Hurricane Ian - WDW Resorts Related Updates, Planning & Discussion

As of this morning, no clue if Universal plans to open anything. They had said they were doing a phased opening for resort guests today but there are no park hours listed for any of the parks and the Universal rep at the hotel didn’t know anything - advice was to check back later. I understand not opening, I don’t understand saying you are, then not without a word. And I thought Disney was bad at communication.
I posted in the Universal thread last night, but they very carefully did not say anything about the *parks* in their announcement, just “some portions of our destination” or similar. The chatter from TMs was that only City Walk and maybe VB might open today. But I agree it was very confusing esp when Disney announced a phased reopening that includes the parks and posted hours.
 
I posted in the Universal thread last night, but they very carefully did not say anything about the *parks* in their announcement, just “some portions of our destination” or similar. The chatter from TMs was that only City Walk and maybe VB might open today. But I agree it was very confusing esp when Disney announced a phased reopening that includes the parks and posted hours.
Universal tweeted at about 7 pm on Thursday: "We continue to conduct assessment and recovery efforts across our entire destination with the safety of our guests and team members being our top priority. We expect to begin a phased reopen of portions of our destination for our hotel guests only beginning Friday, Sept. 30. We will update our website and social channels with information on Park hours as conditions allow." No more recent tweets as of 8:34 am on Friday. Their website currently says the same thing. I don't follow their other social media channels.
https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/plan-your-visit/weather-updates/severe-weather.html

(Edited to add: just posting this in case anybody didn't get to Twitter or the UO website. This was not meant to be critical of anybody who is doing their best to obtain info or provide info.)
 
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Guess I'll be spending the day @ Disney Springs today since MDE won't allow me to modify any of my remaining days. I even tried by canceling one day I already had booked but still nothing opened up for availability for me today so I rebooked the day I had canceled. Guess I should have changed it a couple of days back before they blocked it out. Still trying to decide if I will keep any of the dining reservations I haven't already canceled.
 
I posted in the Universal thread last night, but they very carefully did not say anything about the *parks* in their announcement, just “some portions of our destination” or similar. The chatter from TMs was that only City Walk and maybe VB might open today. But I agree it was very confusing esp when Disney announced a phased reopening that includes the parks and posted hours.
That’s really just semantics- what they said was “ portions of our destination”- and the point is nothing is open, no portion of their destination is open and not a word to resort guests as to whether they will or not and no one to contact to get any information from. But as a Universal novice, when I say the “parks” I mean any portion or part of Universal.
 


Parks should have been open an hour and no updates? Hope that means it's all just going too well.

Looks like there is a lot down from MDE. Thunder Mountain, Splash mountain, Peter Pan, Buzz, Pirates, Aladdin, Jungle Cruise. Haunted Mansion? Maybe just no wait times posted?
 
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That’s really just semantics- what they said was “ portions of our destination”- and the point is nothing is open, no portion of their destination is open and not a word to resort guests as to whether they will or not and no one to contact to get any information from. But as a Universal novice, when I say the “parks” I mean any portion or part of Universal.
I agree their communication is super lacking and the vague wording leaves room for people to make assumptions, esp when Disney is opening the parks today.
 
Currently standing near the (non-running) Skyliner at DHS in a crowd of 80-100 people waiting to be let closer to the park.
 


Parks should have been open an hour and no updates? Hope that means it's all just going too well.

Looks like there is a lot down from MDE. Thunder Mountain, Splash mountain, Peter Pan, Buzz, Pirates, Aladdin, Jungle Cruise. Haunted Mansion? Maybe just no wait times posted?
Unless they changed early entry rides, only Tomorrowland and fantasyland are usually only open prior to main opening. I think the main opening time today is 10 am, so Frontierland and Adventureland wouldn’t be open yet.
 
Parks should have been open an hour and no updates? Hope that means it's all just going too well.

Looks like there is a lot down from MDE. Thunder Mountain, Splash mountain, Peter Pan, Buzz, Pirates, Aladdin, Jungle Cruise. Haunted Mansion? Maybe just no wait times posted?

