Hurricane Jeanne, live from Saratoga

[DisneyDiva4ever]

Hello!

Here's a report for those curious about people in WDW right now. I am currently sitting in my beautiful one-bedroom at SSR. This being my first trip "home" I am getting a real chance to appreciate the interior beauty! However, that's about all I've seen so far. My husband and I flew in from Minneapolis yesterday. We did have a chance to get to DTD before everything closed at 7:00. We enjoyed walking around the resort last night. Swimming was fun. I got lots of nice pics of the resort at night. We got a notice that we should prepare to be in our rooms for 24 hours so we stayed out for a bit. We went to bed at about midnight. I woke up at 4:45 to some pretty strong gusts. The wind continues to pound the resort. We are supposed to get some relief in about 9 more hours.

The vegitation seems to be holding pretty well. Though I can't see THAT much from my window. I'm sure the pool has some pretty nice waves going right now. My main concern is that we have a bit of a break in the caulk underneath our bedroom window. Literally everytime the wind gusts, water dribbles down the wall from the bottom of the window. I guess that is nothing compared to the destruction most people are having to deal with. It's still sad to see that even 80mh winds can make windows leak.

We just had a delicious Mac 'n cheese meal. I'm thankful that I brought lots of snacky foods. We hope that tomorrow will bring better weather and relief to those in real trouble. For right now, I will continue to enjoy the comfort of this lovely room I'm "Stuck in!" I have a great chance to photograph every inch of it!

Feel free to ask questions. I'm not sure how helpful I can be, but I'll do my best! Go Away Jeanne!!!

 

[mbb]

and let us know when the skies are blue again

Take care!!!

 

[Montana Disney Fan]

I'm shocked that anything is even still standing in Florida !! Someone remind me to never book a trip "Home" in August, Sept, or Oct.

Hold on tight and thanks for the update!!

MDF

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Mac 'n cheese? I thought you were only allowed to have Mick'n'cheese @ WDW.

Happy to hear things are going as well as possible. Look on the bright side...this is a trip you will never forget!

 

[DisneyDiva4ever]

Yes yes, what was I thinking?! Mick'n cheese is REALLY what I had for lunch. Yes, this is a trip I will not soon forget. I am happy that I will be here the rest of the week and next weekend. The parks will open, the sun will shine, Mickey, though tired and disgusted, will give me a hug. I'm sure all will be well soon enough. I wish we could say that for the rest of poor Florida.

 

[spiceycat]

My main concern is that we have a bit of a break in the caulk underneath our bedroom window. Literally everytime the wind gusts, water dribbles down the wall from the bottom of the window. I guess that is nothing compared to the

You mean in your almost new building you have a leak.

I would make sure that maintence/housekeeping knows maybe tomorrow when they are during pick up work.

this should not be happening.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

Thanks for the report! It sounds like you are dealing with Jeanne very well! Stay positive and stay safe!!

 

[Patty3]

Thanks for the update. I am glad that you are safe and are making the best of a bad situation. My heart goes out to those in Florida, those folks have had enough!

 

[tixx]

stay safe and enjoy

 

[poohj80]

We just checked into SSR DisDiva also into a 1BR after spending last night in a studio at OKW unexpectedly (wanted to make sure we got here). When we checked into SSR there are towels all over the floor and at least a dozen trash cans out to catch the drips. We were told Artist Palette would open after 5 PM when the lockdown was lifted but we haven't heard anything official on our phone yet. We at least thought ahead enough to throw a couple cans of soup into our DVC box in case there's nowhere to get something to eat open. Maybe we'll see ya down there!

Anyone who may be at WDW using their high speed internet - can you send email? We can receive email in Outlook Express but have not had any luck sending. Anyone know if we have to change our outgoing mail server or is it down due to the hurricane?

Thanks so much!
PJ

 

[DisneyDiva4ever]

Here again, I just took a nice nap. I have to say that the overall power of the storm seems to be weakening. However, the gusts are still very strong. I have a feeling people are going to start walking around outside prematurely. It can get very quiet for a min and then follow-up by a very powerful gust of wind. I hope people are staying inside.

I did a survey of the courtyard behind my room. I am now seeing a few shingles on the ground. There is also a bit of standing water around some of the landscaping. There are leaves scattered around too, obviously! Before when I talked about my window leaking, I didn't mean to make SSR sound bad. With these kind of winds, I'm glad nothing else has happened. I'm sure this is the same type of leakage that Vero experienced. The problem is the wind is so strong that it just forces the rain into every little crack in the building. My window is an easy fix. I will report it to maintenance. It's no emergency though. Just a shame.

I don't imagine we'll be cleared to leave our room for quite-a-while. Our hope was to get to a late late dinner at Artist's Palette. I'm not sure if that's going to happen! All I can say is that I feel really lucky to have power. I think my view of this storm is pretty skewed. Outside of WDW things are much worse. Residents in houses are dealling with some rough winds that can't withstand what these resorts can. My thoughts go out to them.

For now, it's off to the jet tub or time for some more football. Dinner will be bagels and, you guessed it, more "Mick'n cheese!" Only about 6-7 more hours of tropical storm strength winds. Then we should be more in the clear. I must say, SSR is a great place to wait out a storm. I don't have any regrets about joining vacation club! After just checking in, my husband and I decided that DVC is the right place for us to be! SSR is a real treat & has grown on us in just one day!

 

[tinkgrl]

Hi,

Thanks for sharing!! Stay safe!

Allison

 

[disneycrazed139]

Thanks for the report. Glad to know that SSR is such as safe place to be during such a storm. Also, that the landscaping seems to be holding up. Great to hear. Hang in!

 

[martyp999]

I am in a grand villa at SSR. There are several small trees uprooted on the property with some of the toppled trees resting on top of cars in the parking lot. The majority of the landscaping is holding up well.

 

[Rob&Jan]

Thanks for the updates, stay safe

 

[poohj80]

Artist Palette opened around 630 PM including Donald, Pluto, Genie, and a trivia contest (which we tied for winning!). It was nice to have some real food for dinner!

 

[Cruelladeville]

Stay safe!

My two daughters and their friends are also at Disney now, over at BWV. They called today to let me know that there are whitecaps on Crescent Lake They didn't see much destruction, but, like you, they are locked in until tomorrow. My younger DD arrived Friday and flies out tomorrow night, so she wasn't so happy with the vacation "gift". A renter of my points is stranded in Lake City, since there is a curfew and no travel until tomorrow.

 

[WDWJWEB1]

Stay safe and enjoy the room, thanks for the updates
Believe it or not i'd rather be at WDW in a hurricane than where I am now. once again stay safe and enjoy the rest of your visit home

 

[JudithM]

Thank you to those who have posted live from SSR. Amazing that Artist's Palette opened this evening with the curfew still in effect. Good for WDW & DVC for providing for their guests during this diffcult time.

 

[DisneyDiva4ever]

Things are looking up. The sun keeps peeking out from behind the clouds. It's a nice sight. There are clean-up crews everywhere. Last night my husband and I made it to Artist's Palatte for a really tasty dinner. We walked around and checked out the damage. There are a bunch of 10-15 foot trees laying on their sides. We saw lots of shingles on the grass as well as down the interior hallways of the resort. The "chapel" looking building next to the DVC recruitment center had missing shingles. We saw a glass patio door slamming around on one of the unfinished rooms in the SSR construction area...scary! Most of the damage won't take long to fix.

The four parks are open today. I'm heading off to Epcot now. I hope the parks did as well as the resorts. Everyone is working hard to get things up and running. I'm on my way Mickey!!!