We arrived about 6 hrs before Hurricane Charley made it to Orlando! I think we were among the last flights allowed to land that day! We got to the CR, to find that the parks had closed down for the rest of the day...around 3ish. We had reservations at Chef Mickey's that night, but they closed for the day due to all the glass in the area...too dangerous to remain open and risk winds breaking the windows around the guests! We watched as the monorail cars were brought into the CR, to be stored..that was really strange.
That night, we were told that we could go to a ballroom and get fed. By the time that happened, around 6:30ish, we were told to grab a box, fill it up and return, immediately, to our rooms. It was hysterical watching adults grabbing desserts out of the hands of little kids....heaven forbid they not get that 3rd cupcake. Anyway....when we returned to our rooms, we were told to stay in the room, away from the windows. To close the drapes. We were on the ground floor of the north wing, facing out toward the lake. Disney had about 5 channels of movies, cartoons, etc. on the tv.
When we woke in the morning, MK was open. DHS was opening later. AK remained closed (if I remember correctly) for that day. FtW had been evacuated due to the low lying ground. The resorts were chock a block full...seems a lot of people along the gulf coast had though the storm was hitting them, so they rushed to WDW to get rooms away from the storm. Joke was on them.....Orlando got it much worse.
There were some trees down, but they had been cleaned up. Now the thing that I found interesting was the prep work. Others I know told me that it was incredible watching the CMs go about the business of getting the parks ready for the coming storm. Very calmly removed awnings, put away outdoor furniture, making it all safe. They said it was very impressive.
When we went to get breakfast, at the CR, the CMs at the restaurant (the old steak house one that is gone now beside CM's) apologized to us, saying that they didn't have a full menu. Seriously? You guys just spent the night tying down the resort, then slept on pool chaises in a ballroom, and you're apologizing for not having a full menu? Most of the CR CMs stayed there for 36+ hrs!! We were able to get a fine breakfast.
The odd thing? We kept watching tv and heard the horror stories of the destruction in the area. Just kind of shrugged and figured it was the usual media overstating the 'facts'. We saw very little destruction in the parks or at the resorts. We never lost power, everything was taken care of quietly and efficiently. The parks got more and more crowded as the week went on...the schools were shut down and as the streets got reopened, more and more people just headed to WDW! But, as we made the trip back to MCO a week later? Hugely surprised to see how bad things looked once we were off WDW property!!! The airport was a mess, the highways were a mess. You could see houses with trees on top of them, highway signs hanging down, etc.
It would seem that if there is a hurricane, the best place to be is at WDW!!!! I have never felt safer!! They know exactly what to do. They get everything open and running very quickly! It was pretty amazing to see.
