Hurricane Matthew Closes WDW - Reopens Saturday, October 8th

[Lehuaann]

You know what the difference between Charlie in 2004 and Matthew in 2016 are? Bob Iger!!

LOL sorry, I just couldn't resist!

I also read that CMs are supposed to use PTO as well

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

Which is why I am FOR "price gouging" during a disaster.

I am not sure I eat 9 pizzas a year.....but some ladies family must have needed them last night.
Again - kudos for Disney being able to serve all those guests for all that time and not run out of food.

That means you're advocating for something that is illegal in Florida.

 

[dnkmmw]

I wasn't going to hit reply but - the tone of this post is insulting to me as a Canadian (not sure where the poster you are replying to lives - but as someone who lives 90 minutes from the US border and who has spent countless time in your country from coast to coast) and I'm sure any other Canadians reading this thread.

Not only do we get pretty much every US tv/cable/satellite tv station that you have in the States on our cable & satellite systems - we have many stellar Canadian tv stations that often have more extensive coverage of things in the US like Katrina or Matthew then many Americans in removed areas are seeing.

Our tv reporters have passports & have been known to travel.

I'm not the OP, but I do not think this was meant to insult Canadians. There was a post from a Canadian saying, to most Canadians, hurricanes are unheard of and they think of them as a big wind storm. I also found it very surprising that Canadians wouldn't be aware of what hurricanes can do and the damage they cause. I understand now that the poster who said this was out of line saying most Canadian haven't heard of hurricanes.

 

[RobDoc]

I believe that has a historical precedent. I don't remember which storm, but I seem to remember Disney opening 1 park to resort Guests only after a storm had passed.

Category 4 Hurricane Floyd (Sept. 15, 1999) closed WDW but turned out to be a non-event as it never made the expected landfall near Daytona (it did strike NC as a Cat 2). WDW had already announced closure of all parks, instructed hotel guests to fill the tub with water, issued flashlights and box lunches to guests, provided Disney movies for kids (and Touchstone movies for adults) on room TVs. Many CMs were unable to get in for their park positions, but Disney did open, provide transportation and free admission for all WDW Hotel guests to AK while leaving the other parks closed for that day.

AK opened in April, 1998 and we had not yet been to AK and were happy for the opportunity to enjoy the park after weathering out the storm the evening before.

 

[Ndusmama]

I did walk over. It was nothing. No rain very little wind.

So any problems changing rooms then?

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

Call the desks directly (the numbers are available) and make sure you can get in as the resorts are on lockdown just like the parks (not taking morning or afternoon ADRs- got email yesterday evening to that)
Drive extremely slowly in the main roads- gusts are high, and as of now, I'd leave Tampa after 7 when everything blows through. That's what local news is saying right now is rain clear.

There are no direct lines to the front desks. They all go to off-site call centers. The only available numbers would be to the hotel back offices and they don't give those out publicly.

 

[grnflash]

Exactly my thought. That's the reason so many people stayed for Katrina. Year after year, storm after storm, people in charge would panic and yell at everyone to leave because the world was going to end. Then, when a really bad storm was actually coming, lots of people figured it was another sky is falling situation and didn't leave. There can definitely be a detrimental effect to stir up panic too often.

Sorry but that isn't right - that was not one of the primary reasons people didn't evacuate Katrina. The late evac order was the biggest reason. Only 20 hours prior to the hit. It was grossly insufficient time for needy populations (the sick or elderly, the poor - many without a car or financial resources) to be able to figure out how to leave on their own and too late for an already inept municipal government to move them.

A big lesson learned from Katrina was to sound a warranted warning early, even though you will never be 100% certain the weather model will play out. For citizens, imo, the lesson is to heed the dang warnings.

 

[2DisPrincesses]

In the GCH @ Poly now. Charcters,coloring, candy for the kids. All dining is open for Poly guests on limited menus for now.

 

[missnic]

Thank you to whoever posted that the pop food court was open. They've been open since 8, yet we got a voicemail at 8:30 saying to stay in the room. I'm not at all happy that they didn't even bother to let people know.

