Hurricane - anyone experienced one while at Disney?

[coolbeans]

hurricane Fay here too. the only thing that irritated me was that i didn't get to take as many pictures as i would have liked to, and it seemed like the photopass photographers were in hiding from the rain too. other than that, we put on our ponchos, crocs or flip flops and enjoyed the puddles.

 

[Lumiere Lover]

We went down September 17th last year. One day we had about 5 minutes of light rain, and that was it. The weather was BEAUTIFUL the entire week. Highs in the low 90's.

Please don't worry about hurricanes, they get a lot of hype with the media. I believe they are very serious, but don't scare yourself over something that will probably not happen.

Enjoy your vacation, it is a beautiful time of the year.

 

[Josh Hendy]

After Hurricane Charley, as other people have pointed out, the MK was open the next morning at 9am, which I think was right on schedule. The only things different from a normal August day in the park were that the crowd was somewhat smaller, Fastpass wasn't working, and in the wooded area near Cinderalla's castle we saw a single tree stump where "elves" (or somebody) had cut off a fallen tree flush to the ground sometime between the worst of the storm at 9pm and park opening at 9am. There were no wood chips lying around the MK, no broken tree limbs, nothing at all out of the ordinary. Phenomenal!

Typhoon Lagoon was still closed on the second day after the storm, but Blizzard Beach was open. I assume that the water parks took more work to clean up because of the thousands of trees in them. At BB we did notice a fair number of tree limbs which had been cut off flush with the trunk, and a few tree trunks cut at the ground.

Outside of the theme parks, the WDW property (and the whole Orlando area) had many, many downed trees. They had been cleared from the roads but were lying in the ditches and roadsides.

Off WDW property there were a lot of big billboards blown out, and quite a few large and small buildings that had large chunks of siding or roofing blown off. This must be why the hotel staff didn't want anyone going outside during the storm - if you were out filming the horizontal rain and a large sheet of broken glass or metal roofing came flying along in the breeze, that could ruin your day! During the height of the storm (we were staying near I-Drive) when the wind blew at about 100 mph for a few minutes, the air was filled with flashes like lightning or fireworks - this was the flashing of electrical sparks from billboard signs being blown out, and from overhead electrical wires touching and shorting out.

One thing I will never forget is that at the very height of the storm, with 100 mph wind, horizontal rain falling in massive buckets, trees falling over and glass and metal debris blowing around in the air like confetti, there were still people driving around in their cars, and running outside so they could take pictures of each other leaning into the wind. I guess it's true what they say, you can actually die of stupidity. The TV news people said they were stunned to see people speeding down I-4 in the middle of the hurricane and the next day they said that some of these people were killed when their car wiped out. I remember one reporter wondering out loud, where could these people being going?

To make a long story short, I would recommend not worrying about hurricanes too much because they don't affect Orlando very often. If you are unlucky and one hits, make sure you keep constantly updated so that you know when and if you should prepare to hunker down in your hotel with some bottled water, candles, snacks (just in case). And stay indoors and don't drive around in the middle of the hurricane fer cryin' out loud!

 

[WDWCPALUM03]

I was a cast member in 2004 at Blizzard Beach and was on a specialt team called the Hurricane Ride out crew. Ride Out crews stay in a safe loacation on property and then as soon as winds are down to 55 mph are sent out to various parks etc to start cleaning up so the guests still get in the park and dont see the cleaning going on. 4 hurricanes hit central Florida in 2004 Charlie, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne. With Charley, BB closed at 1 and was back open by 10 the next am. With one of the last 2 we started working at 4 am in the pouring rain and 55 mph winds on typhoon, we worked very hard but so much debri had gotten in the water they ended up having to be closed all day, we then went to work on BB and had it open by 11. WDW works very hard at keeping the magic for their guests, they realize these are peoples vacations and they try to preserve that fact. With that being said, please dont be rude with CM's as they are telling you the park is closing early or if something opens late. Mickey is very magical but all of the Pixie Dust in the World cant stop mother nature.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

We evacuated TO Disney for Frances in 2004. She was a "unique" hurricane in that she was big and slow as molasses.

We planned for 2 days as forecasters knew that it would take her many hours to clear FLorida. Our entire evacuation was 4 days. This was the day we arrived, 2 days of "hurricane" and the last day was hesitancy on departure and when we would actually be able to go home based on evacuation orders for my area of residence.

Disney was AWESOME! We weren't there for a vacation, so i could see how it could ruin some plans. But we weren't supposed to be there at all and it was much better than we expected. Park entertainment was fanned out to the resorts. (We were at Wilderness Lodge. Mickey and Minnie came--dd was able to have a private moment with them as they had come to the elevator just as we did.) We had the Couple that performs at the Africa exhibit at EPCOT and the lady that makes Candy in Japan. There was other stuff as well.

