Tropical threat?? Leaving in 9 days...

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

When we were there during Irma we fared better at All-Stars than other places did in terms of the rooms. The advantage to Deluxe is ability to go out of the room whereas you were not supposed to with exterior doors but we only had minor tree damage whereas Poly had some pretty bad damage and I believe POR had water leakage into rooms (they had given ground level sand bags). All-Stars is located in Osceola County and had different curfew (county level that is) than Orange County at the time. Presently Osceola for Ian is under the emergency declaration. Just mentioning this because majority of WDW is Orange but there are portions that are not which includes All-Stars.

Irma's track went more west in the end than originally expected. They had evacuated to places that ended up getting direct hits from it (Tampa for one IIRC).

Pre-pandemic this was super easy to deal with Disney. Disney and Universal shut down for 2 days. We extended our trip by one day getting our discount rate and being able to stay in the same room and our flight was covered under SWA's travel advisory policy so we did not pay anything. But with park reservations I am not sure how they will handle this. And date-based tickets either. I'm not sure a hurricane has affected Disney since Irma which was before date based tickets came out and before park reservations. I do however think they were good on MNSSHP refunds and don't think that would be impacted by time and change in park ticket/reservations.

They took care of people very well during Irma, the meals you could buy much better than Matthew in 2016, great little pop up interactions with characters (goofy came to the food court at All-Stars for us). However...quite frankly I don't know if that same level is there now. You'll be safe there, locals do get hotel rooms there either in preparation or because power outages. After Irma we ran into a good amount of locals there to spend the day because they had no power at home. The parks were very empty however they had shut down the airport a day before it hit and Disney and Universal were closed for 2 days so the impact was anticipated to be big enough.

Just to give comparison these are screenshots I took of it with my weather app from Irma..and to be clear these screenshots are from IRMA not Ian.


This one shows the eye


And this is once it had passed:



Irma mostly hit overnight and for me that was better as I was able to sleep through most of it, my husband woke up due to the winds though. Even with an exterior door and being on the top level I did feel safe there.


The present path for Ian shows a similar enough pattern to Irma however Irma went up through more of FL on it's way to Orlando which helped weaken it more so that is going to be a primary factor in how much impact Disney gets. If it stays out in the water more it can have time and fuel source to strengthen on the other hand that may allow for less travel disruptions (I say less here but only marginally so if it would be less). For Irma so much of the state was engulfed in it.

 

[Minion89]

Few notes from my family's experience leaving WDW right before Hurricane Irma in 2017 - hopefully this helps!

- Hotel - stayed at AoA for the week prior. There was no real impact on the hotel until Thursday. Thursday night was when we noticed people starting to arrive. By Friday, the hotel was packed. If you are currently on-site and will be staying for the storm, buy anything you might need from the gift shop soon. The gift shop was out of stock on many items and was incredibly crowded. There were very long lines. Also, be prepared for a lot of pets at the resort as many of the people arriving took their pets. Not sure if this is true at all resorts or was due to AoA being a pet-friendly hotel.

- Parks - went to MNSSHP on Thursday and MK on Friday. MNSSHP was as expected but a lot of people spent the entire time on the phone trying to change reservations/flights/etc. I was surprised these guests did not take Disney up on their offer to reschedule or refund party tickets as they got no use of the party. On Friday, the weather did not get bad until the afternoon. A lot of wind and heavy rain. Many places in the park had ankle-high water. If you are prepared, you can make a good day of it as the park was incredibly empty. We were even able to get a walk-up reservation at CRT.

- Renting a car - we rented a car from Enterprise for the entire trip. On Friday night, we received notification from Enterprise that the MCO airport location would be closed and we could not drop off the car there. We called customer service who was not very helpful and told us the same thing. Since we were unsure of what to do, we drove to the airport as normal on Saturday. Thankfully, they did have staff on site to accept the return of rental cars. It was an extremely rushed check out (they had us leave the car running and told us to take all our belongings and go), but we were grateful not to be stuck with the car.

