Anyone been to a Disney Resort during a hurricane?

[Patpat15]

How do they handle it. Does it destroy the entire vacation. Do the parks close.

 

[Sooze]

I sure hope people respond to this... I am so curious as well. The DH and I are trying to figure out if we should still head to WDW this week!!

 

[CDSTapisRouge]

I guess I qualify since I worked at WL through Charlie, Frances and Jeanne.

It depends on the resort how your stay will be affected. If the resort is all one building, you will be less confined. They do ask you to stay in your room when the storm is actually passing over, but you can still walk around the hotel a little bit before and after. If you are at a resort that has exterior buildings, they will leave you information advising when the main building will be closing down, so you have enough time to get there and get food and such for your room. They will ask you to stay in your room until further notice.

Whether the parks Close or not depends on when the storm comes through and how much damage there is. With the other Hurricanes, they did all options, closed the parks early, opened the parks late and closed all together. If the storm was to come across overnight, they would assess the damage and open later in the day if they could. If the storm was projected to come through in the late afternoon, they would close early. Whatever the case may be, they will do everything they can to make sure at lease one of the parks is open for resort guests at some point. They don't want you to be cooped up in the hotel as much as you don't want to be stuck there. They do need time to get the parks secured before the storm and clean it up after, but they have Hurricane Ride out Crews, which are CM's that are there just to secure and clean up.

Everyones safety is first and foremost of course, but Disney will do all that it can to get the parks ready for Resort guests (even if they don't open to the general public). They also will accomodate lost park days from your passes (if the parks were not open at all) and canceled flights. I think they went well beyond my expectations with all that they did with the 3 storms that came through a few years ago.

Also just keep in mind that the 5 day forecast is not really accurate. The storm can go in any direction. Don't worry too much about it until Tuesday.

 

[disnut8]

We were at Pop Century during Hurricane Francis. That was over Labor Day weekend. We were the idiots heading south into Florida while everyone else was heading north. We had a nice Friday afternoon and evening at the parks. We stayed offsite and checked into Pop Century the next day. On Saturday, the parks were closed. We were told at check-in that the resort would be going into a manditory lock down that afternoon. We were encouraged to utilize the food court and gift shop for supplies because it could be 24-48 hours until we got the "all clear". The gift shop had styrofoam coolers for sale and people were filling those up with drinks and things. No one was in a panic and all the Cast Members were great. There were a lot of people who had to extend their stay because the airport was closed. Everyone was accomodated nicely. The check in Cast Member said it best "if you are going to be anywhere for a hurricane, Disney World is the best place".

We went to the food court and grabbed a pizza which was already made a waiting in anticipation of the rush. We had lots of supplies with us and games to play just in case. The lock down came at 4:00 Saturday afternoon. We were asked not to leave our room. A Cast Member came around before then and explained the situation to each room. For entertainment, there's a loop of Disney movies on their channels. The local stuff is just news about the hurricane which gets very old very fast. I'd highly suggest you take a map of Florida with you because the commentators will make reference to counties and we had no idea where they were until I pulled out a map.

The parks, of course, were closed on Sunday since that's when Francis really blew through. Longest storm of my life. We were safe and sound inside our room. We never lost electricity or cable. About the only bad thing I can say is I wish those local news crews would change their litany about "the hurricane has hit". We know that, we can see that. After 24 hours of it, we were tired of the repetitiveness of the coverage. We did get the "all clear" at 4:00 Sunday afternoon. We were told that the food court was open with limited service. That was a joke. The whole darn thing was open with hot and fresh food! There were characters in the lobby and everyone really was having a good time. People were in the pools and just trying to get back to normal. The parks, except for Animal Kingdom, were open the next day but we didn't go since we had to drive back home.

Did it spoil our vacation? Not really. It was the two of us in a hotel room for 24 hours and no where to go. But it was a different experience. Take a deck of cards with you. Take a couple of good books. And Disney will take care of you.

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

We were there in 99 or 2000 cant remember and they closed the park for one day. Otherwise I dont remember anything else going on. We hung out in the resort and watched the news. Alot of family time is what I remember, DH and his family were having a reunion at CBR and like 20 of us were carrying on and laughing in the food court. I dont remember a major disruption of the trip though.

 

[debsays]

Yes, last October. We always go in August and last year decided to go in October for the Wine/Food Festival. Well, would you know we get the hurricane which didn't turn out to be much. After it passed and if you were a Disney Resort Guest they allowed you to go into the parks without using your passes all day long, and from park to park. A freebie ! That was neat.

