Hurricanes??

[southcarolina4]

Has anyone ever actually been at WDW when one came through...has there actually been damge to resorts or parks...I know Sept is "IN SEASON" so I was wondering if anyone has had an Hurricane experience there...

 

[iluveeyore]

We were there right after Charlie and during Wilma - Disney is amazing when it comes to safety and clean-up.
When we arrived after Charlie, we were getting a rental car (pre-ME), and the hydro was out so no computers/air conditioning. 7 of us waited and finally got our paperwork processed by hand (never forget your emailed confirmations!!), and we drove to WDW with traffic lights out, trees down, messes everywhere. We get to WDW, there is hydro (they have their own power station), blessed air conditioning, and crews cleaning up downed branches - you would hardly know there was a storm on Disney property.
For Wilma, we took an earlier flight because we knew it was coming and SW let us re-book for no charge due to the warnings. The day of the storm, the phones at OKW (and all resorts) had messages, plus memos left under our door the night before that all buses, parks and restaurants would be closed until further notice, and to please stay in our rooms - not a problem in our 2 bedroom with stocked kitchen! (except it was impossible to find bottles of water anywhere getting groceries the day before the storm. Wilma swept in and out within a few hours, the hydro blinked on and off and few times. They even had special tv programming on the resort channels for movies for the kids.
Once the storm had passed, we were left a message on the phone that the MK would be open to resort guests only, not to the public, and the buses would begin around 1 pm - I have photos showing how empty the MK was and how bright blue the sky was after the storm. If there was any clean-up needed in the park, we didn't see it at all. There were quite a few downed branches we saw on the way to MK, but nothing on the roadways to the parks or inside our resort.
I knew we were much happier being at our resort during a hurricane than stuck in an airport waiting for the storm to pass!
If there's a hurricane warning before your trip, just watch the weather and if you know it's going to hit during your day of arrival, check with the airline to get there before or after (before is usually better as the flights cancelled during the storm will take a couple of days to catch up).

 

[toribelle]

We were at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Sept 04 for Hurricane Jeane. Let me tell you Disney sure did throw one heck of a party in the lobby. There were characters and music in the lobby. You didn't even know anything was going on until you looked through that large window and saw the trees bent to the side. But Disney did a great job. They did the phone messages about the parks being closed and had the restaurants open or pizza delivery. The staff was just wonderful and we actually enjoyed a relaxing day in the resort. Also the electric (utility) lines are under ground so very rare they lose power. The next time you are on Disney property look you'll see hardly any utility wires overhead on property. I love to go in September, no worries here.

 

[southcarolina4]

thanks i wasn't too worried about except I drive it 8 hours...my son is a kinda scared of lightning and storms...so i just wondered how the resorts handled it or if they said well folks sorry...but your vacation has been scrapped....

 

[reginaastralis]

Living in Florida, I would be VERY careful of driving through a storm. This is obviously just something to think about, but if you had to drive down and a hurricane was close to coming ashore, I think I might wait it out.

That's me, personally, but downed power lines, no electricity in traffic lights, high winds, and deep rain "puddles" do not make for great driving.

Not trying to scare you, but most hurricane related deaths occur after the storm, with people driving through water that looks shallow, or stepping into a puddle that is live with electricity. Also, during most of the hurricanes we get around here, for at least a few hours, there is zero visibilty depending on the rain and time of day.

HTH

 

[southcarolina4]

if i one is coming...i won't drive it..I was more concerned to as if disney has actually been damaged from one..i mean destruction and fatalites..i would guess that Orlando is 65 miles? inland...is that buffer enough to take some of the force....

 

[kimpossible]

We were down there during Wilma. The parks and restaurants closed (you could get a buffet at the hotel). Many characters rotated throughout the hotel lobby as well as lots of crafts for the kids to participate in. WDW showed several movies on their hotel channels. The parks re-opened around 1:30 or 2:00. It was actually pretty interesting.

 

[Zoesmama03]

In my experience they rarely go through to Disney. HOWEVER they will get storms, tornados and such. So you'd treat it like you'd treat the servere weather in your area.

I was in Lakeland about an hour drive from WDW when Wilma went through. We had lots of winds and a couple tornados that were about a mile from us. It was scary but all was well. My step mom went to work that day without troubles but really you need to just prepare for it and don't try to push it in weather that seems really bad.

 

[hpygrll]

We were at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Sept 04 for Hurricane Jeane. Let me tell you Disney sure did throw one heck of a party in the lobby. There were characters and music in the lobby. You didn't even know anything was going on until you looked through that large window and saw the trees bent to the side. But Disney did a great job. They did the phone messages about the parks being closed and had the restaurants open or pizza delivery. The staff was just wonderful and we actually enjoyed a relaxing day in the resort. Also the electric (utility) lines are under ground so very rare they lose power. The next time you are on Disney property look you'll see hardly any utility wires overhead on property. I love to go in September, no worries here.

We rode out Jeanne in the VWL. The staff was great!!! Before the storm hit, Cast Members came door to door with flashlights and safery instructions. We had to stay in our rooms but they played first run movies on the tvs. At one point we were allowed to go to the lobby in the villas (not the main lobby yet) and they had games and cast members. Once the storm was past they had characters galore in the main lobby with beer and wine etc.

We got some great video of the big trees around WL swaying and bending. I won't lie, it was a little freaky - we have not gone back in the Fall since.

Jenny

 

[eeyoregon]

i would guess that Orlando is 65 miles? inland...is that buffer enough to take some of the force....

You are correct. In WDW's 35+ years I believe they have only closed the parks two or three times for weather related incidents. That's a pretty good percentage! Walt did his homework when choosing a location!

Some high winds and rains can occur but as previous posters have said, Disney is great at being prepared and taking care of their guests.

 

[tttessa]

Hiya,
we were there in hurricane Georges, we stayed off site on I-drive, the parks closed for half a day, we were driving back from Kennedy when we hit the edge of it - we could not even see the front of our car!!! so we pulled onto the edge(don't know what you call it over there - we call it the hard shoulder in the UK) and when the rain stopped it just looked like a complete parking lot - everyone had stopped, there was lots of "whooping" -"geez that was a good one" etc. Folks could see we had been a bit phased out by it all and made sure we were ok to go on etc - Florida seems to have some nice people!!!
We were at the Holiday inn - they had left a letter on the table - after we went out for the day!!!! - saying stay indoors if possible. Bit late really!!!!

Tessa

 

[Schmeck]

We drove to WDW during Charlie - we just paid attention to weather reoprts as we headed south (from MA) and when we got closer to the hurricane, we detoured west on the highways for a few hours.

We arrived at WDW the day after Charlie hit, and driving into Florida, and into Orlando, we saw tons of damage - billboards, screen porches, roofs, all destroyed and blown away. Once on WDW property, it was like we entered another world! Yes, there was a lot of tree damage in the undeveloped areas, but the resort was nearly spotless. We arrived around 3 PM, and Pop Century was squeaky clean.

The resorts were very crowded though, as flights had been cancelled, and Florida residents had also headed to WDW for shelter. We talked to many guests trying to get home, and they said Disney had taken very good care of them.