Hurricane Ian - WDW Resorts Related Updates, Planning & Discussion

[karrit2000]

Back in my 5th floor room @ BWV. As I was leaving the Buffet I noticed some different food on a few peoples plates including Grilled Chicken & Spaghetti.
Stopped in the Lobby to ask about Flashlights and was told by the friendly CM after he conferred with his manager that they have Backup generators so there shouldn't be any power outages and besides everyone has a flashlight on their phones so no worries. My reply to the cellphone flashlight which he agreed with me on was that if there was no power I had no intention of wasting my cell phone battery on a flashlight app. Collected some halloween candy from the friendly activities CM's & headed back to my room. As I walked the long hallways to my room I noticed little flashlights hanging from the door knobs. The Housekeeping CM delivering them was just about to approach my room so I now have my little flashlight to keep me safe if needed. I thanked her very much & told her to stay safe. Talk about one hand not knowing what the other is doing. You would think the front desk management should have known that Housekeeping would be delivering them.

 

[rlk]

Across from the buffet at Boardwalk they have a room with the blowup movie screen, kids activities, and characters are in and out. Boardwalk Buffet was excellent for $15! View attachment 706216View attachment 706217

For $15 per person, the BW buffet tonight was a great meal.

 

[iona]

Oh, and I get I’m comparing 2 different companies, and Universal doesn’t run their properties and all that but when I extended our stay last night, they honored the same rate for the Friday/Saturday nights that I had for the Mon-Thur nights. I had booked a 2nd stay myself, same resort and room category, as soon as they cancelled HHN, so we could extend our stay, and was just hoping they’d be able to keep us in the same room. When I spoke to them here at the resort, not only did they do that, they cancelled the 2nd stay I’d booked that afternoon and just extended the stay we had and kept the rate. No extra charges. Disney used to do better

Now if I could easily move our HHN ticket. The website says you can but I can not find a way to do it. Looks like that is going to take a phone call

I’ve had an email from them saying that “The easiest way to modify or cancel your Universal Orlando travel plans, including theme park tickets and Halloween Horror Nights event tickets, is to email reservations@universalorlando.com. A Team Member will respond as soon as possible.”

 

[Mrs.AMC]

I’ve had an email from them saying that “The easiest way to modify or cancel your Universal Orlando travel plans, including theme park tickets and Halloween Horror Nights event tickets, is to email reservations@universalorlando.com. A Team Member will respond as soon as possible.”

I did but also saw this but for the life of me I can’t locate any “Guest Self Service (GSS)“ tool on UniversalOrlando.com anywhere. I searched Google and the website and struck out. I told DH that you’d think they’d put a link to it on the same place they put the blurb to use it to make changes. But no, that makes too much sense.

 

[Sammie]

But if you don’t have an inside corridor I assume move to the bathroom? A bit nervous about this happening

You are going to be fine. We have been there with stronger winds. Disney hotels are built to stand up to Cat 5 winds and it is not going to be a Cat 5 when it comes ashore there Just stay away from the slider and bring in your furniture and stack it in a corner. If you are at a resort that has a door to the outside, not a hallway, put some towels at the door and slider to catch any rain driven in by wind.
You are going to be fine.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Paid almost $1100 to extend our BCV reservation until Friday. That’s with a 20% discount. I get that it’s a DVC room and we downgraded from our 1BR on rented points to a Studio to save money, but goodness. Can’t call it price gouging since it’s Disney.

Yes you can. Disney literally can’t put anyone else in that room right now. It’s worth $0, except to you it’s priceless.

 

[longboard55]

You are going to be fine. We have been there with stronger winds. Disney hotels are built to stand up to Cat 5 winds and it is not going to be a Cat 5 when it comes ashore there Just stay away from the slider and bring in your furniture and stack it in a corner. If you are at a resort that has a door to the outside, not a hallway, put some towels at the door and slider to catch any rain driven in by wind.
You are going to be fine.

We design for 130 mph winds in Palm Springs. Really not that difficult to design. Hurricanes should be ok in most conditions if the design is sound. Tornadoes are another issue. 400 mph winds can not be designed unless it’s all concrete and built like a flintsone house.

 

[Lass70]

Latest from RIV- Topolino’s and Bar Riva closed for the foreseeable. Full menu available at Primo Piato, including meal kits. Winds are starting to get a bit wild now. The cafe is open for drinks and was poppin’.

 

[Sammie]

We design for 130 mph winds in Palm Springs. Really not that difficult to design. Hurricanes should be ok in most conditions if the design is sound. Tornadoes are another issue. 400 mph winds can not be designed unless it’s all concrete and built like a flintsone house.

yeah tornadoes are seriously scary and getting stronger. We live in a tornado zone.