 

[cnids00]

We were there during Frances in 2004, we were staying at CBR. They closed everything for 2 days, we had to stock up on food from the foodcourt "to last us at least 24 hours", they did open the food court late afternoon on the 2nd day so we could go there to eat, they had characters there and the mousekeepers were stationed there also, so we could "order" towel animals.

The parks were closed for 2 days, we went to Epcot the day they opened, still pouring rain, went to MGM, ToT was closed due to too much water on the roof, it was an experience to say the least.

We did get 2 days worth of UPH that lasts 10 years, complimentary of the staff at CBR, which we are using this year.

Still love going in September

 

[Sooze]

We did get 2 days worth of UPH that lasts 10 years, complimentary of the staff at CBR, which we are using this year.

What are UPH?

 

[Sooze]

These replies are all so helpful. Thanks everyone!

 

[gopack]

We were at WL during Jeanne. I think the parks were closed for about 1 1/2 days. The hotel was wonderful. They brought in disney characters, musicians, and other entertainment in the lobby. It was very fun. They also provided games and activities for the children. The hotel staff was wonderful. The restaurants were open. They even had a lifeguard posted outside so you could get to the game room. We do not hesitate to book during hurricane season, but we do prefer a hotel that does not have separate buildings so we would not be stuck in our rooms if it were to happen again. The pool was open the next morning after the hurricane passed Orlando.

 

[CDSTapisRouge]

What are UPH?

UPH stood for Unlimited Park Hoppers or Ultimate Park Hoppers... These were the resort Length of Stay Passes that were valid from check in day to check out day and expired when you checked out, it was a type of ticket prior to Magic Your Way.

However since she is saying that they don't expire for 10 years, they are not really "UPH" tickets, they really don't have a name, those were the Comp tickets that the managers were issuing, that allowed guests to have hopping privledges to all the parks.

 

[ConcKahuna]

What are UPH?

"Ultimate Park Hopper" The old all-inclusive pass that was a ph with unlimited access to the water parks, DisneyQuest, PI, etc. With a 2-day UPH you can go into everything as much as you want for 2 days.

Only way to get these now is if something like this happens (although I think people from the UK can book a 14 or 21 day package with these tickets, I seem to remember someone saying something like that).

 

[Mel6197]

We flew down.
They closed the parks for 1\2 day. We took a bus over to Wilderness Lodge, had some Lunch. By that point they opened the parks,and we had a good time.

Only downside. We planned for HOT weather, in Oct. But Wilma made the temps drop WAY down, and we froze for a few days, FROZE.. To the point that spending over 200 dollars in sweatshirts, gloves, That we didnt even blink a eye.

 

[rkujay]

It is important to note that the previously mentioned storms...Jean, Frances, et al were not huge storms of the Andrew and Katrina variety. We live no more than 55 miles from WDW and had virtually NO damage whatsoever. By comparison, the amount of snapped trees and neighborhood damage in the WDW area (we have a son who lives in the Orlando area) was a real eye opener. Since we had no damage we went to WDW just after each storm to see what was up at our beloved WDW. The storms relative small size made them localized.
God help us all if a really big one decides to come through.
These big storms are NOT tourist attractions.

 

[TiggerAllie]

We were there during Wilma last year. I had mixed feelings about how Disney handled it.
The BAD: We were waiting for Fantasmic Sunday night and things started to get a bit dark. I got a call on my cell phone from my mom who said that Wilma was coming within the hour. I could see lightening in the distance, but no announcement was made. It starts to rain. Still nothing. Finally, when it starts pouring, they announce that Fantasmic has been canceled. And that was it. Nothing about the hurricane or anything. The crush of people leaving in the pouring rain was awful. Fortunately, we had a car (didn't fight with the busses) so we drove over to WL for dinner before heading back to CSR.
The GOOD: Being a Disney Resort guest was KEY! I wish we had been in a deluxe, because it would have been nice to be able to walk around inside instead of having to stay in our rooms. They left a bunch of messages on the phone with updates. Most of the storm went through over night. In the morning, we got up and went to the main lobby. They had characters there taking pictures and playing with the guests. Then, they told us that MK and Epcot would be open only to resort guests, from 1pm-12am. There were lots of tree branches down at the parks, but most of it had been at least piled out of the way during the morning. We also never lost power. Apparently Disney has its own backup generators.
Hope this helps!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) I was part of the "Ride Out" team at a deluxe resort during Charlie.
2) It was pretty much as said above.
. . . stay in the room during rough weather
. . . wonder around the site with calm weather
. . . the parks are usually open until the last possible minute
3) So, yes, huricanes do impact the vacation, but it can't be helped.