 

[otten]

I don't even need to know what a hurricane can do to take it seriously. I live on the west coast of Canada and we do get powerful windstorms, occasionally with hurricane force winds. And thanks to the large number of trees, especially the large number of them along the power lines, they can do serious damage. Last time we had a severe storm people were without power for a week in a lot o

I'm not the OP, but I do not think this was meant to insult Canadians. There was a post from a Canadian saying, to most Canadians, hurricanes are unheard of and they think of them as a big wind storm. I also found it very surprising that Canadians wouldn't be aware of what hurricanes can do and the damage they cause. I understand now that the poster who said this was out of line saying most Canadian haven't heard of hurricanes.

Except that a big windstorm can do huge damage and we should all know that. Last time we had a big storm here there were areas without power for a week. We had a storm in 2006 where some people on Vancouver Island were without power for three weeks. I don't see how not being in a actual hurricane is an excuse for not getting the severity of it.

 

[HopperFan]

Orange County is expected to make an announcement regarding the curfew around noon today.

 

[cristen72]

We're at Caribbean Beach and last night the message said Port Royale was closed until further notice but since mouse-keeping did not restock our in-room coffee yesterday my husband ventured out (we require coffee!) and it was open! Fully stocked bakery area too and they were making hot breakfasts. Kicking myself a little for buying those box lunches yesterday for today that I know my kids won't eat but the cashier did tell my husband they don't know how long the food will last (if they'll get resupplied or not) so I guess better safe than sorry!

Were they doing prepacked hot breakfast boxes, or could you order off the menu?

 

[drquest]

Yes! I really can't believe it. And no drink at that. First people don't get their vacation (understandable, storms happen), but that would leave a nasty taste in my mouth about staying at a Disney resort again. I've got 2 stays coming up in the next 5 months, and this gives me pause...

I'm not at WDW right now, but go there enough that I've been watching this thread.

These complaints about the food boxes are pretty amazing. I can't imagine the amount of logistics it took Disney to pull off even being able to deliver this volume of food to these resorts in this short amount of time. It's staggering when you know they were having to plan for enough food to cover all of the room reservations they had, plus occupants plus more on top of that. If this food had been free or deeply discounted people would have come back again and again to fill their rooms up with it. People will be people...

Is $12.99 ideal, probably not, but it's better than nothing.

 

[teCh0010]

I'm booked into MLB on Sat. and staying at the Swan. Anyone heard conditions over at MLB?

Hoping the airport is open and rental cars aren't damaged.

 

[HopperFan]

roger kirk ‏@rwkirk 16m16 minutes ago
Baloo making an appearance last night during the food court wait at Disney's French Quarter #wdw #hurricanematthew

 

[flatlandcycle]

View attachment 199522

Time for French toast from yesterday's bounty platter

Yummers, golden iron toast, steam on or off? There better be a Willy Wonka Ticket in that thing.

 

[bluezee]

If they open just one park today won't it be packed shoulder to shoulder? There are a lot of folks itching to get out of their resorts. I just can't imagine ALL of those people flooding one park at the same time. And people thought the lines for boxed food were bad?!?

 

[KateP85]

Osceola County curfew was just lifted. The Cast Member emergency line is telling CMs that they are exempt from the curfew. Many have been quite...vocal...about this!

My friend is at the Yacht Club and said that, as of right now, dining at the resorts is limited to those actually at that resort. So if you're staying at Pop and have an ADR at the Polyensian, have a Plan B in mind.

 

[otten]

If they open just one park today won't it be packed shoulder to shoulder? There are a lot of folks itching to get out of their resorts. I just can't imagine ALL of those people flooding one park at the same time. And people thought the lines for boxed food were bad?!?

Especially if it's World showcase? Imagine the line for FEA?!

 

[HopperFan]

roger kirk ‏@rwkirk 43m43 minutes ago
Pluto says Hi to some young visitors last night during #HurricaneMatthew preparation #wdw #frenchquarterresort