Parks closed for weather?

[cariann77]

Closed for the cold in FL. Made me chuckle. It was -27 here this morning! Michiganders would be loving that 50 degree FL warmth right now.

 

[PCFriar80]

Magic Kingdom and Epcot did open up around 2:00 PM when Wilma hit in 2005. Studios and Animal Kingdom were closed the entire day.

 

[johde]

Magic Kingdom and Epcot did open up around 2:00 PM when Wilma hit in 2005. Studios and Animal Kingdom were closed the entire day.

In 1999, DAK opened to onsite guests in the early afternoon of the 15th after Floyd narrowly missed Florida. The other 3 parks were closed all day.That was the first full day a park had been closed.

 

[davkata]

Magic Kingdom and Epcot did open up around 2:00 PM when Wilma hit in 2005. Studios and Animal Kingdom were closed the entire day.

Yes, we were there for that! The night before we were at MNSSHP and while they held the parade, the Headless Horseman did not ride due to the rain. We got back to our resort that night to a message that the parks were closed the next day. We went to Epcot the next afternoon when they did reopen, but not much was actually up and running. Monorail couldn't run because of the winds. We made the most of it, as it was our final day there.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

That would never happen as it does not get cold enough.

Now the WATER parks can and do close. I don't recall at what temp that decision is made. So it could be that they did close and the person misheard and thought it was all the parks.

The only thing that closes parks are hurricanes...and that's only happened a handful of days.
Waterparks and pools are shuttered when it gets around 65 typically

 

[asbyrneva]

The only thing that closes parks are hurricanes...and that's only happened a handful of days.
Waterparks and pools are shuttered when it gets around 65 typically

In January of 2010 it was cold (by Orlando standards)! Parks didnt close but it was cold enough that they tarped plants and had heaters for the plants. Frost burned enough plants that they had to go through and pull tons of plant beds and large mature plants were dead they had to go through and replant.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

The only thing that closes parks are hurricanes...and that's only happened a handful of days.
Waterparks and pools are shuttered when it gets around 65 typically

Actually no--waterparks stay open cooler than that.

In any case--I am well aware if the hurricane closures as we evacuated from our barrier island to Wilderness lodge for one of them in 2004.

But closing during hurricane has nothing to do with closing in the cold which was the type of closure I was referencing.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Somebody issued you a marriage license before you had tequila?

I thought it was not possible to get married without tequila being involved...??

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Actually no--waterparks stay open cooler than that.

In any case--I am well aware if the hurricane closures as we evacuated from our barrier island to Wilderness lodge for one of them in 2004.

But closing during hurricane has nothing to do with closing in the cold which was the type of closure I was referencing.

In that case...they have never/will never close for
Cold weather...they sell plenty of sweatshirts and aren't getting into the "we lost our day" nonsense.

The hurricanes were used as an example of just how rare closures are.

The parks were closed for approximately 24 hours between 9/11/01-9/12/01

Actually there's no official waterpark policy...but they often close them in that general range...most definitely below 60...
Resort pools are often roped off warmer than that...

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

In that case...they have never/will never close for
Cold weather...they sell plenty of sweatshirts and aren't getting into the "we lost out day" nonsense.

The hurricanes were used as an example of just how rare closures are.

The parks were closed for approximately 24 hours between 9/11/01-9/12/01

Not sure why you are choosing my posts. I never claimed it was common.

They do close the water parks when a temperature goes below a certain point (maybe 50 degrees?). But they have never closed the theme parks for the cold.

Now if there were an ice storm, maybe. But I have only seen that as far south as just north of St Augustine. My parents had the pleasure of driving (or actually scooting along at 5mph) in December 1989. I could see closures for that due the hazardous conditions.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Not sure why you are choosing my posts. I never claimed it was common.

They do close the water parks when a temperature goes below a certain point (maybe 50 degrees?). But they have never closed the theme parks for the cold.

Now if there were an ice storm, maybe. But I have only seen that as far south as just north of St Augustine. My parents had the pleasure of driving (or actually scooting along at 5mph) in December 1989. I could see closures for that due the hazardous conditions.

They have had snow in Orlando since 1970...but I don't think they've ever had the situation lined up where it was even considered for closure though.

