Hurricane Irma?

[fla4fun]

THANK YOU! Good lord the tension on here.

I'm trying to give everyone a pass when it comes to stress and anxiety right now. I don't know what is going on in their life right now, or why their particular Disney trip is so important. Having used Disney trips to recover from deaths and other traumatic events, I can understand that sometimes it's more than just a cancellation that is causing the upset.

Yes, I am still planning to check in on Tuesday and I hope it happens for the right reasons. I hope it's not because my home is damaged or gone. After all the stress this week, I need a dose of that Disney magic right now.

 

[xWilliam]

GFS 12z for Sep 6 is rolling out.

Path moved slightly Westward, and is hugging the Eastern Florida coast more tightly. It shouldnt come as a surprise if it tilts west again

 

[HopperFan]

Wow can you read? In the quote you've pulled I very clearly ask "Can you wait and see IF Disney activates their hurricane policy tomorrow?" Again, no one here is trying to say anything is set in stone.

Not worth your response. Everyone needs to stop responding to the unproductive comments. Let's just help those with real questions.

 

[Magic Ears]

Finally got through on phone. With our reservation, they let us cancel room for no penalty because state of emergency issued. We kept the park tickets and will rebook our trip later. Park tickets from the reservation good through December 31, 2018.

 

[jnkrim]

We're rescheduling our trip for later in the month- we were able to rearrange our off-site resort. But now a huge snag with my parents plane tickets! They booked through Expedia and Expedia won't refund or rebook without an actual hurricane watch warning which probably won't happen until this weekend. Their flight is Friday. Any advice?

 

[TinkOhio]

Any news of how MCO is now? Flying my daughter out tomorrow morning, and we're wondering if she should leave extra early for the airport.

 

[Jennasis]

It's actually really nasty outside right now here in NC. Raining, cool, and windy. It feels right now like it does when a TS goes nearby (like it did with the remnant of Harvey).

 

[Tom Cottone]

We are in Upstate SC about 30 mins from the Georgia border and 30 minutes from Greenville. Hopefully it weakens before it heads our way, but it makes me nervous with this being one of the strongest hurricanes in the Atlantic.

I'm in Charleston. Think how nervous we are down here

 

[DLM1980]

We're rescheduling our trip for later in the month- we were able to rearrange our off-site resort. But now a huge snag with my parents plane tickets! They booked through Expedia and Expedia won't refund or rebook without an actual hurricane watch warning which probably won't happen until this weekend. Their flight is Friday. Any advice?

Sometimes you just gotta go up the chain of command

Get that supervisor till you get the result u need

 

[wonder whisper]

Land is death to a hurricane.

Yes and no. wet, moist land (read: the Everglades) is like heroin to a hurricane. And a large storm (such as Sandy, when it hit the northeast) retained surprisingly strong winds (65+ mph) over a day after it came ashore (knocking down scores of large, mature trees and taking off porch roofs) in my brother's area, 32 miles north of Long Island Sound.

So anyone thinking Orlando is in a storm proof hermetically sealed area needs to understand it is not necessarily immune to a monster like Irma.

 

[DrunkJam]

dang.

i am in the uk - wonder if there is a uk number that i can call.

Thanks ever so much for your help.

I believe there is an 0800 number, it should be on your invoice / confirmation?

 

[aroundtheriverbend]

Here is the map from weather underground that doesn't use old data, in case anyone cares... https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/atlantic/2017/hurricane-irma

Curious if anyone can tell me - when a forecast line stops, is that because that's the end of the timeline that particular line forecasts, or is that where it anticipates the storm to no longer be a hurricane? We live in Charlotte NC so trying to get smart on this. Thanks!

 

[The Lucky Bug]

We were there during hurricane Charlie in 2004 at the Beach Club. I remember they evacuated the Fort Wilderness campground into the hotel lobby area to get them out of harms way. The gift shop was completely out of food and the restaurants were closed but they did provide bagged lunches. The parks were closed around 1pm the day the storm hit and reopened sometime in the late afternoon the following day. Animal kingdom was closed the day before and remained closed the day after because of the animals safety. I also remember the outside vendors were closed the next day according to a cast member it was because of potential winds as well as lack of staffing since a lot of cast members could not come in.

Disney made it as comfortable as possible but I wouldn't want to do that again. I would suggest changing your reservations if possible.

 

[AllThingsMickey4]

I'm in Charleston. Think how nervous we are down here

I can't imagine. We have property in Myrtle Beach so we are watching the coast closely as well. We visit Charleston at least once a month.. such a beautiful and historic city. Prayers to you and everyone in Charleston.

 

[SimonSez]

People have moved other reservations (not those for Irma but shouldn't be any different) and as long as they keep their same confirmation number they keep their renovation gift card

There's no benefit to doing it on the phone vs. online UNLESS you are inside the change window and online is trying to charge you a change fee. On the phone they can waive that.

Agree, if it's the same confirmation # you should get the gift card.

 

[AngiTN]

dang.

i am in the uk - wonder if there is a uk number that i can call.

Thanks ever so much for your help.

