Hurricane Matthew Closes WDW - Reopens Saturday, October 8th

[cel_disney]

I was able to talk to some staff at Poly around 6:30 that were on the Ride it Out staff.

I have missed the last 10 pages or so - so if this is a repeat I apologize!

There are 45 members of Ride it Out here at the Poly. They are asking Guests to be in their rooms at 9pm tonight but they would make sure to serve food to everyone in line until whenever. The non-RIO CMs need to leave by 8pm and then they would have a much smaller team but they would help out.

They said that once the winds die down to below 40mph tomorrow they will reopen the ceremenial house. They will have food in all locations when that happens - they are hoping that is a mid-day opening. It's likely that the menu will be more simplified in all locations and could go buffet.

We got a voice message at 7:30 that there was arts, crafts, and characters in the ceremonial house from 7-9pm, but we didn't make it over to it.

*****

A few notes from today:
- CMs were great everywhere. We thanked them for many things and wished them a safe storm but none of them seemed stressed out about being at work.

- when the closing announcement happened around noon, we were at Tuskey House. I'm not sure if these announcements were park wide or just at the restaurant but there was clearly confusion as the first message just said the The Park is Now Closing....(not a mention of 5pm). We asked a few servers calmly about it while other guests flipped out and wanted to refuse to pay full price for their lunch and the CMs told us it was 5pm, not 'now'. A few minutes after that there was a second announcement referencing Plan B with the 5pm closing and order was a bit restored. The CMs told us the last entrance to Tusker was now 4pm.

- Guests booked for Spirit of Aloha were booked at other Poly Restaurants it seems - we talked to a few that had been given Ohana at 8:50. When they talked to the RIO CM he recommended they try to go early as the food would have to change when the regular CMs go home.

- we had a short blip with television service around 7:30 but it came back

- we saw many stores at MK and AK being boarded up well before 5pm.

- our ride back to the Poly on the resort launch was awesome! Best boat captain ever!

- why oh why are the Poly torches still on outside??

 

[#1hoosierfan]

I am scratching my head...Orlando is a big city with thousands of places to eat. Why are people sitting there with a box of food like a refugee?

I flew in from Indiana and have no car. I don't think it is advisable to call an Uber for a Taco Bell run.

 

[sun2shine]

We are at ASM haven't really been told anything. Only found out about food courts closing thru here. No towels or flashlights either. We stood in line over 3 hours for sandwiches and pizza. We were just happy they didn't run out at that point. My husband drove around for 2 hours earlier but never found a store open. Can't seem to find any info but do we get our money back for the closure? We were ticked we paid meals out of pocket to save our dining plan for our character reservations that we now lost. So we lost an extra $120 for nothing. Plus our character meals. Such a bummer.

 

[KellDy]

I am scratching my head...Orlando is a big city with thousands of places to eat. Why are people sitting there with a box of food like a refugee?

We arrived in town at 1:30, checked into our condo, unpacked and headed to Disney Springs at 4:00. We got kids Lego sets to have for tomorrow and I changed tickets at guest services. All their restaurants were closed at 4:00. We then headed out to find something on our way back to the condo. We called or stopped by a dozen restaurants before finding Texas Roadhouse open. They stopped taking people at 6:00. Luckily we have enough food to last us tomorrow! Not counting on anything being open.

 

[scrapquitler]

I am scratching my head...Orlando is a big city with thousands of places to eat. Why are people sitting there with a box of food like a refugee?

The entire county is on curfew after 10PM tonight, so nobody is going to be able to get to those restaurants, which probably won't have power anyway. The idea with the box lunches is so that resort guests can have some food in their room for tomorrow when it will not be safe for them to leave their rooms (lots of rooms open to outside rather than interior hallways).

 

[KateP85]

I am scratching my head...Orlando is a big city with thousands of places to eat. Why are people sitting there with a box of food like a refugee?

Because there is a HURRICANE!!!!!

Seriously???!!! None of those 'thousands of places to eat' are open! We're under curfew and are all at home trying to stay safe! Goodness me!

 

[WhateverLolaWants]

Thank you I couldn't remember the name earlier I have no idea where I came up with Happy Tails.

Disney Tails was the dog store at Downtown Disney that was connected to that Pooh store. Maybe that's how you got that?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

That is a bit extreme. They could have just put in under what looks like a carport.

