Hurricane Matthew Closes WDW - Reopens Saturday, October 8th

[uagirl]

Just heard guests at a bread & breakfast in St. Augustine are stranded due to storm surge flooding. Orlando is very lucky the winds did not reach 100mph, I do think Disney would have gotten some damage. There would be loss of power too. Instead of being upset over boxed meals and park closed, there could have been damage to guest cars and injuries. .. thankfully none of that happened.

Why? St. Augustine was under an mandatory evacuation order. Ugh. I don't get living on the coast and then not listening to evac orders, especially when a Cat 3 or 4 is headed your way.

 

[2DisPrincesses]

I quite honestly cannot believe that you need to defend yourself for not opening the box and checking inside until now! the original poster giving you crap for it has NEVER gotten distracted for even a moment in their lives???

Thank you!!! I actually thought I prepared quite well, given the circumstances. I spent most of the day securing our room for the next two days, rebooked our canceled flight, and spent a couple more hours dealing with ticket issues at guest relations. BTW, they very graciously gave us an alternate meal at Captain Cooks for the missing sandwich.

 

[Sorrel]

Honestly, we "needed" something else for our room (in a loose sense of the word) so when we saw others out we went to check. There are people at the carriage house asking what you need to make sure people aren't just hanging out at AP, but the CMs there are lovely - especially if you thank them - and didn't mind that we were there. The messages do say it's *advised* for safety, because as others have mentioned they can't handle everyone at all of the resorts out and about. But we saw lots of people outside; if you're not being a goon I think it's one of the situations where if a branch falls on your head it's your responsibility not theirs, and I wouldn't advise driving (since there is a curfew) but it's not illegal to walk outside. Hope that helps some? Obviously it's just my opinion, and we're four adults (here without our kids) that are pretty respectful and didn't expect anything specific, and would've been more than happy to go back to the room if we were told it was more than advice.

Thank you, yes it does I do really wish they would have advised that we could do this though. It seems if you actually pay attention to their advive then you lose out! I think I might pop down to the laundry by the pool - nothing much else to do!

 

[baxgirl]

Some posters yesterday were saying after a hurricane there will be extended loss of cell service in many cases. Is anybody in Orlando/at Disney experiencing that right now? We head down Sunday (check-in Monday) and I want to know if I should tell my mom she won't hear from us if she calls or texts unless I'm on wifi at that time. Since I haven't seen anybody mention it I assume cell towers are up and working but better safe than sorry!

 

[Sargeant Tibbs]

We were just told it will be a combination of Ohana and Luau items. Chefs are working on it now. It will be 30% off Ohana prices. Still for Poly guests only. No reservations.

They'd better serve bread pudding if they don't want a riot on their hands.

 

[missnic]

Why? St. Augustine was under an mandatory evacuation order. Ugh. I don't get living on the coast and then not listening to evac orders, especially when a Cat 3 or 4 is headed your way.

This b&b is right across the street from the water. This street floods when it sprinkles, so these people absolutely should have evaced.no sympathy.

 

[tink2020]

Thank you, yes it does I do really wish they would have advised that we could do this though. It seems if you actually pay attention to their advive then you lose out! I think I might pop down to the laundry by the pool - nothing much else to do!

I totally understand. We're pretty big rule followers so we definitely didn't just leave without having a long conversation about what the message said. Ultimately we determined it couldn't be illegal, and if they needed us to stay we'd be happy to go back. They sold us Mickey Bars though (obviously not a necessity ) - and Woody is visiting in the Pop century lobby, where you obviously have to go outside to get - so I think it's not even really being said anymore.

Unfortunately, which I know you've experienced first hand and some of us have discussed here, communication is a little behind. (For whatever reason, perhaps just because it's a beast of a job to get the word out to everyone)

 

[iona]

Some posters yesterday were saying after a hurricane there will be extended loss of cell service in many cases. Is anybody in Orlando/at Disney experiencing that right now? We head down Sunday (check-in Monday) and I want to know if I should tell my mom she won't hear from us if she calls or texts unless I'm on wifi at that time. Since I haven't seen anybody mention it I assume cell towers are up and working but better safe than sorry!

T-Mobile seems fine. Safe trip down!

 

[OnceUponATime15]

From the National Hurricane Centre --


Direct Hit

tropical cyclone to a particular location. For locations on the left-hand side of a tropical cyclone's track (looking in the direction of motion), a direct hit occurs when the cyclone passes to within a distance equal to the cyclone's radius of maximum wind. For locations on the right-hand side of the track, a direct hit occurs when the cyclone passes to within a distance equal to twice the radius of maximum wind. Compare indirect hit, strike.



Indirect Hit:
Generally refers to locations that do not experience a direct hit from a tropical cyclone, but do experience hurricane force winds (either sustained or gusts) or tides of at least 4 feet above normal.





