Hurricane Milton - WDW Resorts Related Updates & Planning Thread

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

Right now the storm is expected to arrive in Orlando Wednesday evening.

The eye vicinity is supposed to be over Orlando 8:00am Thursday morning ( if the eye keeps that track, could go more south but doesn't really matter when it comes to time )

" It is likely the theme parks will remain closed on Thursday, Oct. 10. We will consider opening Disney Springs Thursday late afternoon with limited offerings. "

Wow

 

[fla4fun]

The eye vicinity is supposed to be over Orlando 8:00am Thursday morning ( if the eye keeps that track, could go more south but doesn't really matter when it comes to time )

" It is likely the theme parks will remain closed on Thursday, Oct. 10. We will consider opening Disney Springs Thursday late afternoon with limited offerings. "

Wow

I take that statement about Disney Springs to mean the Disney operated locations only. The third party shops and restaurants may have more difficulty getting employees in, since they would have a much smaller pool to pull from to find employees able to physically get there.

 

[Dave006]

" It is likely the theme parks will remain closed on Thursday, Oct. 10. We will consider opening Disney Springs Thursday late afternoon with limited offerings. "

This quote above was posted on the Travel Agent (TA) web page.

It is really is going to depend on WDW transportation options restarting after shutting down tomorrow afternoon.

Buses, Boats, and the Skyliner will not operate if sustained wind speeds are above 35 MPH. Skyliner and boats will also not operate with lighting in the area.

Dave

 

[seashoreCM]

deleted ..................................

 

[sdk1231]

CM daughter at the Grand Floridian is doing Hurricane Ride Out. CM's on the Ride Out crew have received instructions for reporting in on Wednesday. Likewise for crews at other resorts. Disney has excellent emergency preparedness in terms of staffing up appropriately to assure the safety and comfort of guests.

 

[NicoleLarson]

CM daughter at the Grand Floridian is doing Hurricane Ride Out. CM's on the Ride Out crew have received instructions for reporting in on Wednesday. Likewise for crews at other resorts. Disney has excellent emergency preparedness in terms of staffing up appropriately to assure the safety and comfort of guests.

I hope your daughter stays safe.

 

[DianaMB333]

Hope that everyone stays safe and this storm miraculously shrinks down..

Curious about the animals.. for example the flamingos at AkL..? Hopefully they also have contingency plan for all the animals in the savannah..

 

[OKW Lover]

Curious about the animals.. for example the flamingos at AkL..? Hopefully they also have contingency plan for all the animals in the savannah..

Disney has that covered. The animals will be called to their shelters as the storm approaches.

 

[Traveling on cc points]

Hope that everyone stays safe and this storm miraculously shrinks down..

Curious about the animals.. for example the flamingos at AkL..? Hopefully they also have contingency plan for all the animals in the savannah..

They have indoor enclosures for all the animals. They train them with food when they are young to go inside voluntarily
I think i got this info from the animal kingdom shows on Disney plus.

 

[sdk1231]

I hope your daughter stays safe.

Thank you! I was there and just flew out yesterday. It was tough to leave her there, but I know the resort construction is top notch and that she's in a relatively safe place. Thoughts and prayers to all in impacted areas, of course.

 

[lynnfitz]

At wilderness lodge now. We are able to extend our stay 2 days, 40% off rates.

 

[MICKIMINI]

We've been to WDW nearly always around hurricane season. The only hurricane we were actually in FL for was Rita and we were at VB and it was just windy. We have seen damage at WDW from minor hurricanes being tree and foliage damage and minor flooding. This storm is a different animal completely. We are two weeks out from a Poly and AKV stay and already prepared for possibly being relocated to different DVC resorts if either or both has too many rooms out of commission (thinking about those longhouses). Hopefully, our rental car will be available and roads are passable (we'll take the 417).

We have dozens of family members in the Orlando area we are worried about. They have ridden out hurricanes since the 1950's, but again, this one is onerous. We hope they and all in FL stay safe!

 

[OKW Lover]

We live very close to WDW - 2 miles from the castle - and are hunkered down. Not expecting any flooding in our neighborhood but I do expect to be without power for a bit.

Those that are riding it out in a WDW hotel will be well taken care of I'm sure.

 

[TinkAgainU]

We live very close to WDW - 2 miles from the castle - and are hunkered down. Not expecting any flooding in our neighborhood but I do expect to be without power for a bit.

Those that are riding it out in a WDW hotel will be well taken care of I'm sure.

With luck, this will just be a good "I was at WDW during a hurricane" story the guests and CM's can tell for years to come. Fingers crossed the winds are slower than expected and the time to traverse Florida is quicker than expected

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Same info as the earlier BlogMickey article, but just cutting/pasting the text from Disney’s website for tracking purposes. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/experience-updates/weather-updates/


Monitoring Hurricane Milton
Last updated on Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 5:45 PM ET.

