Hurricane Irma?

[FastPasser.]

traffic standstill, gas outages, lack of resources, etc

That's overstating the situation. While those things have happened somewhere in Central Florida, I can assure you that it's not widespread.

 

[ErinsMommy]

I'm still unsure what to do. Our flight is for Tuesday from Nashville but it looks like Irma will be going through Nashville on Tuesday so even if Orlando is ok on Tuesday, Nashville may not be able to make flights. We are booked on Southwest and used some comps so I'm not sure if that matters or not. Disney is booked through a TA and she has already messaged me asking what I'd like to do. This morning I called my cousin that works at Epcot and she said it's uncertain what is going to happen. My gut is telling me to reschedule our trip to another date because I don't want my TA to miss her commission. I'm not sure if Southwest will refund or let us re-book. Maybe we could still go somewhere else next week if we have to use our flight tickets. Where, I don't know.

Ugh!! So many questions and uncertainty! I hate Irma!

I feel your pain - we're flying out of NJ on 9/15 so while we have a few more days -- my concern remains with Florida. I've been happily counting down -- these last few days I've ignored all countdowns and wont even look at them. Praying for Florida and its residents!

 

[buzznina]

You can't compare LEO, doctors, nurses, firefighters, etc, to theme park employees. One is essential to safety/life. One is definitely not.

We are not talking theme parks, we are talking about the hotels where people are staying at! So, you would just do what?? close the hotels? There are a bunch of non-life saving jobs that require employees to work or be on-call during disasters, which I am one of, I am part of the primary emergency list for our company, do I like it? no but I knew this when I took my job. Instead of people criticizing, maybe they should compliment the people who are staying to help.

 

[yulilin3]

I feel blasphemous to even ask this, but you all know so much about the area... We originally had 10 days scheduled at Vero Beach, with 4 days in Orlando beforehand, and we were supposed to have arrived yesterday. I canceled the Vero portion, and moved the Orlando portion to 9/12-9/17. I'm 95% sure I'm going to just scrap the whole thing, but I wanted to ask: does anyone know how safe - and here's the blasphemous part - Universal is? We had planned to spend a day there for my HP-obsessed 8yo as a treat for having devoured the books. I have no doubt WDW builds everything to stringent codes and performs the best safety checks, but I know nothing about *that other place*. Any ideas?

they have the same building standards. Basically all hotels and most structures have to comply with state laws. These parks will be fine during Irma

 

[KStash]

INCREDIBLY UNFAIR to make those harsh judgements. I'm here, flew in Wednesday, plan to weather the storm and go about my business. And yeah, I've lost EVERYTHING in a natural disaster before, so I get it. And I'm super sick of people saying how stupid we are and we don't love our families, etc etc. I took a calculated risk and now I have to roll with it. I wish everyone safety in its path and I hope it turns and heads out to sea.

I don't think anyone is judging those who are already there. If I was in your situation (leaving earlier in the week) I might have done exactly as you, because there was a lot less certainty in the forecast earlier in the week.

I'll admit I'm a bit judgy of those who are choosing to head to Orlando now, because (to me, my opinion only) it doesn't make sense. But I am just some random person on the internet, so no one should give a hoot what I think of their decisions.

All of that being said, if you are there, I wish nothing but the best for you. I hope you are safe, dry and well-fed and I hope the storm passes quickly for you.

 

[TiggerandPoohbear]

We drive down on the 15th from Indiana. Stopping that night just inside Georgia to sleep, then check in at POP in 16th. It is a waiting game to see how things play out. Hoping we get to continue our plans. Praying hard for everyone down south this weekend.

We are supposed to fly in the 15th and check into POP the 16th. Also just waiting to see how this storm plays out.

 

[AngiTN]

Universal Orlando:
Hurricane Irma Update: Resort to Close at 7pm on Saturday, September 9 – More Details Below (updated 9/8/2017 at 12:30pm)
Hurricane Irma Update: Resort to Close at 7pm on Saturday, September 9 – More Details Below (updated 9/8/2017 at 12:30pm)
Out of concern for the safety of our Team Members and our guests, Universal Orlando has made the following operational changes due to Hurricane Irma:

• 
  
  
  • The theme parks and CityWalk will close at 7:00pm tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 9). We will be fully closed on Sunday and Monday. As such, Team Members scheduled to report after 7pm on Saturday night should not report to work on Saturday night. We anticipate normal operating hours on Tuesday, Sept. 12.
  • Our on-site hotels are currently at full capacity and will remain operational as they focus on taking care of our on-site guests.
  • As previously announced, we will hold our Rock the Universe event at Universal Studios Florida tonight, Friday Sept. 8 and will welcome Saturday ticket-holders tonight as well. The event will be cancelled on Saturday night and Sunday morning.

I am surprised they made the call right now to close on Monday too.

 

[Amy___M]

We rebooked yesterday and changed our dates to get in Wednesday, but getting worried that's not enough time. I think our plan right now is to watch the weather, and if by Monday afternoon/evening it's looking like things won't be open in a day or two, to just cut our losses and go to NYC or Cali (where at least there's Disneyland!). It's the not knowing that makes this so much more stressful. Realistically, I know everything could be fine. But I also know there's a chance it might be the opposite of that.

