tink2dw
Pixie Dust or Bust!!
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2000
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From www.MouseSavers.com
Due to Hurricane Frances, please DO NOT call Walt Disney World regarding vacation packages, room reservations or Priority Seatings for dates after Tuesday, September 7. Disney asks that you leave the phone lines open for those who need to call regarding scheduled arrivals between now and Tuesday, September 7.
**UPDATE**The eye of Hurricane Frances made land just south of Vero Beach. The outer bands of the hurricane are hitting Orlando, which is experiencing intermittent heavy rain and wind. The worst of the hurricane is not expected to arrive in Orlando until later in the morning and it is expected that the storm will continue to affect Orlando all day Sunday.
As of 1:45 am Orlando time, the storm has dropped between 2 and 5 inches of rain in the area and has produced wind gusts of up to 46 mph around Walt Disney World. There has been some flooding of low-lying areas and this is expected to increase on Sunday. Some tornadoes were reported on Saturday night in Central Florida but as of this time there were no reports of tornadoes near Walt Disney World.
To see the latest weather reports, a good site to check is www.orlandoweather.com
Please read about the known Closings in red!!
Coming Soon: Hurricane Frances
Coming Soon: Hurricane Frances[**update at bottom of post]
Right now the exact path of Hurricane Frances is anyone's guess, but it will almost certainly affect Orlando, and it's potentially a much worse hurricane than Hurricane Charley.
If it follows its current track, Hurricane Frances may make land at Vero Beach in the afternoon on Saturday, September 4. It is a huge storm producing 125 mph winds (Category 3) and tremendous amounts of rain. Hurricane force winds extend outward from the center for up to 80 miles and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 185 miles.
Because of the size of this hurricane, even if the center does not pass through Orlando, the city will almost certainly be hit with heavy rain and winds. Orlando may experience hurricane-force winds and 10 or more inches of rain, which could cause severe flooding. It may take as long as 24 hours for Hurricane Frances to make its way across Florida (vs. only a few hours for the recent Hurricane Charley). That is a very bad thing because the slower the storm, the more damage and potential for floods.
This storm can only add to the existing problems in the Orlando area that were caused by Hurricane Charley. I know you will join me in hoping and praying that the hurricane calms down and/or veers off into the ocean without inflicting major damage.
If you are planning to visit Walt Disney World this weekend, I strongly urge you to postpone your trip!
The Orlando airport will close as of noon on Friday, September 3, with no further flights in and out until after the hurricane passes and cleanup operations are complete. Domestic passengers holding reservations for flights prior to noon on Friday need to arrive 3 hours prior to their departure. The Hyatt Hotel at Orlando International Airport is booked and sold out. The airport is not an emergency shelter, so do not count on staying there!
Sanford Airport is already closed.
Almost all major airlines are allowing passengers who had planned to arrive in Orlando now through this weekend to rebook their flights without a change fee. You must rebook before your original travel date. Some airlines will refund your fare if you choose to cancel. If your flight has been cancelled due to the airport closing, they will refund your fare or allow you to reschedule without a fee. Contact your airline for exact details.
Orlando hotel rooms will be needed by those at the coast who will be evacuating inland. More than 2.5 million people have been ordered to evacuate coastal areas -- the biggest evacuation in Florida history. One local disaster agency estimated that there are only about 1,000 hotel rooms (out of a total 120,000) in Orlando still available. Disney is already dedicating a fair number of rooms to housing Cast Members who lost homes to Hurricane Charley, as well as other evacuees. Other area hotels are also housing evacuees, and in some cases are already operating at reduced capacity due to damage from Hurricane Charley. Guests staying at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground must be relocated to other hotels on property.
Disney has announced that "No Show" penalties will be waived for any guest arrivals between Friday, September 3 and Monday, September 6, 2004. Disney will waive change fees for guests scheduled to arrive September 1-6 who wish to reschedule vacations. Disney is no longer selling hotel rooms for September 3-6. If you need to reschedule, call the Disney Reservations Center now at (407) W-DISNEY.
Most non-Disney hotels are also waiving change fees for anyone who has decided not to arrive this weekend due to the hurricane, so call your hotel and check on that.
Priceline and Hotwire will allow you to cancel normally non-refundable hotel, rental car and airfare purchases and get a refund if you are scheduled to arrive in Orlando this weekend.
