Hurricane Dorian / WDW Theme Parks Discussion

[AngiTN]

Just some thoughts I’m having -
Wondering if I am crazy to not even look at changing our plans. We fly in Saturday at 9:00 am for 7 days.

The thought of canceling freaks me out because I gradually paid for this trip with mostly gift cards. I believe all of those funds would go back on the individual gift cards - over $4000. I’m not even sure where I put them all

Honestly, I wouldn’t change personally. The storm may well come in on Sunday night/Monday but it will move out fast. They’ll have things opened right back up. The time I was here for a storm was some of the best I’ve ever had on property. We couldn’t do the parks but we had a BLAST! at the resort.

 

[Bran Fox]

Honestly, I wouldn’t change personally. The storm may well come in on Sunday night/Monday but it will move out fast. They’ll have things opened right back up. The time I was here for a storm was some of the best I’ve ever had on property. We couldn’t do the parks but we had a BLAST! at the resort.

This is forecast to be an incredibly slow moving storm. Lingering over the middle of the state.

 

[Bran Fox]

Just some thoughts I’m having -
Wondering if I am crazy to not even look at changing our plans. We fly in Saturday at 9:00 am for 7 days.

The thought of canceling freaks me out because I gradually paid for this trip with mostly gift cards. I believe all of those funds would go back on the individual gift cards - over $4000. I’m not even sure where I put them all

The safest place to be during a hurricane is not in the path of a hurricane. This is forecast to be a powerful and slow moving storm. I’d be looking at if you could reschedule dates without Disney refunding to a gift card. Just push the reservation back a few weeks. You could be cooped up in a hotel room for a couple days which is not fun at all.

 

[bobbie68]

This is forecast to be an incredibly slow moving storm. Lingering over the middle of the state.

I heard the exact same thing.

The safest place to be during a hurricane is not in the path of a hurricane. This is forecast to be a powerful and slow moving storm. I’d be looking at if you could reschedule dates without Disney refunding to a gift card. Just push the reservation back a few weeks. You could be cooped up in a hotel room for a couple days which is not fun at all.

 

[mn51]

We leave tomorrow at 6 am. We literally have no more time to wait and decide Right now, we are still planning on going, but I am going to be SO mad at myself if the entire week ends up being a total washout!

We are leaving shortly after you in the morning. Called Southwest in the hopes they would extend the credit time. I purchased the tickets February 1st of this year. They would not budge and we are not able to move dates around. Just hoping for the best.

 

[fla4fun]

I heard the exact same thing.

It looks like it will be at least 48 hours, starting Sunday afternoon and ending Tuesday afternoon, if nothing changes, which can still happen. I would leave if I could but my office still hasn’t decided if we are closing and probably won’t decide until warnings are issued, which doesn’t leave a lot of time to get out. I did pack suitcases today, just in case. If you don’t have to be here, stay home and stay safe,

 

[Searc]

Honestly, I wouldn’t change personally. The storm may well come in on Sunday night/Monday but it will move out fast. They’ll have things opened right back up. The time I was here for a storm was some of the best I’ve ever had on property. We couldn’t do the parks but we had a BLAST! at the resort.

Latest is it will be over central FL Tuesday.

 

[lovethattink]

Honestly, I wouldn’t change personally. The storm may well come in on Sunday night/Monday but it will move out fast. They’ll have things opened right back up. The time I was here for a storm was some of the best I’ve ever had on property. We couldn’t do the parks but we had a BLAST! at the resort.

Was just listening to a live of Denis Phillips and he indicated that current track has it slowing down significantly and he thinks it may slow more and possibly even become a 5 if it is out in the water longer. But it's still too early to call it.

I'm a local. I cancelled my resort reservations for Sat to Tues. I'm driving to DHS Saturday for the day. But I'll be hunkering down at home. Looks like it will be a couple days of really nasty wind and rain, especially if it continues to slow.

 

[cjlong88]

We were suppose to leave tomorrow. I absolutely cannot miss work on Tuesday and I don't want to risk having our Monday flight canceled. Just made the decision to reschedule to December. With the new dates I was able to add an additional day (woo!) and now we will be there for ROTR.

We are going camping this weekend up in northern Minnesota near Lake Superior instead. Should be fun!