I do agree extreme. It's hard to tell but what is next to the sliding glass doors looks like it's their patio outdoors (I see a grill there). I don't know if the car would have fully fit under there or if there was a way drive so the car was parked sideways versus pulling it straight in. Either way I was like "uhhhh don't think I've seen that before".

 

[Ellwood970]

At the quarters conference call, Disney now has something to blame for the downturn in attendance for this quarter. I agree with all the posters who say they could give the people a break on food and sell it at just above cost.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Bob Iger spoke at a government seminar attended by my relative many years ago. He said that in the last hurricane the vegetation was destroyed, no serious structural damage but repairs were completed and the vegetation was all replaced by the following morning when the parks opened. Disney has resources the common man, like all of us, can only dream of. My thoughts and prayers are with anyone in danger from this massive storm. Stay safe everyone. Bless you!

From what I am hearing on the news, Matthew cannot be compared to any storm that has hit this area before. This is the worst that this area has seen. So what has been done previously may not happen as fast this time around if this storm hits the way it's predicted to.

 

[cel_disney]

In the past they left a message on the phone saying if you needed a flashlight or extra towels get them before the storm. I seriously doubt they are treating DVC members differently. They are trying to do the best they can in a difficult situation while worrying about their own families and working with a reduced staff. I would not cast stones at any of them during this.

They left a bulk message on the phone saying that housekeeping was closed but not to worry - all guests received extra towels and supplies today....so of course - that means DVC did not get them as we don't get mousekeeoing. Like I said - we are going to be fine but definitely a bad plan. I'm sure if we called the front desk someone would actually bring them to us and I don't want them to do that so not going to call!

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

I just heard from my sister. They are at Coronado Springs, supposed to check out tomorrow. CS has extended their stay until Sunday. She says they handed out flashlights and a bottle of water for everyone, but there is no food available at all. She is OK- they bought bagels, protein bars, nuts, juice boxes, etc. and will have enough for the duration. As she pointed out- it's all good, they have coffee!!

That's awful. CSR is catered by a third party company--and I bet they'll hear from Disney after Matthew passes.

 

[Mr. Drauer]

FYI - this is literally the calm before the storm. Winds and rain aren't supposed to increase until 2:00 or 3:00 am, with the heaviest being between 8:00 and 12:00 AM. I can only imagine the complaints when power and WIFI go out tomorrow.

 

[gja360]

Because there is a HURRICANE!!!!!

Seriously???!!! None of those 'thousands of places to eat' are open! We're under curfew and are all at home trying to stay safe! Goodness me!

Exactly!! What is going to be open??

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Stop listening to or trusting this news source. Fort Wilderness was evacuated to POLY and POP allstar X and other locations.

Poly Bungalows were evacuated according to the news, not the entire resort. At least that is what I heard

 

[Eoywin]

FYI - this is literally the calm before the storm. Winds and rain aren't supposed to increase until 2:00 or 3:00 am, with the heaviest being between 8:00 and 12:00 AM. I can only imagine the complaints when power and WIFI go out tomorrow.

I'm charging everything! Got lots of water too. I'd honestly be surprised if we don't lose power.

 

[rteetz]

I think (or at least hope) that this will be the case with "most" of Florida. I was watching the Weather Channel and they were talking to a professional in the building profession( not sure what his actual job was) He talked about the construction codes and what is required of buildings.

Yes pretty much everything built in Florida has to withstand a certain wind speed.

 

[cel_disney]

That's good. Omg can you imagine the logistics of moving all those RVs!

We can see the Cruella parking lot - there are really NOT many RVs parked there - I'm guessing most just packed up and left!!

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Did they actually do this??? We didn't get anything!!! I even tried to call housekeeping this morning to ask for extra towels but after 15 minutes I couldn't wait on hold...

We have plenty of glow sticks and I grabbed some of the extra large hand towels at the ceremonial house (along with forks, knives, spoons, and sugar!) so we will make it through I think but I wonder if they are treating DVC differently here??

Don't they charge DVC for extra towels? Where as regular rooms they don't..
Could that be the reason?

 

[Frenchgrey]

Any ideas on when we will know what kind of damage the property has taken post storm? We are supposed to arrive in Orlando around 2pm Saturday but I'm worried about the airport/road conditions... and if the parks/resorts will be badly damaged. We have Halloween party tix for Monday evening... I don't know if those would be refunded either. Any help answering or giving suggestions would be appreciated.