Hurricane Irma?

[SpookyJ]

Knowing full well that no one has a sure idea of what exactly will happen, and knowing that we could at least extend our trip personally a few days, if someone more experienced was in my position, what would you do? We are flying in Thursday mid day and supposed to do parks Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon, leave Tues. Looks like at least ok through Saturday I hope, with Sunday and Monday sketchy at best. If it hits bad and we lose those 2 park days, hopefully southwest will let me leave Thursday instead and we could do Tues/weds. Staying at all star movies, it looks like even as of now there are rooms available for those days. That seems like a solid backup plan, right? Just stay 2 extra days? From what you lovely folks are saying, parks pretty much never stay closed for more than a day and a half. I don't mind having a poncho party in the rain. Just trying to calm my distress and sadness over here.

The silver lining in all this of having low-wage jobs (temp job in my boyfriends case) is less pressure to get right back to work. But obviously we can't afford to eat the whole trip and try again later. I know I'm probably asking the same annoying questions over and over, I just am not blessed to be able to just try again next month or something so it's harder to take it in stride from all the way here in NH

 

[Hannahh25]

We are staying at AKL from 6-21 September. We're coming from the UK so rescheduling our trip is almost impossible - do you think we'll be ok? It looks like a few of you are there around the same time which is reassuring. Is it possible that some of the resorts will be evacuated if it gets really bad, or is it likely that we'll all be staying put in our rooms?

This will be our first experience of a hurricane...

 

[HopperFan]

I didn't see this posted but here is Disney FAQ

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/hurricane-policy/warning-issued/

This model is making it not look so bad...

https://www.ventusky.com/?p=28.6;-81.4;5&l=wind&t=20170911/12

Detailed within couple hours so make sure to check each as it changes a lot as you slide time.

 

[DisneyDeb83]

We are coming in Saturday night, should land around 8 pm. I was on SW website and they are allowing changes for some of the flights scheduled to and from the islands between the 5th thru the 8th.

If they allow changes for Florida in the next couple days, can I move up to earlier in the day even if I booked the wanna get away rate and not pay any more? There is no availability for that category. Also, what happens to my early bird check in?

 

[anniemae]

This is why I hate going to FL during hurricane season!

 

[Johnaquaris]

Guys, I'm right now in orlando and planning to fly out on 9th. Should I prepone my trip or wait it out 1 more day and then decide?

 

[Alice Hart]

Governor Rick Scott just issued a state of emergency for all of Florida 67 counties.

 

[Tonyz]

Guys, I'm right now in orlando and planning to fly out on 9th. Should I prepone my trip or wait it out 1 more day and then decide?

Saturday seems like it'll be fine for Orlando at least right now. Definitely wait a day or two before deciding.

 

[Tinkerbell2017]

We are staying at AKL from 6-21 September. We're coming from the UK so rescheduling our trip is almost impossible - do you think we'll be ok? It looks like a few of you are there around the same time which is reassuring. Is it possible that some of the resorts will be evacuated if it gets really bad, or is it likely that we'll all be staying put in our rooms?

This will be our first experience of a hurricane...

That's a nice long vacation. It doesn't look like you're traveling at times to worry about a hurricane. You may have a couple of bad weather days, but Disney will take care of you.

 

[Jerseylocks]

Is anyone going to reschedule WDW trip? I went thru a travel agent. I just emailed her to discuss my options. We have been looking forward to this trip and I am freaking out. I do not want to be stuck in another state during a Hurricane.

 

[OnceUponATime15]

Anyone looking for a well written, detailed trip report on what riding out Matthew was like at WDW - and how dangerous it is to try to drive home in far from perfect conditions... here is a link to a thread posted here on the Dis last year. Details done with a sense of humor.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/h...ell-an-oct-dr-complete.3556383/#post-56658951

 

[fla4fun]

Knowing full well that no one has a sure idea of what exactly will happen, and knowing that we could at least extend our trip personally a few days, if someone more experienced was in my position, what would you do? We are flying in Thursday mid day and supposed to do parks Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon, leave Tues. Looks like at least ok through Saturday I hope, with Sunday and Monday sketchy at best. If it hits bad and we lose those 2 park days, hopefully southwest will let me leave Thursday instead and we could do Tues/weds. Staying at all star movies, it looks like even as of now there are rooms available for those days. That seems like a solid backup plan, right? Just stay 2 extra days? From what you lovely folks are saying, parks pretty much never stay closed for more than a day and a half. I don't mind having a poncho party in the rain. Just trying to calm my distress and sadness over here.

