The fort and hurricane milton

[Stratman50th]

That line is right over my house. Stay safe everyone

Hang in there.

 

[4077]

I hate to talk about very selfish Disney stuff (my parents are in Venice hunkered down and my son is at his college dorm in Melbourne)...and my first concern is for everyone in the path and their safety....however, I recall one of the last storms over the area a few years back had FW out of service for several weeks.....

 

[4077]

Also, I am not sure what list I got on to, but I get all the Sarasota County emergency communications to my home phone number in CT (I mean I lived there for 15 years and my parents there, but funny that my CT home phone gets the calls....) interesting.....

 

[jbrostek]

@4077 I keep getting MD emergency calls and I left MD 15 years ago. Just takes one time they get your number I swear.

 

[ucf_knight]

I hate to talk about very selfish Disney stuff (my parents are in Venice hunkered down and my son is at his college dorm in Melbourne)...and my first concern is for everyone in the path and their safety....however, I recall one of the last storms over the area a few years back had FW out of service for several weeks.....

It was several days not several weeks for hurricane ian which was a couple of years ago. hoping the best for the fort.

 

[4077]

I finally went and searched out of curiosity....

FW closure IAN was September 28 - October 7, 2022. Didn't keep reading to see if all or only some loops opened that day...

 

[Brocktoon]

Don't forget Hurricane Nicole which followed Ian in early November 2022. We were evacuated from The Fort for a few days and I think the parks were closed for a day or two as well. Not as bad as Ian, but we had to stay at Art of Animation for a bit.

 

[Teamubr]

I recall one of the last storms over the area a few years back had FW out of service for several weeks.....

I think you are remembering Irma in 2017.

Irma rolled over WDW as a Cat 3 on September 10-11, 2017. I arrived to WDW with a Fort reservation on September 15th (actually had plans for a Lake Louisa overnight on the 14th, but it was a disaster and closed and ended up at the Kissimmee KOA after a dozen calls to find a place on the way down.)

Disney put us up at Old Key West. Our own PA Hunter also arrived about the same time and he got to stay at POP/AOA until the Fort reopened on September 20, 2017. This was the longest closure ever with lots of rumors that it would never reopen (too much damage, no financial benefits, etc). The 10 day closure did seem like forever and it only reopened with 4 loops initially. There were still considerable trees down, but very little structural damage that we saw. By the end of our stay about half the loops were open, but there was still considerable clean up work going on.

They had a really nice re-opening ceremony that we were part of and then the parade of campers returning.



j

 

[ucf_knight]

We had reservations at the fort for this Friday through Monday and Disney has not communicated at all what they are doing with the reservation. This seems unusual to me. I'm sure they are incredibly busy with hurricane prep and changing reservations across property but since the fort is the only resort that will be fully closed I would think they would reach out to us. Anyone on here with reservations getting any communication from Disney?

 

[Teamubr]

@ucf_knight,

There was a notice that went out yesterday that the Fort would close at 11am tomorrow with plans to reopen on Sunday 10/13. Since the storm hasn't hit yet, they don't know what (if any) damage they will have. I'm sure the reopening date will depend on the post storm survey and when they can safely reopen. Unfortunately, the Fort is not a priority on assessments or reopening.

After Irma, we called the 800 number (and were on hold, literally, for hours) to finally get reassigned to a resort until the Fort opened. They focused on the earliest arrivals first. We did not get an actual relocation assignment until the day before our scheduled check in.

As you can imagine, this is a chaotic time relocating existing campers to a safe location, handling early check outs and focusing on arrivals in the next 48 hours. I would start calling Thursday morning to see what they may do. Until then, I doubt they know what they need to deal with.

j

 

[Sjm9911]

Hope everone stays safe. That's first. We have time to think about the fort and disney later.

 

[Teamubr]

Disney finally announced closures.

Interestingly, if you just look at the announcement on the web site or app, it says Operating normally. Stay tuned.



But clicking on the "Learn More" gives the closure details.



Hotel closures are what we already knew (Fort, Tree House Villas). Transportation ceases after MK, EPCOT and DS closures at 2pm tomorrow)

j

 

[FtW Mike]

@Teamubr , Jim I remembered the PAHunter and his wife came in after IAN . I somehow thought he ended up at one of the POP resorts. Knew somebody else ws there , forgot it was you

 

[Wendysofftoneverland]

I think you are remembering Irma in 2017.

Irma rolled over WDW as a Cat 3 on September 10-11, 2017. I arrived to WDW with a Fort reservation on September 15th (actually had plans for a Lake Louisa overnight on the 14th, but it was a disaster and closed and ended up at the Kissimmee KOA after a dozen calls to find a place on the way down.)

Disney put us up at Old Key West. Our own PA Hunter also arrived about the same time and he got to stay at CBR until the Fort reopened on September 20, 2017. This was the longest closure ever with lots of rumors that it would never reopen (too much damage, no financial benefits, etc). The 10 day closure did seem like forever and it only reopened with 4 loops initially. There was still considerable trees down, but very little structural damage that we saw. By the end of our stay about half the loops were open, but there was still considerable clean up work going on.

They had a really nice re-opening ceremony that we were part of and then the parade of campers returning.

View attachment 901751View attachment 901752View attachment 901753

j

Wow, I didn't realize about the reopening ceremonies. We were supposed to check in to our first ever Fort Wilderness trip on September 10, 2017; we rescheduled for September 18, but we had to stay at CSR (Disney gave us the choice of there or All-Stars for the same price) for 2 days before the Fort reopened. Husband and I went to the parks the first night at the Fort, but my parents took my toddler son to the Chip and Dale sing-along and he met both Chip and Dale that night.

The past 3 years, we have been in Florida this week but luckily happened to pick a different week this year.

Stay safe everyone.

 

[bama_ed]

There has been a reference (or two) on the other DIS boards (Resorts? Theme Parks?) that Milton-related information was being passed on to Travel Agents with Disney guest reservations (who passed the info to THEIR affected clients) but the same info was not reaching guests at the same time who booked WDW reservations on their own.

I get using all communication channels to discuss closures, cancellation and rebooking changes, but the info was not reaching everyone in anywhere close to the same time which created some confusion.

You would think the Disney-related websites for the theme parks and affected resorts would get an immediate update (as the quickest way to spread the word) as policy decisions were made and communicated elsewhere but Disney apparently said, "nah".

 

[bama_ed]

As of the most recent NHC update (4pm central today Advisory 015), Milton continues its drift south and now is projected to come ashore near Sarasota (south of Tampa) and exit on the Atlantic side near Melbourne.

 

[Teamubr]

I saw this one Ed. It looks encouraging for WDW.

Tomorrow should have things more solid. It wouldn't surprise me if this vacillates a couple of more times before land fall.

j

 

[jbrostek]

@bama_ed Disney IT and the speed at which they can update anything makes even the most remote school systems communications look like a rock star. So I am not in any way surprised their sites are the last to give out any useful information.

 

[bama_ed]

I saw this one Ed. It looks encouraging for WDW.

Tomorrow should have things more solid. It wouldn't surprise me if this vacillates a couple of more times before land fall.

j

I hope you are right, Jim.

 

[Teamubr]

I hope you are right, Jim.

I was thinking it could wobble north or south, but we can hope for south.

With the slightly further south prediction, the NWS has decreased the wind speed predictions for Lake Buena Vista (closest reporting to WDW)



Fingers crossed.

j