What does make them close the parks?

[JaxCon]

Someone said that a hurricane has not actually hit Orlando in 40 years, so why did they recenlty close? Dis they close for Charlie and Frances?

I am getting confused, I am trying to be hopeful about leaving saturday and maybe just having one day of bad rain but else can we expect?

 

[ruttie]

There are many reasons for them to close but one of the big ones is when they start evacuating the surrounding area/schools start closing, stiores close, etc... and the airport also... They have to take into account that the staff or CMs need to be at home with their families preparing their houses etc...
another reason is teh winds when the winds get above about 25 miles sustained it is difficult fo rthe buses to rum safely/ hard for people to walk etc.... so it really takes a compilation of a few things closures/winds/ evacuations/ ultimitly it is about saffety.. is it safe to have people in the wether from lack of staff winds etc.. it s all about safety... hope i kinda helped......

 

[WDSearcher]

Prior to this year, it was 40 years since a hurricane hit in Central Florida. This year, we've had two so far -- Charley and Frances.

Disney has closed only a handful of times. They closed on September 11. They closed for a day for Hurricane Floyd in the 90s. They closed one day for Hurricane Charley. They closed two days for Hurricane Frances.

High winds, storms, torrential rain, unsafe conditions will close the parks. "Unsafe conditions" being the watchwords where hurricanes are concerned. Charley and Frances were more or less direct hits. It would have been unsafe to guests and cast members to have the parks open. There was devastating damage to many nearby areas, and major landscape damage to Disney property. Many rides cannot operate in high winds; many people find it difficult to enjoy the parks in torrential rains.

Whether the parks will close for Hurricane Jeanne depends totally on her path. Chances are, they will close early on "landfall day" and open late on the day after. But that's just a guess. For both Charley and Frances, the parks opened up the day after the danger had passed.