Can anyone put my mind at rest about Wilma?

[Andrew2005]

We're flying to Orlando on Thursday, and I've been reading about tropical storm Wilma - and as it's our first holiday to Disneyworld I'm a bit worried about it.

Could anyone help put my mind at rest or offer me any reassurance - so I can try and relax a bit !

Thanks!

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Hi Andrew,

I am sure you will be fine - we go in Hurricane season every year and have never had any problems.

As you will have seen with Katrina, generally the central areas of Florida do not have any problems - unfortunatley for the folk who live on the coast, they tend to get the brunt of it.
Usually Orlando , and the majority of Florida doesn't get badly affected.

Good Luck mate , do not worry ;-)

 

[Andrew2005]

Thanks for that - that has eased some of my worries.

Have you ever actually been there when there has been a hurricane?

 

[wilma-bride]

Can anyone put my mind at rest about Wilma

I'm harmless - honest!!!

Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood. Seriously, I don't think you need to worry too much - Orlando are well used to Hurricanes and I think the parks have only been affected once by them (that was last year during Frances).

 

[Andrew2005]

I'm harmless - honest!!!

- I'm sure you are!

Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood. Seriously, I don't think you need to worry too much - Orlando are well used to Hurricanes and I think the parks have only been affected once by them (that was last year during Frances).

Thanks very much for that - I'm sure it'll be fine, but I tend to get something stuck in my mind, and worry about it - even though I know it'll be OK - so the more reassurance I can get - the happier I'll be .

 

[JanElliott]

Can't speak from first hand experience as we missed hurricane Charlie by 3 days last year but our friends were there and gave us details of what we missed. The parks knew when it was going to hit and took all the necessary precautions and closed early and managed to re-open within 24 hours. Our friends just holed up at our hotel and by the time we arrived there was just the odd tree in the wrong place. I'm sure some other dis-ers can give you more details but don't worry two tropical storms were forecast after Charlie while we were there and never hit, and we were lucky enough to fly home before Frances. Have a great holiday.

 

[lucy_love_]

hi

we were there last year when hurricane jean was there. she wasnt as big as charlie but the parks closed for one day and everyone had to stay indoors for 24 hours if i remember rightly. at least i think it was jean. it was the hurricane on about the 23rd ish of september if anyone know who has a better memory than me.

everyone was totally safe though. my dd10s teacher calls her "the real live hurricane survivor" which is slighlty dramatic but dd likes it. it was amazing to see out of the window. we were extremely worried though but for us there was nothing to worry about. you will be fine. it doesnt spoil your holiday.

hope you have a fabulous time

love

lucy

ps. the day the parks were closed we were glad of the rest

 

[TraceyL]

Keep track

 

[disneyholic family]

Thanks for that - that has eased some of my worries.

Have you ever actually been there when there has been a hurricane?

we were there about 7 or so years ago when a hurricane hit....it was the first time in WDW history that they didn't open in the morning due to weather...
if there's any place i'd "like" to be in a storm it's WDW, as they are incredibly organized.....a military operation and then some....i've never seen anything so well carried out in my life....and it's a huge place.......
i was happy to be there during the storm just so that i could witness how amazing they are.....it was a sight to behold, both before as they prepared for the approaching storm and afterwards as they cleaned up the damage.....

by the way, we felt perfectly safe the entire time...the buildings are solidly built (steel reinforced concrete it seems, though i'm not sure) and certainly seemed very storm worthy.....
we were in the All Star Music that year...it was just me and my two kids....
as i said, we felt very secure the whole time and the hotel kept us informed through the day and night how things were going....

and the moment the main part of the storm had passed, the parks re-opened...

 

[Shropshire Saint]

We were there for Jeanne last September. The parks & many restaurants were closed on the Sunday. Just make sure you have plenty in the fridge & things to eat. It was actually quite exciting watchig the winds. It was all sorted within 24 hours. We are leaving on Thursday & are not overly worried, just aware.

 

[Andrew2005]

Thanks for all the reassurance - I certainly feel much better now!