Restaurants were limited in their options--so your meals were a bit different than usual.

That being said--this was so extremely rare.

Florida is not this big bad hurricane magnet. Cancellation policies tend to be a bit more flexible as rooms get resold to evacuating residents. But I sincerely would not sweat it.

I believe parks were closed for 2 days--but by the end of the second day, our curfew was over.

 

[Gary Pinkos]

We down down almost every August. We have only once ever had a Hurricane. Our family of 5 was at Old Key West for hurricane Charley. We had driven down from PA, and we were in the last two days of our vacation. My wife had been sick all week.....when we came home we found out she had bronchitis. Charley was suppossed to hit Tampa and I remember so many cars drove over on I-4 and had come that area to avoid Charley (boy I would have been mad).

Disney kept up updated, the told us to stay on the inside area. We were given water and candles, they asked us to bring inside the table & chairs fron the patio.....my kids thought it was an adventure.....my wife was just happy to have time to rest. As a Dad, I never felt really ever worried about our safety.

I remember feeling funny the next day going to the park.....knowing from the tv that so much devistaion was right outside the the world.

We talked about finding out what we could do......but as I remember......the tv stations said people should let the professionals handle it. And looking back I guess that was the easy way out.

 

[sunshineNJ]

We were there for Faye. It really emptied out the parks and we walked on everything. Nothing closed and it really help cool things off! After a couple days of rain it got old but we still had a great time, not as hot and VERY low crowds.

 

[ZoZo]

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.

Same for me - I was at WDW during Hurricane Wilma in 2005. We had considered canceling our trip, because of the potential path of the hurricane. I'm so glad we didn't! We just got the outer "fringes" of the storm, and had some 50mph wind and rain for about 15 hours. They just had us stay in our room at Shades of Green until the storms passed through, and communicated with us via voice mail messages on our phone at the hotel.

As this poster said, the parks opened around 2:00 pm (Epcot and MK only) but crowds were very light. In fact, the weather improved after the storm! It was very hot and humid right before the storm, but afterward it was very pleasant weather! Plus since so many people canceled their trips because they were worried about the storm, the crowds were light all week.

I wouldn't let hurricanes worry you -- the chances are so slim that something will happen exactly when you're going, it shouldn't be a worry. WDW is a great place to be during a big storm - they have their own electrical power source so you don't have to worry about losing electricity.

 

[tsme]

We usually go to D.W. in September & I do worry about hurricanes, but not so much about one hitting D.W. We live in South Louisiana so I worry about one hitting us or one coming from Florida cancelling flights. So the least worry is a hurricane hitting Orlando while we're there. We've had to reschedule flights because of Hurricanne Katrina (couldn't fly out of N.O. had to drive to Baton Rouge to fly) luckly the airline was very helpful & the latest hurricane to make us reschedule was Hurricane Gustav. That one had us push our vacation back because of damages. So I would say if you're not flying & you don't live where hurricanes hit, I wouldn't worry about Orlano.

 

[CampbellScot]

My husband and I were at Disney for "Hurricane Ernesto" in 2006. It was our honeymoon. The day the "hurricane" hit (it seemed like a big rain storm and that's about it) the parks were practically empty. We had the BEST day. We were allowed to get on rides and stay on them until we wanted to get off. We rode Splash Mountain about four times without getting off until my husband couldn't stand the music anymore! We rode Thunder Mountain RR over and over. It was a wonderful day. Yes we were wet, but no biggie. we had our ponchos and a towel with us to dry off when we went indoors. We had a wonderful dinner to end the day. Truly...best day we have ever had at Disney. It is NOT a waste to go to Disney during hurricane season. Maybe with little little kids, but if you are old enough to deal with wet feet, you can revel in the empty parks and any ride you'd like empty and ready for your enjoyment! The CM's are really great during hurricanes as well.

ALSO-do NOT read the threads on the Dis discussing the hurricane if there is to be one. You will get so much doom and gloom from the locals that you won't want to go. Had I listened to the threads the year Hurricane Faye was to hit, I would not have gone. According to the locals, we would probably have to boat from park to park and there was NO WAY that the rain would stop even for a second...when we arrived the rain was gone. It was cloudy. Then the sun came out and stayed out. I had made my poor husband nuts in the days leading up to the trip b/c I was positive that we had wasted our money! I figured that people living in Orlando would know best. This was not the case.

Just know that Disney takes care of their guests when hurricanes hit. It is possible to have the best vacation ever during hurricane season. Bring your poncho, a towel and sense of adventure and you'll be good to go!!!

