Which resort would you guess is safest during a hurricane?

[26555]

I guess tall trees nearby, year of construction, type of roof, potential for flooding, number of floors, etc might impact this. Any thoughts or opinions?

 

[Bstanley]

I would guess the Polynesian - even with the trees.

The construction of the building is basically individual room steel/concrete building blocks stacked together - much stronger than "sticks and bricks" type construction. Having interior walkways would be handy also.

The only weak spot would be the glass windows - which are larger than many other resorts.

The Contemporary was built the same way - but it is a lot taller and would be more exposed.

 

[AdventurerKat]

I would think some of the newer buildings would have been built to stricter codes. Which one would be best, I dont know however.

 

[26555]

Which resorts are the newest?

 

[Dancind]

BCV (we were there during Charley, it's built like a rock), Pop Century, SSR.

 

[Buzz2001]

The one that doesn't get hit by the hurricane

 

[robsmom]

not poly. i loved this resort but it wouldn't be my hurricane choice. There is nothing in the individual buildings to feed or entertain you. you have to leave the building you are in to get to anything. I would pick something like akl, contemporary, wl, etc. where you can get a room in the main building. these buildings also probably have center areas that have no direct windows which in the event of a serious issue (tornado?) would be better than an individual room with windows.

 

[MEM]

We weathered Frances at AKL and felt nothing, not even rattling windows!

 

[PneumaticTransit]

All of the resorts are built very well, but the All Stars and Pop Century are made of concrete block and were built after Hurricane Andrew and the changes in building codes. I know that the windows at Pop Century are coded to 100 mph winds, the only threat would be something hitting the window to break it, or damage to the roof. If I had to choose, it would be Pop Century.

 

[goofy4tink]

We checked into the Contemporary the same day 'Charley' did. Although we were in a wing room, we had no problems. It was impossible to get to the tower but we weren't supposed to leave our rooms so it wasn't an issue. I would think that maybe BW or Y/BC would be a good choice also. All enclosed, no having to go outside like at the Polynesian.

 

[dzneelvr]

I just spoke with a friend who lives in Celebration. They packed up the kids and spent the weekend at the WL. No leaks, minimal exposure, lots of fun activities for the kids. Characters on site throughout were Chip and Dale and Minnie and Mickey. he'd do it again in a minute.
sounds like WL is the place to be!!

 

[MEM]

In addition to feeling safe and secure during Frances, AKL also had visits from Minnie, Goofy and Pluto as well as special buffets at Boma and Jiko, brown bag lunches to buy and numerous cast member-led activities in the lobby. One channel ran movies like Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc, Brother Bear but I assume that was at all resorts.

 

[gatour]

I agree, the Poly and GF are out due to disbursed buildings. Once the storm starts coming you are confined to your rooms. These would definetly be better than the moderates and values, due to the central hallways that the Poly and GF have.

I don't like the idea of the Contemporary because of the big windows on each end of the tower. Plus based on reports after the last hurricanes, I think they had problems with window leaks. A positive is that first couple of floors actually have few windows, it wouldn't be too bad to be there.

The WL and AKL wouldn't be too bad of choices. Although they have windows in the lobby and AKL has those windows in the halls.

I think the Epcot Center resorts would be fairly good choices based on their design

 

[Lewisc]

Disney just survived 2 hurricanes with virtually no damage.

I'd say ALL the resorts (except of course FW) are safe. I agree with previous posters, I'd rather be in a one building resort (WL, AKL, BC/YC BW/BWV) so I wouldn't get stir crazy being confined to my room.

 

[klb5]

We were at CSR in 99 w/ Hurricane that hit Daytona beach,,,, While everyone was running out os state stuck in Orlando airport w/ ds-4&dd 6 months , we decided to stay it out ( luckily there was no danger) , the lady at reg desk said that the CSR was the safest place to be as the buildings were designed for a 100 MPH hurricane direct hit... I'd rather be in a hotel room than sitting in the airport w/ 100000000 other people for 2 days on the floor......

 

[EdDome]

We were in the villas at WL for Charley facing the woods. Very safe in the room and in fact you wouldn't have known there was a hurricane unless you looked out the window.