Determined to make the most of this weekend!

[piglet1979]

Alright, here's my backup plan, please critique....
We land tomorrow morning @ 8am, currently scheduled to fly home 8pm Wednesday. (Likely not happening!)


What if I....
Rent a car at MCO when we land.
If by some miracle this things passes and our flight is on schedule, great - return the car and hop on the plane.
If its looking really bad, and I cant get an early flight, we can hop in the car and either head to a different airport or home early.
Worst case scenario, we ride out the storm at the resort, and at least I'll have a car if the airport is shut down for a while after. They'll probably be roads closed, gas stations down, etc but hopefully I can get out of town and somewhere

What am I not thinking of?

Travel in a car may be rough. You might be stuck in a lot of traffic with others evacuating. If the traffic is not bad the roads might be from debris or just really bad driving conditions with rain.

 

[Bran Fox]

Alright, here's my backup plan, please critique....
We land tomorrow morning @ 8am, currently scheduled to fly home 8pm Wednesday. (Likely not happening!)


What if I....
Rent a car at MCO when we land.
If by some miracle this things passes and our flight is on schedule, great - return the car and hop on the plane.
If its looking really bad, and I cant get an early flight, we can hop in the car and either head to a different airport or home early.
Worst case scenario, we ride out the storm at the resort, and at least I'll have a car if the airport is shut down for a while after. They'll probably be roads closed, gas stations down, etc but hopefully I can get out of town and somewhere

What am I not thinking of?

Traffic on a scale that is hard to describe and I’m from Miami and it was still mind-blowing. Very quickly deteriorating weather conditions. Scarcity of gas and supplies. No gas + monster traffic = very dangerous situation.

 

[Starbrite]

Travel in a car may be rough. You might be stuck in a lot of traffic with others evacuating. If the traffic is not bad the roads might be from debris or just really bad driving conditions with rain.

Good points. Just running all scenarios through my head.


My thought process was after it blows through, and the airport shuts down, I'll have no chance of even renting a car at that point and will literally be stuck waiting for the airport to reopen.

 

[Bran Fox]

Good points. Just running all scenarios through my head.


My thought process was after it blows through, and the airport shuts down, I'll have no chance of even renting a car at that point and will literally be stuck waiting for the airport to reopen.

Depending on damage done by storm, roadways and gas may be in short supply for a few days. The gas stations here all are required to have generators. You definitely should get a ton of cash, though. Pay systems took a hit last time and we really needed it the first few days after.

 

[piglet1979]

Good points. Just running all scenarios through my head.


My thought process was after it blows through, and the airport shuts down, I'll have no chance of even renting a car at that point and will literally be stuck waiting for the airport to reopen.

yes good to run all of your options and see what others think as well. I am not one that loves to drive especially in bad weather. I also hate traffic. So for me I would not want to do this but this is what my husband would do. I would rather stay an extra day or 2 if needed at Disney then to drive.

 

[Starbrite]

Depending on damage done by storm, roadways and gas may be in short supply for a few days. The gas stations here all are required to have generators. You definitely should get a ton of cash, though. Pay systems took a hit last time and we really needed it the first few days after.

Thank you for the tip on cash! I wouldn't have thought of that until it was too late!

 

[insureman]

B

HALP i’ve spent too long on another board and they got me very nervous about our trip. We leave tomorrow afternoon with a return flight for Monday night. We are planning for that flight to be cancelled & rescheduled. But man, like how bad is this storm really about to be? The people on other threads are relating it to Katrina and Harvey.

Hate to burst your bubble but MCO is shutting down commercial flights at 2AM Monday

 

[e_yerger]

B

Hate to burst your bubble but MCO is shutting down commercial flights at 2AM Monday

I am aware.

We landed at 6pm and got the notice at 6:30 while we were driving to the hotel. Just spent the whole evening making a plan & work with AKL front desk. Changed out Monday night flight out of MCO to Monday late morning out of TPA. We are also considering getting a room at a hotel near the Tampa airport Sunday night.

 

[insureman]

I am aware.

We landed at 6pm and got the notice at 6:30 while we were driving to the hotel. Just spent the whole evening making a plan & work with AKL front desk. Changed out Monday night flight out of MCO to Monday late morning out of TPA. We are also considering getting a room at a hotel near the Tampa airport Sunday night.

The problem with that is TPA is only 70nm from MCO. Jacksonville would be a better choice. Again good luck and safe travels.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Live from WDW:
Was standing in line for Space Mountain when we got the news about MCO (we were supposed to fly home Wednesday and I switched to Monday evening yesterday AM based on the storm track). Could not get a SW flight to Chicago on Sunday but could to Louisville for a minimal fee (if you change airports, they are NOT doing an even swap). From there we can spend the night and rent a car.

But seeing all these changes in track farther East makes me wonder if MCO will reconsider this really early call? SW has not canceled a single flight for Monday and beyond.

We will be making last second decision whether to fly home early or change to later in the week IF Orlando will be spared the worst of it.

For the happy news: parks aren’t very crowded. We did F&W yesterday afternoon (until a wicked thunderstorm came through and shut down the registers. Some still took cash but not all). Had a great time at MNSSHP (minus the 30 minutes lost dealing with airlines). We were at MK from 3-12 and rode virtually every ride in the park at least once (except PP, Dumbo, Carpets, Under the Sea). Headed for some Epcot rides soon then hopping to AK for the night. We will do EEMH tomorrow at DHS before deciding whether to board that 1:30pm DME bus or stay here (definitely not a decision to be made lightly).