Strike:

​

For any particular location, a hurricane strike occurs if that location passes within the hurricane's strike circle, a circle of 125 n mi diameter, centered 12.5 n mi to the right of the hurricane cen

 

[uagirl]

This b&b is right across the street from the water. This street floods when it sprinkles, so these people absolutely should have evaced.no sympathy.

I was trying to place where it was. We have family in the area. I'm more familiar with St. Johns than St. Augustine. I agree, no sympathy.

 

[poohbear8]

AsSports update: Decided I needed coffee and to get some exercise. Food court is open, guests are eating in their, so they are not enforcing the "suggested you stay in your room". I saw pizza boxes, foot long hot it's and chicken nuggets and fries.

Line down hallway was about 1/2 way down the hall to see guest services. In the lobby were Goofy and Pluto, but they left for a break. I did not see who replaced them. There were a few cast members playing with hula hoops and bubbles near the entrance. Gift store is open.

I don't need food, but it would have been nice if they left a message saying their was food available and activities for the kids. I have a neighbor who has a 1 1/2 year old and she was going stir crazy with him.

 

[alexksmith]

I just spoke to a couple people on the phone at Disney and they said it's basically just rain and we are good ton drive in there tonight. Can anyone confirm or deny that?

 

[HopperFan]

TOLD YOU that the storm would bring out critters you don't usually see ..... keep those lunch boxes out of their sight!

This was yesterday in S FL ...


http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/nati...-on-Beach-During-Matthew_Miami-396274931.html

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

So, Disney website is just wrong I guess? All reports I'm hearing say restaurants are closed and we're still confined to rooms.

No it's both. The official word for purposes of Disney not getting sued after the fact by a guest who gets injured is that you're still confined to your room. The unofficial word is, yes, many resort restaurants are open and Disney will happily sell you food right now. I think the idea is that, from a "Disney Legal" perspective so to speak, you take your chances going and getting it.

 

[dburg30]

POFQ gave refunds for the boxed lunches. Which was awesome considering we bought 19 for our large group and paid out of pocket.

They also gave us a park ticket to use at a future date.

And this is what I figured would happen. Did you ask for the refund, or did they go thru and just do it? More so others maybe can ask if needed for refunds / reductions.

 

[CAS239]

Some posters yesterday were saying after a hurricane there will be extended loss of cell service in many cases. Is anybody in Orlando/at Disney experiencing that right now? We head down Sunday (check-in Monday) and I want to know if I should tell my mom she won't hear from us if she calls or texts unless I'm on wifi at that time. Since I haven't seen anybody mention it I assume cell towers are up and working but better safe than sorry!

All cell services should be fine. There would be outages if the towers were damaged by a severe storm, which didn't happen

 

[Pawpsicle]

Curfew lifted at 2pm according to OCFL app alert!

 

[tink2020]

Some posters yesterday were saying after a hurricane there will be extended loss of cell service in many cases. Is anybody in Orlando/at Disney experiencing that right now? We head down Sunday (check-in Monday) and I want to know if I should tell my mom she won't hear from us if she calls or texts unless I'm on wifi at that time. Since I haven't seen anybody mention it I assume cell towers are up and working but better safe than sorry!

Honestly the phones were awful yesterday (to Disney numbers that is, so really just their system not cell service). Today we've had no trouble with phone, internet, or power.

 

[ChipnDale79]

Flashlights were for safety, indoor characters were to replace the parks being closed, it was entertainment. Like I said, storm or no storm, guests were going to spend money on food, and probably more than $13 for dinner. ...no need for futher goodwill deeds. It seems when Disney gives an inch, some guests think a mile would be nicer. The resorts along the coast told their guests to get out, they all had to evacuate. Imagine being there.

Here’s the thing, Disney is a multi billion dollar company that is making record profits, and these Disney vacations are not cheap by most people standards. So when people are at their hotels during a Hurricane, a little goodwill can go a long ways. Yeah the boxes I thought were a little expensive, but honestly its not that big of a deal. I just take issue with maybe the tone of your post. The tone, at least the way I read it is, your saying they should do the bare minimum to get by. To me, one of the reasons why I love Disney so much is because they used to go beyond the bare minimum on everything. Going the extra mile really could make the difference in a family booking another trip for next year, or by doing the bare minimum, it really could push them to not book a return trip.

I'm not saying Disney should be comping people left and right for food or hotel rooms. And I'm not saying the guests should be demanding those things either, but if you're going to be a "bubble resort" that WDW is, you have to do more than most hotels and resorts do.

From everything I’ve seen Disney has done a great job, but boy, if I was there and with my family of four and spending thousands of dollars on a vacation (hurricane or not), I would expect more than the bare minimum.


This is Disney, its not Walmart.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

I just spoke to a couple people on the phone at Disney and they said it's basically just rain and we are good ton drive in there tonight. Can anyone confirm or deny that?

I would rely on county and other governmental updates, not on the opinion of guest services phone CMs.