Vero During a hurricane?

[surgefest]

Completely Random question but i am genuinely curious. Has anyone ever been at Vero beach during a Hurricane or Hurricane in the area??? I'm curious what it was like at the resort if you stayed? How it was handled etc. Other than the obvious bad weather.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Completely Random question but i am genuinely curious. Has anyone ever been at Vero beach during a Hurricane or Hurricane in the area??? I'm curious what it was like at the resort if you stayed? How it was handled etc. Other than the obvious bad weather.

The resort closed twice for hurricanes in 2004.
I believe both times they closed for about a week, but I could be wrong on that.
I don’t remember how they handled relocating the guests.

I think that was the last time the area took a direct hit, but again I could be mistaken.

 

[CarolynFH]

I agree, they’ve closed the resort when threatened by a hurricane (probably when NWS issues a certain level of watch or warning for the area). IIRC, guests were offered rooms at WDW, but I could be mistaken.

 

[CarolynFH]

Here’s an article about what was the most recent time, and it includes a reference to a previous hurricane closure: https://dvcnews.com/other-resorts/vero-beach/4567-vero-beach-resort-to-reopen-friday.

 

[FSU Girl]

I highly doubt they’d have people weather the storm there. It’s on a barrier island which is always under evacuation orders if a storm is coming at them.

 

[Cfabar1]

The resort is in a zone that is frequently subject to mandatory evacuation. While it is built extremely well, and designed to weather these challenges, there is no way would Disney/DVC allow people to "ride it out" at the resort, with the possible exception of a few dedicated/devoted/required crew, though I am unsure what their policies are.

Though I don't know if/how they do it - it would be nice if they offered housing at WDW for those who have reservations and need to ride out a storm.

 

[CarolynFH]

Though I don't know if/how they do it - it would be nice if they offered housing at WDW for those who have reservations and need to ride out a storm.

I know they encourage guests at WDW resorts to leave, although they don't usually close resorts there (except Ft. Wilderness, including the cabins, due to risk of flooding). Not only do they have their own "rideout" staff to house, it's not unusual for emergency responders to be staying there too in advance of the storm (if it's potentially a severe one). And they do allow people from other parts of Florida to come stay there when their area is under evacuation orders. So while they might allow VB guests to move to WDW resorts, I doubt that they encourage them to do so, and they certainly don't offer them to stay there for free.

Quite a lot depends on the forecast track and severity of a given storm beforehand and then the actual impact afterwards. Every storm is different, so the WDW response differs too.

 

[chrish2]

So while they might allow VB guests to move to WDW resorts, I doubt that they encourage them to do so, and they certainly don't offer them to stay there for free.

International guests could be part of a 2 to 3 week itinerary; it's unlikely they will disappear from the state. Re-lodging at WDW seems plausible. However, it might not be offered first. More likely, the plan for shutting down Vero Beach includes approaching existing guests to see what their plans will be and grouping existing bookings into self-curtailment (we are going to leave a few days early and head home) or requiring assistance (we need somewhere safe to stay).

WDW might work slightly differently, given the much larger estate; they are most likely to be working with data from past events (% no shows, number of flights cancelled, duration), along with live data from each resort. They will be able to find blocks of hundreds of rooms to accommodate first responders and larger displacements (such as Vero Beach).

The above is all a bit of a reasonable guess based on 1) arriving at WDW just after it had a direct hit, 2) being at WDW during prep for riding it out for a signifcant huricane that ended up missing.

It would be really interesting to hear from anyone with first-hand experience of Vero's arrangements.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

ahh… nevermind. Not worth it.

 

[peder]

So, one interesting thought here is that Vero points chart in Hurricane season is really favorable, much cheaper than comparable WDW resorts. Would Disney make a switch to WDW without regard to the points chart? I assume they would?

 

[fla4fun]

If a county gives a mandatory evacuation order, then the hotel has no choice. Everyone must leave. Although there will always be a few stubborn homeowners who try to brave it out, emergency services make it clear that during the evacuation period you are completely on your own and once the bridges are closed, you can’t change your mind. My sister is on the ride out crew for a beach hotel in Brevard County. There have been times when an evacuation order was issued, such as in 2004 for Frances and Jeanne, and all guests had to leave the hotel because there would be no employees there working until the evacuation order was lifted. Other times, such as last fall with Milton, it was not expected to be as bad on the Atlantic side as it was, so no evacuation order was issued and my sister had to be there to assist any guests who decided to stay. Vero Beach would not have a choice about closing if a mandatory evacuation order was issued but if not then there would be more leeway in how they want to handle it.

Walt Disney World should not have to worry about any kind of mandatory evacuation order due to their location. The only resort they proactively evacuate is Fort Wilderness, due to flooding potential and the high number of large trees that could come down on a cabin or campsite, which is unlikely at any other resort on property.