Hurricane - anyone experienced one while at Disney?

[kwdw]

Okay - so I am headed to Disney Sept 17th and someone at work stressed me out about it being the peak of hurricane season today. Anyone been at Disney when a hurricane came through?

Orlando is inland - so I really can't imagine that any hurricane would do much more than keep us stuck in our resort room for a day (staying at AKV). Is that accurate? Do they ever close the parks for any more than day?

Honestly, I was more worried about the lovebugs damaging my car or impending my enjoyment of my balcony...... until someone else thought it was an awful time to go......due to hurricanes

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

Here have only been 2 hurricanes in the last few decades to "hit" orlando.

One in 1960 and one in 2004.

I seriously really would not stress about it.

Yes, it will still be hurricane season, but it's not like a tornado. You know when a hurricane is coming, you have some time to prepare, make arrangements, etc.

PS. I'll be there 2 weeks after you and I'm still going

 

[AKL_Megs]

We were there during Hurricaine Bertha, and one that was more recent (the name escapes me.)

We got a letter in our resort room telling us about the impending storm, and that we would receive another if need be with further instructions.

Nothing came of it.

I DO know that there was ONE storm, Ike maybe, where everything shut down. There were threads about the PB&J sandwiches provided by the resorts.

 

[skoba-nelson]

We still drove in while Frances was churning just offshore. It was a very creepy feeling. 95 N was bumper to bumper, while the only vehicles we encountered SB were electric company trucks and flatbeds carrying generators. We checked in to a shocked CM. He asked how we got there. I guess the airport was already shut down. We still ate at our traditional arrival day meal at Ohana that evening. It was us and about 6 other tables only. The parks had closed early around 4 PM so therefore the busses were not running. Since we had our car we weren't stuck at the resort. The next morning all parks were closed but Frances was still churning offshore. The weather was sunny, but windy. The staff at PC had put away all pool chairs, etc. With the parks closed and the sun out guests started dragging their room furniture out to the pool areas. CM's finally got pool furniture back out. Rains came about 4 PM that day. We had character meet and greets in the lobby, animal towel folding lessons, games and crafts. At some point that evening was informed when the food court and lobby would be closed. I believe it was scheduled to be closed at normal time that night until perhaps dinner time the next day. Luckily we had packed camping-style
provisions from home. We noticed people buying any kind of food, hot or cold, and loading up their room. Hilarious. Woke up the next day to Frances. Not as
bad as I thought it would be. Kind of like a severe Midwest thunderstorm that
lasted 8-10 hours instead of 15 minutes. Still able to walk outside for
example. But those same Midwest thunderstorms easily topple trees and blow
over an occasional dumpster. So imagine the damage over the course of a
whole day. The WDW channels played movies all day instead of the "resort
top 10" and the like. Around 3 PM started seeing signs of life outside and the
rumor was spreading that the food court would be open soon. It did around
4:30. You would think people hadn't eaten for a week, again-hilarious. We had more character meet and greets, crafts and etc in the lobby again that evening. We were always well informed by Disney with multiple letters under our door. They did a nice job except for the premature packing away of the pool furniture. The following morning only 2 of the 4 majors were open. Epcot and I forget (we went to Epcot). Funny story, while in the Land building close to lunchtime the CM at the hostess station was begging for customers. We said what the heck and tried it. Good meal and the characters probably visited 10 times and even sat down with us. So if you add it up the parks were closed early one day, completely closed 2 days, and only half re-opened post storm. If you were at AK or other deluxe I wouldn't think you would have to stay confined to your room during a storm like Frances. I would hope you would be allowed in the interior corridors.

 

[CandyHead09]

Okay - so I am headed to Disney Sept 17th and someone at work stressed me out about it being the peak of hurricane season today. Anyone been at Disney when a hurricane came through?

Orlando is inland - so I really can't imagine that any hurricane would do much more than keep us stuck in our resort room for a day (staying at AKV). Is that accurate? Do they ever close the parks for any more than day?

