Hurricane Season and Disney World

[lovedisneyworld]

I am traveling to DW in August and I am worried about the threat of hurricanes. I have a few questions about this. If a hurricane is approaching Orlando, how does DW handle this with the visitors? Do they send them home? Another question for people who live in Orlando or nearby, since Orlando is more inland, do you get the extreme wind and tornadoes from the Hurricanes like the coastline or just a lot of rain. I am just curious about all of this. I am from Ohio so this is obviously something I have never dealt with.

[BigRedDad]

WDW does not send you home, but they do send you to your resort. The parks definitely close and they clean up quite quickly following a storm. The odds of a hurricane are low. Worrying about one is about the same odds of worrying of an airplane engine falling off a plane and hitting you. You cannot control a hurricane and one can pop up right in the gulf out of no where. If it is that much of a concern, schedule a trip between Oct and March.

[btuskan]

Dh and I were at WDW when they had the second hurricance in Sept of 2004. We were scheduled for labor day weekend, but had to change our reservations (which disney is really good about when it comes to a hurricane) because of the impending hurricane so we rescheduled to the last weekend in Sept and Florida got hit with it's 3rd hurricane in 8 weeks...who would have thunk it! LOL. Anyway The hurricane was to hit Sat night and disney was closing the parks at 5pm that day. But DH and I were there on vacation and wanted to enjoy ourselves, so off to the parks we went. EPCOT was dead, we walked on everything. We got back to the resort (WL) took the boat over to CR to eat and Cali Grille...boat service was ending early that night. A curfew went into effect about 9pm that you couldnt leave your resort. The WL staff had tons of activities set up in the lobby of the WL for children...paper airplane competitions, board games, singing. It was incredible. They had 3 channels on the TV just devoted to playing disney/touchstone movies continuously with out commercials. The hurricane hit during the night...lots of wind and rain. We weren't allowed out of our resort until Monday morning. Anyway, that's my experience and I still go during the summer. I've gone twice in July and once in June since that infamous weekend in September. Disny does it right!

[lovedisneyworld]

Thanks for the info. I am not worried enough to reschedule my trip, but it is just in the back of my mind so I thought I would ask others who have experienced this. It is nice to see how Disney takes care of its customers through something like this. :thumbsup:

[faline]

The possibility of a hurricane hitting during your vacation is actually quite low.

Disney World is actually a pretty good place to be during such a storm. People in the area actually go to stay at Disney World duing such storms. In recent hurricanes, folks staying at Disney World didn't even lose power.

They do evacuate the campground. When the storm is imminent, they close parks and direct guests to stay in their rooms. You might want to shop for food and drinks early in such an eventuality as you will want to have enough supplies in your room in order to ride out the storm.

I've been to Disney a number of times and have only experienced the threat of a hurricane on one occasion. A few year ago, we left a day early (only because I had an important commitment at home and could not be delayed in Orlando) to avoid an incoming hurricane.

[bshaw96]

You're not likely to see a hurricane at this time, but it's possible. But you'll see a daily thunderstorm :mickey: I've never been when there was a hurricane, but knew someone who did. They just spent the day of landfall in their resort and things were pretty much back to normal after that. Have fun, but if it's gonna be a constant worry for you, reschedule your trip if possible.

[PetefromRI]

Hurricane season runs through November and usually you'll get quite a few days notice when the weather people see convections in the tropics.It's not like tornados that just pop out of nowhere.It's always a concern for us when we go in the fall but we just keep an eye out for the weather and cancel if we have to.

[CaptainJessicaSparrow]

Having lived in Florida my entire life, I can tell you that Hurricane Season runs from May to November, and the peak months are between July and August (when they actually come).

Hurricanes typcially get stronger over warm water and lower pressure, and then they weaken as they move over land. So Orlando might only see a Category 1 or 2 at the most, unless the hurricane is a fast mover (meaning, it's physically moving faster so it doesn't linger over land long enough to weaken).

Disney will close the parks and require Guests to stay at th resort, which I wouldn't worry too much about. I know that during this period, CM's had the option to sign up for ride out/recovery which put them on call for 72 hours straight (and getting paid for it). There are activities, games, sometimes characters, etc.

I believe that the value resorts do not allow you to leave the rooms because they are outward facing (doors on outside as opposed to inside) and they don't want you to get hurt.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about a hurricane if you come in August. The chances might be higher but we haven't had anything severe since our triple hit.

[DDuck66]

We we ther when Hurricane Charley hit Orlando. We were checking in that day, and as the storm was originally supposed to land much further north we were not too worried. Of course while we were on the road, it changed course and came ashore in Punta Gorda. We raced it to Orlando and got in around 7:00 pm. The parks were already closed and they directed us to get some drinks and food and then go to our room. The storm hit DW at around 9:00 pm. By 10:30 the called and had re-opened the store and the snack bar for limited food. By the next morning everything was opened with the exception of AK. the roads to AK had been blocked by downed trees so it did not open until the next day. It was amazing to see how fast they cleaned everything up. I would really not concern myself too much. I lived in the Panhandle then and now am on the coast near Tampa Bay and I would rather evacuate to WDW if needed.

[MNNHFLTX]

Here's a thread from last spring that offers more information on hurricanes and Disney World:

Hurricane season?? (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=102050&highlight=hurricanes)

Although August through early October are when peak activity occurs, the Orlando area rarely gets the type of hurricane activity that the coastal areas do. However, travel in and out of airports across the state can sometimes be affected by weather associated with hurricanes, so it never hurts to stay aware of what's going on. :)