Hurricane Matthew Closes WDW - Reopens Saturday, October 8th

[HatboxHaint]

We were there Oct 2 - 9th.

Our original plan was to stay at BLT for 5 nights then AKL for 2. I'll skip all of our trip up to Wednesday night. I left my family back at BLT and scooted to MK for EMH. I rode pirates (which broke down for 30 min, I was by the pirate trying to give the cats some rum..lol...that was a long 30 minutes). I rode HM till park close (1AM) then went to City Hall. I got a refund for our thursday MNSSHP, which was a good choice since the cancelled Friday's too. We didn't get to do that party at all. We did get our money back but lost money on the costumes we had bought. I also cancelled my star wars dessert part for friday night. The nice guy at city hall threw some FP+ into my account for Saturday.

We did AK Thursday since we still had several things there to do (not our orignal plan, but called this as a audible) and had a wonderful time (no fastpasses needed), we left around 1pm as it started to get rainy and windy and had done most of what we wanted to do. I went by the front desk of contemporary to see what we needed to do about changing resorts on Friday since by now we knew that everything was closing and there would be no transportation running. This was quite a chore but there was a wonderful CM named Amber that assured us that she would help us stay either in BLT or the Contemporary. I think by that time in the afternoon the DVC office had closed and they could not verify if we could stay in our same rooms.

So it wasn't until Friday after our checkout time that we got squared away. Amber was able to put us in a 2 bedroom villa Theme park view at BLT. It was like a dream come true! Of course the weather was not bad and the bridge between the two buildings stayed open and people were walking around outside all day. There were activities w/ characters all day at the Contemporary. We ate at Chef Mickey's sans characters with a reduced menu. Sometime earlier in the week a disney agent contacted my via text, I continued to use this text number for arrange FP+. Since I had lost my Party FP+ and Friday FP+ they were able to give me an anytime set at HS for Saturday and another set at MK for Saturday. Amber also arranged a credit $300 since we had missed dining opportunities and had left over credits. We also were credited a 1 day ticket with park hopper for the missed day. All in all it worked out ok, we were all ready for a rest by friday but it would have been nicer to lay by the pool instead.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

http://www.kctv5.com/story/33356305/after-matthew-some-second-guess-decision-to-evacuate

Really people? Really?

Maybe people don't realize that things and people's perception changed after Katrina. Better safe than sorry.

 

[HopperFan]

@HopperFan any update on your home?

Thank you for your posts throughout this thread which kept me sane and informed while worrying about my daughter and her roommates who just moved into an apartment in Kissimmee in August. Fortunately, all was well with them. Hoping for the same for you and yours.

I hear you. I always thought when they were grown that I would worry less, I think it's more now.

Thank you for asking.

So nerve wracking now that all the pictures of the area are showing up. South of us A1A is literally gone. Just heard from management, they have been there since 8 am and have inspected every single unit. No units were "destroyed" ........ softening the blow? However "several had severe ceiling damage from roof leaks due to losing shingles. All in the villages." and we are villages. They said if we received damage we would be contacted by the end of the day. And more details to all later.

Whether my garden is there or not I probably won't know until I go back - or I suppose even minor stuff like tears in screen porch etc. HOPEFULLY they pulled back drapes and inspected all window for leaks. Both the front bedrooms (north so took the brunt of storm) have big window but drapes and big dressers in front of them. Could easily hide an issue if they didn't poke around.

FINGERS CROSSED we don't hear from them today. I don't plan to go for two weeks unless there is an issue.

 

[HopperFan]

http://www.kctv5.com/story/33356305/after-matthew-some-second-guess-decision-to-evacuate

Really people? Really?

Maybe people don't realize that things and people's perception changed after Katrina. Better safe than sorry.

Many people are just "less than smart" ........... no storm prediction is perfect. I think my take would have been thank goodness it didn't hit us instead of complaining that thousands of folks worked overtime to make sure you and your things were safe.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Many people are just "less than smart" ........... no storm prediction is perfect. I think my take would have been thank goodness it didn't hit us instead of complaining that thousands of folks worked overtime to make sure you and your things were safe.

LOVE the pic!

See I'm with you too. It's not like I say "geez that was a waste of time I should have just stayed upstairs" anytime I'm coming up from my basement after a tornado warning.

ETA: And unfortunately many hurricanes I'm sure are compared to Katrina. We know what happened when people refused or were unable to evacuate.