Honestly, I was more worried about the lovebugs damaging my car or impending my enjoyment of my balcony...... until someone else thought it was an awful time to go......due to hurricanes

Funny story: My mom a few years ago when we started going to Disney again was making reservation when she asked the woman on the phone what happens if there is a hurricane. The woman got really quiet for a minute and said "Well Disney is sort of in a magical bubble. I don't know how but it's never been affected by weather. Storms just seem to go around it." So now we always joke that it was this invisible forcefield made by the government lol

We always go sept/oct/nov and never had any problem. I think the only bad weather you'll experience is some rain, which isn't really a problem just get some ponchos or umbrellas. Rain clears up pretty quickly in FL.

 

[Snappy in OK]

We were at WDW in mid-September 2009, similar to your dates for this year. I know the weather can always be different from year to year, but we had fabulous weather the week of our trip. We had brought ponchos with us, but never needed to pull them out. It was hot & humid, but that is FL.

I think the chances of a hurricane making a major impact on WDW is fairly slim. Obviously they do take precautions, which helps to keep us safe. Go & enjoy your trip and try not to worry about a hurricane. If you see something brewing in the area as your trip gets closer, maybe pack some extra snacks/food in case you are stuck at the resort for a day with limited dining options.

As far as love bugs - we never saw any during our trip! Good luck & have fun!

 

[thepwa]

Do NOT stress about it! The chances are extremely slim that a hurricane will hit during your trip!

With that said, I was lucky enough to be there for Charlie in 04, and he was a bad one. Parks shut down early in the afternoon in anticipation of the storm. He blew threw in the evening, and everything was open and ready to go the next morning.

No big deal for the tourists, but for the locals it was terrible. They are the ones that are much worse off for any hurricane that might come through the area. For the visitors like me, it was just a minor inconvenience.

 

[CanadianPaco]

Do NOT stress about it! The chances are extremely slim that a hurricane will hit during your trip!

With that said, I was lucky enough to be there for Charlie in 04, and he was a bad one. Parks shut down early in the afternoon in anticipation of the storm. He blew threw in the evening, and everything was open and ready to go the next morning.

No big deal for the tourists, but for the locals it was terrible. They are the ones that are much worse off for any hurricane that might come through the area. For the visitors like me, it was just a minor inconvenience.

We were there the week between Charlie and Frances. So we saw none of the storms - we have done 3 August trips and would book again in a heart beat! So no worries!

 

[KCoyle918]

We were there in I think Aug 2008 when Tropical Storm Fey (originally Hurricane Fey) came through. At first, we were fustrated. No pool time, 5 days of anticipated rain. The first day was heavy rain and winds. We bought poncho's and suited up the kids for "an adventure". The morning was ok, but once the rain started most people left the parks. We stuck it out, kept our hoods up and had a blast. We went to our ADR's and have a wonderful dinner no issues.

The second day, the boys refused the ponchos and it was still raining. We had our car so I ran to the outlets and grabbed some rain coats with hoods, a size too big so they came down to their knees. (they were 3 and 6 at the time). After that - game on! Parks were empty, the lake in Epcot had two foot caps on the waves (never saw them that big) and we had the place to ourselves. We carried swim towels with us, dried up at the entrance of each attraction, enjoyed rides numerous times before moving to the next. We learned to puddle jump and enjoy what was to come. It was heavy rains 5 of the 7 days we were there and we left feeling we didn't miss a thing.

