Sorry to not post sooner, but going online wasn't the first thing I thought of. We were at OKW in a 2 BR (2330) until yesterday morning (Friday). We were moving to BWV for the last week of our trip yesterday. With the parks only open 8-1 yesterday, I sent the extended family off early to enjoy MK while I packed for the move. I quick call to BWV confirmed that we were OK to checkout of OKW as they guaranteed we'd have a room to move into at BWV. As I was packing the luggage and moving it into the van, the OKW staff was dropping off flashlights and moving furniture in from the decks. Mousekeeping was rushing to get rooms ready as all available rooms were being used to house Fort Wilderness guests. As I was leaving the checkout area, Disney personnel were using ropes to secure the heavy chandelier lights in the area outside the general store. Other personnel were unloading sandbags into the area near Hanks.
Our room wasn't ready when I got to BWV at 11am, but the bell staff stored the groceries and luggage. I went over to MK to meet up with our group for a bite to eat as the Boardwalk area was closing up and what was open was very busy. ESPN closed the seating line a bit after 1pm and the lines at the bakery, take-out restaurant, and Screen Door store were all very long. Thankfully I had ordered some additional groceries for the fridge from the store on Thursday when Publix was a zoo and out of bread, water and most juices. This was one time where 3x the price was OK by me. Our room was ready just after 1pm so we settled in for a quiet afternoon. We have a nice 2BR on the boardwalk side above the old
DVC preview center. The front desk delivered a letter to each room with instructions to follow as Charley approached. They also posted signs in the lobby that a free box meal would be available at 5pm, but please do not congregate in the lobby for safety. Lot of kids (mine included) were quite bored by it all and roamed the halls getting to know their neighbors. It was a very friendly afternoon at BWV. In their usual Disney efficiency, the box meals were available just before 4pm. Four sandwich choices, cookies, juice boxes and sodas were spread out for all to take. The only down side to this process was human nature took over in a few cases like the gentleman taking eight sandwichs when it was just him, the wife, and two young kids. Once the first food allotment was gone, they asked that people leave the lobby and come back in an hour when more would be available. Right about this time, the second wave of heavy showers and lightning hit. From 5pm to 7pm, the staff brought out more and more food which now included chicken strips for the kids and lots of cookies. One CM in community hall today was remarking that they couldn't believe BWV didn't have chicken strips for lunch today (her favorite). My kids told her that they were the hit of the night before with the kids and that most likely were all used up feeding the guests. After 7pm, the hotel common areas got real quiet as most people went to their rooms to watch the storm's progress. The local TV stations were spot on and the storm hit with a fury after 8pm. You could barely see the boardwalk lights at the peak. After 9pm, the eye of the storm passed over and it got eerily calm. You could see the Epcot ball all lit up in the distance. We got some light rains and winds a bit later, but the storm really didn't have much of a backlash thankfully. The front desk sent a message to all rooms at 6:50am that Disney was syrveying the resort and parks for damage and would provide an update shortly. At 7:15am, they left a second update that MK, Epcot, and MGM would be open at 9am and BB at 10am. A quick walk around the boardwalk showed that the BW Inn lost a few roof shingles, lots of leaves and grass clippings were on the walks, a few weeping willows on the Epcot bridge were broken and a large palm near the Swan bridge had fallen neatly on the grass next to the canal. Disney asked that guests drive to the parks and parking charges were waived. Despite this, I still saw a lot of buses moving around the resort. We walked over to Epcot and it was packed when we got there just before 11am. The fast passes for Test Track were for 3:40 to 4:40pm. Unfortunately, that was when the rains came and the ride was closed for safety reasons. We came back to the hotel to eat and then a few of the older kids wanted to go to DD. I drove them over and then went to OKW to work out. The SSR buildings near the road looked like they held up well. Some scaffolding looked to be tilting and a few sections of the fence looked like they bent as the winds hit them, but overall I didn't see any major damage to the five building being constructed along the road. Upon entering OKW and driving around it a bit, a few trees were leaning or down, but not too many. Building 54 was getting a new roof last week and it looked like that held up well despite being only 90% complete from external appearances. The parking lots around the buildings were quite empty. I wonder how many weekend arrivals were still delayed? The work out room had wet carpet in the back area as water had come in under the door on the parking lot side. The outdoor ping pong table was still folded up in the massage area, but most of the other outside items were back in place. All in all, OKW seems to have weathered the storm well. All of the parks look to be open tomorrow based on channel 19's park information. Channel 6 said that Orlando International is still only at a third of the normal schedule, but that they expect to be back to 100% by Tuesday. It was a stroke of luck that Orlando and central Florida got through the hurricane with no deaths. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people in Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte who weren't so lucky.
...on the news the mentioned that all orlando roads are closed to traffice, so they could get around for repairs...perhaps that's why there are no busses running...hope you have a good day....
