MCO during tropical weather

[vincent00]

Headed down in a couple days time, and since I'm a weather nerd, I've been keeping tabs on the forecast models to get a sense of any rain we might encounter -- it's Florida in September; I expect to get wet.

Anyway, the last few days, there's been growing consensus among the long-range models of a hurricane brewing in the Gulf next week; possibly tracking over the northern half of Florida toward the end of the week. The timing of which is inconveniently close to our flight home.

Question for anyone who's traversed MCO immediately before/after or during a tropical storm or hurricane, what should I be prepared for? Minor delays and inconvenience, or utter chaos of cancellations and stranded travellers?

Further, let's say that my flight is preemptively delayed, how does that impact one's Mears Connect reservation? Plan to head to the airport...and wait it out. Or will Mears postpone pickup based on the delay?

Trying not to worry too much about logistics for a storm that's yet to spin-up and which may or may not make trouble, but I also want to be prepared just in case.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

We had an MCO experience several years back with a hurricane (I want to say Irma?). They announced a day in advance they'd be closing MCO - so if the hurricane is serious and heads for Orlando, they will close the airport (and other airports in the area). We got out about 2 hours before the closure, and I think it was closed at least 24 hours (maybe more). It doesn't happen often, but it did that trip. But even heavy rains and winds will cause delays, and there could be cancellations if planes can't land. Your plane has to get there so you can fly it out. You really need to monitor very, very closely, depending on the storm and your flight day/time. And if it's serious, it will often impact flights for a couple days, not just day-of. On the other hand, they're very experienced with storms in Florida, and have protocols in place to minimize problems for passengers..... The good news is it's just a forecast at this point and could change 100 times before your trip!

 

[Mr. Drauer]

Headed down in a couple days time, and since I'm a weather nerd, I've been keeping tabs on the forecast models to get a sense of any rain we might encounter -- it's Florida in September; I expect to get wet.

Anyway, the last few days, there's been growing consensus among the long-range models of a hurricane brewing in the Gulf next week; possibly tracking over the northern half of Florida toward the end of the week. The timing of which is inconveniently close to our flight home.

Question for anyone who's traversed MCO immediately before/after or during a tropical storm or hurricane, what should I be prepared for? Minor delays and inconvenience, or utter chaos of cancellations and stranded travellers?

Further, let's say that my flight is preemptively delayed, how does that impact one's Mears Connect reservation? Plan to head to the airport...and wait it out. Or will Mears postpone pickup based on the delay?

Trying not to worry too much about logistics for a storm that's yet to spin-up and which may or may not make trouble, but I also want to be prepared just in case.

There is no good way to answer this. What if, what if, what if scenarios are just wasting time. If sustained winds are over 35 MPH, there is a ground stop. That happens during severe thunderstorms in the afternoon once or twice a month. There are no hard an fast rules on ground transportation cancelling, but when an actual hurricane is tracked into central Florida, decisions are made on a rolling time basis when and if to close things. Some things are scheduled to shut down / close earlier than others based upon the need to give people time to make arrangements. When it comes to tropical weather, nothing is meaningfull until about 72 to 48 hours out. trying to look at a model for a system that hasn't even formed yet is really wasting energy.

 

[gottalovepluto]

If it’s bad the airport will straight up close. When it first opens/is near closing expect limited concessions.

What can you do now? Familiarize yourself with all your trip change/cancellation policies and any trip insurance you may have. Look at your schedule at home and see if leaving a day earlier is even possible in case you get close in and that looks like a better bet.

And don’t stress too much, you knew this was possible in the back of your head because you booked a trip to FL in Sept so your subconscious has kinda been mulling this over for awhile

 

[OKW Lover]

what should I be prepared for? Minor delays and inconvenience, or utter chaos of cancellations and stranded travellers?

All and any of these can happen. Fortunately, it doesn't look like there are any severe weather threats brewing right now so you should be fine. Even if a storm develops, MCO being in the middle of the state generally doesn't get the worst of the storm.

 

[dvczerfs]

Delays happen all the time in the summer in Florida, it’s rainy season. My first experience with a hurricane was Wilma. We lived n the northeast at the time. Wilma was a cat3. We went to check in at okw and I asked, still checking people in? The cm asked me, yes we are, why wouldn’t we? I said there is a cat3 coming. The cm smiled, asked where I was from. She said she was from the northeast also, a cat 3 is like getting six inches of snow at home.
If you ever notice, The Weather Channel is never live at the WDW complex during a storm. We don’t get storm surge, we get wind and rain. We don’t fill our bath tubs, we don’t sit in the bathroom with mattresses over our heads.
Also, when they say 150 mph winds, there is a very small sliver, that hit that speed, it’s not the entire big saucer they are showing you. Those speeds are gone by the time it hits central Florida. You will also notice the power companies use the parks parking lots to stage their equipment. Why, you’re safe here.
The other thing you have to think about, for 99.999 percent of the people and businesses here, it’s not their first rodeo, they know exactly what to do. The faster they get you out, the faster they can get the new people in who have a zero balance on their credit cards. The hurricane season is still under Rule #7.

 

[_19disnA]

Long range forecasts are never very accurate and they can only realistically predict the next 2-3 days. Airlines have become more proactive in cancelling flights when bad weather is expected (snow/ice/hurricane/etc.) so that planes and crews aren't out of position when flights resume. There really isn't anything specific you can do and worrying about some weather event that is still way out in the Atlantic ocean is probably a waste of time. IF flights are cancelled, airlines allow you to make changes and will usually waive the typical fees.

 

[vincent00]

Tkx folks. Latest model runs suggest that the weather should be decent next week after all, but still keeping an eye on things since a lot can (and usually does) change 5-7 days out. Feeling better having gotten the pre-trip jitters out of my system, regardless.