We'll just have to make sure we have enough supplies in incase we are stuck in the room for a day! We're getting picked up by a van at Orlando airport and stopping at a supermarket, so we'll stock up on crisps and coke!

Are there any places to get food if we are stuck in the room?

Shropshire saint - I see you're in North Shropshire - you're not flying from Manchester on Thursday are you? If you are, and you're on the Virgin flight - so are we - yay!

One last thing - does anyone know which day Wilma (not you wilma-bride )is due to arrive in Florida?

Thanks again everyone I really appreciate it!

 

[traceycooper]

We are not going till October next year, but i am reading with interest, my only worry is not geting out there due to the flight being cancelled because of a hurricane!
we are getting married out there next year & not getting there is my worst fear!!!!

 

[Andrew2005]

I'm sure you'll be OK - from what I've been reading, it seems to be unusual to have a hurricane this late in the year.

At least I don't think we need worry about getting there, we're flying out on Thursday morning, and I don't think the hurricanes due to arrive wherever it's going until the weekend.

 

[Shropshire Saint]

We are flying with US Air unfortunately. Not as good as Virgin, but was over £500 cheaper per person so I could not justify an extra £2000!
Fox News Channel 531 on Skt suggested early Sunday morning & it was going to hit the keys & Miami.
I feel for those guys, just hope all is well for them. Selfishly hope it steers well clear of Orlando.

 

[Andrew2005]

I'm sure Virgin aren't £2000.00 better! Are you flying from Manchester?

If it's early Sunday morning, hopefully it'll be during the night, so it won't disrupt anything too much.

But fingers crossed it might peter out before it hits florida at all.

 

[Amyrlin]

I am sure you will be OK in Orland. YOu might have a day or two of rian when it is down south (we did with Ophelia), but it helped keep the crowds in the parks down.


In the mean time my daughter is staying with friends in West Palm Beach and meant to fly home at the weekend. Its right in the path of Wilma. As a mother I am concerned, but..... even for a direct hit this is still only a cat one, and although it is predicted at increasing, it apears unlikey to become more than a cat 2. I know the building she will be in is built to withstand cat 4 and if it stays slow she may get out before, but it depends on the speed ot does take and if it speeds up as it turns north and also when they do stop flights as she is meant to be flyong out of west palm beach up to Newark and then over to gatwick.

Just read the reports and looks like over sea it will get to cat 4

 

[juliebro]

Shropshire Saint - you don't say whether you've flown with US Airways before. We really like them and have flown with them 4 times to the US. Their in-flight entertainment systems are very good - and the seat pitch in economy is one of the best.

Julie

 

[pigby]

Julie - good news about US - we fly with them from Manchester on Friday for the first time. Do they have seat back TV's

 

[disneyholic family]

We're flying to Orlando on Thursday, and I've been reading about tropical storm Wilma - and as it's our first holiday to Disneyworld I'm a bit worried about it.

Could anyone help put my mind at rest or offer me any reassurance - so I can try and relax a bit !

Thanks!

you should be ok.....wilma's a 4 now, but as it's currently tracking it will hit southwest florida on saturday......so you should be able to get into Orlando on thursday without any problems....given the track right now, you'll probably get a storm in orlando on saturday and sunday, but not a hurricane.....
for me i tend to worry about getting into orlando....once i'm there i figure we're ok...

as to whether it seems as if there are more hurricanes in the last couple of years....i think the authorities say that there have been...from personal experience there certainly were....this summer we flew into orlando 3 times and on all 3 occassions there were hurricanes very close to the central coast of florida.....we've never had that experience before....in all of our times in orlando over the years, only once before had we experienced a hurricane....

by the way, "wilma"??.....that's supposed to be a cartoon character, not a killer storm....after wilma i think i heard that they switch to the greek alphabet....what happend to x, y and z?....talk about discrimination towards the end of the alphabet names....

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

This is the proposed track, BUT don't forget this can change and could come up further north or slow down, in any way you WILL get rain and winds
Look at the days and I would think that you are going to have problems getting in on Saturday at the moment.
This map should keep on updating as and when FEMA put in new data.