Hurricane Ian - WDW Resorts Related Updates, Planning & Discussion

[cakebaker]

We only get a very limited view of Spaceship Earth from our room, but it sure looks like the lights were turned on/ which is kind of cool and reassuring.

 

[JodyK]

Magic Kingdom is lit up bus areas, castle, main street, space mountain.

 

[Sammie]

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.

I know there is nothing you can do it about it now, but this might be a good learning lesson for others when renting points during hurricane seasons and consider getting travel insurance if it will cover acts of nature
Since the points you rented do not belong to you and you are not the member, they can't extend your stay on points. They were being gracious actually to discount the room from rack rates. If they charged you more than rack rate it would be price gouging. Stay safe.

 

[catnik]

I live just north of Boston and our local news just ran a story of a woman staying currently at BWV. She showed her haul of beer and boxed pasta and popcorn. What more could you need.

Probably beer and less pasta, but that’s just me

 

[Mrs.AMC]

From the sounds of things elsewhere in the state it’s rather mild get all things considered. I’m sure it will be more rain overnight but what radar is showing right now doesn’t look horrible. Still only had 1 actual thunderstorm here at universal area

 

[Dave006]

I’m sure it will be more rain overnight but what radar is showing right now doesn’t look horrible

It should be raining all night in the Orlando area with winds above 50 MPH until noon tomorrow.

Dave

 

[aggieamp]

I know there is nothing you can do it about it now, but this might be a good learning lesson for others when renting points during hurricane seasons and consider getting travel insurance.

Since the points you rented do not belong to you and you are not the member, they can't extend your stay on points. They were being gracious actually to discount the room from rack rates. If they charged you more than rack rate it would be price gouging. Stay safe.

Yeah, I’m really not upset and understand it’s not price gouging. Very thankful to have a place to stay. We could have moved to an off-property resort for way less, but would rather be here. We’ve rented points 5 or 6 times which allowed us nicely discounted rooms. This was just a reminder of how expensive rack rate actually is, making buying into DVC even more tempting.
We’re staying safe and well-fed!

 

[aggieamp]

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.

I did have that thought too. But I guess priceless has a price for us right now. We’ll sort it all out when we get home and I’ll decide if it was “worth it”. On one hand, it’s an expensive way to stay safe, but on the other, Disney CMs have gone above and beyond. I realize they’re people, not the company making lots of money off people who are stuck. But we also got 1 day park hoppers as an apology for last night’s MMSSHP, which seemed to me like a fairly standard party minus Boo to You. As an AP, I’m not sure the ticket is helpful, but it does mean my husband can come back with me sometime in the next year and he’ll have a ticket.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

It should be raining all night in the Orlando area with winds above 50 MPH until noon tomorrow.

Dave

Not according to the local weather report.
Rain yes.
50MPH winds till noon tomorrow, not looking likely based on the report I’m watching right now
Looks like the 11pm track is taking it further south than first thought, and moving faster. Though I can’t tell you now what station we were watching. Only that we cracked up at the reporter in Tampa trying to talk up the debris in the street. There were 3, 4 palm fronds in the shot. That’s it. Not complaining mind you, only maybe he shouldn’t be talking up how bad it was when there was nothing in the shot

 

[Sammie]

Yeah, I’m really not upset and understand it’s not price gouging. Very thankful to have a place to stay. We could have moved to an off-property resort for way less, but would rather be here. We’ve rented points 5 or 6 times which allowed us nicely discounted rooms. This was just a reminder of how expensive rack rate actually is, making buying into DVC even more tempting.
We’re staying safe and well-fed!

Definitely and glad you are safe. It's definitely a way to save money for those accommidations.

 

[vinmar4]

So I also don’t know if this is the correct place to ask for advice on this but everyone in this thread seems so helpful and for the most part directly involved so I figured here might be best? If not please direct me to the best place. So we are here from the uk, my dad has his birthday tomorrow and I had La cava tasting experience and v+a booked as a surprise for his birthday present. Obviously all cancelled which is okay as I know people on the greater scheme are far more affected than this by hurricane Ian. However I’m usually creative/inventive but am drawing a complete blank on what I can possibly do for his birthday tomorrow as I now don’t even have a gift to give him (I had home made fake tickets printed out for the tequilla tasting experience and Victoria and alberts that I have gift wrapped in a box). We leave on Sunday so these are not realistically rebookable. Does anyone have any ideas on what I can possibly do for his birthday no matter how small? Sorry if this seems silly but this whole trip was timed for now due to his birthday. Thanks and hope everyone stays safe x

If you are going to Epcot when they re-open, you can still do the tequila tasting as a walk in. We have done that. Even if they put you on a wait list while you see other stuff. I would try another restaurant. Lastly, I would do my own tequila tasting if you can order some for delivery if you are not driving. Hopefully Target or a liquor store would be open by Friday, we have ordered some hard liquor from Target. Praying that everyone is safe and everything is pretty back to close to normal by Friday evening or Saturday. Good luck and stay safe. I was going to recommend the chocolate cake for delivery from Portillos in Orlando( best chocolate cake ever) They are closed today, but open tomorrow per their website. Just some ideas.