The waterparks are canned the day prior when the weather is not favorable or the projections are very low. They save on operational costs that way. I don't believe it's a set number though.

I only picked your posts because you said "I wasn't talking about hurricanes" (paraphrase)
True...however when WDW's closures are tied only to hurricanes...it addresses the cold. It's an illustration/evidence of policy.

Is it cold down there? Yep.
Is it in the 50's with lows in the 30s at somepoint in the year in Orlando every year?
Yep...most of them.

Closed giftshops sell no merchandise...and there's your answer about "chilly closures"

It was a bit of a snit...was it not? Sorry if I read
That wrong.

 

[jmkjr72]

We were down in 2006 I think it was and it was much colder and the only things closed were pools and water parks
heck one night the guard came by when we were in the pool and said if the temp drops 3 more deg they will close the pool
he said are you guys from Alaska and we said nope north east wi and he was like same diffrence

 

[POOHsie]

My sister was a Disney college program CM around 1983-1984. DH and I came up from Miami for a WDW weekend. Temp was in the 20s, and so cold that many orange trees in Central FL groves had died. The only parks built at that time, MK and Epcot, were open. DSIS worked at MK at the Star Jets (now Astro Orbiter), which was outdoors and 3 stories up in the air above the WEDway People Mover. DSIS's uniform was this thin nylon top and pants and no jacket/sweater was allowed. Her crew worked 2 hrs periods handling the ride vehicles then switched to warmer positions, then back to the ride vehicles all during her shift. I felt really bad for DSIS -- when we checked on her during the day, her teeth were chattering like crazy.

 

[DOOM1001]

It would have to get beyond record cold levels for them to close the theme parks,I mean like highs in the 30's and lows around 10 degrees,this however is just me assuming as since it never gets this cold in Orlando so it's just me throwing out some temps I think they may consider closing them.I've been to the parks plenty of times with highs in the 50-55 range and lows in the upper 20's and last night was in that range so there's no way they would be closing them.During the day it's actually really nice with highs in the 50's as most days this cold are usually very sunny so as long as you're wearing suitable clothing you're fine.Once the sun goes down however it's another story.I remember one time we wanted to stay for Illuminations and ended up eating at Cat Cora's restaurant in the Boardwalk and just hanging out there for a couple of hours to get out of the cold until it was close to the start time for Illuminations.Also with so many visitors from colder climates a little Florida cold is not that big a deal to them,I saw a kid swimming in a resort pool one morning around 8am when it was around 32 degrees.They're also not cancelling any RunDisney races with the lows in the 20's or 30's,the 2010 marathon weekend was known as Disney on ice by many runners since it actually snowed for the half marathon which was followed by freezing rain.I didn't run it that year and I'm pretty glad I didn't as this year the 5k had lows in the 30's followed by lows in the low 40's for the 10K and half marathon and that was cold enough having to get up at 2-3am and wait for a couple of hours outside for the race to start,the full felt like a heat wave since it was like 53 at the start.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

The only thing that closes parks are hurricanes...and that's only happened a handful of days.
Waterparks and pools are shuttered when it gets around 65 typically

And acts of terrorism - did you forget about 9-11?

 

[lockedoutlogic]

And acts of terrorism - did you forget about 9-11?

Correct....and I haven't forgotten that...
I was called in and worked 16 hours that day and night at caribbean.

They cleared out the parks around noon if I recall...and reopened them slightly delayed the next day. Obviously there was no plan for that...but there was no real threat either.

The main impact to wdw was the shutdown of the airports...that took a good week-10 days to sort out.

 

[Bluegrrl]

Almost never ever ever close. Water parks close in cold weather or will rotate closings for maintenance. Outdoor rides close in bad weather (test track, BTM and the like). Water rides like Splash close during winter. Hurricanes (REALLY BAD ones) may make a park close, but that's a may, and in Central Florida we rarely get the bad ones. It will usually cause bad damage on the coasts and weaken by the time it gets to us. Even that really bad rainstorm for the Wine and Dine marathon didn't stop it. My mom got soaked. They were telling people to slow down, not run for best time and be careful running due to slipping, but it still was on. The only thing that may cancel the marathons is lightning within 6 miles. That also causes boats to stop running. Ferries and other boat transport are not allowed out if lightning is spotted within six miles.