Recent Complaints - Post Charley

[ClarabelleCow]

We just got back from a great trip, and I have read several complaints, not sure if they have anything to do with what happened in Florida, but does anyone have any idea how bad the area of Orlando and even Disney really got hit by Charley!!! Driving in from the port to VWL, there are hotels wiped out, buildings destroyed, as of Thursday(8/26), still areas without power! At the VWL, the geiser was just starting to work again late Wednesday, the music that was being piped throughout the resort was just starting to work again, electricians were in full force working on the pool lights at the "Quiet pool", not sure why its called that!!! Trees down are removed everywhere, you could see the trees that were still standing were still in distress. The nature path to Fort Wilderness was still closed because of downed trees, golf courses were still closed because of the storm, the top of the Contemporary was missing pannels.

Non-Disney, after speaking with a few people, they went through a nightmare! Watching the news it was horrifying the loss of homes and belongings, alot of staff did not make it to work for a few days because they had to take care of their families and homes.

So if the complaints are coming from the dates of 8/13 and on, understand that Disney was very short staffed, and that could be why rooms were not cleaned, confusion at the front desk, etc.

 

[lenshanem]

Thanks for the status. It was like WDW came off fine from the sounds of things....

It appears there is really alot of "smaller" things that will take some time to get back up to speed.

Really it is amazing those CMs that came to work, but had their own worries back at their own home.

 

[ClarabelleCow]

This may be a rumor, but our limo driver said Disney and Universal have there ways of blocking out the media when it comes to reporting certain things, so of course, they would not want it reported that things were bad, because then vacationers would not come, they would cancel. This is just from a limo driver, but it does make some sense!!

 

[DebbieB]

I was talking to someone in our Orlando office yesterday and she said she drives 26 miles to downtown (I believe from the west) and there are still lots of trees down along her drive and debris piled up.

 

[Chuck S]

Was Disney hit fairly hard? Yes. But, because they considered the possibility of hurricanes in their designs, and built strong buildings, most damage was cosmetic...not affecting the actual operation of the resorts and parks.

It is certainly understandable that a large number of trees were downed, and that paths and certain "effects" (like the geiser, pool lighting, road signs) are down and awaiting repair. Even relatively minor damage takes time to fix.

It was reported that the GF may have lost a couple of windows, but there was no major structural damage to WDW. As far as "squelching" the media coverage...I'm sure if there were major damage to a park or resort, it would have been reported...just as other things (like the guy that took a "hostage" at the Boardwalk a few years ago) was all over the news.

In reality, the damage at WDW, compared to areas off-site, was minor and those hard hit areas made better "news".

 

[ClarabelleCow]

Chuck, what I was trying to say is that while the actuall damage may not have been extreme, the actual operations of the parks and resorts were affected because of the lack of staff. Which was no ones fault except nature!(hope that makes sense!!)

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by ClarabelleCow
as of Thursday(8/26), still areas without power!

I work with a woman whose son is in the tree removal business. He was pulled into a group headed down to Florida and initially indicated they would not be back for two months. (Mind you he was also three weeks away from moving into a new house, which his pregnant wife has to manage herself.)

Upon arrival, he found out that the electrical workers called in won't be allowed to go home for SIX to EIGHT months due to all of the repair work necessary. That's half a year of 60-80 hour weeks.

I'm assuming their first priority is to get SOME power to everyone, and then go back and permanently rebuild the infrastructure. But when I heard the time frames involved, it really gave me a sense of how enormous the damage must be.

 

[DrTomorrow]

Originally posted by ClarabelleCow
This may be a rumor, but our limo driver said Disney and Universal have there ways of blocking out the media when it comes to reporting certain things, so of course, they would not want it reported that things were bad, because then vacationers would not come, they would cancel. This is just from a limo driver, but it does make some sense!!

Not sure how true this is, but it did give me a funny visual: I imagined Gene Hackman, in a 3 piece suit, as a Disney exec in a fine, wood-veneer office, putting his arm around some poor reporter's shoulder and saying "But not all of this has to make it to the morning paper, does it?" ::grin::

 

[canda]

I saw on the news, CNN I think, the mayor of Orlando. It was the day after the storm had left. He said that the main parks and attractions have reopened. He also said that it would have been one of the best days to come down to Orlando, because the crowds were gone and the weather was perfect.

As for keeping the press quiet, President Bush and Sen. Kerry can't even do that, how could Disney?

I know about ABC and NBC, but if that was the case, then it would have been reported on ABC that WDW was fine but US was is shambles, and NBC to say US was great and WDW was in bad shape.

 

[CarolA]

The Orlando media loves to report on Disney.... However, the reason Disney hasn't gotten much hurricane news is NOTHING happened. Yes, trees are down etc... but there are LOTS bigger stories in Florida post hurricane then the pool music etc...; Had the storm wiped out Disney it would still be front page news. Disney can't control the media. They can try to keep them out, but they do that a huge risk. If they don't let the media report the news, those same stations might not report the new ride openings!

