Florida, Disney and Hurricanes

[RobDoc]

We were at OKW when Flloyd was supposed to go thru WDW (it didn't, although the parks were closed in preparation for the hurricane that wasn't). We were also there (at the GF) when Charley went thru and again, at OKW, when Frances went thru.

All were non-events regarding WDW- the resorts were great about providing a safe place to ride out the storms and the parks opened within hours of the storm passing. The preparation made by the CMs was very impressive and guests were certainly made to feel very safe.

We plan to go each year during the Sept/Oct period and have no concerns about our safety at WDW. As long as you can get there, you should be fine!

Enjoy!

 

[JimMIA]

One thing WDW guests should NOT be concerned about is your personal safety.

WDW is more than 50 miles inland, and it's also located on relatively high ground (for Florida). Even if you got a direct hit from a major storm, like Doc got with Charlie, you'd have little more than wind and rain. You would not have any storm surge that far inland. You'd have no risk at all as long as you use common sense and stay inside. If you choose to go outside during a storm, that's a "natural selection" issue, not a storm issue.

The real risk is disruption of your travel plans.

 

[bub]

We, too, rode out Hurricane Charley at WDW, in OKW. We thought Disney handled everything well, even getting us into a room that morning at 10 a.m. because we made a switch from BWV. Since the original forecast track of the storm was closer to Tampa, I must say it was not a good feeling to be watching the Weather Channel in the community room that day around noon, only to learn that the storm had changed course. At that point we figured it was too late to leave, so we purchased some basic food supplies and settled in our room.

Probably the biggeest problem we found was two days later when we went to leave, and there was no almost no gas to be found. We had to drive for awhile up I-4, and finally found some after waiting in line for about 45 minutes. We didn't anticipate that problem.

We will return to Florida this year in August, but will pay more attention to weather forecasts during our visit.

 

[iluveeyore]

We were booked to arrive last year the day Wilma was supposed to hit, so we changed our flight (no charge) to arrive the day before (nothing could stop our Disney vacation). We thought arriving before would be better than being stuck in an airport with 8 of us waiting for it to be over. Disney was great - we were at OKW and hunkered down in our 2 bedroom with all of our groceries we had picked up the day we arrived. Wilma came as promised our second day there. We didn't lose power, and OKW kept us updated with phone messages about staying in, park closings and buses cancelled and such - they even played movies all day on the resort channel to keep the kids entertained. By noon Wilma had passed by Disney, the sun came out and the resort let us know that Magic Kingdom would be open for resort guests only, which was wonderful - not busy at all and the kids had fun at the park into the night. They already had clean up crews out working hard as soon as the storm passed. We arrived the year before in August the day after Charley and left two days before Frances and had no problems - hydro was out everywhere else, but not at Disney when we arrived.
We are going this year in August and aren't worried at all, as long as we get there before a hurricane so we don't get delayed on our flight.
Tracey

 

[DVC Sadie]

I have a totally different perspective on visiting WDW when a hurricane is forecasted to hit Florida. The last few years we have rescheduled our trips to WDW so we would not be using rooms or other services when so many Floridians use WDW as a place to go for a place to evacuate.

Having grown up in New Orleans and now live in a small town that was decimated by Katrina. Believe me when I say the the services are needed for locals so much more than people who choose to vacation where a state is getting a direct hit.