Hurricane Matthew Closes WDW - Reopens Saturday, October 8th

[DisAuntie]

POLY video

https://twitter.com/Melissa_Furst/status/784372437412671488



The Poly is selling breakfast boxes for $10 ($8 after AP discount). Comes with pastry, yogurt, fruit and OJ. Cast members working so hard

Props to them for including a spoon.

 

[Geoff_M]

Grocery stores didn't drop prices in lieu of storm when people were clearing off shelves in preparation for storm. Home Depot & Lowes didn't go easy on the price of Lumber that was needed for some to board up. Gas stations and hotels didn't drop prices for those needing to be evacuated. What makes Disney any different, they are a business too. They charged their usual prices if you break it down. Yes, the did try to make guests comfortable but comfortable and dropping pricing are different things

I think you missed the crux of what I said. I wasn't suggesting that Disney should have held a "50% off" sale in their food courts and mini-marts. Unless I am mistaken, they normally don't have "box lunches" (in their various configurations) on the menu. This was an idea that was cooked up in response to the emergency. Part of that planning discussion would have been the pricing. The decision to go "full Disney" on the pricing of these emergency food items was a goodwill opportunity missed.

 

[otten]

We've had good communication at AoA. Lots of voice mails giving us updates yesterday and we were told about the park closings on the bus to AK yesterday morning.

People are walking outside in AoA, we are personally staying put in our room. We are watching the Disney movies on TV.

Us too. I wonder if the repeated messages are because there are people outside.

 

[DisAuntie]

Food court open at POFQ! (Despite what voicemail said..) no regular menu, but we got this breakfast box for $4.50.

After complaining about the price of the box sandwich, I will say that is a great price for the amount of food you got.

 

[Vness]

I am surprised at the few posters here, that suggest the absurd notion that guest's had ample time to prepare and get themselves food and supplies! Many, if not most of the guest's staying at WDW are not from the area and likely hopped on Magic Express straight from the airport to their resort! How in the world can anyone expect those people to venture out and get supplies and food!!

I am guilty of being one of those people, who's extent of knowledge of Orlando outside of WDW is what I see out of the window of Magic Express! And my knowledge of Hurricanes is just as limited! Now throw me a snow storm and that I can prepare for!

That being said - I am sure and confident that WDW and every cast member is doing the very best they can to accommodate the thousands + guest's on their properties!

 

[rteetz]

Disney hasn't given an update in terms of telling guests they can leave their rooms but plenty of people are anyways. I've seen reports that resort food courts are opening this morning.

I have also heard that Disney might try and open at least one park today. Disney has had teams in the parks all night long and I haven't seen or heard of any damage. If there was it was likely taken care of very quickly with the teams in the parks. Disney of course isn't going to open a park until they can guarantee safety. The storm isn't gone yet.

People complaining about officials over exaggerating need to take a deep breath. If the officials did nothing and bad things happened it would be all blamed on them, now when they do something and tell people to evacuate and/or stay inside but the storm weakens then it's their fault because they over exaggerated. They can't win. I've never experienced a hurricane but I've experienced plenty of winter blizzards and people should listen to officials.

 

[Ametista]

POLY video

https://twitter.com/Melissa_Furst/status/784372437412671488



The Poly is selling breakfast boxes for $10 ($8 after AP discount). Comes with pastry, yogurt, fruit and OJ. Cast members working so hard

That actually looks pretty yummy! I would be happy.

 

[tink2020]

I am surprised at the few posters here, that suggest the absurd notion that guest's had ample time to prepare and get themselves food and supplies! Many, if not most of the guest's staying at WDW are not from the area and likely hopped on Magic Express straight from the airport to their resort! How in the world can anyone expect those people to venture out and get supplies and food!!

I am guilty of being one of those people, who's extent of knowledge of Orlando outside of WDW is what I see out of the window of Magic Express! And my knowledge of Hurricanes is just as limited! Now throw me a snow storm and that I can prepare for!

That being said - I am sure and confident that WDW and every cast member is doing the very best they can to accommodate the thousands + guest's on their properties!

The internet is a funny place

I have to agree - throw some southerners (calm down, I'm sure it's not you who are reading this ) in a true blizzard and at least a handful of them would assume snow is just pretty water that makes everything a winter wonderland.

 

[NanaDisney]

You must not have seen the spaghetti models. Our local Orlando news and others said it. At one time it did look exactly like a direct hit in east Orlando where I live. They even evacuated students in the dorms at UCF, the area I live near.