Local Closures: Schools in the Orlando area will be closed on Friday. The Kennedy Space Center will be closed on Thursday and Friday to allow its employees time to prepare their homes for the hurricane. Universal Orlando, SeaWorld and Discovery Cove will all be closing at 3:00 pm on Friday, September 3 and will remain closed on Saturday, September 4.
Walt Disney World Closures, Cancellations and Other News
Disney has announced that all four of its theme parks and both water parks will be open on Friday, September 3, but closing slightly early. Magic Kingdom will be open 9:00 am - 8:00 pm; Epcot's Future World will be open 9:00 am - 7:00 pm; Epcot's World Showcase will be open 11:00 am - 9:00 pm; Disney-MGM Studios will be open 9:00 am - 6:00 pm; Animal Kingdom will be open 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.
All September 3-6 showings of Fantasmic! have been cancelled. Other parades, shows and fireworks are still scheduled to be offered on Friday.
Both of Disney's miniature golf courses (Fantasia Gardens & Winter Summerland) will be open on Friday from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm.
Pleasure Island will be closed on Friday.
Downtown Disney shops and DisneyQuest will be open until 6:00 pm on Friday.
Cirque du Soleil plans to present its 6:00 pm show, but has cancelled the 9:00 pm show on Friday.
The Electrical Water Pageant has been cancelled until further notice.
Disney plans to close all of its Orlando theme parks on Saturday.
Priority seatings will not be accepted for any resort dining location starting at dinner on Friday, September 3 and running through dinner on Sunday, September 5. Disney is not accepting bookings for meals in the theme parks on Saturday, September 4 or Sunday, September 5.
Restaurants in Downtown Disney are expected to be open until 9:00 pm on Friday.
The Hoop-Dee-Doo dinner show at 9:30 pm on Friday, September 3 has been cancelled. All Hoop-Dee-Doo shows on Saturday, September 4 have been cancelled.
All Spirit of Aloha dinner shows have been cancelled for Friday and Saturday, September 3 and 4.
The Tom Joyner Family Reunion has been cancelled.
Disney Cruises are significantly affected by Hurricane Frances:
The current 7-night sailing of the Disney Magic has changed its ports to avoid the storm. Because of the closure of Port Canaveral, it will stay at sea until Monday, making it a 9-night cruise!
The 7-night September 4 sailing of the Disney Magic will be postponed to Monday, September 6 and will now be a 5-night cruise. Passengers on this sailing will receive a 40% rebate of the cruise fare, a $200 stateroom credit and 25% off a future cruise (through October 2005). Expect "surprise" ports, probably in the Western Caribbean.
The 3-night sailing of the Disney Wonder on Thursday, September 2 plans to depart as scheduled and will be routed around the hurricane, visiting the port of Cozumel. Because of the closure of Port Canaveral, it will stay at sea until Monday and this is now a 4-night cruise!
The 4-night September 5 sailing of the Disney Wonder will be postponed to Monday, September 6 and will now be a 3-night cruise. Passengers on this sailing will receive a 30% rebate of the cruise fare, a $100 stateroom credit and 25% off a future cruise (through October 2005). This cruise will not visit any ports.
Disney is waiving the rebooking fee for anyone who was scheduled to sail between now and September 5 and would prefer to reschedule their cruise. If you choose a more expensive sailing date, you will have to pay the difference in price, but you won't pay the extra rebooking fee.
The Canaveral Port Authority administrative offices will be closed on Thursday and Friday, and are not scheduled to reopen until Tuesday, depending on the storm path. All vessels must be moved out of the harbor by 10:00 am on Friday, at which point the port will close.
Brevard County (where Port Canaveral is located) is under a mandatory evacuation order for the Barrier Islands and manufactured homes.
Disney's Vero Beach resort closed at noon on Thursday, September 2. Those with reservations to check in this weekend will be contacted by Disney.
Hurricane Information Resources
Disney Information - (407) 939-4636
disneyworld.com Hurricane Update
disneycruise.com Hurricane Update
National Hurricane Center
Orlando Airport Press Releases
Airline Contact Numbers
Orlando CVB Hotel Availability Hotline (for evacuees needing a hotel room) - (407) 354-5555
Orlando Sentinel newspaper
WESH (Orlando NBC affiliate) - offers live web video of its broadcasts
WKMG Local 6 News
WFTV Channel 9 Eyewitness News
Due to Hurricane Frances, please DO NOT call Walt Disney World regarding vacation packages, room reservations or Priority Seatings for dates after Tuesday, September 7. Disney asks that you leave the phone lines open for those who need to call regarding scheduled arrivals between now and Tuesday, September 7.