We continue to closely monitor the path of Hurricane Milton. Based on the latest projection, we are making additional operational adjustments for the safety of our Guests and Cast Members beginning Wednesday, October 9.

The Walt Disney World Emergency Operations Center is connected to weather experts and community leaders. Please know these adjustments have been made in order to leave plenty of time for our Guests and Cast Members to return to their Resort hotels or homes safely hours before higher winds are expected to reach Central Florida.

Operational impacts include:

Walt Disney World Theme Parks
On Wednesday, October 9, our theme parks and Disney Springs will be closed in phases beginning at 1:00 PM.

• Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park will close at 1:00 PM.
• Magic Kingdom park, EPCOT and Disney Springs will close at 2:00 PM.

It is likely the theme parks will remain closed on Thursday, October 10. We will consider opening Disney Springs on Thursday in the late afternoon, with limited offerings.

This includes the cancellation of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom park on Thursday, October 10. Event tickets will be refunded.

Disney Resort Hotel Closures

Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground and the Treehouse Villas at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa will temporarily close beginning at 11:00 AM on Wednesday, October 9. They are likely to remain closed until Sunday, October 13.

Transportation

Walt Disney World Transportation will stop operating on Wednesday, October 9 after Disney Springs and the Walt Disney World theme parks close.

Limited Minnie Van and Mears taxi service will be available to Walt Disney World Resort Guests.

Recreation

Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon water park, Winter Summerland Miniature Golf and Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf will be closed on Wednesday, October 9 and Thursday, October 10. Disney’s Blizzard Beach water park remains closed for planned refurbishment.
There are no events planned for ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex until the weekend.

Reservations for Dining and Other Experiences

Effective immediately, we will not enforce cancellation policies until further notice for dining and other experiences.
Prepaid bookable experiences will be automatically refunded within 7 to 10 business days.

 

[jeneric997]

Hope that everyone stays safe and this storm miraculously shrinks down..

Curious about the animals.. for example the flamingos at AkL..? Hopefully they also have contingency plan for all the animals in the savannah..

Daughter is on ride out, but she was blocking rooms for cast members. One of the room blocks was for AK CM to be in rooms that overlooked the savanna. So I guess they are keeping an eye out, but I assume most animals have places to go.

Thankful she is on ride out, I prefer that, than alone in her apartment!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Not entirely sure why the WL Copper Creek Cabins aren’t referenced as pending closure (they were in some news reported by blogs yesterday), possibly an oversight, hard to tell.

 

[Dave006]

Not entirely sure why the WL Copper Creek Cabins aren’t referenced as pending closure (they were in some news reported by blogs yesterday), possibly an oversight, hard to tell.

They were also reported by a DIS member yesterday. They were told they need to be out of their cabin by 11 AM tomorrow. They are being moved to a 2 BR Cooper Creek unit in the main building.

You posted a smartphone screen shot in this post yesterday with the 6 PM updated from Disney: https://www.disboards.com/threads/h...-planning-thread.3954975/page-5#post-65763590

Dave

 

[DianaMB333]

With luck, this will just be a good "I was at WDW during a hurricane" story the guests and CM's can tell for years to come. Fingers crossed the winds are slower than expected and the time to traverse Florida is quicker than expected

Agree.. I trust Disney’s safety protocols.. but hopefully the storm finds its peace and winds-down soon..

 

[dcassetta]

Hurricane Frances hit pretty direct, but it wasnt this strong.

Hurricane Ian was a direct hit. It was a 4 at landfall, but lost a lot of energy as it moved inland.

Hurricane Charley in 2004. Basically took I-4 from the Orlando area to the coast.

All the news channels are saying that a storm of this strength is unprecedented in the Orlando area, so even knowing how things were handled after Ian and other recent storms won’t be completely accurate when trying to figure this out. I drove through north Florida and South Georgia yesterday and the tree damage was eye opening, and this storm is strong enough to cause similar conditions. However, I agree that Disney wants to be fully operational as soon as possible and will do everything they can to achieve that.

We live very close to WDW - 2 miles from the castle - and are hunkered down. Not expecting any flooding in our neighborhood but I do expect to be without power for a bit.

Those that are riding it out in a WDW hotel will be well taken care of I'm sure.

Erin landed right at Vero Beach, not long before the resort opened. She then passed right over Orlando, before heading back out the Gulf. 2004 was rough in Central Florida. As there had not been a major storm in 10 years, Charley caused significant damage. We were in recovery when Frances came though. There was a lot of debris left from Charley, and Frances spread it out again. Heavy rain from Ivan was still an issue, when Jeanne landed. 4 hurricanes in 6 weeks. We spent some of our time living at POP, because they never lost power.

This series of storms is terrible, and I hope Milton is the end of the season! There was so much debris from Helene that has been collected, which will be as issue as Milton makes landfall. Friends in St Pete Beach lost most everything in the storm surge, but their home is standing. I hope the same is true after MIlton.