 

[MonorailPilotMulan]

If I was ever going to feel safe in any sort of natural disaster, it would be at Disney. Besides, by the time these hurricanes make landfall and make it to the Disney area they have died down in intensity. Even if you get a little tropical storm blowing through while your here, take advantage of it and brave the parks with a good pair of rain boots and a rain coat. It's the best way to beat the crowds and the heat while at the parks

 

[Mrs K]

We were at the Poly during Hurricaine Charley in 2004. As PPs have said, the parks were closed for about a day and the Poly pools were closed for a while because of debris in the water. Disney has underground utilities so we never lost power or even TV reception. Mousekeeping supplied flashlights just in case. We were at the MK right up untill it closed and it was amazing to see the preparations in the park. We did walk on to every attraction too.

 

[james.burnes]

It's a non-issue...don't sweat it.

 

[SteamboatWillie28]

I was also there for Hurricane Charlie in 2004. However we were unaware that it was going to hit us until day of. We were planning a trip to one of the water parks that day, and we were told that it was closed when we asked why we were told "uh... cause theres a hurricane on the way" We felt really foolish. We were staying at PO Riverside at the time and the only problem was the food court. Most of the cast members had gone home, leaving two or three people to serve pizzas to the entire resort. Other than that we had a good time. Me and my brother and sister spent the night swimming in one of the hotel pools and playing card games. The next day there wasn't too bad of damage. A lot of branches on the paths to the bus but nothing in the parks that would cause alarm. In all honesty, like others said, I wouldn't worry about hurricanes in Orlando.

 

[Crystal824]

My husband and I were at Disney for "Hurricane Ernesto" in 2006. It was our honeymoon. The day the "hurricane" hit (it seemed like a big rain storm and that's about it) the parks were practically empty. We had the BEST day. We were allowed to get on rides and stay on them until we wanted to get off. We rode Splash Mountain about four times without getting off until my husband couldn't stand the music anymore! We rode Thunder Mountain RR over and over. It was a wonderful day. Yes we were wet, but no biggie. we had our ponchos and a towel with us to dry off when we went indoors. We had a wonderful dinner to end the day. Truly...best day we have ever had at Disney. It is NOT a waste to go to Disney during hurricane season. Maybe with little little kids, but if you are old enough to deal with wet feet, you can revel in the empty parks and any ride you'd like empty and ready for your enjoyment! The CM's are really great during hurricanes as well.

ALSO-do NOT read the threads on the Dis discussing the hurricane if there is to be one. You will get so much doom and gloom from the locals that you won't want to go. Had I listened to the threads the year Hurricane Faye was to hit, I would not have gone. According to the locals, we would probably have to boat from park to park and there was NO WAY that the rain would stop even for a second...when we arrived the rain was gone. It was cloudy. Then the sun came out and stayed out. I had made my poor husband nuts in the days leading up to the trip b/c I was positive that we had wasted our money! I figured that people living in Orlando would know best. This was not the case.

Just know that Disney takes care of their guests when hurricanes hit. It is possible to have the best vacation ever during hurricane season. Bring your poncho, a towel and sense of adventure and you'll be good to go!!!

I would agree with this. I was CP during hurricane Floyd in 1999 and was a guest during Ernesto during 2006.

In 1999, WDW actually closed. This was the first time the parks had been closed ever due to a hurricane. In fact, AK and Downtown Disney was reopened the day WDW was supposed to be closed.

During 2006, my DH and I had the best time. We just put on ponchos and splashed around from attraction to attraction. I recall on night that trip where we just walked around in the rain in the MK and practically walked on every attracation.

I wouldn't really worry about hurricanes. I would just book the trip and more likely than not you will be fine. If an issue arises, you will likely know before you leave for the trip. We knew about Ernesto but went anyway. We are glad we did.

 

[Sisdy]

Way back around 1978, there was a hurricane off the east coast of Florida. It was going parallel to the coast. We were at FW and knew it was out there, but it was forecasted to stay off the coast. We finally got to stay in the 100 loop. After camping many times, we finally got the loop we wanted. When we got back to the campground from the MK at midnight, we had a note on the windshield that everyone had to leave. We packed up and drove up 75 to about Gainesville and stopped at rest stop to catch a nap. We called a relative (from the pay phone, no cell phones then), she told us the hurricane had went out to sea, so we headed back to WDW. When we arrived they allowed us to check in , alas not in loop 100. Well the hurricane was still coming up the coast and was not out to sea. That night the wind was terrible and the tall pines were bending alsmost in half. The next morning the MK was open and deserted. There was only a few sprinkls and it was a nice cool day in an almost empty park!

