Stranded by Jeanne?

[dzneelvr]

Good for you, I'm glad you stayed put. The news reports they are giving us via national networks puts Orlando right in the center of all the action on Jeannie, so you wouldn't have had a safe drive anywhere if you'd have tried to leave.
If I had to wait out a hurricane, I couldn't think of a better place than WDW. Just relax, enjoy, and make some memories. At least you are flying out of it on Monday. Those poor Floridians who have to live with the damage can't do that.

 

[Jen D]

dopey's biggest fan, the joint is holding up like a champ. The winds are still strong and there's more to come, but things are holding up well-- there are some branches and small trees / bamboo across paths here and there, and a few areas with some drainage issues, but if it is anything like the last few storms, these things will be cleared away by the time you arrive. I saw the swing on the beach near our longhouse (Tuvalu) is on the ground-- don't know if it broke in the wind or was removed.

I went by the Great Ceremonial House-- it is kind of unbelievable. The wind is still raging, and we get periodic voice messages saying that we are safest in our rooms but are welcome to visit GCH. The GCH is absolutley PACKED. Kids activities all day, characters out with long lines to visit with each one, restaurants and bar full. We actually haven't taken our kids over. Since our vacation officially ended last night, we're a little "funned out." My dd is content to hang in the room and read and watch a little tv and the baby is napping better than he has all week. We'll probably head over there for dinner though, as our rations are running low here. Not crazy about taking the baby out in these winds though.

Disney really has gone above and beyond what they should reasonably be expected to do to keep guests happy. I'm floored and touched by it.

 

[lynr]

JenD:

Did you buy travel insurance?
We bought travel insurance for our Disney cruise on 8/28 due to Hurricane Frances our cruise turned into a 10 night cruise and we were stranded until 9/9 trying to get a flight out of Orlando. Our travel insurance is covering everything that we spent extra after Sept 4th which was when we were supposed to get home.

Lyn

 

[dpic]

Originally posted by Jen D

Disney really has gone above and beyond what they should reasonably be expected to do to keep guests happy. I'm floored and touched by it.

That's so good to hear. Often, we think of Disney as some company, but it's really people who make up the Disney magic. All those CM's must have families and homes that they are worried about, yet spend their time making sure that Disney guests have as good a time as possible. Hats off to them!

 

[Jen D]

Did you buy travel insurance?
We bought travel insurance for our Disney cruise on 8/28 due to Hurricane Frances our cruise turned into a 10 night cruise and we were stranded until 9/9 trying to get a flight out of Orlando. Our travel insurance is covering everything that we spent extra after Sept 4th which was when we were supposed to get home.

You know I have never looked into travel insurance and have never purchased it. It certainly would have been handy. At the very least I will buy it if I ever travel during Hurricane season again!

 

[disneybud]

I had no idea Song would cancel all Saturday flights.

Not that it makes a difference at this point and I hope things work out for you tomorrow, but we were in Disney all last week and scheduled for a SONG flight from MCO to Newark, NJ at 5:30 pm Saturday Night. Seeing how things were worsening on Thursday Night, we decided to change to an earlier flight going into JFK Saturday 11:15 am.. When I did the change on Friday Morning there were lots of seats available on the 7 am to JFK and the 11:15 that we ended up taking had some seats scattered about the plane as well.. When we heard they were closing the airport at 6 we were thankful we did what we did. I also checked some flights into LaGuardia and they were open too..

I did have to fly back home into JFK and then arrange to have someone get us over to Newark to get our car... Kind of a pain but thanking ourselves now that we thought ahead and did what we did..
My real point in writing all this is that SONG did not cancel all their Sat flights... It was quite a zoo at the airport and they did a great job accomodating a lot of people... Again good luck getting back

 

[Pigsty333]

We survived. Hubby came home late last night and the airport was up and ready to be open today at noon. Lost power on and off, so we basically did essentials. Los phone service and had no cell until late this afternoon.

Have water damage and now it is a matter of getting everything cleaned up, dried, etc. School closed for another day (lost two days) and added on to the 10 previously - that is 12 days we have to make up. How many more days can we give up? Kids are antsy. I never thought I would hear the words, "I can't wait to go back to school, its boring here and there is nothing to do."

Hopefully, when we go back to school my son will have a whole bunch of postcards waiting for him and that will cheer him up. For those of you who have not read any of the threads, they are doing a postcard exchange and getting cards from all over. They had started coming in last week and they were really excited about it. We will see how many more come in.

Take care and know that we are okay. The parks suffered minor damage with Epcot's Living Seas suffering the most severe and was going to be closed today.

Secondly, let me add that the airport authorities did set up an emergency shelter for the workers and their families. There were many employees who stayed behind and the restaurants did remain open to serve them, their families and stranded families.

I opted to stay home with my kids, with the conditions that if anything really bad happened I would respond to the shelter once it was safe to do so.

 

[DMRick]

Great attitude! I can sure think of worse places to be in the middle of a hurricane..and with your positive attitude, I'm sure it set the tone for your family.

 

[Jen D]

Disneybud, thanks... I think It is all fine now and I am home but I do wish I had gotten out Saturday. When I called Song late Friday night they said "everything was cancelled" or some words to that effect-- I guess they meant that everything that wasn't full was cancelled. They probably didn't want us going to the airport and trying to get on standby since they couldn't accomodate us. I do know when I called late Friday all they wanted to talk to me about was Tampa and wouldn't even entertain any inquiries about getting out of Orlando earlier in the day. Sigh. I feel very irritated with myself for not changing the flight earlier in the week. Anyway, all is well, we're home and I'll try not to dwell on it...

Pigsty, glad to hear you and your family are safe.