Hurricane Matthew Closes WDW - Reopens Saturday, October 8th

[magic458]

Being considerate goes a long way. I was kind of relaxed with the lady at the desk and she worked and worked until she got the room extended.

Everything is charged and I'm filling trash cans with water now

 

[cel_disney]

Unless it's a fully covered car port there is still a chance of damage from hurricane debris I would think.

Also between the car port and the house I would think the house is the more structurally sound of the two in a hurricane.

So extreme, yes. But I don't blame them for taking that kind of action.

I hope the house can withstand the WEIGHT of the vehicle!! Holy Moly that's CRAZY!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

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

I would think they would be too at least for buildings built after a certain time period.

When our house was being built they tied our garage into the structure of our home to help it withstand certain windspeeds. I'm not certain though if that was really a code thing or just what is common nowadays for new homes around me. It wouldn't help for a strong tornado at all but would likely help for a small one.

 

[dburg30]

Hearing from a few people on a weather board I'm on that Matthew might not make landfall after all and stay off shore, which would be great for WDW.

All of the paths I've seen have had it just off the coast. Not really making landfall. I was looking and it looks like it may be going thru another eyewall replacement, which could weaken it some. Also, was pulling in some drier air, which would help knock some energy out of it. But as others have said, the worst for Orlando area isnt supposed to happen til early tomorrow..

 

[Frenchgrey]

I'm sure that anything you can't use as a result of Matthew will be refunded. Based on what the Ride It Out and Park CMs have told us - all Disney damage will be known by Friday night and hopefully fixed by Saturday morning. Not sure what will happen with the loop though!

Wow Friday night would be great. I've been keeping in contact with my Disney planner for the past few days but the sooner the better when it comes to information.

 

[bizeemom4]

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.

Might have been cheaper than buying 2 days worth of those Hurricane boxes.

 

[gja360]

All of the paths I've seen have had it just off the coast. Not really making landfall. I was looking and it looks like it may be going thru another eyewall replacement, which could weaken it some. Also, was pulling in some drier air, which would help knock some energy out of it. But as others have said, the worst for Orlando area isnt supposed to happen til early tomorrow..

That's what I am seeing. A lot of people on the weather boards are starting to say it looks like central FL might escape this one without a lot of damage. It's still too early to tell, but Matthew staying offshore would be great for FL.

 

[ForeverAlice]

Try WESH 2, streaming online.

Love WESH!

 

[Frenchgrey]

I don't mean to sound obtuse, but I think it might be unfair to you to haphazard a guess right now as to damage for road conditions. There's no certainty what sort of clean up might be needed, beyond there will be cleanup needed. I'm not sure if you're flying in, and if so when the airport would be able to take in flights due to clean-up and lingering high winds.

If it's possible to wait to take an evaluation Friday afternoon after the storm passes, I think it would be greater benefit to your planning. Additionally, it's possible that the storm could circle back, and it's just too early to know how or if it would affect your stay next week.

I am flying in sat.... or hope to be?

 

[gja360]

Might have been cheaper than buying 2 days worth of those Hurricane boxes.

If you can find an Uber driver out there and he didn't gouge you....

 

[twinklinglights]

chill have fun and make some memories

 

[OKW Lover]

Disney's power is mostly underground (as you can tell from the lack of overhead lines) which protects them from the biggest cause of outages which is debris and trees hitting distribution lines.

Even underground power distribution systems have vulnerabilities.

• First, the power has to get to the area. The Florida electricity transmission system is mostly above ground. Disney has some generation itself but its only enough to carry 20-25% of their total load.
• Second, while the distribution lines are underground, high water levels could cause outages as things experience very high water levels
• Third, distribution transformers are often at ground level and can be damaged by high water and/or falling debris.

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.

Do people really need extra towels? DVC or not? How many actually refuse to re-use a bath towel more than once? And other supplies like soap, toilet tissue? The units are stocked enough to start with for more than a few days.

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

They seldom charge for extra towels. Certainly wouldn't do that under these conditions.

 

[BroganMc]

Wow Friday night would be great. I've been keeping in contact with my Disney planner for the past few days but the sooner the better when it comes to information.