 

[wilkeliza]

http://www.kctv5.com/story/33356305/after-matthew-some-second-guess-decision-to-evacuate

Really people? Really?

Maybe people don't realize that things and people's perception changed after Katrina. Better safe than sorry.

That is what happened with hurricane Sandy to an extent. The previous year hurricane Irene ended up being nothing to a ton of people who were forced to evacuate so when Sandy happened people were saying that they weren't going to evacuate no way no how.

@HopperFan Hoping you only get good news and your villa isn't damaged.

 

[madge]

Texting or Emailing was going to be my suggestion as well. I thought that there might have been a legal reason they couldn't text (need to opt in?).

we thought the same about opting in ... but if you did early check in with the text to let you know your room is ready, why couldn't they use that? that was our one question to the lack of info.

 

[HopperFan]

@HopperFan so happy to hear that you have gotten some positive news!

You've sold me on a side trip to St Augustine the next time I'm in Florida! It sounds like my kind of town

We have several historical & quaint towns here in Southern Ontario that I've been known to waste a while exploring, nice to know I can add St Augustine to my next vacation and experience the same...

You won't regret it. Make sure the Castillo is on your list of things to check out. I'm a sucker for historical forts. Another cool side trip in the winter is a drive over to Blue Springs State park to check out the manatees staying warm in the spring. There's hundreds of them in crystal clear water easily observable along a walkway.

There's lots of amazing side trips in Florida that get overshadowed by the Mouse. I love the bubble, but it's good sometimes to get out and see something new. This January I'm taking a couple days from DW to head over to Sarasota to check out the Ringling mansion and circus museum.

Was going to post the same thing! St Augustine is now on my 'short list' of places to visit in the next couple of years. It sounds like such a lovely place

Just saw this, thought it was a beautiful photo slide show of some parts St. Augustine (there is SO much more), even with the bad.

https://vimeo.com/joegillespie/staugustine

Sounds like lots have managed to open and lots lost virtually everything. Less info coming on homes other than it was good, bad and ugly for many. We were told all damaged units would be contacted by end of day Monday ... we have heard nothing DH is calling today to verify and for peace of mind. We are heading north to visit DD for weekend (grad school) but would have gone south if needed.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Just saw this, thought it was a beautiful photo slide show of some parts St. Augustine (there is SO much more), even with the bad.

https://vimeo.com/joegillespie/staugustine

Sounds like lots have managed to open and lots lost virtually everything. Less info coming on homes other than it was good, bad and ugly for many. We were told all damaged units would be contacted by end of day Monday ... we have heard nothing DH is calling today to verify and for peace of mind. We are heading north to visit DD for weekend (grad school) but would have gone south if needed.

Definitely hoping that no news is good news. Fingers crossed for you.

 

[HopperFan]

Definitely hoping that no news is good news. Fingers crossed for you.

DH talked to management today. They had a report on every single unit. Ours said a problem with ceiling but the description where was hard to understand. 2 story with a vault that goes front to back along one side. She sent someone back over and they came back saying it looked more like two tones of paint, probably old before we bought and before new roofs. We have painted most but not ceilings yet. First thing they checked was around all windows and doors, my concern. Roofs all being inspected by pros. Said we looked good. WHAT A RELIEF.

I joined a facebook group that is connecting everyone with needs, wants, manpower or supplies to offer. Has been amazing, what an amazing amazing community.

Someone no sooner posts they need help with moving or a tree or some water .... and someone posts they are on the way.

I will be "paying forward" our good luck for sure.

 

[wendow]

Just saw this, thought it was a beautiful photo slide show of some parts St. Augustine (there is SO much more), even with the bad.

https://vimeo.com/joegillespie/staugustine

Sounds like lots have managed to open and lots lost virtually everything. Less info coming on homes other than it was good, bad and ugly for many. We were told all damaged units would be contacted by end of day Monday ... we have heard nothing DH is calling today to verify and for peace of mind. We are heading north to visit DD for weekend (grad school) but would have gone south if needed.

Love the video. Thank you for sharing. Seems like such an amazing community. I want to visit even more now!

 

[megster1123]

Just wanted to throw in my 0.02 about our trip last week.