 

[DaisyDebbie]

Structurally they seemed to make out fine. Along the roads inside WDW all you see are downed trees and one that snapped right in half.

 

[Terry S]

I was down in Florida this past weekend and was amazed at the devistation. I don't beleive the local news in Michigan showed even a glimpse of the devistation. As far as the GF goes, we stayed there this weekend and the guy in concierge who checked us in told us there were a limited amount of rooms due to the storm. I asked if windows broke, he said no, the storm was just so bad on the one side of some buildings that the water came in under the sliding glass door so bad that they had to pull the carpet and the padding and let the cement dry out before replacing it all.

 

[rocketriter]

Originally posted by ClarabelleCow
This may be a rumor, but our limo driver said Disney and Universal have there ways of blocking out the media when it comes to reporting certain things, so of course, they would not want it reported that things were bad, because then vacationers would not come, they would cancel. This is just from a limo driver, but it does make some sense!!

Perhaps this is true, but they don't have a way of blocking out reports from DIS members on our own board, who have reported a lot of tree damage at WDW but only a bit of structural damage in a few locations such as DD and GF. I absolutely do not mean to minimize the damage that Florida took, which was terrible; but WDW itself is structurally very strong and wasn't hurt too badly.

 

[Pinnie]

Originally posted by Terry S
I was down in Florida this past weekend and was amazed at the devistation. I don't beleive the local news in Michigan showed even a glimpse of the devistation. As far as the GF goes, we stayed there this weekend and the guy in concierge who checked us in told us there were a limited amount of rooms due to the storm. I asked if windows broke, he said no, the storm was just so bad on the one side of some buildings that the water came in under the sliding glass door so bad that they had to pull the carpet and the padding and let the cement dry out before replacing it all.

Terry,

Don't tell me we were down there at the SAME time! I was there last weekend too! We saw the damage at the SWA gate area where jetways were buckled. We drove up to a friend's condo in Sanford and saw hotels that were missing the whole top floor. We ate at a restaurant that was untouched, while across the street another one was leveled. I totally agree that the news reports up here did not show the damage that Central Fl took.

pinnie

 

[bjakmom]

When I checked my sister into BWV on 8/22 the CMs at the front desk told us that the resort was full because many Fla DVC members were using their points while repairs were being made to their homes (or they were still waiting for electric to be restored). I was shocked at the amount of damage all around Orlando !- my sis and her boys weathered the storm in the airport Hyatt and said the outside windows actually 'bowed' (they spent some time sitting in the bathroom for safety) - she said the next day they observed a lot of damage in the airport. Considering what they had been through, I was very impressed with how hard everyone was working to make things feel 'normal' for the rest of us !

 

[Sammie]

Disney faired well, because Disney prepares well. They prepared well when they built structurally sound buildings, that they keep maintained.

They build roads and parking lots that don't flood. They spend almost an entire day getting ready, tying down and removing lots of items.

They landscape to be hurricane ready. Electricial is underground, signs breakaway in high winds to prevent them from flying through the air.

 

[Divamomto3]

Originally posted by ClarabelleCow
This may be a rumor, but our limo driver said Disney and Universal have there ways of blocking out the media when it comes to reporting certain things, so of course, they would not want it reported that things were bad, because then vacationers would not come, they would cancel. This is just from a limo driver, but it does make some sense!!

Ours told us the same exact thing. I think it's totally true. I was there on the Sunday of Hurricane Weekend and I couldn't believe the amount of destruction.

 

[OKW Lover]

Originally posted by ClarabelleCow
This may be a rumor, but our limo driver said Disney and Universal have there ways of blocking out the media when it comes to reporting certain things, so of course, they would not want it reported that things were bad, because then vacationers would not come, they would cancel. This is just from a limo driver, but it does make some sense!!

Its clearly not true. Short of closing the parks, there isn't any way Disney could prevent a reporter, or anybody curious, from just going to look at the damage.

 

[ClarabelleCow]

Well I know for a fact that here in CT it was not reported on the local news as to how bad Orlando got hit. They mostly showed the Punta gorda area. I had no idea the devastation, I'm not saying that Disney was hit hard, but the area was, and think about it, if the news around the country reported as to how bad Orlando was really hit, (like homestead several years ago), people would change their plans. Considering Disneys and ABC's affiliation and Universal and NBC or CBS, I do wonder if the damage was squelched?

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by ClarabelleCow
Considering Disneys and ABC's affiliation and Universal and NBC or CBS, I do wonder if the damage was squelched?

If true, I think there are better justifications for not showing the damage in Orlando.

Each of the networks would only send a handful of people to cover an event like this--particularly with all of the resources they have committed to election year coverage. And there were portions of the state hit much harder than Orlando. Most of the coverage I saw involved the coast where the hurricane came aground. That's where the real staggering damage was to be found.

A couple of days later the hurricane was no longer a story as far as the national media was concerned.

If Orlando had been ground zero for the hurricane's devastation, it certainly would have received much more extensive coverage. The networks probably didn't even have crews in Orlando to cover the hurricane, because there was little national interest in seeing footage of a few downed trees or building damage near WDW.