotel were wonderful. They had activities in the conference and ballrooms for everyone to do and no one was "trapped" in their room all day.

 

[momejay]

We survived a hurricane during a vacation also. I thought I would be fine as we stayed in a room with a kitchen. Well, we had an electric stove so I couldn't cook anything. We had lost power for about 10 hours during the day. We survived on leftover salad, granola bars & bologna. The hotel provided bagels, juice & coffee. They gave the kids coloring books. We were given a small battery operated light, but we really didn't need it. Everyone was playing boardgames in the lobby. I am not sure who provided the games, but the kids played for hours. Even though the cable was out, we were provided with DVD movies rented from Blockbuster. (once the electric came back on that is)
The day of the hurricane was to be our next to last day, but we got bumped from our flight & we had to stay. The hotel offered a big discount on an extra day in the parks so we had an extra day in MK. Poor us! It was one of our most fun trips!

 

[D L and K's Mom]

We were in WDW for a hurricane. The CMs were fantastic! We just bought some bottles of water and some snacks for the room. We were advised to make sure we closed the blinds. The parks opened up on schedule but the pools were not open for a few days. We had a very nice time talking to many of the electricians that were staying in WDW. Many had driven in from other states to work on the electric in the towns, WDW put them up. We were at POR there were many staying there and many at the camp grounds. We were also at Walt Disney VEro Beach when a hurricane hit. They started to take the pool furniture and trash barrels etc out by truck the day before. We were told again to make sure we closed the blinds and drapes and asked to bring in all balcony furniture. They gave us free movies for the room and if I remember correctly they sent up snacks and food so that no one would go to the restaurants. All in all I have to say it wasnt bad at all. The kids looked at it like a big adventure. I would reccomend having good rain coats and flip flops for walking in all the puddles.

 

[ceecee]

We always go in September and take raincoats (no matter when we take them!). We actually were down there during a hurricaine and had a lock down for 24 hrs. The CM at the Pop had delivered extra towels while we were out and we had a note telling us to buy food from the food court which we did. They were totally prepared and we relaxed and had a nice time watching TV (never lost power) and playing cards. It was relaxing and kind of fun. Disney gave us a one day hopper since we couldn't go to the parks that day. Epcot closed early at 7:00 pm it was very windy and they were taping everything down. We stayed in our rooms until 6:00 pm the next day and they told us we could come out.
We actually ran into people who "evacuated to WDW" from their homes in other parts of FL.

 

[Dismom55]

Thanks for everyones input. I am always trying to be prepared so many of your comments really are appreciated. I have always lived life as those there were a natural disaster just around the corner. Not in a panic way, but to be prepared with things like bottled water, a camp stove and such for preparing food, extra meds and food that can be eaten as is or with little prep. When my kids were little we even kept a box of dry milk, thinking we would make just enough at a time for breakfast. Never have had to use emergency items, except when we were in a blizzard in the late 70's, but always glad I had them when there were weather warnings, living here in the tornado belt, (Ohio) one never knows. Especially when we lived in Omaha for 5 yrs. Lots of warnings in those days.

Unfortunately I doubt we would have the funds to move to a more expensive resort and will have to make do in Pop if the situation arises. |Good to know some of the lengths Disney goes to for their guests. I had heard once that locals do come to WDW for safe haven during bad weather times.

Thanks again, if you have further suggestions, keep them coming.

 

[Dismom55]

I have been making a list, thought I would share. I will update this list as I get new suggestions.

Non-Food items

Flashlights with extra batteries
Hiking boots/sturdy shoe/rain boots
Heavy raincoat
Camping lantern
Extra towels to block rain from coming in door
Fill up your car with gas BEFORE bad weather
Try to upgrade to a corridor resort if possible instead of one that opens to the outdoors if only during the bad weather
Color books/crayons (I suggest color pencils instead of crayons they can melt in the heat and if you are driving can ruin car upholstery
Pencil sharpener
Books
Cards
Games
Paper plates/bowls/cups
Plastic utensils


Food items

PB&J
Chips
Bread
Soda/Water
Granola bars/breakfast bars