Hurrican Wilma - Should I Cancel?

[msuspartan]

Okay, we're supposed to leave Friday morning and arrive in WDW around 1pm. I'm totally freaked out by Hurricane Wilma (I hate all storms!). Even if the storm passes through south Florida as currently projected, will Orlando see a lot of rain and hurricane-force winds? Should we consider cancelling? I'm just worried (I know, I'm a worrier) that this will have a big impact on the rest of the week. We won't have our own transportation down there and I have visions of being stranded at the hotel with no power. Anyone who actually lives down there...can you talk me off the ledge?!?

 

[goofy4tink]

Don't worry about it. I was there for H. Charley...WDW is probably the best place you can be if there is a hurricane. There was very little damage to most of the areas. FW was evacuated but that's because there were so many people camping and it is very low land area, so gets swampy quickly.
We never lost power..not once. So, you should be fine. You may get some rain no matter where Wilma makes landfall. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Look at it as an adventure. I can now say that I have been to WDW during a hurricane.

 

[crow11ad]

Here is a question. We are leaving Friday for WPB airport to visit my dad in Boynton Beach. Then supposed to leave early Monday morning (3 amish) to drive to Disney. Does anyone feel that we should cancel the trip to WPB and just go to Disney?

 

[ZoZo]

Am also leaving this weekend (Saturday). Don't get too worked up yet; there is no way to know this early exactly what's going to happen this far ahead. I lived in Ft. Lauderdale during Hurricane Andrew in 1992 (in fact, moved there three days before it hit!). That was a category 5 hurricane! According to the Weather Channel this afternoon, here's a good chance that it will change directions (move toward Mexico or somewhere else).

A friend was in WDW last year and got the "fringes" of a hurricane. She said there was some significant rain, but the parks cleared out a lot and they were able to walk onto many rides!!! Once it moves through, it should be fine. I think everyone has seen so much news footage about Katrina, they are very worried. It may not be too bad - just keep watching the Weather Channel to keep up to date!

 

[goofie4goofy]

The storm is heading to mexico (yucatan/cozumel) now..it will pass somewhere between the yucatan and cuba then head towards the gulf coast of fla...somewhere in the Naples area. The exact locations are never known.

You can go to www.weatherunderground.com and click on tropics/hurricanes. You will find the forcasted path and all the info you need there...great and accurate site for weather.

 

[StephSalyer]

Maybe this will put your mind at ease....... I live on the Gulf Coast of Florida about an hour north of Tampa. IF (and I mean IF) we are asked to evacuate,I plan to make a ressie at WDW to "hunker down". I just listened to the weather guy I trust the most and he said that it will probabaly make land-fall south of St. Pete sometime late Saturday early Sunday and cross the peninsula. Bottom line........Orlando could see some rain and windy conditions out of this. The good news is that it is picking up speed and should be caught up an a trough and taken out of here rather quickly. Orlando would be affected (if affected at all) on Sunday. If I were you, I would come on down and enjoy the vacation you have been looking so forward to. Trust me....Disney knows how to take care of it's guests and get things in order very quickly. (Remember they have the market on "Magic" and "Pixie Dust").

If some of you would like, I can update in this thread as the local weather reports come in.

(Just please remember, this storm is 4 days out and the track could change 100 times before the storm makes land-fall.)

 

[msuspartan]

Thanks Steph! You did help put my mind at ease. I would love if you could give us some local updates. There are so many reports out there, I just don't know who to believe!

 

[cdpa4d]

I think the key here is that you are leaving Friday morning. You should be able to get there without a problem. Your flight should not get cancelled or anything like that. The storm is projected to move through very quickly, so you shouldn't have much problem, maybe some rain and wind for a day.

I leave on Saturday morning, I am worried about my flight getting cancelled. If that happens I may not make it down to WDW until Monday. I hope everyone stays safe and the impact is minimal for all Floridians.

 

[2002Disneybride]

I am worried about getting back!
We leave on Thursday AM and we are set to return on Sun... I have a feeling, that this will not happen!!!!

AAH!
Wondering if it would be worth it to move flight up?

Any local updated reports would be greatly appreciated!

 

[lverga]

Just subscribing to thread. We leave for Disney this Sunday.

