Would You Cancel Because of Isabel?

[Dad]

With Hurricane Isabel looking more and more like she wants to go to Disney World with me and my family next week, would you cancel out?

Isabel is nearly a cat 5 Hurricane and I'm not sure we would be safe even inland as far as Wilderness Lodge.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Don't even think of such a thing!!
They still have no REAL idea where Isabelle will go.

 

[CamColt]

No way! We were there for Hurrican Erin in 1995 and although they shut all the parks down early that day, we still had a great time.

 

[Blueberry]

No way...give up my vacation...not a chance, it would only be one day anyway if we do get a major rain event there. This girl will be at WDW, Isabel rain or not....

 

[FloridaCat]

This is a biggie, keep an eye on it. Hurricanes fall apart once they are on land. It does not have to be in Florida to cause rain. As of right now it is Hurricane force winds extending outward up to 60 miles from the center, and tropical storm force winds extending outward up to 185 miles. So if it parks off the coast, we will feel it's effects. I think Sunday will give us a better idea of what it is going to do.

They are affected by surrounding high pressure as to the path they go on. A high pressure swung Fabian to the north and then east. Could happen with this one.

 

[NYDisneyMom]

Originally posted by Dad
With Hurricane Isabel looking more and more like she wants to go to Disney World with me and my family next week, would you cancel out?

Isabel is nearly a cat 5 Hurricane and I'm not sure we would be safe even inland as far as Wilderness Lodge.

We're leaving on the 21st..I'm not even thinking about canceling. It'll be fine...we were in WDW for Floyd a couple of years ago. It only effected us for a day. You have to expect rain in Sept. anyway. It's Disney..just go with the mindset of having fun no matter what!!

 

[dvcgirl]

Well, right now I'm watching it closely to see what it's going to do. We're leaving on Tuesday night for a five night stay in WDW. If it looks like it's going to hit in the vicinity by the end of next week, I may postpone our trip by a week. I'm hoping that we'll have a much better idea by this Sunday.

The guy from www.hurricanetrack.com seems to be saying that it depends on the way a high pressure ridge builds over the next couple of days. An exceptionally weak ridge and the thing goes out to sea, a weak ridge and it hits New England, a normal ridge and it hits the Southeast and a very strong ridge steers it into Florida.

It seems to me that the weather forecasters are starting to wager their bets that it will hit the Carolinas if it develops the way that they think it will...

I'm just hoping to know for sure by Sunday so I can decide what to do...

 

[Kimberle]

I live in the metro NYC area. They are already telling Long Islanders to begin to prepare. There is a very good chance Isa could hit NYC full force. The last major one (cat 3) was in 1938.

I was here in the late 80's when a Cat. 2 hit. My house was just a few blocks from the shore (long island sound). We were fine, no damage at all.

No, we are not changing our plans at all. If Isa hits FL, we'll get rain & wind at WDW, but I'm sure we'll be fine.

 

[Cleokitty]

We live in central NC and were hit with Fran in 1996. Just because you are inland a couple hundred miles doesn't mean anything. Because of Fran, we no longer harbor a false sense of security when it comes to "coastal" storms.

As far as the OP's question--would we cancel if it looked like FL was going to get hit. NO. (But then again, we're not ones to ride into the eye of the storm either.)

Would we cancel if it looks like NC is going to get hit? ABSOLUTELY. I'd rather be home to protect my home and my pets than to be at WDW.

But, storm tracks change all the time. We won't know what Isabel is actually going to do until we are already in Orlando (leaving on Sunday) but you can bet that we'll be out of there if it begins to head toward NC.

 

[alvernon90]

Rather than cancel you might want to look into getting some high-end rain gear.

Seriously, I've been watching Isabel closely because we are going to Orlando and then Hilton Head from the 20th to the 28th. The good news for WDW is that Isabel seems to be slowing down and heading north; it looks like she will bypass Florida entirely right now. However, we will be prepared for some serious rain for at least a few days of our trip.