 

[Josh Hendy]

I was a cast member in 2004 at Blizzard Beach and was on a specialt team called the Hurricane Ride out crew. Ride Out crews stay in a safe loacation on property and then as soon as winds are down to 55 mph are sent out to various parks etc to start cleaning up so the guests still get in the park and dont see the cleaning going on. 4 hurricanes hit central Florida in 2004 Charlie, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne. With Charley, BB closed at 1 and was back open by 10 the next am. With one of the last 2 we started working at 4 am in the pouring rain and 55 mph winds on typhoon, we worked very hard but so much debri had gotten in the water they ended up having to be closed all day, we then went to work on BB and had it open by 11. WDW works very hard at keeping the magic for their guests, they realize these are peoples vacations and they try to preserve that fact. With that being said, please dont be rude with CM's as they are telling you the park is closing early or if something opens late. Mickey is very magical but all of the Pixie Dust in the World cant stop mother nature.

Thank you for all your work. It must be very difficult and even scary at times worrying about your home, your car, your family, etc. while you are at work during a hurricane. You literally saved our vacation in 2004 because if the parks had not reopened promptly we would have had no choice but to turn around and drive all the way back to Canada. Well Done!

 

[Josh Hendy]

I was also there for Hurricane Charlie in 2004. However we were unaware that it was going to hit us until day of. We were planning a trip to one of the water parks that day, and we were told that it was closed when we asked why we were told "uh... cause theres a hurricane on the way" We felt really foolish. We were staying at PO Riverside at the time and the only problem was the food court. Most of the cast members had gone home, leaving two or three people to serve pizzas to the entire resort. Other than that we had a good time. Me and my brother and sister spent the night swimming in one of the hotel pools and playing card games. The next day there wasn't too bad of damage. A lot of branches on the paths to the bus but nothing in the parks that would cause alarm. In all honesty, like others said, I wouldn't worry about hurricanes in Orlando.

Yeah us too! We confidently drove into Orlando on Aug. 12 because the hurricane was headed for Tampa, not Orlando! I'll never forget the feeling I had on the morning of Friday, Aug. 13 when I wandered into the hotel lobby to get a coffee and there was a cluster of people standing around the TV. Most of these people in the hotel had fled from Tampa to avoid Charly, on government orders! I asked wassup and someone turned around and said, "the hurricane is headed directly at Orlando and it's now a category 5" It made me feel a bit dumb and irresponsible for bringing the fambly into the situation, but fortunately everything worked out in the end (other than a lost day on Aug. 13 spent running around getting a few candles and things and preparing to hunker down in the hotel).

I'm sorta glad to have experienced such a wonder of nature, but next time I will probably be a little bit more cautious about deliberately driving into an area near where a hurricane is predicted. If you're already there or if you already have air tickets that you can't change, and you have a comfortable safety margin (arriving well before and leaving well after) then I say, don't worry about the hurricane, other than losing a day then you'll probably have a good vacation. If you have more freedom to come and go then given the possibility of widespread damage, power outages, cancelled flights, clogged highways, etc. it may be wisest to avoid Orlando if there is a hurricane known to be heading for central FL.

Charly was in a way a "good" hurricane because although very strong, it was small and moved quickly. There were only about 15 minutes of really high winds in Orlando, a few thunderstorms in the afternoon, and a few hours of heavy rain. A couple of years after Charly, I remember seeing a hurricane on TV that I think hit Cancun. It was a huge hurricane and it sat there almost stationary for around 1 week, pounding the resort area for day after day. Imagine the time that those vacationers had.

 

[TotoToo]

We were there for the 3rd of the 4 hurricanes that hit in 2004 (or was it 2005 - I forget). It was pretty wild that day and we had followed all the rules to set out water, have food on hand, etc. Good thing as basically for the three days after virtually everything was closed - the parks did open the second day after but getting around on the roads was tough.

The likelihood of any hurricane hitting on the exact time you are there is very low but unpredictable. It was quite an "adventure" to go through although our timeshare never even lost power (buildings around us did but ours never even flickered that I saw). The parks have some of the lowest attendance of the year during that time (mid-late September) so they are great to visit then. But there is that slight chance of bad weather. We have ignored it many times, got caught once & will always remember going through a hurricane so that too became a memorable part of the trip.

 

[Tikitoi]

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?

Yes, we have...

It was Hurricane Jeanne in September 2004. OK, the picture is a little exaggerated. That was our second trip to the World. And we did miss our Chef Mickey ressie and the Indy show at DHS (though MGM at the time). And we did have to stay in "lockdown" at our resort. But there was food and entertainment, so we were fine. Safety first!

Have been many times since then and even to this day, September is our favorite time to go. We will be there in approx....114 days!