 

[TorchWood]

I have friends in Orlando. They are also worried about flooding(as they should be). I have invited them to come stay with us. They are leaving tomorrow. Just to play it safe and it's a holiday weekend anyway.

 

[lovethattink]

I went through Katrina(I live in New Orleans, La.). This could intensify to a Cat. 5 before landfall. I'd NEVER stay.

Oh, I know! If I lived on the east coast, I'd be heading out. I'm pretty central. I'm more concerned about flooding.

 

[justinslot]

The safest place to be during a hurricane is not in the path of a hurricane. This is forecast to be a powerful and slow moving storm. I’d be looking at if you could reschedule dates without Disney refunding to a gift card. Just push the reservation back a few weeks. You could be cooped up in a hotel room for a couple days which is not fun at all.

I would like to thank you for being the voice of reason in this thread, and for continuing to make the very sensible point that it is better to be in a state without a hurricane than in a state with a hurricane.

 

[ckb_nc]

Although WDW has historically done a simple incredible job with these storms in the past, I would be-rescheduling right now if I could. From what we can see, the storm has strong steering currents into central Florida over some really warm water (80 degree water 100m deep) in front of it. The real issue is can you get out when you want to?

 

[Lauraubie]

Has anyone been told NO by Disney about cancelling their package? Not DVC. Regular package. The agent I am speaking with doesn't seem to know if she can cancel me or not. I've been holding for quite a bit while she checks.

 

[Bran Fox]

I would like to thank you for being the voice of reason in this thread, and for continuing to make the very sensible point that it is better to be in a state without a hurricane than in a state with a hurricane.

Thanks. I’m a native Floridian. I know how adventurous and cozy it can seem to just “ride out” a storm at Disney of all places! Where better? The actual answer is that if you do not need to be in Florida you absolutely should not be in Florida when a storm is bearing down. I just went to top off my tank and gas station lines are miles long with many stations already out. Coming here before a storm is not prudent. Being here during one is not fun. It’s at best really boring and at worst terrifying.
I hate that people changed their plans. I actually changed mine too - we were heading up for SWGE, but I worry about not being able to get home before the storm hits. Gas, traffic, weather. All just bad news!!

 

[Bran Fox]

Has anyone been told NO by Disney about cancelling their package? Not DVC. Regular package. The agent I am speaking with doesn't seem to know if she can cancel me or not. I've been holding for quite a bit while she checks.

I canceled mine a couple hours ago. It was room only, though. I said it was due to the hurricane and it was no problem.

 

[Lauraubie]

She is reading the manual. She must have literally just started her shift.

 

[lovethattink]

Has anyone been told NO by Disney about cancelling their package? Not DVC. Regular package. The agent I am speaking with doesn't seem to know if she can cancel me or not. I've been holding for quite a bit while she checks.

I had no problem cancelling my room only resie and cm said I'd get the deposit back.

 

[lovethattink]

She is reading the manual. She must have literally just started her shift.

https://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories/a-reminder-of-walt-disney-worlds-hurricane-policy/

 

[JonathonW]

https://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories/a-reminder-of-walt-disney-worlds-hurricane-policy/

And, I will note, the NHC has not yet issued hurricane warnings for Dorian anywhere in the continental US-- those are issued about 36 hours out. That said, Disney's usually pretty flexible about these things, and reports are that reps are generally allowing changes now (despite it technically being too early per Disney's official hurricane policy).

Hurricane track predictions at 4-5 days out are notoriously unreliable-- if you look at the NHC's predicted track, Dorian's center could be anywhere within the dotted area come Tuesday afternoon. It could travel straight down the center line in that graphic basically straight into Kissimmee; it could shift a smidge further north and pretty directly hit Disney property; it could go well to the north or south and the worst could miss central Florida entirely. It could even still recurve out to sea and not make landfall in Florida at all (there's some model support for this, but not enough for the NHC to substantially change their official track yet).

Basically, be aware that Dorian's forecast is kind of a mess right now; be flexible and be ready to change plans (or go ahead and start making alternative plans) so that you're not right in the path of a massive hurricane if it does come straight through central Florida. More clarity will come over the next day or two as Dorian moves closer and forecasts become more reliable.