Keeping an eye on Tropical Weather 2024

[lovethattink]

Our house is fine. Garage is wet. Water seeped in through the layers of sandbags. Can’t get out of our subdivision, the only road in and out is flooded. There are gators in the flooded street. Fence fell down. Tons of debris in the street and yard.

My dh is scheduled to work today. I doubt the water will recede by afternoon.

I’d love to know experiences of driving to Disney from Virginia on I-95 and I-4. I’ll post on the travel board too. I’ll need to make the trip home.

Family in Lakeland and Davenport kept electricity til at least 1am. We were all on the phone and watching Denis Philips together. Saw when the Tropicana’s roof blew off and a crane in Tampa fell. My phone gave me tornado alerts throughout yesterday, but my family didn’t get them. So I was texting them. It was a nerve wracking day for sure. My dh has electricity. My oldest ds does not and cell phone is spotty.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I agree; while Disney has been great in many ways; the communication (as unfortunately is somewhat common forcthe company for those familiar) has been pretty lacking. There really has been no communication or inconsistent in advance which is frustrating.

I absolutely believe there should have been at the very least a mass mssg sent to all rooms about what to expect (not everyone has/monitors/or even knows how to work the app like an expert.) I do, but even for me the communication seemed very poor. - I would have nevef known about the shelter-in-place if I hadn't read about it here as I didn't get the notification until around 9pm. I know with a storm/weather there are lots if uncertainties and again in the big picture they have taken great care of us, but communication is also important and there just hasn't been much.

I would send your feedback to Disney. They need to know their IT did not cut it as a replacement to paper in your case.

 

[ckb_nc]

I've seen this sentiment a bunch - and you could legitimately spend years covering the criticism of the design of that building.

But it survived an operational lifetime (almost 35 years). I mean, if you're the executives making that call, it was a successful decision - it accomplished what it was built to do.

The issue is that it was built long before it ever had a team. They were trying to build something so they could quickly snatch an MLB team if one came available. They felt it needed to be indoor to work in Tampa, and they didn't have the resources to build something like SkyDome in Toronto, which would've been the sturdier option in that era.

The real criticism here is that the building is still in use - it should have been replaced years ago. It's objectively one of the worst MLB stadiums in history.

Now that the Oakland Coliseum is no longer in use, it is the worst MLB stadium.

 

[japanese maple]

View attachment 902248
Jambo House this morning. I think it’s where the gym entrance is. They have been wonderful and there’s a lot of attentiveness to every guest it seems. The bar was open all night and has been open all morning, same with Boma and The Mara.

I never got a push notification about the shelter in place, I read about it here. But there was a sign when I walked around this morning announcing it, I was already back to my room when they put it up I think. I’ve been on hold for almost 2 hours trying to see if they can help just plop our planned day into tomorrow but I fear that will take significant fairy dust and my friend sorta doesn’t get that, still. Oh well, hopefully mco does open tonight and we can depart on schedule Friday evening.

Yikes! That's a big tree too. Hopefully not much other damage.
Have you heard how the animals are by chance?

Also - the bar was open all night. Yeah!!!

 

[meremac]

I’ve been on hold for almost 2 hours trying to see if they can help just plop our planned day into tomorrow.

You can start trying to change everything yourself while you wait. Disney extended unused tickets that were set to expire today to a year from tomorrow. If you purchased Lightning Lane, you can change that to be valid for tomorrow as well. And you can try to change your dining reservations. You may have to keep checking and refreshing to get things back to how you had them, but it's definitely possible! I've been doing it all week for clients and have been successful getting all of their plans moved to new days for pretty much the way they had them before. With the exception of that dang Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique lol. Always tricky.

 

[swummyh20]

Yikes! That's a big tree too. Hopefully not much other damage.
Have you heard how the animals are by chance?

the wildebeest, zebra, and I think the impalas are out. I haven’t seen giraffes yet today. There was another large white with horns antelope out, which is the first time I’ve seen them all week. They are all running around and seem happy. I saw some staff looking through the Savannah we are near checking for damage, I think, earlier this morning. It seems like they are trying to get things back to normal asap.

I do wonder if the rumor about Disney Springs being open to resort guests will hold up. You can feel the claustrophobic energy building but we are allowed outside. But they haven’t opened the public area balconies with rockers to access yet.

 

[goopysolelady]

Well, we just received the dreaded (but not unexpected) notice from the airline that our flight's cancelled. And the earliest we can get there is Saturday. I wonder if we can extend our stay a couple days.

We got ours Tuesday, changed flight to Friday am, notice it was canceled so daughter got on phone with Southwest and we're on our way to airport now for a flight to Ft. Lauderdale. SW wouldn't guarantee flight until Sunday into Orlando. Granddaughter is picking us up so will be able to check in tomorrow as scheduled. If available I'd certainly check on extending with Disney first!