Just be aware that's a best case scenario. Orange County is under a curfew. It's mainly to keep the looters and fools in check, but no one is getting out anywhere while the storm is here. Guests and staff are settling in their safe places, probably glued to the TV like everyone else.

I've gone from thinking Saturday would be a normal park day to thinking all weekend will be a modified recovery with some horrible devastating news from the coast. News may be slow coming out of the area.

 

[OKW Lover]

Wondering how Castaway Cay has faired under the storm. Doubt we will know for several days.

 

[maranara]

There are definitely CMs hunkered down at DHS - a friend who is a CM there just checked in on facebook - he's part of that crew there.

Just got an update - the ride out crew at DHS is hunkered down in Disney Junior. He's excited because they've been provided food from Brown Derby. Stay safe everyone!

 

[agavegirl1]

Never been to WDW in a hurricane and I hope to never have to. I have been in a Tropical storm in the Caribbean before and have many friends in Belize who experienced a lot of damage this year. Because I tend to go to WDW in October, I am very interested in the Parks and Resorts response to an actual hurricane warning. I am going to order groceries and water next trip for sure. Worst case scenario, I give a bunch of bottled water to a guest checking in on my last day and carry snacks home. Stay safe everyone. Odd that the responses at different resorts vary to such a degree. My next trip will be POR so, confined to room if such a thing were to occur.

 

[jms30]

Staying in NOFQ and realized we should have eaten at MK before we came back to the hotel. Went over to POR and people were lined up 50 deep waiting for food, nobody there to give instuctions or direct people. They were also lined up out the door of the general store buying basics. Looked like a refugee crisis. Weather was just a drizzle around 6pm so we drove down the road past disney springs to the the hotel corner with the holiday inn. There were several restaurants open including a steakhouse, dennys, and wafflehouse. Several convenience stores open. We got some takeout from the dragon super buffet and went back to eat at the resort.

I'm a little disappointed Disney couldn't be better organized and have sufficient staff to get food distributed to families with tired kids... if all those restaurants were open then disney could have offered a shuttle rather than trapping people in a hotel with no food.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

I understand that. Everything built today has to be up to a certain hurricane code though.

Yes, all new construction. Also if changing a certain percentage of existing older homes windows, they must be brought up to code. My home was built in 89, now the homes are built up higher than mine. All the new homes around me actually look like they are on a hill compared to me. That is one of the code changes. Now when it rains, my front and back yard floods from their run off there have been several code changes, but not all homes are new so they aren't built to "code" per say

 

[cel_disney]

Do people really need extra towels? DVC or not? How many actually refuse to re-use a bath towel more than once? And other supplies like soap, toilet tissue? The units are stocked enough to start with for more than a few days.

Of course we reuse towels - but we and everything we have worn the past few days and he stroller and backpacks are completely SOAKED. So we are using towels for more than just our showers - PLUS - because of the rain and the threat of power loss - we are showering more frequently and they just aren't fully dry.

I have spent a lot of time with the blow dryer today to get some items to dry enough such that they will dry on their own!

I also thought in the event that we had any leaks or what not that extra towels would be good to have around for emergencies. Whether that need is storm related or sick kid related it seemed to be a simple precaution. This is not my first hurricane but it is the first away from my fully stocked house!

 

[wilkeliza]

Staying in NOFQ and realized we should have eaten at MK before we came back to the hotel. Went over to POR and people were lined up 50 deep waiting for food, nobody there to give instuctions or direct people. They were also lined up out the door of the general store buying basics. Looked like a refugee crisis. Weather was just a drizzle around 6pm so we drove down the road past disney springs to the the hotel corner with the holiday inn. There were several restaurants open including a steakhouse, dennys, and wafflehouse. Several convenience stores open. We got some takeout from the dragon super buffet and went back to eat at the resort.

I'm a little disappointed Disney couldn't be better organized and have sufficient staff to get food distributed to families with tired kids... if all those restaurants were open then disney could have offered a shuttle rather than trapping people in a hotel with no food.

The city informed everyone to be in a shelter in place situation by 5pm. Disney sent as many CMs as they could home so that those CMs could deal with their family and homes. Those places off property stayed open far past the suggested time. The city is now under a mandatory curfew so Disney gave non-essential personal time to get home.