Disney on September 11, 2001

[brunette8706]

Hello All!

Was there anyone at Disney during September 11, 2001? I was wondering if they closed the parks early?

Also, did Disney do something on the 10 year anniversary of this tragic event? Just curious.

Thank you!

Brunette

 

[daveyc150]

I was in Orlando on Sept 11 2001 and all the theme parks in the area closed.

 

[brunette8706]

I was in Orlando on Sept 11 2001 and all the theme parks in the area closed.

*
Hi Davey! Thanks for your quick response. I bet that felt WIERD! Not one person at Disney that horrible day....

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

DH and I were on our honeymoon in Tahiti and the resorts were trying to keep the information from everyone. There is not much TV and what we were getting was very confusing. DH screamed to me, "They closed Disneyworld!" so we knew something was up. That's when we (along with many other guests) were asking the resort for the newspapers (that they were keeping from us!) That's how we figured it out - WDW was closed.

 

[brunette8706]

DH and I were on our honeymoon in Tahiti and the resorts were trying to keep the information from everyone. There is not much TV and what we were getting was very confusing. DH screamed to me, "They closed Disneyworld!" so we knew something was up. That's when we (along with many other guests) were asking the resort for the newspapers (that they were keeping from us!) That's how we figured it out - WDW was closed.

*
WOW! Unbelievable! Thanks for your reply.

 

[traveladdiction]

Yes, I remember thinking that they were afraid of being a target because of the sheer number of people in attendance.

 

[topmonkeygirl]

We had already planned a trip to Disney before the attacks happened for Oct 2001, and The World was empty. That was really weird, we didn't wait to get on anything. No one was there.

 

[LovesTheMagic]

We were there on 9/11 for our honeymoon. It was surreal. This voice came over the speaker saying something like 'due to circumstances we are now closing the park. Everyone please head to the exit. Plan A." THen the music started again. It was pretty calm. Waiting in line at the buses is when we found out what happened. It was so strange thinking you should be having fun, but how in the world could you. Disney was wonderful. trying to get home, not so wonderful. Tropical storm Gabrielle was coming through at the same time - nothing terrible just copious amounts of rain. A bus trip from Florida to Michigan, not something I would do again for a long time. Glad to have just celebrated our 10th anniversary, but it brings back a lot of memories.

Looking forward to heading to Disney again in 5 sleeps at least.

 

[Ennazus8810]

I arrived in Disney Sept 13, 2001. We were planning on flying down, but when flights were canceled we discussed it and drove down. The park was only closed on the 11th, but security was heightened to the utmost level. We chose to go and try to keep our lives moving forward. Behavior was very different for those there. People were exceptionally nice and polite to each other.

BTW there was a huge rain storm from a hurricane that was hitting the area at the time.

 

[brunette8706]

Thanks for all of your responses.

Is this when they started the "BAG CHECK" after 9/11/01?

 

[LovesTheMagic]

yes, they started searching our bags the next day. THey did not check the ams of 9/10 or 9/11.

 

[TiffJ]

I was there that day. Very surreal. Not only were all the parks closed, but all the shopping centers, malls, etc. We just hung around the hotel in shock all day (and yes, in the rain from that tropical storm.) We were supposed to fly home but of course our flights were cancelled for the next couple of days so we kept our rental car & drove home. It was horrible, but considering what others were going through that day, I was very blessed!

 

[DisneyGirl421]

Everyone was talking about this today... A few of my fellow CMs were actually working that day, and they were telling us their first-hand accounts. Anyone who needed to leave or wanted to leave work to be with family could, other than that, they quickly exited and cleared the parks. Resorts were still open for regular business, and they asked Entertainment CMs if they would go to the resorts and entertain the guests there as well. They all said it was just so surreal, no one knew exactly what was going on. My coordinator said everything felt so different the next day, the feel of the parks still there but changed...

 

[FlightlessDuck]

This is from Jim Hill, who I know has a bad reputation around here, writing on Huff Post about 9/11 at WDW:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-hill/what-was-it-like-at-walt-_b_952645.html

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

We were at the MK on 9-11-01.

 

[MouseEarsForAll]

DH and I were on our honeymoon in Tahiti and the resorts were trying to keep the information from everyone. There is not much TV and what we were getting was very confusing. DH screamed to me, "They closed Disneyworld!" so we knew something was up. That's when we (along with many other guests) were asking the resort for the newspapers (that they were keeping from us!) That's how we figured it out - WDW was closed.

That's strange...I think I want to know what is going on in my own country! Disney, the magic will run out sometimes.

 

[nickyb720]

That's strange...I think I want to know what is going on in my own country! Disney, the magic will run out sometimes.

You could have watched it on tv. Maybe they took children into consideration and not wanted them to see it because their parents wouldn't want them to see it either. I know I wouldn't have wanted my 1, 2, 3, or 4 year old child to watch it. They would have been too young to understand.

 

[MouseEarsForAll]

You could have watched it on tv. Maybe they took children into consideration and not wanted them to see it because their parents wouldn't want them to see it either. I know I wouldn't have wanted my 1, 2, 3, or 4 year old child to watch it. They would have been too young to understand.

I was talking about the person I quoted, not me. Yeah, I could see the kids being a part of that choice.

 

[girliewhirlie]

We were planning on park hopping that day. It was terrible. Florida was in complete shut down. We ended up going to Animal Kingdom two days later and there was no one there!! Very odd now that we've been been back 15 times!! We were determined to stay for our vacation. All flights cancelled back to Indy. Luckily, we already had our two rental cars. The hurricane and tornadoes flushed us out. Worse vacation ever. We've had incredible vacations since. EVERY year.

 

[Audray]

My wife and I found out about 911 while eating at the Cape May Cafe. We flew down from Newark a couple of days prior and had to drive home. Being from the NY area, picking up our car was very emotional. My recollection about the parks is limited, but I do recall everyone coming together and talking about the attack. It is really strange to think about how much our lives have changed in the past ten years. More so because I am sitting at JFK waiting to board a flight to Madrid right now.