**UPDATE**The eye of Hurricane Frances made land just south of Vero Beach. The outer bands of the hurricane are hitting Orlando, which is experiencing intermittent heavy rain and wind. The worst of the hurricane is not expected to arrive in Orlando until later in the morning and it is expected that the storm will continue to affect Orlando all day Sunday.
As of 1:45 am Orlando time, the storm has dropped between 2 and 5 inches of rain in the area and has produced wind gusts of up to 46 mph around Walt Disney World. There has been some flooding of low-lying areas and this is expected to increase on Sunday. Some tornadoes were reported on Saturday night in Central Florida but as of this time there were no reports of tornadoes near Walt Disney World.
To see the latest weather reports, a good site to check is www.orlandoweather.com
Please read about the known Closings in red!!
Coming Soon: Hurricane Frances
Coming Soon: Hurricane Frances[**update at bottom of post]
Right now the exact path of Hurricane Frances is anyone's guess, but it will almost certainly affect Orlando, and it's potentially a much worse hurricane than Hurricane Charley.
If it follows its current track, Hurricane Frances may make land at Vero Beach in the afternoon on Saturday, September 4. It is a huge storm producing 125 mph winds (Category 3) and tremendous amounts of rain. Hurricane force winds extend outward from the center for up to 80 miles and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 185 miles.
Because of the size of this hurricane, even if the center does not pass through Orlando, the city will almost certainly be hit with heavy rain and winds. Orlando may experience hurricane-force winds and 10 or more inches of rain, which could cause severe flooding. It may take as long as 24 hours for Hurricane Frances to make its way across Florida (vs. only a few hours for the recent Hurricane Charley). That is a very bad thing because the slower the storm, the more damage and potential for floods.
This storm can only add to the existing problems in the Orlando area that were caused by Hurricane Charley. I know you will join me in hoping and praying that the hurricane calms down and/or veers off into the ocean without inflicting major damage.
If you are planning to visit Walt Disney World this weekend, I strongly urge you to postpone your trip!
The Orlando airport will close as of noon on Friday, September 3, with no further flights in and out until after the hurricane passes and cleanup operations are complete. Domestic passengers holding reservations for flights prior to noon on Friday need to arrive 3 hours prior to their departure. The Hyatt Hotel at Orlando International Airport is booked and sold out. The airport is not an emergency shelter, so do not count on staying there!
Sanford Airport is already closed.
Almost all major airlines are allowing passengers who had planned to arrive in Orlando now through this weekend to rebook their flights without a change fee. You must rebook before your original travel date. Some airlines will refund your fare if you choose to cancel. If your flight has been cancelled due to the airport closing, they will refund your fare or allow you to reschedule without a fee. Contact your airline for exact details.
Orlando hotel rooms will be needed by those at the coast who will be evacuating inland. More than 2.5 million people have been ordered to evacuate coastal areas -- the biggest evacuation in Florida history. One local disaster agency estimated that there are only about 1,000 hotel rooms (out of a total 120,000) in Orlando still available. Disney is already dedicating a fair number of rooms to housing Cast Members who lost homes to Hurricane Charley, as well as other evacuees. Other area hotels are also housing evacuees, and in some cases are already operating at reduced capacity due to damage from Hurricane Charley. Guests staying at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground must be relocated to other hotels on property.
Disney has announced that "No Show" penalties will be waived for any guest arrivals between Friday, September 3 and Monday, September 6, 2004. Disney will waive change fees for guests scheduled to arrive September 1-6 who wish to reschedule vacations. Disney is no longer selling hotel rooms for September 3-6. If you need to reschedule, call the Disney Reservations Center now at (407) W-DISNEY.
Most non-Disney hotels are also waiving change fees for anyone who has decided not to arrive this weekend due to the hurricane, so call your hotel and check on that.
Priceline and Hotwire will allow you to cancel normally non-refundable hotel, rental car and airfare purchases and get a refund if you are scheduled to arrive in Orlando this weekend.