 

[lovethattink]

Ok, just watched the news and here's what they said. This storm is going to go through a channel. If it goes to the west of the channel, it will then threaten Central Fl (probably at Punta Gorda). If it stays to the east of the channel, then it will threaten Southern, Fl around Naples. It's basically a wait and see at this point. They are expecting Wilma to be a Cat 3 by morning. Then continue to strengthen to a cat 4 or 5. Then before it hits land it should be at Cat 2. Alot can happen in the next 24 hours. The weatherman said north of Tampa should not be a direct hit. He expects it to hit somewhere from Tampa on south.

here's a link to Olando tv station and Wilma's track

http://www.wftv.com/weather/5104287/detail.html

 

[jwfla422]

The bottom line is...there's really not going to be anyway to tell what it's going to do for another few days. The big system that will be playing a major part in steering the storm through FL is a big cold front that's expected to drop in through the Southeast sometime Friday into Saturday and this will play a major part as to where the storm will go.

These cold fronts can sometimes stall or can blast right through FL. Depending on when and how quickly it comes through where really depend where Wilma will go.

Unfortunately this won't be known until later in the week. By that time I bet they'll be putting up warnings and watches all around the state. We are also leaving on Thurs but originally planned to come back Sunday.

I was able to move our stay up another day into Monday just in case. Looks like impact will be somewhere between Saturday into Sunday, but no telling exactly when or where.

 

[hellow]

We are taking a redeye from the west coast and should be landing at 11 AM at MCO on Saturday. Does anyone know what it takes to close the airport? (How soon before landfall) Is it common to close the airport even though it makes landfall further south as projected?

TIA

 

[WDWguru]

Our flight gets in around 11 PM on Saturday night, so we're obviously paying attention. Just watch your airline's web site. If they think there is a chance of them closing the Orlando airport, they'll put something up as soon as they know. They will typically offer to let you change your flight to an earlier or later one for free. We're going to try and get in earlier if push comes to shove with our situation. We have a hotel by the airport Saturday night and we check into BWV on Sunday. I suppose if all else fails, we'll get out there Sunday.

We usually go direct, but connect via Atlanta this time. I guess we could end up stuck in Atlanta Saturday night and go out to Orlando early Sunday, which wouldn't be too awful. We'd at least get to Orlando earlier than we could starting our trip from clear out here in the west. Between flight length and time changes, it takes all day to get there.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Should you cancel? No. At least I certainly wouldn't.
As to the where and when of Wilma?? Wish they really knew!! Best you can do is check things daily, then wait and see.

 

[eeyoreiscool]

I wouldn't cancel. Currently it has it going far enough south. I would just expect some rain and wind but nothing else. It is supposed to hit at night so everything would be closed and the guests probably won't be too inconvienced.

 

[lovethattink]

Listening to our weather stations, it's still too early to tell what Wilma is going to do. The Tampa news stations seem to be in panic mode. They are telling us to get our hurricane kits in order. They are talking about how people should contact the city to be put on a list to be bussed out of Tampa if an evacuatin order comes. I was listening to an Orlando radio station while driving ds to school. They were interviewing a meteorologist about Wilma. The DJ was asking how Orlando will be affected. He said it's still too early to tell. They'll know more in the next 24 hours.

 

[fterie4u]

I just wanted to say that is is very nice and somewhat comforting having this board and these threads to keep us updated on things. It also makes you realize that you are not the only ones watching and worrying. Thank you to everyone, especially those in Florida who are keeping us posted on the local weather stations! We are leaving Friday night so I think the flight should be fine, but our Sunday will be up ion the air. Hey, at least we will be at Disney!!!

 

[SamanthaL]

I will keep my fingers crossed that my flight gets in on Sunday BUTTT my prayers are being saved for the residents and business owners. Praying they stay safe and this storm doesn't even touch them with a sprinkle.

 

[Moosysmom]

Apparently there are 2 low pressure systems, that need to join up to send the storm south. It also depends where it goes thru the Yucatan straights. If you are flying in early Sat you should be fine and if the storm goes straight no problem. Watch the airlines and I would fly in. Another good website is www.nhc.noaa.gov.
Lynn