Escaping the hurricane at "the World"?

[goopysolelady]

Just a thought for those of you on the East Coast scheduled to leave for Disney World in the next couple of days...from someone who's "been there; done that"!
Going back to 2008, our departure day (Friday) was the same day Hurricane Ike was scheduled to hit the Galveston/Houston area. Wed./Thursday we carefully watched the progress of the storm, calling our airline to check on any possible changes in our flight time. We were assured our 1:30 pm flight remained on schedule. Thursday it was announced the Houston airport would close on Friday at 6 PM. Our departure time was 1:30. By that afternoon, DD "had a feeling we should change flights". Then, around 3 PM, after DH participated in a conference call with State emergency management, we decided to not take a chance and try to get on an earlier flight. Our problem...between 3 families, we needed 10 seats! Between 4 of us, spending a couple of hours on the phone with airline agents, son-in-law was able to get us booked on a flight at 7:30 AM into Tampa. We quickly packed, said goodbye to DH (who's job required he stay behind) and made our way into Houston for the night. Evacuation was underway but being "inbound" gave us a clear highway into the city. Made that early morning flight (with 5 children under the age of 6 ); arrived in Tampa and rented a car, arriving at the Poly before our original flight was scheduled to leave. CM's were wonderful and managed to get us into rooms immediately, giving us a chance for a few hours rest after a long and stressful night. Thank goodness we decided to change...Houston airport closed at 1 PM ... 30 minutes BEFORE our scheduled flight! We'd have missed almost 4 days of our vacation and 4 meal reservations! Continental Airlines was able to get DH out, on one of the first flights to Orlando, the following Monday after the airport reopened.
Something for you to think about if you're scheduled to leave within the next few days...you MAY want to "get out of town" early! Our thoughts and prayers are with you all.

 

[goofybabe]

Wow,your family was indeed lucky ,not only be able to excape the wrath of Ike ,but you rode it out at my family's favorite resort.We live in NH and are preparing for Irene's impending visit.Glad you all were safe and that your husband was able to join you there eventually!

 

[goopysolelady]

At the time, it was kind of ironic...we worried the entire summer about a hurricane hitting Florida while we were vacationing and then Texas is the target! Thoughts and prayers are with you from Texas. You have "trying days" ahead; good luck!

 

[Stickfigure]

Thanks for sharing! Intuition Saved your trip !!

I'm exactly in that position right now, 9 of us scheduled for a 7:30 am flight tomorrow (Sat) morning out of Newark NJ. It's a surprise trip for my niece who's 9, and the limo is coming at 4:30 am to pick us up & go surprise her ! We would all be heartbroken if the flight gets cancelled... & ruins the trip....not to mention the loss of all my DVC points I used to splurge on a villa.... So we have everything crossed !! We are at the mercy of Irene at this point. The only good news on our flight is that the plane is coming from California.. So it should make it here in the morning with no weather issues...we hope !! Hopefully we are up & away and can leave Irene in our dust..!!