We arrived at Poly on Monday the 3rd and got some amazing pixie dust and were upgraded to Club Level Hawaii
Tuesday we did EMM and it was amazing. Worth every penny. Rode 7DMT 4 times, Peter Pan, WtP, then 7DMT 4 more times...awesome morning.
Wednesday we were at RD and basically had Adventureland & Frontierland to ourselves for almost 2 hours. Knocked out our whole touring plan and then some by 11am. BOG dinner was great, Wishes Dessert party was great, and the Garden Plaza viewing put us in an amazing spot for MSEP. Had the entire grassy area to ourselves for the parade.
Thursday had a PPO CRT, hopped on 7DMT 2x again, had a great morning....and then...

I'll try to keep it brief. On Tuesday morning we had a feeling the weather was turning and seeing as though we had MNSSHP tickets for Thursday, I approached concierge with the ask of moving our tickets to Tuesday. They said no. In hindsight, I should have just outright bought the Tuesday MNSHPP tickets. But we thought if the Thursday party ended up being a go, we would have been on the hook for 2 parties and that's a lot of cash. While we were on the boat back to Poly after Wishes on Wednesday, we got the notice that the Thursday party was cancelled. We spent Thursday morning the park as planned, kids rocked their halloween costumers anyway, and after seeing them in costume, a CM mentioned they were offering the option of moving the party tickets to Friday night. After checking my email, I saw there was a notice there about rescheduling as well. So around 12pm I got in line at City Hall and after waiting in line for about 45 minutes, was told that party was cancelled as well. Everything else is A-OK they say, nothing else has been affected. Hopped on the boat back to Poly, checked with the front desk about an item we had lost (mind you it's about 1:30 now) and they say, everything else is just fine, no need to worry about anything else changing. So we got on the monorail to Epcot (which of course got stuck along the way) and when we got there around 2pm were informed the park closed at 5:00pm. I honestly don't remember when we heard about Friday.

So we take the bus to AoA (mind you we were in the midst of a split stay and it was to be our first night at AoA) and walked in to the biggest cluster I have ever seen - the complete breakdown of any sense of organization and sensibility which was the food court. Granted, people were courteous and generally in good spirits, but I had never even seen the food court before and I couldn't even decipher where the line started, ended, turned, where the drinks were, the coolers, anything. I basically just stood idle for a few minutes, sent my family on their way and then spent the next hour and a half slowly shuffling forward in what started out to be the pasta line but someone ended up being the pizza line. So we hunkered down in the room and waited for our luggage. Which had been somehow lost in transit between the two resorts and didn't make it to our room until after 9pm. All told we lost MNSSHP, a PPO Akershus, all of our F&W time and the SW dessert party.

We did rebound nicely on Saturday by taking a voluntary bump from Delta and extending our stay by a night, so we were able to put most of the trip back together, except for the parties. All in all I can't really complain, as the weather wasn't anyone's fault. But the communication was what got me. We burned through so much valuable time waiting in line on Thursday and park hopping when the park closed at 5. Not having luggage until 9pm sucked, because it took over an hour to get through to anyone on the phone. We've already been credited for the parties, I'm in the midst of waiting to hear back about our unused tickets. The kids are still happy with everything - they're bummed about the party and now sing "It's a hurricane" instead of "this is Halloween" so at least they're in good spirits.

Maybe we'll try again next year....? I just need to de-Disney my brain for a while and recover from watching my plans get completely trashed.

 

[Pawpsicle]

Just wanted to throw in my 0.02 about our trip last week.

We arrived at Poly on Monday the 3rd and got some amazing pixie dust and were upgraded to Club Level Hawaii
Tuesday we did EMM and it was amazing. Worth every penny. Rode 7DMT 4 times, Peter Pan, WtP, then 7DMT 4 more times...awesome morning.
Wednesday we were at RD and basically had Adventureland & Frontierland to ourselves for almost 2 hours. Knocked out our whole touring plan and then some by 11am. BOG dinner was great, Wishes Dessert party was great, and the Garden Plaza viewing put us in an amazing spot for MSEP. Had the entire grassy area to ourselves for the parade.
Thursday had a PPO CRT, hopped on 7DMT 2x again, had a great morning....and then...