We rebooked to Thursday and am fretting the same way. I'm mostly concerned about the airport being operational.

 

[Belle1962]

Hi it's me again. If you plan on jumping off of I 75 onto 575 it is right now bumper-to-bumper. Just another public service announcement for anyone Who might be wondering . I just crossed over 75 N. and it's bumper-to-bumper heavy. This is in Kennesaw. I had to run down here for an errand so will have to take the back roads home I guess.

 

[JerseyJanice]

We drive down on the 15th from Indiana. Stopping that night just inside Georgia to sleep, then check in at POP in 16th. It is a waiting game to see how things play out. Hoping we get to continue our plans. Praying hard for everyone down south this weekend.

A little OT, but I hope you get to enjoy Pop next week. We stayed there 3 years in a row, and I loved it. I have some super happy memories of those trips.

 

[Amy___M]

Thank you for your insight! My fiance wants to skip Orlando and go to Colorado but I'm still hoping for a miracle that Orlando will have minimal damage. Maybe I'll just hold out a little longer...

But also my TA mentioned that the call centers may be down and she may not get through if I wait too much longer.

Just an FYI from here in Colo, we have a bunch of smoke pollution from the fires in the west, so you can't see the mountains in the metro area, etc. The light is hazy and orange

 

[Interpol]

Not necessarily. It isn't possible at this point for Disney to evacuate everyone. There's not enough planes, gasoline, rental cars, etc. Therby, their employees are in the position of safekeeping and protecting life.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that. The CMs are there to maintain hotel/resort operations and customer service. It's the job of first responders, law enforcement, and medical personnel to "safekeep and protect life".

 

[AngiTN]

Thank you for your insight! My fiance wants to skip Orlando and go to Colorado but I'm still hoping for a miracle that Orlando will have minimal damage. Maybe I'll just hold out a little longer...

But also my TA mentioned that the call centers may be down and she may not get through if I wait too much longer.

Some of their call center agents are not located in FL so it stands to be possible they'll be able to operate during the storm. Maybe?

 

[scoobert2]

I am at a loss as to what to do. I have bounced back and forth and keep bouncing. We are scheduled to leave early Sept 12 with a lay-over in St. Louis, MO and then on to Orlando. We can push back our dates now (to the 15th) but flights are filling up fast and I would have to reschedule and rework everything. Or, we can just wait....see what happens and then cancel (probably not able to snag flights for the 15th) but maybe move plans to the 29th. I keep thinking that things might be just fine, but if they aren't, will 3 days later be much better? In that case, it would make sense just to wait and see and then if there is a lot of damage we will want to wait several days anyway before coming. I'm so sorry for everyone involved in this! I hope everyone stays safe!

 

[Amy___M]

I feel blasphemous to even ask this, but you all know so much about the area... We originally had 10 days scheduled at Vero Beach, with 4 days in Orlando beforehand, and we were supposed to have arrived yesterday. I canceled the Vero portion, and moved the Orlando portion to 9/12-9/17. I'm 95% sure I'm going to just scrap the whole thing, but I wanted to ask: does anyone know how safe - and here's the blasphemous part - Universal is? We had planned to spend a day there for my HP-obsessed 8yo as a treat for having devoured the books. I have no doubt WDW builds everything to stringent codes and performs the best safety checks, but I know nothing about *that other place*. Any ideas?

I can't say about their infrastructure... but I will proudly say that Universal is awesome

 

[Tonyz]

So my flight out tomorrow got canceled. Sucks!

But... I get to AKL expecting to be told no more rooms. Luckily enough I was able to add two nights for the discounted price!

It's crappy to be here during a hurricane of course. But I think the best/safest place to be during a hurricane is a Disney resort (especially a fortress like AKL!).

So onward and upward. Pandora tonight and tomorrow morning. Then probably hanging out in AKL Sunday night and Monday. I could spend all day in this lobby so that's barely a punishment.

Gonna get some water and food for the room. Got stuff changed. All in all I'm feeling pretty good!

 

[yulilin3]

I am surprised they made the call right now to close on Monday too.

Disney and Universal always play this game...let's see who announces first...Now wait and see when Disney will announce.
There have been some unofficial reports that mandatory curfew will begin tomorrow at 8pm so maybe that's why they are starting to announce

 

[mellvswdw1]

We rebooked to Thursday and am fretting the same way. I'm mostly concerned about the airport being operational.

hey Amy! Glad to see you rebooked! Fingers crossed we will be able to get into MCO early Wednesday morning at 9:30. I am hoping that we will be ok!

 

[twoplustwins]

That's overstating the situation. While those things have happened somewhere in Central Florida, I can assure you that it's not widespread.

This is just what she has reported to me as to why they are staying. I'm not there, so I can't make judgements to their situation.

 

[SamanthaH]

Just an FYI from here in Colo, we have a bunch of smoke pollution from the fires in the west, so you can't see the mountains in the metro area, etc. The light is hazy and orange

I second this. We are from Boulder, and you literally can not see the mountains from the thick haze of smoke. It would not be much a vacation here. My parents are in Yellowstone, and it is the same way there.