 

[frndofpooh]

alvernon90 - We will also be in Hilton Head and WDW from the 20th through the 28th. To HH on the 20th, to WDW on the 21st, back to HH on the 26th, and home to VA on the 28th. Rain gear sounds like a good idea, but no way we are canceling our trip!

 

[alvernon90]

I think that it is possible to have a good time at WDW even in the rain, but we're going to Hilton Head for golf, tennis, and the beach which would all be ruined by heavy rain.

I don't know how locked in you are, but we are making a contingency plan if Isabel hits the Carolinas on the weekend of the 27th to either go to a Florida beach town or (even better!) stay at WDW a few more days.

 

[dvcgirl]

Alvernon90....I'd think that you'd be fine at HH by the weekend of the 27th. *If* Isabel even hits the US, I'm pretty sure it would hit way before then....probably in the vicinity of the previous weekend...18th-20th...pretty much near the end of next week.

 

[alvernon90]

Hope you're right, dvcgirl! I'm worried because the storm has slowed down so dramatically in the last two days, from 14 mph to about 9mph. The slower Isabel moves, the more likely it is that she will ruin my vacation instead of someone else's!

 

[JVL1018]

Ugh, well I wasn't worried..but now hearing it may hit NYC late next week(we have a flight out of JFK at 10:35 on Sat the 20th) I am concerend that our flight woule be cancelled. If that happens, we will drive, no way am I missing my vacation.

 

[cindyfan]

The good news for WDW is that Isabel seems to be slowing down and heading north; it looks like she will bypass Florida entirely right now.

There is a very good chance Isa could hit NYC full force.

Where are you guys getting this information?????
As of right now it is headed due west.
And they have no idea where it will be headed after this weekend!
To say it will hit NYC full force is simply a guess.

Don't worry about it until it gets closer to the US and they can scientifiically say where she will be heading.

 

[jeannej]

Please do not think that Hurricane Floyd is a standard to judge all hurricanes. A category 4 hurricane will put a major crimp in you holiday plans if you have only a week. It all depends on where the direct hit is and they will be able to better predict Sunday or Monday.

I know people look forward to their vacations but I have lived in Florida since 1964 and have experienced several diffferent categories of hurrincane. Categories 1 & 2 don't really worry me.
Category 3 - 5 do.

Jeannej

 

[jwfla422]

Yes I agree with jeannej...we were VERY LUCKY with Floyd, that hurricane was the size of the entire state of FL. They predicted it to turn and then when it didn't it set the whole state in a panic but it did turn at the very last second. These storms are very fickle and very destructive.

We were lucky enough to live just far enough north when Andrew hit, it took years to recover from that!! And, most of the really bad areas were inland!

Don't underestimate the power of a hurricane!

By Monday we should have more of an idea where it's headed, we just have to hope for a low pressure system to keep it away from the coast.

If we were in your shoes we wouldn't cancel our trip but we are lucky that we could cancel the very last minute because we can drive there (if we had to). Just plan on your trip and keep tabs on the weather. I think it'll be ok.

 

[eeyore0062]

No, I wouldn't cancel, either. TS Henri looked like it was headed right at WDW, too. We were all prepared for it. It was cloudy for a couple of days.. no rain... rained on Friday night, and come Saturday, it was nice again. Many people changed their plans, including our cousin, who was kicking herself when she got up on Saturday and it was bright and sunny.


I think it really is too soon to tell anything. Don't cancel!

 

[km39497]

Thanks to everyone for their information, ideas and opinions regarding Isabelle. We won't be cancelling/delaying our trip, it took enough just to get 12 people's schedules together. We will, however, plan for some rain as many of you suggest. Here in the midwest, we're used to tracking blizzards, not hurricanes and it's pointless to try to figure out when we'll get a tornado so all your thoughts have been helpful!