Typhoon Lagoon Closed?

[Conniesaurus]

I was just wondering why was Typhoon Lagoon closed and Blizzard Beach wasn't? This is regarding Hurricane Charley and Friday and Saturday. Was there alot of damage?

 

[EsmeraldaX]

I think BB is more popular so they cleaned that one up first.

I could be wrong though.

 

[tjkraz]

The closures at WDW over the weekend--once the storm had passed--had less to do with damage and more to do with staffing. CMs had scattered to avoid the destruction, and many had their own lives to pick-up afterward. Reportedly the parks / locations that were open were often running at half-staff. I imagine it was a no-brainer to close one of the water parks, and simply steer all of the crowds to the other.

There's a great article on the storm and its aftermath over at Mouseplanet.com

 

[Scoootch]

Actually, I just read a post from someone who lives in the Orlando area who was reporting on both damage to the Orlando area and WDW alike and she mentioned that there was some damage to TL and the lobby over at WL so my guess would be BB fared better

I just canceled my overnight trip for this upcoming wknd for my b-day as they were talking about 2 more storms brewing that are said to be 6 days out They're now saying that it won't go tword FL but I canceled thinking even if it doesn't my chances for good weather might not be so great. In any event, I'm thinking about driving down for the day if it does turn out to be nice out and spending the day at TL. Does anyone know exactly what the situation is as of now? Are they reopening TL? Or was there significant damage?

 

[Kimberle]

WL is just fine! Only very minor damage to the building. Lots of trees/branches down.

There were a couple of DISers staying there during the storm and have reported. One posted lots of pictures. Go to the Resorts brd to look.

 

[Scoootch]

yes - saw the pics

Was really wondering though about TL and if it will be open since I now canceled the WL ressie I had for Sat. night. May just drive down for the day if it does end up being nice weather and do a waterpark - would prefer TL . With my luck, I'll have canceled that ressie and it will end up being nice out so a day trip as a back up will be nice to TL.

 

[buckylarue]

According to the official Disney website, TL is open again today.

 

[Conniesaurus]

Thanks for the posts everyone. I know when we were eating at Cape May, our waitor said that all the Cms had to stay over night and were not allowed home. I guess that next day, Saturday, most of them went home to see if everything was okay with their homes and familes.

 

[safetymom]

Not all CM's were required to stay on property. At least at the parks they weren't. Thank a CM if you see them, many left their damaged homes and property to come in to work so that the parks and resorts could be open.

 

[mousebrat]

Just guessing, but TL has a lot more vegetation to clean up than BB. That could have been part of the delay.

 

[SherGoof]

Just a side note for everyone (a bit late). BB was scheduled to open 10am on Saturday - It did not open till after 11am and then only to let the folks in so we could use the restrooms and buy drinks/food (though no hot food was available at this time). WDW did bring out coffee/tea and juices while we waited in the hot sun for the place to open (and even at this point they didn't know if they would). Then at 11, as I said we were allowed in to "buy" drinks. The attractions remained blocked off until a little before 12pm. CMs stated they had been working from 4am that morning trying to clean everything up and as they cut down fallen branches, more dangers became aware. Once we got in we had about 1.5 hours of sunshine (we able to everything without lines as alot of people became discouraged with the waiting and left). It started to rain and everything got closed again. We waited it out, purchased some hot food at this time and were able to get about another maybe 2.0 hours in (though cloudy) before we left. The only problems was there was so much debris on the sidewalks and stairs (thousands of pine needles really killed those feet!). Anyway, we didn't let the circumstances get us down.
CMs said TL was closed on Saturday because it got more tree damage and there were not enough bodies to help out.