Since then, we continue to go in "Hurricane season" and don't look back. If it were to happen, it isn't ideal, but it is definitely "do-able". Just embrace it

 

[GrumpyMom25]

We were there in August 2008 during Tropical Storm Fay as well. My niece had a Disney Wedding on Monday morning outside at The Beach Club. Beautiful morning but by the time the reception ended it had started to rain and it never left up the entire time we were there. The storm basically stalled right over central FL.
As others have said ... basically you make the most of it. Not much you can do about the weather. I've been to Disney 15+ times (always during the summer months) and that was the first time I had ever experienced the possibility of the parks being shut down. We were informed that we would be notified if that should in fact happen. I can tell you tho that my youngest son who was 5 years old at the time became petrified of storms. The wind was so bad during the storm and add the heavy rain to it ... not fun but what the heck ... you're at Disney!

 

[Ahrizel]

Hurricane Wilma in 2005 I believe. Went to MNSSHP during it, heavy rain, thunder and wild lightning. Party went, we soaked but had a wonderful time. Next day was beautiful, the parks opened a little late, and only Epcot and Magic Kingdom but they both had longer hours. They were uncrowded, I think a lot of folks were still recuperating from the storm. If I had to pick a place to be in a hurricane, it would be WDW. And don't forget, Orlando is inland. I suspect it would take a truely nasty cat 4 or 5 going right over to do any real damage. Hopefully that never happens, but I wouldn't be worrying about it for my stay at WDW.

 

[Wadecool]

Hurricane Wilma in 2005 I believe. Went to MNSSHP during it, heavy rain, thunder and wild lightning. Party went, we soaked but had a wonderful time. Next day was beautiful, the parks opened a little late, and only Epcot and Magic Kingdom but they both had longer hours. They were uncrowded, I think a lot of folks were still recuperating from the storm. If I had to pick a place to be in a hurricane, it would be WDW. And don't forget, Orlando is inland. I suspect it would take a truely nasty cat 4 or 5 going right over to do any real damage. Hopefully that never happens, but I wouldn't be worrying about it for my stay at WDW.

That is very true. Orlando is far enough inland that it would need to be a Cat 4 or 5 coming straight across the state to do major damage. But a Cat 3 can certainly ruffle some feathers, think Katrina.

 

[PoohMom68]

We were in Disney staying at the wilderness Lodge when hurricaine Charley hit Orlando.
It was an adventure to say the least. Disney closed the parks at 1 pm that day and everyone was directed to go back to their hotels.

I was there with my family of 4 along with my mom. My brothers family and my sisters family were there as well.
My sister and I had ajoining rooms so we all hung out in there for the night.

Disney sent characters to the hotel lobbys to entertain the kids before the storm hit.
They also sent around an instruction sheet containing procedures.
( ex: We had to remove all furniture form the balconys in our rooms and keeo the curtiand drawn.)

The storm hit around 7-8 pm It was wild to watch Guests were instructed to stay inside there hotel rooms and not walk around the hotel.

My husband and brother video taped the storm from the balcony ( a big no- no according to disney)

The only complaint i have was that disney closed the restaurants in the hotel with out telling anyone and people didn't eat dinner. Well i guess enough of the guests complained so the wilderness opened up the gift shop and the market.
My family purchased cold cuts and made sandwiches.

Like I said in the beginning it was an adventure. We actually had fun.

The wilderness lobby did leak a bit but disney was on the job as usual
Disney also added an extra day to everyones park hopper pass.

 

[PoohMom68]

We were in Disney staying at the wilderness Lodge when hurricaine Charley hit Orlando.
It was an adventure to say the least. Disney closed the parks at 1 pm that day and everyone was directed to go back to their hotels.

I was there with my family of 4 along with my mom. My brothers family and my sisters family were there as well.
My sister and I had ajoining rooms so we all hung out in there for the night.

Disney sent characters to the hotel lobbys to entertain the kids before the storm hit.
They also sent around an instruction sheet containing procedures.
( ex: We had to remove all furniture form the balconys in our rooms and keeo the curtiand drawn.)

The storm hit around 7-8 pm It was wild to watch Guests were instructed to stay inside there hotel rooms and not walk around the hotel.