- MCO - I cannot say enough good things about the staff at MCO during this experience. TSA was so incredibly organized and fast moving. They essentially let everyone do TSA pre-check level screening to speed up the security lines. Our flight was scheduled for 9am and the airport was closing at 12pm. Our flight was delayed and the airport made it abundantly clear that you could not stay at the airport after 12pm. We did end up flying out before the airport closure, but it was definitely stressful.

 

[reliev]

Latest track

 

[lovethattink]

When we were there during Irma we fared better at All-Stars than other places did in terms of the rooms. The advantage to Deluxe is ability to go out of the room whereas you were not supposed to with exterior doors but we only had minor tree damage whereas Poly had some pretty bad damage and I believe POR had water leakage into rooms (they had given ground level sand bags). All-Stars is located in Osceola County and had different curfew (county level that is) than Orange County at the time. Presently Osceola for Ian is under the emergency declaration. Just mentioning this because majority of WDW is Orange but there are portions that are not which includes All-Stars.

Irma's track went more west in the end than originally expected. They had evacuated to places that ended up getting direct hits from it (Tampa for one IIRC).

Pre-pandemic this was super easy to deal with Disney. Disney and Universal shut down for 2 days. We extended our trip by one day getting our discount rate and being able to stay in the same room and our flight was covered under SWA's travel advisory policy so we did not pay anything. But with park reservations I am not sure how they will handle this. And date-based tickets either. I'm not sure a hurricane has affected Disney since Irma which was before date based tickets came out and before park reservations. I do however think they were good on MNSSHP refunds and don't think that would be impacted by time and change in park ticket/reservations.

They took care of people very well during Irma, the meals you could buy much better than Matthew in 2016, great little pop up interactions with characters (goofy came to the food court at All-Stars for us). However...quite frankly I don't know if that same level is there now. You'll be safe there, locals do get hotel rooms there either in preparation or because power outages. After Irma we ran into a good amount of locals there to spend the day because they had no power at home. The parks were very empty however they had shut down the airport a day before it hit and Disney and Universal were closed for 2 days so the impact was anticipated to be big enough.

Just to give comparison these are screenshots I took of it with my weather app from Irma..and to be clear these screenshots are from IRMA not Ian.
View attachment 704661

This one shows the eye
View attachment 704662

And this is once it had passed:
View attachment 704663


Irma mostly hit overnight and for me that was better as I was able to sleep through most of it, my husband woke up due to the winds though. Even with an exterior door and being on the top level I did feel safe there.


The present path for Ian shows a similar enough pattern to Irma however Irma went up through more of FL on it's way to Orlando which helped weaken it more so that is going to be a primary factor in how much impact Disney gets. If it stays out in the water more it can have time and fuel source to strengthen on the other hand that may allow for less travel disruptions (I say less here but only marginally so if it would be less). For Irma so much of the state was engulfed in it.

Tampa hasn’t had a direct hit in over a century. https://www.wfla.com/weather/climat...ophic-hurricanes-but-for-how-much-longer/amp/

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Tampa hasn’t had a direct hit in over a century. https://www.wfla.com/weather/climat...ophic-hurricanes-but-for-how-much-longer/amp/

ETA your story says CAT 3 or greater. Irma was IIRC low CAT 1 or less by the time it got to Orlando or CAT 1 or 2 by Tampa. You're not talking quite about the same thing I am.

Yeah well you can see by my screen shots it was hit by it majorly, perhaps the difference is me explaining the following--What people had done was evacuate to the west side of FL because at the time the eastern side along with the Carolinas were going to get the majority of it. Irma late on wobbled and went more west and now all of those people were in the bulk of the path. It was devastating to hear all those stories. We knew a person on our flight down to Orlando who was trying to help his relative near Tampa with horses and getting them out.

I was trying to convey the path can change don't count on it staying the same or trying to drive if leaving Orlando or going to it with the expectation you'll be in the clear.

