Disney Hurricane Update

[BluOrchid2]

still here! the worst is over. looking outside, we can see 3 trees down, clumps of spanish moss blown from the trees all over the sidewalks, a piece of guttering blew off the lodge and landed on a lower roofing section. Castmembers came by room to hand out flashlights. I saw another castmember, before the worst of the storm come down the hallway carrying 4 happy meals to a room that must have had some hungry children in it. The daddy that answered the door was VERY grateful to have the food for his kids, as Roaring Forks and the Gift Shop had both been closed up earlier this afternoon. I'm sure WCC and AP were also closed, so no food to be had anywhere here. The baby ducks were on the swimming pool the whole time it was storming, LOL. Lots of leaks from the roof in the lobby, the way it was blowing I'm not surprised. Anxious to get out in the morning and view any other damage there may be.

 

[zipDdoodah]

So glad to hear you are all OK and the WL is still intact! It will be interesting to hear how the rest of WDW faired. Just glad you are all OK, and there are a lot of DISers out there thinking about you!

 

[chrisann]

i was just watching the news and they reported, that a van had gotten into a bad accident in Orlando, as a result of the storm, they were all wearing their seatbelts but unfortuantely that wasn't enough, the little girl(about 4yrs old) didn't make it and the rest of the family is in serious condition. That poor family!! My heart goes out to the family!!

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

BluOrchid2/Lora

So glad the worst is over, have a great stay and please do an report when you have time.

Beckie

 

[ReneeDisney]

BluOrchid2
THANKS FOR THE UPDATE! Glad to hear that you are safe.. looking forward to your trip report! Enjoy the rest of your trip!!

 

[Sammie]

Originally posted by chrisann
Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Florida right now!! Everyone just be safe! On another note, I feel so horrible for everyone at Disney. We are going in a couple months and I would be devastated if this had happened on our trip, after realizing we were safe, I'd be soo upset! Hopefully Disney helps make everyone feel better!!

As long as you were safe, why would you be upset. You might want to completely avoid Hurricane Season then.

We are here now, Disney has been wonderful and we are certainly not upset over anything. I can't even imagine.

 

[chrisann]

my post, I just meant that I'd be disappointed. I know a lot of people on these boards go to Disney on a regualr basis but for others, it's something they've planning for years and from that standpoint, I'm sure people would be bummed as their trip would be altered for a day or two when they didn't have that many days to begin with. I didn't mean for it to sound like we wouldn't be thankful that we and everyone else were all safe.

 

[Poohlovr]

After the hurricane passed through, we went out and walked around the grounds of the Swan/Dolphin and part of the Boardwalk.
Saw minor damage to the Boardwalk sign, and a directional sign, broken flower pots, minor things like that.
Lots of debris from the palm trees.

The lap pools at the SD were overflowing (14+ inches of rain will do that).

According to the satellite here at the Dolphin, we had wind gusts up to 69 mph, but, not sustained at that speed. There was 14.51 inches of rain and the temperature dropped to 69 degrees.

We never lost power here at the Dolphin, but, did lose the satellite television. We have only local stations now, plus there are Disney videos playing on 3 channels. The WiFi internet came and went several times.

The restaurants here at the Dolphin stayed open for the duration, so food was never a problem.

During the height of the storm, I noticed the lights were off at MGM, but, as soon as the storm passed, the lights on the hat, TOT and Earful Tower came back on. I'm guessing that they were turned off as opposed to actually losing power.

We've heard nothing about park hours for tomorrow.

 

[jwfla422]

Thanks for the update Poohlovr, now we know which hotel to stay in during a hurricane so, you can bet we'll be heading up there when the next hurricane threatens down here!! Can't believe how lucky we were with this one!! SHEESH!!

GLAD TO HEAR EVERYONE's SAFE...including Charlie, Charlie NJ that is not Charley the hurricane, i think everyone's had enough of him!!

Hopefully not too much damage in WDW so you can all enjoy a nice day at the parks tomorrow!! And, sure hope lots of those CMs get to recover from their long hours.

I sure hope Charley didn't blow away SSB's Lemonade stand, I'd be quite upset about that!!

 

[hogie1]

Good news from the Swan front desk.... I called about 1/2 hour ago (it's 1:45am now in Boston) They rpt they still have power and never lost it and from what they know the parks did ok. She said that she thinks everything will be operational tomorrow but that could change. We spent 5 straight hrs trying to get another flight after ours was cancelled @ 730pm and our airline was booked solid till Tues!! We ended up getting really lucky somehow w/ another...... Wish us luck and some rest, should be a long day @ the airports but worth it if we get there. Stay safe and best wishes!!