I am pretty sure there is a toll free number for UK to call (unlike us here in the US).
Maybe check the UK board here?

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I'm still waiting to decide what to do. I'm supposed to fly in Monday evening arriving around 7pm - doubt this will be happening. I won't be driving from Georgia - that's just too risky. I booked using my points with Southwest so I'm sure I can get those back although I'll probably lose the fee costs.

I spent the past few hours seeing what was available for the time frames I can go for the rest of this year with DVC - not a thing. And of course I'm long past the point of being able to bank points with a December use year.

I'm thinking if Disney won't let them be banked - I'll just be out them this year. My husband says we could probably still go on Thursday so I would only lose a few days of points and my time alone but I'm not sure. At least I can get MNSSHP refunds it's sounding like.

Our friends who live in not too far from Disney and said they've been prepared since August 1st for hurricanes so they said they won't be going anywhere.

I've got a step niece who works at the Disney Theme Parks and she was going to come to us if there was an Orlando evacuation and she could leave work-wise.
My son goes to college not far from Savannah so we've told him to come home and basically bring home as much will fit in his car if the Hurricane heads east.

So we are currently as ready as we can be for this. I'll just keep watching and waiting and hoping that everyone in it's path will be ok.

 

[jo-jo]

Just back from Publix (Landstar Blvd with Town Center Blvd in Orlando for those wondering, 20 min from WDW) No water, there is still packaged bread and also fresh baked bread from Publix bakery but that is low. The canned food aisle was being restocked so plenty of tuna and soup...Gas station was fine, filled the car up without a wait at all. The important thing is not to panic. There was a couple at Publix and the lady was close to tears because there was no water and the husband had 2 empty huge bottles, the ones you use at office coolers, and kept telling her that they can fill those up when they got home.
bread aisle

Yes, bottled water would taste better, but I'd be home filling up every container I could find with water. Fill up what every bottle I had for drinking, but also fill tub, any 5 gallon buckets, etc. You need water for more than just drinking. I'm curious, what the shelf stable juice aisle looks like. Water might be best, but liquid is liquid.

 

[msanchez1536]

I feel like Virgin America is the only airlines that hasn't issued a travel advisory yet I leave Sunday and would be arriving at MCO around 2:30 PM.. Hoping it either goes away or I can reschedule to different dates

 

[ktlm]

Did anyone stay Club Level during Matthew? I'm wondering how they handle a hurricane and whether or not they will provide any food and water, etc.

We were there at YC CL during Matthew last year. CL was the best possible place to be. While others were in long lines for boxes or in long lines to buy snacks, CL remained stocked with most of the things they would have normally had. We were very lucky to have been in CL. I will also say that the shelves in the store at BC seemed to say well stocked-- WDW was clearly well prepared. Can't say whether it would be that way this time-but at least last time they were (we wandered through several times while we were stuck at the resort). They will suspend housekeeping service, to be sure you hang your towels to re-use just in case. Seems like you might still have even been able to get towels, but we did not try.

I also have a recommendation for those that will be at a resort with TS during Irma. I would suggest trying to book a couple of ADRs in the resort restaurants. Last year, the resort TS closed around 6:00 p.m. on Thurs, but they re-opened with a reduced staff around lunchtime on Friday (the main impact was in the overnight hours). When it became clear that Matthew was not turning and was going to impact the area, a day or two before it hit I jumped online and got resort ADRs (probably the same time people not at our resort were cancelling theirs). At that time, I did not know if CL would be stocked (which it turned out to be), and I thought I would make them in case the restaurants were open. The restaurants may close (as they did Thursday night last year), but they also will reopen as soon as possible. On Friday night while others were in long lines for boxes, we were in Yachtsman having a fantastic meal. We also had Beaches and Cream during Matthew- I can't remember if that was just before it closed Thursday or for lunch Friday. It was just a matter of planning ahead, and being lucky enough that the restaurants were still open or back open. If you have an ADR at your resort restaurant- assuming they are not closed at the time of your ADR, you can avoid the box lines. Once it hits, everyone is going to the podiums trying to get ADRs, and the restaurants are not fully staffed, so they don't fill them to capacity so getting ahead of the rush is best. We saw a ton of people at all the podiums trying to get in. So- while the restaurant may be closed and you may not get to keep your ADR, if it is open, you have an option other than a box. We lost BOG which is where we were supposed to be Friday as the park was closed, but Yachstman was a good substitute- one of the best meals we have had at WDW. Also, depending on when it is supposed to hit- if it looks like it is going to hit overnight Sun-Mon and you are planning on doing MNSSHP, I would come up with a plan for that (an earlier night if you won't be around long enough for a later night). If it is hitting overnight, the parks may close for Sunday night and MNSSHP will likely be cancelled (not to mention wet). During Matthew, the weather would have been fine by Friday night to have it (they opened Disney Springs), but the park CMs had all been released so the party could not take place. They could not get the staff back in place in time for the party. We were doing 2 MNSSHP, so luckily we had been to one the Sunday before. We did get an e-mail offering us either a refund or tickets for any other night that week (we were leaving Sunday- so not an option).