 

[lovethattink]

ETA your story says CAT 3 or greater. Irma was IIRC low CAT 1 or less by the time it got to Orlando or CAT 1 or 2 by Tampa. You're not talking quite about the same thing I am.

Yeah well you can see by my screen shots it was hit by it majorly, perhaps the difference is me explaining the following--What people had done was evacuate to the west side of FL because at the time the eastern side along with the Carolinas were going to get the majority of it. Irma late on wobbled and went more west and now all of those people were in the bulk of the path. It was devastating to hear all those stories. We knew a person on our flight down to Orlando who was trying to help his relative near Tampa with horses and getting them out.

I was trying to convey the path can change don't count on it staying the same or trying to drive if leaving Orlando or going to it with the expectation you'll be in the clear.

A direct hit, making land fall in Tampa, would be more impactful to CM who live in Polk and Hillsboro counties, which are many. Of course, it would have less effect on Disney since it’s further away.

 

[peabody58]

DW and myself we be at BWV 9/25 - 9/30 just when Ian should impact Florida/Orlando. Just bought some disposable rain ponchos and more wine! Never been at WDW during a hurricane, but have experienced many storms. Our plans are flexible and it's looking like our planned water park day may change to a quick Epcot visit. A little concerned about Wend's MM at AK, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Also decided to leave the convertible at home and use our trusty Equinox instead. We have a 1 BR villa so we can just chill and watch movies if we want while we wait out a rain storm. Either way we plan on having fun.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

A direct hit, making land fall in Tampa, would be more impactful to CM who live in Polk and Hillsboro counties, which are many. Of course, it would have less effect on Disney since it’s further away.

I wasn't trying to specify Tampa as in only focus on that. I was just trying as I said to mention how the path changed and people who were in one area for a reason were now in the path. Tampa was an example. With people in this thread and inevitably later on or in other threads they try and plan around that, driving here or taking this route. Just trying to give the example of how that plan doesn't necessarily work out.

 

[scrappinginontario]

For those who will be at Disney during the next week, please stay safe.

It’s also good to remember extra time and patience will be needed. Many of the CMs working have families close by who are riding out the storm. Their minds will be in 2 places and they will be concerned about their family, friends and loved ones who are not with them.

 

[jo-jo]

DW and myself we be at BWV 9/25 - 9/30 just when Ian should impact Florida/Orlando. Just bought some disposable rain ponchos and more wine! Never been at WDW during a hurricane, but have experienced many storms. Our plans are flexible and it's looking like our planned water park day may change to a quick Epcot visit. A little concerned about Wend's MM at AK, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Also decided to leave the convertible at home and use our trusty Equinox instead. We have a 1 BR villa so we can just chill and watch movies if we want while we wait out a rain storm. Either way we plan on having fun.

Are you bringing food with you? I'd be concerned any store deliveries would be cancelled.

 

[peabody58]

Are you bringing food with you? I'd be concerned any store deliveries would be cancelled.

Yes, breakfast and snack items. We have ADR's set-up for our main meals. Will have a car if need to go to a grocery store, or just pay the premium at the BW Corner Store.

 

[jo-jo]

Yes, breakfast and snack items. We have ADR's set-up for our main meals. Will have a car if need to go to a grocery store, or just pay the premium at the BW Corner Store.

That's good, if need be, you can eat breakfast for three meals for two days and then restock.

 

[Princess Merida]

I'm looking at switching my flight to Monday night and adding 2 nights. DVC doesn't have rooms at BWV at the moment. If I book another resort and we are supposed to move to BWV on Wednesday during the height of the storm how is that handled? Does anyone have any experience with this?

 

[disneytwincesses]

We are on the road. Going to stay safe doing the best we can. It now shows it is going to hit where we live with major tornados so what can you do

I have three days of food. I got pbandj makings, snacks, Tuna lunch kits and cup o noodles lol. We brought our Jungle Cruise board game and Haunted mansion game. We will live the parks somehow!