My husband and brother video taped the storm from the balcony ( a big no- no according to disney)

The only complaint i have was that disney closed the restaurants in the hotel with out telling anyone and people didn't eat dinner. Well i guess enough of the guests complained so the wilderness opened up the gift shop and the market.
My family purchased cold cuts and made sandwiches.

Like I said in the beginning it was an adventure. We actually had fun.

The wilderness lobby did leak a bit but disney was on the job as usual
Disney also added an extra day to everyones park hopper pass.

 

[nicki.momof3]

We were there in I think Aug 2008 when Tropical Storm Fey (originally Hurricane Fey) came through. At first, we were fustrated. No pool time, 5 days of anticipated rain. The first day was heavy rain and winds. We bought poncho's and suited up the kids for "an adventure". The morning was ok, but once the rain started most people left the parks. We stuck it out, kept our hoods up and had a blast. We went to our ADR's and have a wonderful dinner no issues.

The second day, the boys refused the ponchos and it was still raining. We had our car so I ran to the outlets and grabbed some rain coats with hoods, a size too big so they came down to their knees. (they were 3 and 6 at the time). After that - game on! Parks were empty, the lake in Epcot had two foot caps on the waves (never saw them that big) and we had the place to ourselves. We carried swim towels with us, dried up at the entrance of each attraction, enjoyed rides numerous times before moving to the next. We learned to puddle jump and enjoy what was to come. It was heavy rains 5 of the 7 days we were there and we left feeling we didn't miss a thing.

Since then, we continue to go in "Hurricane season" and don't look back. If it were to happen, it isn't ideal, but it is definitely "do-able". Just embrace it

We were in Orlando the same week Fay hit in 2008. We were staying at the Royal Pacific at Universal for 7 nights. It was nothing but rain. The challenge we faced was we had our 3 children with us (ages 3,4,5), 2 grandparents, and my SIL with her 1 year old. It rained every day. It was miserable with 4 kids so young (stroller) and older people.

That was the last time we went to FL in the summer. We only go at Easter and Christmas now (teacher so holidays are the only option).

When it did stop raining it was so humid you could hardly function. The heat of a FL summer with all the moisture of a ton of rain made it tough.

Going during hurrican season is a waste.

In 2009 we did try a Disney cruise for 7 nights. Once again a hurrican adjusted our plans. We were scheduled for a western cruise and when we arrived at the port we were told were taking a Eastern cruise. The change was fine with us and well worth the adjustment. We did not see a drop of rain all week. Disney cruises are great about planning for bad weather and moving around it.

 

[Crzy4mk2]

As someone said earlier, there is usually a couple of days warning before a Hurricane hits so you will have plenty of warning time.

 

[Redarrow5150]

Yes first trip ever was with Hurricane Agnes. I don't remember too much of it but having to leave WDW early because of Agnes really ticked me off. I didn't understand why rain and the blowing wind had us leaving. My father said it rained so hard that when he opened the trunk it was full of water.

 

[bpesch]

Having lived through Katrina on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, a hurricane in Disney World would be my idea of a better place to be!

 

[seashoreCM]

she asked the woman on the phone what happens if there is a hurricane. The woman got really quiet for a minute and said "Well Disney is sort of in a magical bubble. ..."

Because Disney is built to be and is an official storm shelter area. You don't have to leave WDW early, join a herd hurrying to the airport and then get out of town by sundown when a hurricane threatens. After the storm the parks are right there for the folks who stayed to enjoy.

(Off site resorts may evict their guests who are then on their own. I was there after one hurricane, I forget which, and I saw various buildings including hotels torn right open.)

 

[MommaPeel]

I was at Disney for Hurricane Floyd in Sept 1999, I was staying on property. Disney prepared for it, hotels had water stocked in hallways. It did go over central Florida and Disney closed all parks down for the day. (My anniversary that I was celebrating at the time) they ended up opening the Animal Kingdom park for on site guests only.

Disney takes care of their guests when a hurricane comes in. More than I can say for most locations.