what happened with last summers hurricanes?

[ellenmiele]

What happened to DVC members who were in WDW or going last summer when those bad hurricanes hit? If WDW closed for a day or two could you cancel and get your points back?
My mom and I were thinking about a sort of last minute summer trip with my kids since they are off til after Labor Day and we have AP's that are good until Oct (and it's killing me to think of not using them again!) but I was worried about the whole hurricane thing. We'd be driving so we could have some flexibility in our schedule but I just want to be well informed about what would happen if we had to cancel or if WDW closed (and I'm not talking about a little rain here, I'm talking about in the case of a very severe hurricane).
Thanks for any info.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Disney brought in food for the day that folks were confined to their rooms. The only "refund of points" we heard of was for folks who couldn't arrive because of the airport being closed for one day. Then I think they had various ways of solving the point problems, but I don't recall what they were.

 

[NMW]

The only people we knew who's Disney trips were affected by the hurricanes, were not DVC members. They booked through WDWTC and had their trips rescheduled with out a problem. One lady at my kids bus stop told me they rescheduled 2 days before they were supposed to leave because a hurricane was supposed to hit at the beginning of their stay.

I too am wondering what happens to point stays if you can't make it or a hurricane is supposed to hit something like the day after you get there?

In 2006 we plan to go on Oct 19. Does anyone know if that is past hurricane season?

 

[laceemouse]

NMW, I THINK hurricane season goes until November 1st, but it is RARE to have a storm in October even because when the water cools down they do not form. We went early last October and all the storms were over and nothing else was threatening (although we did see lots of damage!) I have no idea about cancelling last minute with DVC due to a storm coming, would the points go into holding? Maybe someone else can answer.

 

[CarolMN]

Those who are worried about hurricanes should consider insurance.

Last year, DVC was reportedly very understanding about bending the rules regarding point loss and/or account restrictions, but they certainly did not have to be. They may not be so accomodating if hurricanes hit again.

Best wishes -

 

[Scoootch]

I too am wondering what happens to point stays if you can't make it or a hurricane is supposed to hit something like the day after you get there?

In 2006 we plan to go on Oct 19. Does anyone know if that is past hurricane season?
__________________

As far as I can remember, Disney all the way around (CRO and MS DVC) is pretty good about letting you either reschedule your dates or not loose a day or 2 worth of pts because of the hurricanes ....as well as the airlines seem to waive their rescheduling fees if a hurricane is suppossed to hit right when you're due to travel.

Hurricane season officially runs from JUNE 1 through Nov. 30.

I was at BCV's during hurricane Jeanne and was lucky enough to be able to arrive 1 day early as it was suppossed to hit the next day when we were due to arrive. I wouldn't hesitate to stay during a hurricane again as the BCV's were like a fortress! We didn't even hear the storm at night...I actually had to get up and look out the window just to see what was happening since I couldn't hear much. They closed early the day before and stayed closed for the next entire day and the day after was gorgeous out once again. They had one of the studios on the 1st floor open as a makeshift sandwich shop as they didn't want anyone traveling to the main bldng. until the storm was over and they needed to make food available for eveyone...and of course asked us to stay put for 24hrs but we had a 1bdrm villa and lots of food so no biggie for us.

Anyhow, that was our experience. Being a floridian I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again during a hurricane though. It was better than being at home...WDW has their own power source and we never even lost it!

HTH's

 

[conciergekelly]

We flew down on paid tickets but my SIL and 3 small kids came down on standby plane tickets and we knew that they would never get a flight back home. So we left early and drove the rental car home. They replaced all of my points back in my account. I thought that was very nice.

 

[JimMIA]

Just for the record, Hurricane Season started yesterday, June 1, and it ends November 30.

We actually find that the weather doesn't read the newspapers, so we've already had one hurricane (Hurricane Adrian - sorry if you missed it, but El Salvador certainly didn't), and we sometimes (very rarely) get late storms in early December.

 

[Sabor]

We were there for JEANNE.
Check in was on the Saturday before she hit. All of WDW was closed on Sunday and we were asked to stay in the room (2BR thank goodness).
We drove but my grandma was flying down on Sunday and staying in a studio.
She was able to get on the last flight that went out of NY on Saturday morning before they announced the airport would be closed.
Disney let her check in a day early give her the same studio so she did not have to move and did not charge her any $$ or me any points.
Overall they handled a bad situation very well.

 

[JimMIA]

I started a thread about hurricanes, with some info from the National Hurricane Center. I'm not sure why but it got moved over to the DVC Community board.

Here's the shortcut http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=828753

 

[RobDoc]

What happened to DVC members who were in WDW or going last summer when those bad hurricanes hit? If WDW closed for a day or two could you cancel and get your points back?

I was at WDW for two of last year's hurricanes and was also there in 1999 when Floyd came thru. For Floyd, WDW closed the parks for a day- but when the storm was a no-show, they opened AK for onsite guests and all parks were open the next day. When Charley roared thru last August, the parks were closed early the day of the storm and all were reopened the next day. Guests were confined to our rooms for about 10 hours. When Jeanne came thru in the fall, everything was closed for about 36 hours and there was a local curfew.

In all cases, WDW was very generous with cancellation policies and returned points to many members unable to travel due to airports being closed, etc.

I was most impressed on all three occasions with the level of preparation made at resorts and theme parks. The CM's were wonderful, resort TV's added two channels of uninterrupted Disney moviesa and the resort CM's wer great providing updated information, safety tips and even delivered flashlights to all rooms- just in case of a power outage (there was none).

Once the storms passed, the CMs worked efficiently to return everything to normal operating status.

If you will travel during possible hurricanes, you might consider the trip insurance, but DVC has thus far been wonderful about minimizing any losses due to these storms.

Enjoy!

 

[JimMIA]

One of the things that Doc's experience teaches is that - if you have to be in a hurricane - it's good to be caught in a place with a lot of organization, facilities, and resources (especially human resources) already in place.

Plus, it doesn't hurt to be a hundred miles inland! If you get caught at WDW in a hurricane, you'll be inconvenienced, but you'll be fine.

You will also find that all of the major players in the travel industry bend over backwards to accommodate people caught in hurricanes, or having to reschedule because of hurricanes. If you're flying Wing & A Prayer Airline you may have difficulty, but if you're flying with any of the better airlines, they'll do anything within their power to work things out for you.

 

[FOTM_Ring_Bearer]

We had reservations for last September. I don't remember which hurricane it was that was headed for the middle of Florida. But I was able to cancel my reservation. My points went back into my account, not holding.

 

[ellenmiele]

Thank you to everyone for all the input. And as I should have known, leave it to Disney to handle situations like this so well. Now I don't think I would hesitate at all to plan a trip at the peak of hurricane season -- as long as it's a trip to WDW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But that being said, here's a little pixie dust and prayer anyway for a much better hurricane season this year than last!

 

[SyrCinderella]

We were considering VB for Sept., and asked MS what happened last year during the hurricane. They told us that before the storm they evacuated everyone from VB and moved them to WDW properties. I was really impressed that they handled things in that manner. (But decided to go to BCV instead this time...)

 

[castleri]

We checked in a day early when Jeanne was going to hit and did not have the good fortune to not be charged the points for that night. That said it was worth every point used to be safe and sound and we had plenty of food so the time spent in the villa was just a relaxing time out. They really did an outstanding job of keeping people informed of what was happening etc. I would not hesitate to go in September again.