I'll try to keep it brief. On Tuesday morning we had a feeling the weather was turning and seeing as though we had MNSSHP tickets for Thursday, I approached concierge with the ask of moving our tickets to Tuesday. They said no. In hindsight, I should have just outright bought the Tuesday MNSHPP tickets. But we thought if the Thursday party ended up being a go, we would have been on the hook for 2 parties and that's a lot of cash. While we were on the boat back to Poly after Wishes on Wednesday, we got the notice that the Thursday party was cancelled. We spent Thursday morning the park as planned, kids rocked their halloween costumers anyway, and after seeing them in costume, a CM mentioned they were offering the option of moving the party tickets to Friday night. After checking my email, I saw there was a notice there about rescheduling as well. So around 12pm I got in line at City Hall and after waiting in line for about 45 minutes, was told that party was cancelled as well. Everything else is A-OK they say, nothing else has been affected. Hopped on the boat back to Poly, checked with the front desk about an item we had lost (mind you it's about 1:30 now) and they say, everything else is just fine, no need to worry about anything else changing. So we got on the monorail to Epcot (which of course got stuck along the way) and when we got there around 2pm were informed the park closed at 5:00pm. I honestly don't remember when we heard about Friday.

So we take the bus to AoA (mind you we were in the midst of a split stay and it was to be our first night at AoA) and walked in to the biggest cluster I have ever seen - the complete breakdown of any sense of organization and sensibility which was the food court. Granted, people were courteous and generally in good spirits, but I had never even seen the food court before and I couldn't even decipher where the line started, ended, turned, where the drinks were, the coolers, anything. I basically just stood idle for a few minutes, sent my family on their way and then spent the next hour and a half slowly shuffling forward in what started out to be the pasta line but someone ended up being the pizza line. So we hunkered down in the room and waited for our luggage. Which had been somehow lost in transit between the two resorts and didn't make it to our room until after 9pm. All told we lost MNSSHP, a PPO Akershus, all of our F&W time and the SW dessert party.

We did rebound nicely on Saturday by taking a voluntary bump from Delta and extending our stay by a night, so we were able to put most of the trip back together, except for the parties. All in all I can't really complain, as the weather wasn't anyone's fault. But the communication was what got me. We burned through so much valuable time waiting in line on Thursday and park hopping when the park closed at 5. Not having luggage until 9pm sucked, because it took over an hour to get through to anyone on the phone. We've already been credited for the parties, I'm in the midst of waiting to hear back about our unused tickets. The kids are still happy with everything - they're bummed about the party and now sing "It's a hurricane" instead of "this is Halloween" so at least they're in good spirits.

Maybe we'll try again next year....? I just need to de-Disney my brain for a while and recover from watching my plans get completely trashed.

100% agree with the communication issue. After reading rumors about an early park closing Thursday, I asked our bus driver if he knew what time AK would be closing when he dropped us off. He responded, "Oh this park is open until 830 tonight! One of the latest ones tonight!" I don't blame the CMs on the ground, as they were just relaying what they were told, but the higher up decision-making and communication was terrible.

We had one day of unused park hoppers. Got a call from guest services today that they would be giving us one day hoppers that expire in 20 years.

 

[momabbate]

Thanks for all who put comments. I joined thread due to I always seem to visit during hurricane season. I learned a lot of what to do and not to do. My question in with all the refunds is trip insurance necessary? I always get it because of the time of year we go.

 

[magic458]

The days leading up to the hurricane were mostly great weather and the two days after were some of the best weather I have ever experienced in Florida.




These were days leading up to the hurricane. The castle shot was from the train...I think.

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

Gorgeous photos!

 

[magic458]

Mickey didn't fair so well.

 

[magic458]

Gorgeous photos!

Thanks

 

[Jenny Sanders]

DITTO! We were in St Pete the day after the hurricane (for a long weekend) in September and it was gorgeous, zero humidity and sun, sun, sun!!!

 

[Delirium]

We were there during the hurricane as well (12 night trip). Weather kind of stunk until late afternoon Tuesday. Thursday (day before hurricane) was cloudy and spitting rain, but no one was at MK. Best day ever to tour there.

We switched our Saturday off day to Friday since the parks were closed, and kids were actually able to swim Friday afternoon, so it was not a total wash-out.

Weather Saturday-Monday was absolutely fantastic, and the AK crowds on both Saturday and Sunday were very low. Went to MK Sunday night to see the final Electrical Parade. Crowd was heavy, but cleared out immediately after. The last hour before park close was great to tour.

Things starter to get a little crazy crowd-wise on Monday. Wednesday night (the 12th) was the busiest I have ever seen MK. Only really did FP and the 'walk-on' attractions up until midnight. After midnight, things lightened up a bit until the park closed at 2 a.m.