 

[butterscotchcollins]

In MK right now. It is EMPTY!!!! Having the best time!!!!!

 

[SaintsManiac]

Definitely jealous of the empty park fun!

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Crowds definitely picked up a touch since AM. But Soarin was almost a walk on at 10:30 (everything else in FW except TT was). Even F&W didn’t feel busy until 2pm (amazing for Saturday of opening weekend!)

We’re at AK now. Lines seem about right for time of year.

Personally haven’t decided what to do tomorrow. I fear the massive crowds at the airport. Ironically, it seems like MCO is the only airport in the state that has already decided they are closing (and are adamant on Twitter that they aren’t reevaluating).

 

[butterscotchcollins]

They’re adamant, and yet when I asked Delta this morning why my Monday flight wasn’t cancelled they said it’s because they don’t have an advisory from MCO to cancel routes (even though they posted the closure on their website) so it’s possible they’ll reverse course. With the latest storm track I’m sure they’re hedging their bets in case they can reopen and get people home. We’ll see!

 

[butterscotchcollins]

As of about 5 minutes ago:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1167983415032995840

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Of course they changed their mind Not even coastal airports made that call that early. Of course I already had canceled my flight for Sunday and booked for Thursday. What an absolute unnecessary mess they have caused I’ll more than likely keep my plans in case the darn thing shifts again and they really do close the airport.

 

[North of Mouse]

Of course they changed their mind Not even coastal airports made that call that early. Of course I already had canceled my flight for Sunday and booked for Thursday. What an absolute unnecessary mess they have caused I’ll more than likely keep my plans in case the darn thing shifts again and they really do close the airport.

Hindsite is always 20/20, especially with hurricanes. The schools in our area get the same feedback as you gave when schools are closed for impending inclement weather - they can't win!

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Hindsite is always 20/20, especially with hurricanes. The schools in our area get the same feedback as you gave when schools are closed for impending inclement weather - they can't win!

Caution is a great thing! But they made the decision too early and honestly seemed like with old data (thus the early closing). To double down all day Saturday after being called out on it, only to reverse the decision at 11pm at night was like amateur hour. You would think it was their first hurricane.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Live from CSR!

A few thoughts now that the storm has passed and WDW is returning to normal. I’m very glad I made the decision 1) to come in the first place 2) stay until tomorrow night. The crowds were great, the people we met (vacationer, local, CMs, coastal evacuees, first responders) have all been great. The atmosphere here on site is NOTHING like the Weather Channel tries to portray for inland communities. It’s been calm, reassuring and don’t worry about what you cannot change.

As for Disney itself, they did a great job of prepping early (we saw sand bags being dropped off at CSR a Tower main door days ago, but they were gone yesterday when it was evident they would not be needed. Lots of scrims came down around work fences (but I suspect all will be back in place when we head into the parks soon). I applaud them for adjusting yesterday’s park hours on the fly when it became clear the rain was starting much later than thought (we were dry from around 9am to 8pm). Ticket windows were still open at Epcot at 6:30pm last night which made extended my tickets from 5 day to 7 day a quick task.

Here at CSR, boxed lunches were ready and waiting if you wanted that. Food court was open until 10 with a limited menu but it WAS open (ditto for a couple of the TS places). There were movies set up in various convention center ballrooms. Characters were here to entertain the young and the young at heart. The CMs were top notch (from the front desk staff always with a smile, to the food workers to Mousekeeping).

I’m not sure who else from this thread road it out here with us, but thank you to the OP for starting a positive vibe thread in the first place. That was the vibe we felt everywhere here not the doom & gloom (and subsequent apparent disappointment when the storm missed here) that seems to be very prevalent elsewhere on these boards (and others).

 

[butterscotchcollins]

Live from CSR!

A few thoughts now that the storm has passed and WDW is returning to normal. I’m very glad I made the decision 1) to come in the first place 2) stay until tomorrow night. The crowds were great, the people we met (vacationer, local, CMs, coastal evacuees, first responders) have all been great. The atmosphere here on site is NOTHING like the Weather Channel tries to portray for inland communities. It’s been calm, reassuring and don’t worry about what you cannot change.

As for Disney itself, they did a great job of prepping early (we saw sand bags being dropped off at CSR a Tower main door days ago, but they were gone yesterday when it was evident they would not be needed. Lots of scrims came down around work fences (but I suspect all will be back in place when we head into the parks soon). I applaud them for adjusting yesterday’s park hours on the fly when it became clear the rain was starting much later than thought (we were dry from around 9am to 8pm). Ticket windows were still open at Epcot at 6:30pm last night which made extended my tickets from 5 day to 7 day a quick task.

Here at CSR, boxed lunches were ready and waiting if you wanted that. Food court was open until 10 with a limited menu but it WAS open (ditto for a couple of the TS places). There were movies set up in various convention center ballrooms. Characters were here to entertain the young and the young at heart. The CMs were top notch (from the front desk staff always with a smile, to the food workers to Mousekeeping).

I’m not sure who else from this thread road it out here with us, but thank you to the OP for starting a positive vibe thread in the first place. That was the vibe we felt everywhere here not the doom & gloom (and subsequent apparent disappointment when the storm missed here) that seems to be very prevalent elsewhere on these boards (and others).

I echo the sentiment and also want to say thanks to all of the Positive Plutos on this thread!