Local Closures: Schools in the Orlando area will be closed on Friday. The Kennedy Space Center will be closed on Thursday and Friday to allow its employees time to prepare their homes for the hurricane. Universal Orlando, SeaWorld and Discovery Cove will all be closing at 3:00 pm on Friday, September 3 and will remain closed on Saturday, September 4.
Walt Disney World Closures, Cancellations and Other News
Disney has announced that all four of its theme parks and both water parks will be open on Friday, September 3, but closing slightly early. Magic Kingdom will be open 9:00 am - 8:00 pm; Epcot's Future World will be open 9:00 am - 7:00 pm; Epcot's World Showcase will be open 11:00 am - 9:00 pm; Disney-MGM Studios will be open 9:00 am - 6:00 pm; Animal Kingdom will be open 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.
All September 3-6 showings of Fantasmic! have been cancelled. Other parades, shows and fireworks are still scheduled to be offered on Friday.
Both of Disney's miniature golf courses (Fantasia Gardens & Winter Summerland) will be open on Friday from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm.
Pleasure Island will be closed on Friday.
Downtown Disney shops and DisneyQuest will be open until 6:00 pm on Friday.
Cirque du Soleil plans to present its 6:00 pm show, but has cancelled the 9:00 pm show on Friday.
The Electrical Water Pageant has been cancelled until further notice.
Disney plans to close all of its Orlando theme parks on Saturday.
Priority seatings will not be accepted for any resort dining location starting at dinner on Friday, September 3 and running through dinner on Sunday, September 5. Disney is not accepting bookings for meals in the theme parks on Saturday, September 4 or Sunday, September 5.
Restaurants in Downtown Disney are expected to be open until 9:00 pm on Friday.
The Hoop-Dee-Doo dinner show at 9:30 pm on Friday, September 3 has been cancelled. All Hoop-Dee-Doo shows on Saturday, September 4 have been cancelled.
All Spirit of Aloha dinner shows have been cancelled for Friday and Saturday, September 3 and 4.
The Tom Joyner Family Reunion has been cancelled.
Disney Cruises are significantly affected by Hurricane Frances:
The current 7-night sailing of the Disney Magic has changed its ports to avoid the storm. Because of the closure of Port Canaveral, it will stay at sea until Monday, making it a 9-night cruise!
The 7-night September 4 sailing of the Disney Magic will be postponed to Monday, September 6 and will now be a 5-night cruise. Passengers on this sailing will receive a 40% rebate of the cruise fare, a $200 stateroom credit and 25% off a future cruise (through October 2005). Expect "surprise" ports, probably in the Western Caribbean.
The 3-night sailing of the Disney Wonder on Thursday, September 2 plans to depart as scheduled and will be routed around the hurricane, visiting the port of Cozumel. Because of the closure of Port Canaveral, it will stay at sea until Monday and this is now a 4-night cruise!
The 4-night September 5 sailing of the Disney Wonder will be postponed to Monday, September 6 and will now be a 3-night cruise. Passengers on this sailing will receive a 30% rebate of the cruise fare, a $100 stateroom credit and 25% off a future cruise (through October 2005). This cruise will not visit any ports.
Disney is waiving the rebooking fee for anyone who was scheduled to sail between now and September 5 and would prefer to reschedule their cruise. If you choose a more expensive sailing date, you will have to pay the difference in price, but you won't pay the extra rebooking fee.
The Canaveral Port Authority administrative offices will be closed on Thursday and Friday, and are not scheduled to reopen until Tuesday, depending on the storm path. All vessels must be moved out of the harbor by 10:00 am on Friday, at which point the port will close.
Brevard County (where Port Canaveral is located) is under a mandatory evacuation order for the Barrier Islands and manufactured homes.
Disney's Vero Beach resort closed at noon on Thursday, September 2. Those with reservations to check in this weekend will be contacted by Disney.
Hurricane Information Resources
Disney Information - (407) 939-4636
disneyworld.com Hurricane Update
disneycruise.com Hurricane Update
National Hurricane Center
Orlando Airport Press Releases
Airline Contact Numbers
Orlando CVB Hotel Availability Hotline (for evacuees needing a hotel room) - (407) 354-5555
Orlando Sentinel newspaper
WESH (Orlando NBC affiliate) - offers live web video of its broadcasts
WKMG Local 6 News
WFTV Channel 9 Eyewitness News
