Hurricanes and trip insurance for September!?

[special k]

My wife and I recently booked a trip to WDW for the last couple days in August and the first week of September. We haven't purchased trip insurance yet and we know we probably should, considering there is a hurricane risk.

My question is, realistically,how worried should we be about hurricanes? How frequent are they? What do the WDW guests do in that event? How much of the trip would they generally take up if we had to postpone touring? Basically, if we have a hurricane during our stay, how much is it going to upset the trip?

And, of course, what trip insurance will best protect us in the event of cancellations and hurricanes? Anybody have anything that worked for them, God forbid?

[pbdennis]

I have been twice in September, once in 2005 in Rita and Katrina. In fact, I had to postpone my trip due to Rita since I live in Louisiana and also a meteorologist at this time.

My advice on the insurance is this...If it gives you peace of mind, get it. I have never gotten it. Why? To be honest, I don't worry too much about it. But, I am sure you will get plenty of advice on the pros and cons.

As far as worrying about tropical weather, there is nothing we can do to control and the odds are that everything will be fine. I try my best to an optimistic person.

Walt Disney did his work before selecting the site for WDW. Usually the paths of tropical systems don't move across that area. In recent memory that wasn't the case when I believe four storms moved across just a few years ago. While damage was done, I understand WDW did everything to accommodate those staying there and the parks were only impacted for a short time.

Again, my advice is to buy insurance if it makes you feel better and don't stress about Hurricane season.

I hope you have a great time.

Patrick
Leaving in 18 days...

[EyeLuvDisney]

We also went in September 2005 & September 2006. On our 2005 trip we did not purchase insurance and on our 2006 we did.

In 2006 we added the insurance at the last possible moment. I found out through the Disney Travel Company that there is a deadline to purchase the insurance. So, if as we get closer to your departure you feel uncomfortable, you can add it.

Just call soon and find out the deadline to add it.

Hope that helps.

[MsMin]

Travel insurance helps most when you are flying. I see hurricanes as an inconvenience but WDW is so far inland that I feel really safe there. It's not impossible to get hit hard but the odds are very unlikely that you would be down for more than 24-36 hours and Disney does take care of you.
Now flying into a hurricane is another issue. My DS had tickets to fly home when Katrina hit. They gave him credit but charged him an arm and a leg to fly into a different airport.
My biggest issue about hurricanes is that I would not want to be at WDW if there was one at home b/c I like to be close to home to secure and procure my valuables. It's not something I would lose sleep over. First decide what you would do? If it was projected to hit Orlando would you cancel? if you were there would you pack up and leave?

[murphy1]

Guess where my friends and family on the East and West Coast near water in FL head to when a hurricane warning is blasted? To Orlando area. The worst you will have is wind damage, but it's not that common (I lived there 29 years, the warnings got to be a part of life for me). I am honestly more afraid of weather in GA where I mostly am now, rather than FL.

[aurora, ariel, and bell]

We were there in 99 when they closed Disney for the first time. The food court was a zoo, but other than that it did not affect our trip. It rained a bit and was windy but we enjoyed everything anyway. They kept leaving messages on our bed as to what to do, I still have them. Later in the day they re opened AK

I am going again this September and am not worried about hurricanes, we just go with the flow!

[jans2kids]

We were there in August 2004 when hurricane Charlie hit. I guess unless you were trying to fly in or fly out that day or the ay after then you would have had some problems.

Charlie was predicted to hit early evening, the hotel kept us all well informed with phone messages. The day of the parks were all open until 1pm, We went to Blizzard Beach and it was empty. Even all afternoon it was just lightly raining and we still used the pool until about 4pm they closed them down. The food court was to close at 6pm (POR) so it got very crowded not knowing how long it would be before it may be open again.

Charlie blew through about 7:30 pm and lasted until maybe 10pm. By the next morning the sun was shining and mostly everything was back up and running (except water parks and AK). It was amazing at how much they had cleaned up by the next morning. We went to MGM and you could see where trees had been and weren't anymore, but they had been cut down to a stump and everything had be cleaned up and removed by 9am the next morning.

[threeh]

We've gone in hurricaine season and the 1 year the hurricaine affected our travel, we had to be delayed by a day, Disney and the airlines could not have been more helpful. We were able to switch our flights and extend our trip by a day. So if you do encounter a hurricaine rest assured they will work with you to still have a magical trip!!

[faline]

The odds that there will be a hurricane during your specifc visit are in your favor. We've been visiting during hurricane season for years. On one occasion, we had two solid days of pouring rain when a tropical storm came through (That was actually a good things as this storm prevented a hurricane that was off the coast from approaching.) On another occasion, we left a day early to avoid a hurricane (due to a commitment at home).

If one does hit during your visit, Disney will give you as much advanced notice as possible. They will provide specific instructions about what to do in the storm. If you are staying in the campground at Fort Wilderness, you'll be moved to other accommodations.

Generally, the storm will pass pretty quickly and should take no more than a day out of your trip. Disney has only closed on a few occasions and has gotten the parks open pretty quickly again after the storm has passed. Hurricanes tend to leave a lot of debris in their wakes that need to be cleaned up and cleared out.

[special k]

You all rock! Thank you so much for the thorough responses. I think we'll probably not get the trip insurance and just hope for the best. I feel a lot more at ease now, and feel a little funny for fretting lol.

My Disney spirit has returned and I'm super psyched for this vacation. My wife and I went to DL last year and had so much fun we had to try out WDW. Thanks for all the tips. I'm sure this vacation will rock.