 

[karrit2000]

In case anyone at Boardwalk is still having issues getting the phone messages the one sometime after 8PM was about the meal situation for Thursday. Breakfast Buffet for $12. My window is 7:30-8:30AM. Lunch & Dinner Buffets $15. My Lunch Window is 12-1PM and Dinner is 5-6PM again for me. I'll probably do the Breakfast one & try to find out what they plan to serve for Lunch & Dinner. I have plenty of food in my room for those meals so may just eat what I have stockpiled in the fridge before it goes bad. The Belle Vue Lounge will be selling the boxed options again and will be open from 7am - Midnight. They weren't clear if they plan to sell the boxed meals the entire time in the message.

 

[saladdays]

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.

Point definitely taken with tornadoes, but wind speeds never reach close to 400 mph. I believe the fastest recorded was around 300 mph and most are quite a lot slower than that. But yes, they routinely can be stronger than hurricane winds.

 

[soniam]

I did have that thought too. But I guess priceless has a price for us right now. We’ll sort it all out when we get home and I’ll decide if it was “worth it”. On one hand, it’s an expensive way to stay safe, but on the other, Disney CMs have gone above and beyond. I realize they’re people, not the company making lots of money off people who are stuck. But we also got 1 day park hoppers as an apology for last night’s MMSSHP, which seemed to me like a fairly standard party minus Boo to You. As an AP, I’m not sure the ticket is helpful, but it does mean my husband can come back with me sometime in the next year and he’ll have a ticket.

When you renew your AP, if you call in or go in person, you might be able to use the value of the ticket towards your renewal.

Not according to the local weather report.
Rain yes.
50MPH winds till noon tomorrow, not looking likely based on the report I’m watching right now
Looks like the 11pm track is taking it further south than first thought, and moving faster. Though I can’t tell you now what station we were watching. Only that we cracked up at the reporter in Tampa trying to talk up the debris in the street. There were 3, 4 palm fronds in the shot. That’s it. Not complaining mind you, only maybe he shouldn’t be talking up how bad it was when there was nothing in the shot

Weather Channel is showing gusts in the 60s right now and some sustained 48mph.

 

[DVC Doctor]

I was at BLT this morning and they were offering 30% off to people, but the rate was something like $470 per night for a studio.

 

[Eastern]

I did have that thought too. But I guess priceless has a price for us right now. We’ll sort it all out when we get home and I’ll decide if it was “worth it”. On one hand, it’s an expensive way to stay safe, but on the other, Disney CMs have gone above and beyond. I realize they’re people, not the company making lots of money off people who are stuck. But we also got 1 day park hoppers as an apology for last night’s MMSSHP, which seemed to me like a fairly standard party minus Boo to You. As an AP, I’m not sure the ticket is helpful, but it does mean my husband can come back with me sometime in the next year and he’ll have a ticket.

Did you pay for your original trip with a card that has trip interruption insurance? (For ex one of the Chase Sapphire cards)

 

[Dave006]

I was at BLT this morning and they were offering 30% off to people, but the rate was something like $470 per night for a studio.

That's down near what the Studio's at Wilderness Copper Creek go for this time of year. A 30% discount is a good value. Given we are about to hit the October sold-out periods.

Dave

 

[wabbott]

Has the wind tapered off yet? If it has, don't be shocked if they try and open up some stuff today.

 

[tinabina919]

Hope everyone is doing ok! friends in Orlando have reported that they lost power a few hours ago.

 

[cakebaker]

Has the wind tapered off yet? If it has, don't be shocked if they try and open up some stuff today.

We’re still getting some pretty gusty wind right now, but looking at radar seems within a couple of hours we should be out of it for the most part. The storm moving more southerly was a best case scenario for us.
I’m hoping it clears up enough that we can go ahead and cancel our extension for tonight and head over to Universal as we had planned to yesterday.

Lesson learned for us - Don’t buy tickets thru Undercover Tourist ever again. If we aren’t able to use our Universal tickets, we’re just out the money. Since our use date started yesterday, they will not refund or exchange. My daughter bought her Disney tickets thru them as well but I’m unsure as to whether Disney will give her future credit for unused days due to the storm or if she loses that as well. I’ve always been hesitant to buy tickets from other sources and now I know why. UT was not the least bit helpful/ tough luck for you is their policy.