 

[Dreams&wishes]

I would send your feedback to Disney. They need to know their IT did not cut it as a replacement to paper in your case.

How can I send my feedback?

 

[Dave006]

I do wonder if the rumor about Disney Springs being open to resort guests will hold up. You can feel the claustrophobic energy building but we are allowed outside. But they haven’t opened the public area balconies with rockers to access yet.

No Disney has already indicated that DS will not open today.

Dave

 

[TwoMisfits]

the wildebeest, zebra, and I think the impalas are out. I haven’t seen giraffes yet today. There was another large white with horns antelope out, which is the first time I’ve seen them all week. They are all running around and seem happy. I saw some staff looking through the Savannah we are near checking for damage, I think, earlier this morning. It seems like they are trying to get things back to normal asap.

I do wonder if the rumor about Disney Springs being open to resort guests will hold up. You can feel the claustrophobic energy building but we are allowed outside. But they haven’t opened the public area balconies with rockers to access yet.

In their latest update, they officially announced they will NOT open Disney Springs today...now, that's the 10am thoughts...that could still change.

 

[swummyh20]

You can start trying to change everything yourself while you wait. Disney extended unused tickets that were set to expire today to tomorrow. If you purchased Lightning Lane, you can change that to be valid for tomorrow as well. And you can try to change your dining reservations. You may have to keep checking and refreshing to get things back to how you had them, but it's definitely possible! I've been doing it all week for clients and have been successful getting all of their plans moved to new days for pretty much the way they had them before. With the exception of that dang Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique lol. Always tricky.

Thanks, this was really helpful to know! I was able to do it myself except for Tiana maybe I can VQ and talk my way into an earlier one so we can hopefully make our flight home.

But yea, it’s the bbb (2 of them!) that I’m on hold for. I know it won’t happen but I’m trying to placate and also stay out of the room lol

 

[meremac]

Thanks, this was really helpful to know! I was able to do it myself except for Tiana maybe I can VQ and talk my way into an earlier one so we can hopefully make our flight home.

But yea, it’s the bbb (2 of them!) that I’m on hold for. I know it won’t happen but I’m trying to placate and also stay out of the room lol

Keep trying for Tiana's! I was just able to snag one. And good luck with Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique! Even if nothing pops up, I'd stop by the Boutique in the morning. There may be some openings last-minute!

 

[lanejudy]

Disney extended unused tickets that were set to expire today to tomorrow

Not tomorrow, a year from tomorrow. WDW has extended any partially-used multi-day tickets to Oct. 11, 2025.


https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/tickets/hurricane-ticket-validity/

 

[meremac]

Not tomorrow, a year from tomorrow. WDW has extended any partially-used multi-day tickets to Oct. 11, 2025.

View attachment 902257
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/tickets/hurricane-ticket-validity/

Oh my gosh, thank you! I edited.

 

[lucky978]

I’d love to know experiences of driving to Disney from Virginia on I-95 and I-4. I’ll post on the travel board too. I’ll need to make the trip home.

If you find out, please let me know if you can. I have friends travelling that same path tomorrow. Hopefully everything will be all clear.

 

[MGMmjl]

Update from Disney:

"We’re grateful Walt Disney World Resort weathered the storm, and we are currently assessing the impacts to our property to prepare for reopening the theme parks, Disney Springs and possibly other areas on Friday, October 11. Our hearts are with our fellow Floridians who were impacted by this storm."

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

Update from Disney:

"We’re grateful Walt Disney World Resort weathered the storm, and we are currently assessing the impacts to our property to prepare for reopening the theme parks, Disney Springs and possibly other areas on Friday, October 11. Our hearts are with our fellow Floridians who were impacted by this storm."

I get that they open the parks so quickly but they allow CM's to stay home if they need to take care of their property etc?

 

[gottalovepluto]

I get that they open the parks so quickly but they allow CM's to stay home if they need to take care of their property etc?

Can’t imagine they want the publicity of firing someone because they had to stay home due to damage. (But if their homes got damaged those same CMs might want to work all the hours they can as they’ll need the money for repairs.)

 

[bookbabe626]

Family in Lakeland and Davenport kept electricity til at least 1am. We were all on the phone and watching Denis Philips together. Saw when the Tropicana’s roof blew off and a crane in Tampa fell. My phone gave me tornado alerts throughout yesterday, but my family didn’t get them. So I was texting them. It was a nerve wracking day for sure. My dh has electricity. My oldest ds does not and cell phone is spotty.

How did Lakeland fare overall? I see online that power is out almost everywhere, but how’s the flooding situation? We have a storage locker there, and their office hasn’t posted any updates yet.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I am supposed to fly Monday 10/14 to Orlando for a 5 day parks trip. Staying at Coronado Springs. Can’t decide if I should cancel. I am glad to hear many are safe.

By later today you will likely not even be able to tell there was a hurricane that hit Disney overnight. Their clean-up crews are as amazing as their ride out crews!