We arrived in Orlando about 6 hrs before H Charley did in 2004. Got to the CR around 1ish.....the front desk was telling guests that the parks were going to close in a few hours. Also, Chef Mickeys was closing due to the amount of glass there. They did tell us that the convention halls were going to be serving a buffet later. As time went by, the buffet dinner changed to a meal where you were given a 'to go' container to fill up, and sent back to your room. We were in the old North wing, ground level. The way some people behaved at that meal made it look like it was their last possible meal....grown men grabbing up multiple cupcakes, practically from the hands of children.
We had messages in our rooms that regular housekeeping was being curtailed...we would get fresh towels but that was pretty much it. There were also various Disney movies on four different channels.Charley flew I right over our heads during the night. We were told to keep our drapes closed and to stay away from windows overnight.
When we got up, we found things to be in pretty good shape. We were able to get breakfast at the old Concourse restaurant....the servers apologized for not being able to offer a full menu! We were able to get eggs and pancakes though.
Evidently, all CMs that were there the day the storm came in, were asked to stay on. Some addtl staff came in to fill I for those that couldn't stay. Those CMs pulled all the pool stuff into one of the convention halls...then ats where they slept that night...on a pool chaise! But still, they were upbeat and cheerful that next morning.
We did have to redo our reservations for HDDR though. We figured it was a good idea to do it while we were at the CR, before moving to BWVs. However, FtW was under water and had to be evacuated, so had to choose another night. Other than our arrival night ADR at Chef Mickeys, HDDR was the only change we had to make.
I was hugely surprises when we walked to the MK the next morning. It opened right on time! There was one tree, along the walkway from the CR, that had been cut down and removed. When we got to MK, everything was the way it should be. I was told, by someone who was at MK the day before, that it was like watching a well oiled machine work as CM's went about getting the park ready for the storm! Everyone went about their jobs calmly and efficiently.
AK didn't open that day, following the storm. DHS opened late, as did Epcot.
We never lost power. We never went hungry. We lost a few hours in the park on our arrival day. It was actually fun, and very interesting to see the Disney machine at work. The really funny thing was that we kept hearing about all the destruction in Orlando....didn't see that at WDW! So, when we left WDW a week later, we were amazed by what we saw! The destruction was incredible!
The other interesting thing was that as days went by, and roads and streets were cleared, more and more residents started heading to the parks. Schools and businesses were closed, so people headed out for some fun.
As one CM said to me upon checking in at BWV a day after the storm, when I said something about the humidity and heat...'well, at least you've got water, can take showers and have A/C! ' turns out she had been working for 36 hrs at that point and her home had some substantial damage. Kind of put it all in perspective. But all in all? There is no place better to ride out a storm than at WDW. As someone else said, many area residents came to WDW to seek shelter. Lots of people from the Tampa area at our resort.