 

[Lehuaann]

Btw - even all of the things Disney did well are not stopping the idiots I see out my window here! They have passed flyers under every door to tell us that messages will be sent via phone service, watch for the blinky light for updates and stay in our rooms until then. Looking out our window I just saw a dad and daughter walking about. The people below us talked to them and asked where they were going and the guy said 'I'm from XYZ, this is nothing we are fine to walk around'. Idiots.

And 10 minutes after that (now) there are about a dozen people walking around (entire families?!?!?!)...BTW - I am in Tokelua with a view of Pago Pago.

That's exactly where we are.

I wonder if guests are hanging out in the GCH?

 

[KimBean]

That's why you buy insurance. People think of insurance is for canceling the whole trip. It also covers if you have to stay longer, which could be an issue during hurricane season. It can also help if you get sick and have to stay longer.

I never have but think I will from now on- get vacation insurance. My dh is there for a conference. He didn't try to get a box so no issues there. He was planning on being in a RV at the campground- not his a coworker and he had split the rental fee and they were going to cook out so he had bags of chips, clif bars, snacks and hot dogs. He'll survive on that fine. We were really fortunate that he got a room at CSR and it was comped which was a huge upgrade in price as you can imagine. I think Disney went above and beyond on that.

I don't have a problem with the $13 box I guess I just have a problem with he quality of that sandwich. If the preps are that dire I think it is time to just start giving people uncrustables. We know they have plenty of those suckers!!

I don't know how communication has been with my DH because he has barely told me anything. I've texted him a few things some things seem to be a shock and others he is aware of.

 

[HopperFan]

Sean ‏@SeanTheDisNerd 24m24 minutes ago
A few people in line for the Riverside concierge...

 

[2DisPrincesses]

That actually looks pretty yummy! I would be happy.

They were sold out of those by 4:30-5:00 when I tried to buy them yesterday.

 

[nduckles]

I agree with the comments about trip insurance. If you can't budget for a few extra nights in case of emergency, then certainly you should budget for trip insurance that would cover those extra rooms. Just a lesson for future trips.

 

[HopperFan]

Sean ‏@SeanTheDisNerd 1h1 hour ago
Pretty calm at French Quarter. Food court is open, but only serving pre-packaged stuff. Gift shop closed. Arcade open.

 

[chefmeg]

I'm over at the Grand Floridian, in conch key so I can't see if anyone is walking around from our room -however 1900 park fare has been open for breakfast since 8am so I assume the resort is fine with people walking over to the main building. The buffet was open until 11pm last night as well and we had a wedding party celebrating in Mizners along with a few characters in the lobby well past 9pm. The last VM we got was at 10am letting anyone looking to extend their stay to contact the front desk. We stopped by the shop to pick up lunch meat and bread around noon yesterday so I haven't seen what the boxed lunches look like here but it doesn't seem like anyone will be needing them at this resort...

 

[thptrek]

DS is a CP who got called in to his resort yesterday for the duration. I'm thrilled it wasn't as bad as expected.

When I was in the Navy stationed in the Caribbean, there was a hurricane that was heading straight for us in Puerto Rico. They had elevated the preparedness to Hurricane Condition 1, which meant hurricane force winds were imminent in 6 hours or less. Everybody boarded their windows, filled every possible vessel with water and got food stores ready.

We never got a drop. It took a jog north and missed us entirely.

4 months later we went through the same process, this time with Hugo. No one said, "Well, they were wrong about the last one, so they're probably wrong about this one, too." And thank goodness, because that one was catastrophic--we were without water for a week and without power for 5 weeks, with widespread damage.

It's just crazy to blame the forecasters for a slight jog that lessened the severity. And if anyone wants to slack on preparedness next time because this one wasn't as bad...well, they get what they get.

Exactly. Once things start going bad its too late. I would rather be prepared than just hope for the best.

 

[HopperFan]

LOOKS LIKE CSR

TheDisneyTeen Blog ‏@thedisneyteenss 11s11 seconds ago
Still think it was so cool #Disney had characters come visit everyone in line at the Food Court! Thank you cast members

 

[Pawpsicle]

Sean ‏@SeanTheDisNerd 1h1 hour ago
Pretty calm at French Quarter. Food court is open, but only serving pre-packaged stuff. Gift shop closed. Arcade open.

Gift shop is open!

 

[HopperFan]

Disney Magic ‏@DisneyMagicWDW 4m4 minutes ago
NOTE: There is still a mandatory curfew in place for Orange County.
This includes roads within the Walt Disney World Resort. Don't drive!