Free dining with Hurricane season...who else is worried

[CamColt]

The last week in August is my favorite week (that we can go) to go, so we were planning on being there that week anyway. But we cancelled our room only reservation to book a package for free dining.

We were in WDW during Hurrican Erin in 1995 (Aug 1) and we managed. I'm not too worried.

 

[BeckWhy]

I did a little research and it appeared the that big hurricanes didn't approach FL until more like Oct. I'm not saying things could change, they can. But I looked at the past 3 years and that seemed to be the trend. Wilma was the only hurricane that cut across FL. I think the worse you have to worry about is rain and the average rainfall in Sept is only like 5" or so. It's about 8" in June and July.

Now I can be wrong, I'm not a meterologist and I only did a little research but it satisfied me.

 

[chesneychic2004]

We are going in November but when the free dining came out I considered changing my trip but decided that I didn't want to chance it with a Hurricane. Its our first trip to disney and the thought of one just scares the crap out of me so I figured I would rather pay the money for the dining and not have that worry on me or in the back of my head.

 

[New England Eeyore]

I had originally planned a F&W trip for November of this year just to get closer to the end of Hurricane season. Then free dining came out....

At first I said, no, it's not worth the savings. We went in Sept of 2004 and Jeanne postponed our trip by 2 days (we couldn't get there) but we could extend it by one day on the other end so we only lost a day. We went in October 2005 and left for home the day before Wilma hit Florida. But then I thought about it and here's what I came up with: I booked my trip for Saturday through Thursday so I have some time to play with. If we can't get there, we try to extend the days we lost on the other end. If it comes while we're there, I'm not worried - I've read enough trip reports of people who were there during hurricanes to know it's not the end of the world. If we lost park days I'd see if we could extend our stay by a couple days but if not, I'd just chalk it up and know that we'll be back eventually. If we can't get home because of a storm, I still have a couple days to play with before I have to go back to work.

So as long as my work lets me switch my vacation to that week, we'll be chancing it!

 

[HunnyPots]

I am still on the fence about it. I'm not so much worried about losing park time at WDW or even that WDW will be hit by a hurricane; what concerns me more is traveling along the gulf coast and those states being hit by another storm of last season's magnitude. Before Katrina, I never would have given it a thought but now I cannot dismiss it so easily.

I think its got to be a real concern for many people. Otherwise disney would not be so inclined to offer such an incentive to get us there.

Still, I must admit, $900 in free food is awfully tempting...

 

[MommyPoppins]

I did a little research and it appeared the that big hurricanes didn't approach FL until more like Oct. I'm not saying things could change, they can. But I looked at the past 3 years and that seemed to be the trend. Wilma was the only hurricane that cut across FL. I think the worse you have to worry about is rain and the average rainfall in Sept is only like 5" or so. It's about 8" in June and July.

Now I can be wrong, I'm not a meterologist and I only did a little research but it satisfied me.

Actually... In 2004 Charlie hit the west coast of FL and crossed the state going right through Orlando, that was August 13. Then there were I think 3 more in Sept. One over Labor Day week, that also crossed over the state. Then another and Ivan went up the west coast hitting Alabama. All those were before Oct. The first time we ever had a big scare like last year in Oct. was with Wilma. Wilma was followed(within a few hours) by a cold front. So it was COLD and we had a hurricane at the same time.

 

[Carrie Ellis]

I think we will have activity this year. The water is warmer. My sister lives in Corpus and was telling me last September what the temperature of the water was whenever I would talk to her and it was amazingly warm! Was not long after that when Rita was swirling in the gulf! I have recently seen something on TV showing how they drop a meter in the ocean every so many minutes everyday all year and record the temp. They have been doing this for decades and this is the first time they are seeing a rise in temp for a long long time. But, I would still go in August or Sept because you never know about anything in life! We went in Sept 2 years ago and October last year and I have never watched the weather channel so much as I did the week before we left each time. It was stressful! We skirted around hurricanes each time and actually had Jeanne hit toward the end of our Sept trip. We lost 1 day in the parks but we really needed a break anyway. The worst that could happen, as one poster said, is destruction of roads and homes, etc....as bad as the last few that have hit. Then it would be difficult to get to Disney or back.

 

[Cookie Princess]

We were on the fence, as we usually go in November. It is getting harder and harder to take DS out of school and away from his travel sport teams. The free dining was the deciding factor for us... SEE YOU AT THE END OF AUGUST...hurricane or not.

 

[bicker]

For as often as the fun is curtailed due to hurricane at WDW, it is worth the risk. Worst case, you miss a day or so of your vacation, but I feel that risk is well worth it for the cost savings and the high probability that you won't miss anything.

 

[Ishy]

Hurricane Charley was a direct hit to Orlando. The parks were closed only a half day. The area was devistated... I was in orlando, but not in Disney.. we had completed the Disney portion of our trip and was thrown out of our beach condo in St Pete. The only hotel we could find was in Orlando, so we joined the exodus evacuation, and Charley turned and came right after us

I read the trip reports when we got back and most had fun, and power (something we didnt have) and was back in the parks... even complaining how there were still leaves all over.

My daughter worked for disney last year. She volenteered for Hurricane duty. She said it was like 'camp' - special activities and such.

make the best of the worst. I guess if you have to be stuck in a hurricane, you may as well do it mickey style.