We are entering HM, so it must not be updating.
 
Unless they changed early entry rides, only Tomorrowland and fantasyland are usually only open prior to main opening. I think the main opening time today is 10 am, so Frontierland and Adventureland wouldn’t be open yet.
Peter Pan and Buzz show as “Temporarily Closed” in MDE - they would normally be open during EE I think right?
 
We were on a cruise for a week before we came to WDW and had no clue about an impending storm until the porter at the port told us while taking our luggage to a DCL bus. Every employee at WDW volunteered to work. They want those shifts and are happy to get them. I think the CM’s know better than any of us where they belong,
This. I'm a former CM and UO team member. When storms threatened, I always volunteered for the ride-out crew. As it turned out, I never actually got a ride-out shift, because a major hurricane never actually came through when I was working at the parks. But it's a ton of extra money and a safe place to be. And especially for CMs without family in the area, it can also be a whole lot less scary to be at work with other people rather than at home alone. That said, now that they're doing phased reopening, I hope they're still only taking volunteers and not pushing people to come in yet. They need to continue to allow CMs to take care of things at home if needed for at least the next couple of days.
 
Currently standing near the (non-running) Skyliner at DHS in a crowd of 80-100 people waiting to be let closer to the park.
The number of people had significantly increased by the time they let us move forward and security was a bit chaotic despite the CM’s best efforts (getting a crowd of people into four single file lines, two of which were only for people with a stroller…). We’re now standing third and fourth in line for the tapstiles though (having headed to the far right).
 
We can't make any either. On site hotel is linked and we have valid AP's. Pretty disappointed, honestly, since we had reservations yesterday and it wouldn't allow us to move them. I know a lot of people here extended trips to make up for lost park days and now can't get in :(

My toddler will be incredibly sad when he wakes up that we can't go ride Dumbo this morning afterall.

The crowds will be so light. Seems a shame if they can't just let any onsite guests enter during ETPE, with or without a park pass reservation, just with CM overrides. I guess the staffing in the parks is really limited so they may not be able to handle that. :confused:
 
The number of people had significantly increased by the time they let us move forward and security was a bit chaotic despite the CM’s best efforts (getting a crowd of people into four single file lines, two of which were only for people with a stroller…). We’re now standing third and fourth in line for the tapstiles though (having headed to the far right).
And currently in the ROTR briefing room 😊
 
A general comment now that we've turned the corner on Ian - I have very much appreciated everyone's contributions and helpful dialogue on this thread. I'd like to think it's been helpful for those there and those watching from a distance. Chances are many of us will encounter a storm while at WDW at some point in our Disney travels, so it's always helpful to read about experiences and how to best go about planning/setting expectations.

Obviously we only get small glimpses here and there of operations across the vast WDW resort footprint, but seems like things went reasonably well for most given the circumstances.

Thank you to everyone for keeping the discussion level-headed, calm, and respectful.

:thanks:
 
We’ve finally gotten to the point that this is almost funny. Just got a call from the cabana rentals wanting to know if we still planned on using our cabana rental at VB. Ummm…Are you open? No. Then I assume you won’t let us in? Of course not. Then no, we won’t be using it.
 
We’ve finally gotten to the point that this is almost funny. Just got a call from the cabana rentals wanting to know if we still planned on using our cabana rental at VB. Ummm…Are you open? No. Then I assume you won’t let us in? Of course not. Then no, we won’t be using it.
Did either universal park ever open this morning?
 
We’ve finally gotten to the point that this is almost funny. Just got a call from the cabana rentals wanting to know if we still planned on using our cabana rental at VB. Ummm…Are you open? No. Then I assume you won’t let us in? Of course not. Then no, we won’t be using it.
Not sure why I'd want to go there but ...


Also keep seeing this from them - of course phone lines are backed up.
If you're looking to modify the dates on your tickets for use at a later time, the best way to do this will be by calling our Guest Contact Center at 1-800-711-0080.
 
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Interesting note: I have a room at BCV booked for arrival today. Just got notice that my room is ready. No mention of waiting until 3:00 pm before getting there but that's still our plan.
 

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