 

[randumb0]

I am 20 mins north and the winds are starting to get a lot worse

 

[cakebaker]

Yes you can. Disney literally can’t put anyone else in that room right now. It’s worth $0, except to you it’s priceless.

Disney doesn’t discount a room just because they have no one else to fill it. You can’t call it price gouging because it isn’t. Unless they’re charging more by a certain percentage ( I believe it’s 20), it’s not price gouging. My extension at the BC cost me $500 per night. My reservation I had was $690 so I did receive some discount at least and it was certainly more than they had to give. I expect the normal complaints but price gouging isn’t a justified one. Dvc is a different animal entirely. Over the years I’ve noticed that DVC is often treated badly during things like this. Covid being a prime example - it’s one reason we never bought in. I’ve always thought they were treated like a captive audience.

 

[EpcotPhoenician]

I must say, the Coronado Resort tower is built like a castle. I can’t hear a darn thing outside. This room is totally soundproof.

Winds are picking up and the road (W Buena Vista Drive) is partially flooded. I can’t take photos due to the condensation on the window.

Stay safe overnight, all.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

I know someone in Fort Myers and she updated that their entire neighborhood flooded and the first floor in completely flooded so they are sheltering on the second level.

Stay safe - praying for everyone down there

I have a close friend with a sister in Ft Myers and she let me know tonight her sister lost their house. I know they fled South so at least they are safe. It’s nothing like that here. Didn’t see our first thunder till about 30 min ago

 

[gottalovepluto]

Disney doesn’t discount a room just because they have no one else to fill it. You can’t call it price gouging because it isn’t. Unless they’re charging more by a certain percentage ( I believe it’s 20), it’s not price gouging. Me extension at the BC cost me $500 per night. My reservation I had was $690 so I did receive some discount at least and it was certainly more than they had to give. I expect the normal complaints but price gouging isn’t a justified one.

POR manager earlier hard sold a DISer on why they had no other options but to pay rack rate and when it didn’t work “found” a hurricane discount. BC did right by you but POR tried to gouge. Buyer beware.

 

[cakebaker]

Winds are picking up and if we don’t keep the balcony door locked, the wind gusts will blow it open. Water is getting in under the door as well, towels are soaking as fast as we put them down- other than that, no problems here at the BC.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Winds are picking up and if we don’t keep the balcony door locked, the wind gusts will blow it open. Water is getting in under the door as well, towels are soaking as fast as we put them down- other than that, no problems here at the BC.

safe thoughts and prayers for you all tonight!

 

[wdw4rfam]

I am 20 mins north and the winds are starting to get a lot worse

Yes my daughter is at swan and have been out and about and in the pool All day and they just walked over to the dolphin because food orders are really backed up at swan and got pelted and said it’s getting bad. She downplays everything and she said ok it’s real now. She was 8 when we went through Charley there. But she remembers it.

 

[Boopuff]

Here's hoping everyone is safe, and damage at a minimum. This storm could impact trips for weeks to come depending upon the damage. Good luck all.

 

[Lehuaann]

I must say, the Coronado Resort tower is built like a castle. I can’t hear a darn thing outside. This room is totally soundproof.

Winds are picking up and the road (W Buena Vista Drive) is partially flooded. I can’t take photos due to the condensation on the window.

Stay safe overnight, all.

That is amazing. No soundproofing here in Casitas. We have a little water seeping under the door. And people are walking around outside.

 

[Triple A Mom]

I just found this thread and tried to catch up, but if I repeat already posted information, I apologize. We are at the Boardwalk and are having a great time. My 3.5 year old was living her best life dancing this afternoon at the dance party. We swam early today in between rain showers. Our room overlooks the pool and it stayed open until mid afternoon in the pouring rain. Pluto, Goofy, Chip and Dale have come out today. The activities staff is going above and beyond! The Halloween costume parade/dance party was so cute and they handed out candy to the kids (and bystanders). They said they were trying to make up for MNSSHP cancellations (like our party). There was a good turnout! All four characters were out interacting and danced for over an hour. They wrapped it up with a bedtime story and the option to watch Hocus Pocus in the conference room.
The screendoor (big, outside gift shop) was open until early evening. It was packed one time we were there and then almost empty other times. They are continually restocking. They have box meals and the boardwalk deli was also popular earlier today.

The staff has been amazing! We had to get fresh sheets after a nap time accident, they were so nice about it.

I hope everyone else is doing ok. We feel very lucky and are hoping this is pretty much over by tomorrow afternoon with minimal and manageable damage.