Advice for travelling during Hurricane season

[raftislander]

Does anyone have advice for me who has experienced WDW in hurricane season? My DD19 and I will be visiting WDW during hurricane season-Aug 31 to Sept 10, 2013. Our other visits have been in Spring and December. I have purchased the trip insurance through Member services, but am looking for any thoughts on things to pack, etc. We are live on the West Coast ( of the US not Florida), so are quite inexperienced in dealing with such weather. Also any advice/pointers from someone that has had to use the trip insurance for delayed flights etc. would be welcome. Thanks!

 

[rcchello]

Most years I have a trip to Disneyworld during Hurricane season. Most years it is a non-event, very few Hurricanes actually hit Disneyworld. The one year I was there the day after one followed I4 across the state, Disney reopened the next day as if nothing happened. There were trees down on the grounds outside the parks, but inside the parks it was fine. Most of the local towns had no power, but Disney has their own generation capacity.

During a hurricane they will restrict you to your hotel room for you safety, but that only happens if a hurricane is threatening to pass very close.

There is no planning or supplies you need to take to Disney in case of a hurricane, only a credit card with a reasonable limit, so if you get stuck for extra days you can pay for your room and food. The problem will be if they cancel your flight out, it may take several days to schedule a new flight, since 100s of other flight will also be cancelled. If they are forcasting a direct hit, the airlines will move all of their planes out of the area and it can take a few days for schedules across the country to get back to normal.

If they cancel your flight in, you probably will just postpone your vacation. In that situation, the airlines and Disney normally offer a full refund. Dvc points are refunded if flights to Disney are cancelled due to a hurricane.

My sister was refunded her points when they were forced to evacuate Dvc at Hilton Head.,

 

[lucyem]

Also keep in mind a hurricane is not going to be a surprise. You will have a good amount of warning that something is headed your way.

 

[rcchello]

Yes, you do get warning and the airlines will announce it beforehand if they are planning on pulling their planes out. My wife was in Houston when the airlines announced they were pulling out due to a hurricane, so she cut her trip short and got one of the last flights out. She had to take a weird routing home, but at least she was out before the hurricane hit.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Also keep in mind a hurricane is not going to be a surprise. You will have a good amount of warning that something is headed your way.

Most of the time you will have plenty of time. Isaac last year was a surprise for us. It was supposed to go to Texas or Mexico and wound up hitting our area.

But if you fly, the cancellation of flights would be the issue you should be most concerned about. And if you have connecting flights, are your connecting flight affected? Flight with be the biggest concern rather than hotels at WDW.

 

[BillPA]

It will very hot and humid, with rain, sometimes very strong storms, in the late afternoon. As posted, hurricanes are not normally a problem at WDW. That is one of the reasons Disney picked the Orlando location.
On the plus side, the crowds are usually not a bad as schools will have started, many southern states start by mid-august.
Have a good trip.

 

[raftislander]

Thank you so much for these replies. I know that it is unlikely that a hurricane will have a significant impact on my vacation, but other than that - I don't know what I don't know! Fortunately we have a direct flight so will only have to deal with one airline and no connecting flights.

 

[MichiganDVC]

Thank you so much for these replies. I know that it is unlikely that a hurricane will have a significant impact on my vacation, but other than that - I don't know what I don't know! Fortunately we have a direct flight so will only have to deal with one airline and no connecting flights.

While it is unlikely that an actual hurricane will hit WDW, it is slightly more likely that a tropical storm will. This was me w/ T.S. Isaac last August. For at least 16 straight hours, it poured. Luckily, it was mostly overnight and into the next day.

So my advice is if you see a TS in the forecast, you might want to bring the proper gear for 10+ hours of heavy rain. We sat in the hot tub while it poured with Mickey umbrella hats on. It was actually a lot of fun! Also, the showers that remained for the following day or two kept people out of the parks and kept it relatively cool. Once the rain stopped and the sun came out again, it got HOT and CROWDED!

 

[raftislander]

We sat in the hot tub while it poured with Mickey umbrella hats on. It was actually a lot of fun! Also, the showers that remained for the following day or two kept people out of the parks and kept it relatively cool. Once the rain stopped and the sun came out again, it got HOT and CROWDED!

Ok, Now you've got me almost hoping for a tropical storm It was my daughter that wanted to come at this time of year. I think it sounds hot and muggy! At DLR I love it when it rains as the parks clear out!