 

[spaceacewannabe]

It is important to note that the previously mentioned storms...Jean, Frances, et al were not huge storms of the Andrew and Katrina variety. We live no more than 55 miles from WDW and had virtually NO damage whatsoever. By comparison, the amount of snapped trees and neighborhood damage in the WDW area (we have a son who lives in the Orlando area) was a real eye opener. Since we had no damage we went to WDW just after each storm to see what was up at our beloved WDW. The storms relative small size made them localized.
God help us all if a really big one decides to come through.
These big storms are NOT tourist attractions.

We were there for Charlie...not the level of Katrina or Andrew, of course, but it was still a 4 when it got to Orlando...which is pretty HUGE for that far inland (from what we were told). What happened in N.O. last year is very, very unlikely to occur as far inland as WDW (knocking on wood here).

Disney left the parks open until 1 p.m. the day it hit (Friday the 13th, no less---August 2004). Parks were great and very empty...it was interesting to see the CMs preparing, and the CMs that were there were really eager to do their jobs (plus I heard they got to bring their families onsite, and Disney really is the SAFEST place to be if you're in a hurricane).
When they closed, we did witness some not-so-great bus behavior, but just from one very loud person.

We were staying at CSR that year, so we needed to take care of things quickly since we'd have to stay in our room since it has outdoor corridors (we no longer stay in hotels with the outdoor corridors...in part because of this). This was the first hurricane to make it into Orlando since Disney had been there, and the foodcourts weren't as ready as others have reported! They were running out of food and the line for the foodcourt went from Pepper Market all the way to the lobby (if you've been to CSR...you know that's long!). The gift shop had a very limited amount and HUGE lines. We discovered the vending machine, although we had some in our room from a grocery stop and we'd eaten at The Land before we left the parks (which we were glad we did!). Food didn't end up being a big deal but we were a little concerned at the time! We do like to have something in our room now, just in case.

Disney handled it beautifully, though! For the time guests could still go to the main building, there were characters, as others have mentioned. They started running continuous movies on several channels. A CM came around to rooms just before lockdown to let us know what was happening and make sure we understood and were doing okay. He also gave us an info sheet with details on the lockdown as well as the movies to keep us occupied.

The actual storm...being from the midwest, there were a couple of tornados accompanying it, and THAT we understood. There were broken tree limbs, people had car damage, a few people did die...but it was because of lightning and being in cars, I think? Or perhaps fallen power lines. Things to be very careful of, for sure, but not things that are likely to happen to you at Disney. We saw a number of roofs blown off hotels on our way to the airport, so being on-site is a really good thing.

Parks opened the next day with very little in the way of crowds (walked on to TOT more times than we could count), except AK because that took longer to clean up.

Would I plan my vacation in hopes of a hurricane? Definitely NOT! Would I cancel or panic because there MIGHT be one? No way! Just make sure you have some water and food in your room if you're concerned. And as someone pointed out, they really don't know what these storms are going to do quite so far out.

I should qualify this...if you're staying off-site, I would be a little more concerned. Disney is built to withstand, but some others are not.

 

[Connor&Cody'sMom]

These posts are very helpful. I am packing because we leave tomorrow morning. I am going to plan on being stuck in our room for a day or two - telling the kids to pack DVD's, PSP's, games, and I am going to take along some reading material (maybe I'll actually get some reading in). May stock up on some snacks when we get there, depending on how things are looking when we arrive. I am starting to wish that we were staying at a hotel that didn't have outside corridors, but not going to change that at this point.

 

[Quinn222]

It is important to note that the previously mentioned storms...Jean, Frances, et al were not huge storms of the Andrew and Katrina variety.

When they hit Orlando that is quite true. However, we took a direct hit from both Jeanne and Francis and sideways swipes from Charlie and Ivan as well as Wilma. Jeanne and Francis hit us as 4's (same guage as Katrina.) There was massive damage to the area where I live. Many of us were without power for six weeks. I got phone back in December,(more than three months after the storms.) There are still homes here with blue fema tarps for roofs two years later. Our kids were out of school due to damage to the schools for six weeks. Very few homes escaped without serious damage.

So yes, we still didn't have it as badly as the gulf and we didn't flood like New Orleans, but Jeanne, Francis, Charlie, and Ivan (which all hit in the same year) were major storms (which WDW rode out just fine), and Wilma was no picnic either.

Sorry to be OT but it touched a nerve.

 

[kimntrent]

We fly in on Thursday morning. We should be fine by then right?