Has WDW ever been hit by a hurricane?

[Talock]

I don't wanna jinx anything, but it is Hurricane Season so I was wondering:

• Has WDW ever been hit by a hurricane?
• Are the resorts built to withstand them ?
• What happens is a warning is issue while you're there? Do they kick you out of your resort?

 

[Robo]

I don't wanna jinx anything, but it is Hurricane Season so I was wondering:

1-Has WDW ever been hit by a hurricane?
2-Are the resorts built to withstand them ?
3-What happens is a warning is issue while you're there?
4-Do they kick you out of your resort?

1- Yes.
2- Yes.
3- They do close the parks.
4- They try to make the resorts as comfortable for guests as possible.

 

[inkkognito]

Yes. (Remember the Charley/Frances/Jean year?)
Yes.
No.

You're plenty safe at the resorts because they are build to strict hurricane standards...FL's are now very strict but I think WDW was building to higher standards even before the state's were tightened.

 

[bradk]

each resort is designed to withstand any possible winds and is self sustaining for weeks, including food.

WDW is also a stormready site (they just upped the certification in fact): http://www.stormready.noaa.gov

 

[joan4mickey]

Wilma-not a direct hit, but did close the park

 

[bentleygirl22]

Has WDW ever been hit by a hurricane?
Yes!! all the time

1)Are the resorts built to withstand them ?
Yes They are ....

2)What happens is a warning is issue while you're there?
What happens is the parks will stay open till a few hours before it hits land fall then they will close the parks and tell their resort guest to go back to the resorts...

3)Do they kick you out of your resort?
No way.. infact if your staying at a disney resort while a hurricane is coming they have fun things for the kids to do in the main lobby..
Then after the Hurricane is over they start cleaning up, & then the next day the park will reopen like normal. & the park is Always dead for the next 5 days .. Its Great..

 

[JasonDVC]

... & the park is Always dead for the next 5 days .. Its Great..[/QUOTE]

LOL. Only Dinsey fans can see the bright side of a Hurrican hit.

 

[erinmommyof2]

We were there when Erin hit back in the early 90's. It was a mild hurricane and they did not close the parks (that I recall). They did evacuate everyone from the campground over to a convention area (I forget where). I remember thinking at the time that they were very organized and efficient about everything. Pool furniture was thrown in the pool, the outdoor lights at Wilderness lodge were strapped down. We felt safe.

 

[tlenzendorf]

We are staying in the cabins at FW in August, I am nervous about that

 

[jmclester]

Ditto on all of the above. Book your trip....it's worth the risk.

 

[grimley1968]

I was there during Hurricane Frances in 2004. It closed the parks for 2 days. We "had" to stay in the Beach Club during that time. We weren't technically forbidden to leave, but it was strongly discouraged. In return we were given 2 days worth of park tix for a future trip (we've yet to use these tix).

 

[POOHDRMR]

We were at POFQ for one in 2004(I think)It was fine-we lost a day and a half at the parks but other than that it was safe.We never lost power and we stayed in the room playing games we got at the gift shop.The food court was crazy the night before it really hit-everyone getting soda and snacks.The worst part was the wind kept banging the door all night so it was hard to sleep.

 

[Talock]

All in all reassuring answers. Thank you everybody!

I'm a veteran of 3 direct hurricane hits myself: David 1979, Andrew 1992, and Georges 1998.

So I guess that if there's a good place to weather a hurricane that'd be Disney.

 

[goofy4tink]

I was there for Charley, back in '04. WDW is incredibly safe during a hurricane. You will find that if there is a hurricane coming anywhere in that area, the residents flock to WDW and try to book rooms until the storm passes. I know that's what they did when we were there. A ton of people came over from Tampa...that's where Charley was 'supposed' to make landfall. But, it came ashore a bit south, so ran right overhead in Orlando.
The resorts and parks are built in excess of what is mandated for hurricane safety.

The parks may close early to allow CMs to make the parks storm ready though. But, they didn't stay closed long! We arrived around 1pm, they closed the parks at 3pm, Charley came along after 8pm. The parks were open the next day. AK took a bit longer to open merely because of the amount of tree damage to be cleaned up.

I have no problem going to WDW in hurricane season. That trip, with Charley, was our first August trip. We are looking at our third one this coming August!!!

 

[chartle]

We are staying in the cabins at FW in August, I am nervous about that

Don't worry, they move you to a resort.

 

[dancin Disney style]

The WDW area is so far in-land that the hurricanes are not that much of an issue. They tend to get more of the left over activity like dark skys and rain. We arrived into the remnants of a hurricane in July 2005 at 2pm when our flight landed you would have thought it was late at night the sky was black and the rain was coming down so hard I couldn't believe we were able to land. It stayed overcast for the next 2 days but that was it. Actually, after the clouds cleared out it got so much hotter that we were wishing for the clouds again.

 

[penguintux]

Living in the midwest and having never experienced a hurricane, I think I would feel safest in WDW if I ever found myself in a hurricane's path. From what I hear, they're incredibly prepared and safe, and the parks are basically deserted! I personally wouldn't worry about not booking in hurricane season. After all, it's like half the year.

 

[DOOM1001]

The strongest winds of a hurricane are surrounding the hurricanes eye which is about a 10-40 mile radius depending on the storm,so you can be hit by a hurricane but unless you get the middle of the storm you'll just experience bad weather with strong gusts that might knock down some trees,take some shingles off roofs,knock down some fences but won't do significant damage to structures.Also WDW is a good 40-50 miles inland and once the hurricanes eye hits land it begins to lose strength so once it gets to WDW it might be a bit weaker than when a storm comes onshore in the coast.So there are differences in what might hit you for example I live in Miami and got hit by 150 mph winds and 200 mph gusts,basically the worst of Andrew in 1992 and of all the hurricanes that have come close to us in Miami since nothing has been worse than knocking down trees,fences etc..Andrew was totally different, 2 story houses became one story,200 foot electricity concrete poles fell in the middle of the streets and major things like that.I would rather be in Disney during a storm than in my house,inland is way better.

 

[Dznefreek]

Has WDW ever been hit by a hurricane?
Yes!! all the time

I think not . . . . . .

 

[maccalovah]

If it helps ease your mind at all, they are predicting a fairly 'light' hurricane season this year...of course you can never predict what will happen, but I would not get TOO TOO worried about it ruining your August trip....

Sarah