The silver lining in all this of having low-wage jobs (temp job in my boyfriends case) is less pressure to get right back to work. But obviously we can't afford to eat the whole trip and try again later. I know I'm probably asking the same annoying questions over and over, I just am not blessed to be able to just try again next month or something so it's harder to take it in stride from all the way here in NH

If you are committed to the trip then that sounds like a good way to make lemonade out of the lemons. Based on the info we have now (always subject to change) it looks like it could be bad Sunday afternoon into Monday morning, so if there aren't any big issues a best case scenario would have the parks closing early a Sunday and opening late Monday. There are precedents for partial days right before/after a storm. Obviously they want to get their CM's home and out of harms way. If you have the flexibility to extend your stay, I would book sooner rather than later. I don't have the option to reschedule so I just have to make the best of it.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

I didn't see this posted but here is Disney FAQ

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/hurricane-policy/warning-issued/



Detailed within couple hours so make sure to check each as it changes a lot as you slide time.

Looks like Sunday afternoon head to the hotel for the night. Monday morning its long gone. This make me feel a little better

 

[Alicialee05]

Is anyone going to reschedule WDW trip? I went thru a travel agent. I just emailed her to discuss my options. We have been looking forward to this trip and I am freaking out. I do not want to be stuck in another state during a Hurricane.

It's looking like we may reschedule. Trying to get in touch with my TA (which is like pulling teeth- never again!) and hopefully get our trip moved to 9/17 or 9/24.
Waiting until Wednesday/Thursday to make the final decision

 

[SpookyJ]

If you are committed to the trip then that sounds like a good way to make lemonade out of the lemons. Based on the info we have now (always subject to change) it looks like it could be bad Sunday afternoon into Monday morning, so if there aren't any big issues a best case scenario would have the parks closing early a Sunday and opening late Monday. There are precedents for partial days right before/after a storm. Obviously they want to get their CM's home and out of harms way. If you have the flexibility to extend your stay, I would book sooner rather than later. I don't have the option to reschedule so I just have to make the best of it.

Thank you for your reassuring response. I am waiting to hear back from my travel agent about extending things and hoping that some folks will cancel anyways if we have to wait on it. At least I know it's an option for when things become reasonably certain Wednesday morning and then I'll move quickly.

 

[Jennasis]

We are supposed to be driving to Orlando on Sunday the 9th. It's a 9 hour drive from NC and We typically arrive in Orlando at 3pm if we leave at our usual time of 6am. We are thinking of either leaving way earlier (think midnight) and arriving earlier on Sunday or heading down Saturday and getting a cheap overnight somewhere in South Georgia or right over the FL border for the night and then getting to SSR in the morning on Sunday.

Grrr.

 

[anniemae]

We are staying at AKL from 6-21 September. We're coming from the UK so rescheduling our trip is almost impossible - do you think we'll be ok? It looks like a few of you are there around the same time which is reassuring. Is it possible that some of the resorts will be evacuated if it gets really bad, or is it likely that we'll all be staying put in our rooms?

This will be our first experience of a hurricane...

You should be fine. You will be there for the hurricane, IF it continues on this current path. The problem is those who are flying in or out during the time the hurricane is set to hit. You will already be there and will not be leaving until the 21st. I don't think they would evacuate the resorts, from what I hear they are build to sustain hurricane force winds and are actually a good place to be during a hurricane. I heard locals will ride out hurricanes at Disney since it is so safe. You will likely need to stay put. I would have a food/water plan though as everything will likely close and there are reports that water is flying off the shelves.

 

[fla4fun]

Just thought of something . . .for those of you that tend to rely solely on credit cards or MB, make sure you have some cash available in case electronic payments are unavailable. In a non vacation scenario I try to have a couple hundred available, but think of what you might need for food and other basic necessities for a couple days to come up with a figure. It's one of the things they always mention to us as part of hurricane prep, but if you aren't used to reading the fine print on the prep sheets, you could be caught short. Even if you have snacks and water, if it's a bad storm there could be areas around Orlando without power for several days. It becomes more important for those of you considering driving in or out if your flight is cancelled.

 

[AndreaA]

What wind speed would they close the parks? Restaurants? As of now, Ventusky barely has Orlando hitting 50mph - briefly - but mostly 20-40mph.

We have Citricos reservations on Sunday night and Ohana on Monday morning (staying at Poly) and Chef Mickey's Monday night. If we can make all those reservations, I think we will go, as Hollywood studios isn't a must-do park for us and we have hoppers so can probably get over there later in the week just to do the Frozen Sing-A-Long and TSMM. One of our sons is on the spectrum, so he uses a DAS pass and FP+ isn't as big a deal for us since only a few of the rides he will do even have lines at all.

 

[Alice Hart]

We are supposed to be driving to Orlando on Sunday the 9th. It's a 9 hour drive from NC and We typically arrive in Orlando at 3pm if we leave at our usual time of 6am. We are thinking of either leaving way earlier (think midnight) and arriving earlier on Sunday or heading down Saturday and getting a cheap overnight somewhere in South Georgia or right over the FL border for the night and then getting to SSR in the morning on Sunday.

Grrr.

I have a house in Jacksonville, The storm is supposed to be on top (the eye) at 7:00 a.m. Monday morning. If the surge is anything like predicted from a cat 4 I would suggest you rethink your plans.