We are staying at Universal Hard Rock. This made me feel better…..all WDW and Universal Hotels at NOAA certified commercial Storm Ready. Only 183 in the country can say that.

 

[Floridagal23]

You should be able to cancel the hotel and get the refund. And the party you’ll either be refunded or I BELIEVE have a chance to use it at a different one within the next year.

Yeah as someone coming Tuesday morning I’m hoping that what we have to end up dealing with is a messy rainy Wed (potentially a washout day with parks closed) but then back to normal after that.

Thanks. Called this morning and they told me I can cancel any time prior without penalty. Need to call about the MNSSHP tickets but assume they will refund. Hoping to still go! Waiting it out.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I'm looking at switching my flight to Monday night and adding 2 nights. DVC doesn't have rooms at BWV at the moment. If I book another resort and we are supposed to move to BWV on Wednesday during the height of the storm how is that handled? Does anyone have any experience with this?

I'm not sure but if they would be under a curfew that is supposed to mean not to go out and about. During Irma pretty much everything came to a stop.

This was the screenshot from the TV from Irma:


Note the: "Guests must remain at their resort" portion.

The next day when curfew was about to end:





IMO, purely IMO much will depend on the timing of it, if there's a local curfew involved and what services they may have temporarily suspended. Just before the storm hit housekeeping went around and gave people additional supplies because there wouldn't be any during the bulk of the storm. this is what was left on our door the day before the parks closed:


So switching a room may require housekeeping to clean the room you were supposed to move into and clean the room you were moving out of. Most of the CMs were gone with "ride it out" crews there designed to help bare bones stuff. And if you are supposed to stay at the resort transferring to another one may not be feasible or advisable safety-wise depending on the storm

Maybe someone can chime in how it went in Matthew or Irma if they switched resorts. I'm trying to remember if there were people back then posting about it in the mega threads during that time. It's hard to say what Disney would do now but I will say there were a lot of people checking in a few days before Irma hit from locals to people being moved from Fort Wilderness and more so check in areas were filled with that a LOT of phone calls being made at those check in desks and so much. It was chaos and yet not if that makes sense.

 

[karen4546]

Are you bringing food with you? I'd be concerned any store deliveries would be cancelled.

You think deliveries will be canceled for 9/25? Why?

 

[lovethattink]

I wasn't trying to specify Tampa as in only focus on that. I was just trying as I said to mention how the path changed and people who were in one area for a reason were now in the path. Tampa was an example. With people in this thread and inevitably later on or in other threads they try and plan around that, driving here or taking this route. Just trying to give the example of how that plan doesn't necessarily work out.

Now I see. Yes it’s way to early to know exactly where it’s going. Heck, Charlie change six hours before.

For those who will be at Disney during the next week, please stay safe.

It’s also good to remember extra time and patience will be needed. Many of the CMs working have families close by who are riding out the storm. Their minds will be in 2 places and they will be concerned about their family, friends and loved ones who are not with them.

Very true. Not just on their families, but also their property and belongings.

DS and I are starting today to move lawn chairs, planters, etc. things that can become projectiles away from the house and I guess into the garage. I have all our important documents in freezer bags. Preparing for the worse and hoping for the best! Water is becoming harder to find and gas pump lines are forming.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Now I see. Yes it’s way to early to know exactly where it’s going. Heck, Charlie change six hours before.

Very true. Not just on their families, but also their property and belongings.

DS and I are starting today to move lawn chairs, planters, etc. things that can become projectiles away from the house and I guess into the garage. I have all our important documents in freezer bags. Preparing for the worse and hoping for the best! Water is becoming harder to find and gas pump lines are forming.

I do hope you and your loved ones are safe!

 

[Aimeedyan]

You think deliveries will be canceled for 9/25? Why?

I'm on the coast, not Orlando, but food and water are very slim here already so the same may be true there. If there are not things on the shelf for the shopper, you may get a slimmed down delivery of items. Hopefully you can still get a good selection of what you need.