 

[simonmunro]

Chrisann: I understood exactly what you were saying. When someone saves for a couple of years and plans down to even looking at the menus of where they'll eat. Calling months ahead for ps, etc. I believe you certainly would be disappointed to have this sort of thing appear during your vacation.

 

[ChristyJ]

Wow-what a night-I hope everyone is okay!! We haven't had a chance yet to watch the news-just read some of the posts from those of you who were in Disney last night.

Where we live in NY, we've only felt the residual affects of a hurricane-but a few years ago we had straightline winds and I had a tree come down on my house while I was home with my 8 month old, 3 yr. old, & another 3 yr. old I was babysitting for the day. Very scary experience-I'll never forget.

Our prayers go out to all of you.

 

[Tinkbell]

Good morning everyone. Hope everyone in Disney and the surrounding area has a good day today.

 

[RJake1]

I was at the Doubletree Downtown Disney last night.
The sun is now up and I can't believe the damage I'm seeing....right outside our hotel room window! Several large trees are down. One is cracked. The entire housing of a very large floodlight was blown off its pole and is lying near the hotel building.

A billboard sign is missing large sections.

There is a tree...yes, a tree... lying in the bottom of the hotel swimming pool.

I felt our hotel swaying last night but tried to keep away from the window. Thank heaven! It is pure luck that none of those projectiles hit our window on the 6th floor. I hope the other guests fared as well.

 

[RJake1]

Doubletree Update ....8:30 am......

Lots of downed trees. Entire exterior surface of hotel wall is gone. Blew completely away. Fiber insulation scattered all over the lot. You can actually view the girders and back of drywall.

The metal fence and gate surrounding tennis courts is twisted, bent, and pulled away from asphalt. Very scary stuff.

Some cars damaged in parking lot.

Looks like a twister might've blown through here.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

Thanks to all the DIS'ers that are continuing to keep us up to date. I'm glad to hear everyone is safe and sound this morning. I'm sure it's not a vacation any of you will forget soon!

 

[gjerseygirl]

Originally posted by RJake1
Doubletree Update ....8:30 am......

Lots of downed trees. Entire exterior surface of hotel wall is gone. Blew completely away. Fiber insulation scattered all over the lot. You can actually view the girders and back of drywall.

The metal fence and gate surrounding tennis courts is twisted, bent, and pulled away from asphalt. Very scary stuff.

Some cars damaged in parking lot.

Looks like a twister might've blown through here.

Wow!!

 

[imadisneyfanatic]

Has anyone heard from Tyler or AspiringCindy?
They are both so kind and helpful on these boards. I pray they and everyone else there are OK.

I went through Hurricanes Erin and Opal in 1995 here in the panhandle of Florida and know how incredibly frightening it can be and what it's like not to have power or water for 5 days in the heat of Summer. You guys hang in there and please be careful. Alot of injuries happen when folks go out to survey the damage.

Please let us know if anyone has heard from any more of our DIS friends.

 

[seashoreCM]

Originally posted by RJake1
Entire exterior surface of hotel wall is gone. Blew completely away. Fiber insulation scattered all over the lot. You can actually view the girders and back of drywall.

It is fortunate that the drywall did not give way, letting the storm into the building.
I have seen homes built similarly, no wood or plywood sheathing under the outside siding. From the inside out, drywall, insulation amidst formed sheet metal studs, then the vinyl siding that is all. I thought of them as styrofoam houses.

It is as if a burglar could cut his way into someone's house with a jackknife.

Meanwhile I was told that most of WDW was built quite robust, even the facades used for movie sets such as at MGM Studios.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

Single digits to next trip, probably staying off site.

 

[weeyore33]

From what we were watching on TV this morning, I guess all of those who are standing toda are pretty lucky! My 7 year old said this morning that he ws wishing that everyone at Disney was ok and that the people in florida should hide in the castle because mickey can protect everyone. He is so sweet
We hope that all of those vacationing are safe and that all of those who travelled with children are not too frightened ! What a scary experience for all! I lived in Florida until 1993, just missing Andrew. The house I lived in was taken by the storm.

I think Group hugs all around today!

Sounds like Disney got hit pretty bad, Our thoughts are with all today. ME DH, 2 DS

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