Park opening hours tomorrow, Aug 19

[WDWdriver]

WDW officials are monitoring the approach of Tropical Storm Fay. At this time all parks and attractions are expected to be open, at least during the morning hours. As a convenience to guests all four parks will open at 8:00 am. Disney Quest will open at 9:00, and AMC theaters will open at 10:00.

As the storm center arrives in Central Florida during the afternoon hours, the impact of winds and rain on the parks will be continuously evaluated. It may be necessary to close some parks or attractions at that time.

[thumperbug]

Thanks for the update. My brother and nephew are at WDW now. I fowarded him this email. Do the hotels have any kind of storm plan for guests or do they tell them to leave?

Thanks

[WDWdriver]

Do the hotels have any kind of storm plan for guests or do they tell them to leave?
Thanks

For this storm the Disney resorts should be operating normally. However, in cases where the weather is bad enough to close the parks, the resorts step up to fill the void. Guests are provided every possible amenity. There are free Disney movies on room TVs, games for the kids in the resort lobbies, lots of food, etc. The electricity stays on because Disney has it's own underground utilities. I have actually heard of locals renting rooms on Disney property to ride out approaching hurricanes in style.

[ILoveLegos]

I have actually heard of locals renting rooms on Disney property to ride out approaching hurricanes in style.

It's true, as a part-time local who has been in this situation - rooms sell out really fast at Disney with an impending storm looming, I remember the last major storm to hit my area of Florida, at time I was able to catch one of the last flights out of Orlando to my primary home for a rediculous amount of money! Good thing though, my area was hit very severely - worst in decades and I was able to get a few close relatives out as well. My experience has been that the locals who ride out major storms at Disney have some serious phone dialing skills/luck - the rooms go extremely fast and the airlines make out like bandits! :(

[thumperbug]

Thanks Ron. I feel better knowing my brother and nephew should be just fine....a little inconvenienced...but fine. :mickey:

[DisneyGiant]

We're down here now at the lovely Boardwalk Villas - trying to decide if we should keep our Crystal Palace reservations for tomorrow morning (10:15 am).

We're thinking of going into the park at the 8 am opening ........ it will all depend on how hard its raining!!

[WDWfanatic742]

When Wilma came around in 2005, we had to drive an hour or so north just to get some gas since the lines down here were hours long if the gas stations had any. After a week without power at our house we were right on the brinking point of going up to WDW just to get away from all of the destruction and actually have some power.

[Dr. Disney]

We narrowly missed a hurricane (Michelle) going down to WDW once (by less than 24 hrs)... and flew down durring a hurricane (Wilma)... We were inconvenienced in terms of the airlines.. but as soon as we arrived, we'd never know a hurricane just came through. Great job Disney! :thumbsup:

[TheRustyScupper]

1) Expect everything to be normal this week.
2) With the possible exception to outdoor
. . . fireworks
. . . rides
. . . parades
3) Fay is expected to bring a lot of rain, but no hurricane.
4) So, Disney remains open and operating, except rain-affected activities.

[IamBelle]

How is the weather going to be for Saturday night? I am supposed to fly in around 11 pm Sat. night.
Thanks,
IamBelle

[CleveSJM]

How is the weather going to be for Saturday night? I am supposed to fly in around 11 pm Sat. night.
Thanks,
IamBelle

Fay might be up around Boston by then. Orlando won't be bothered by Fay after today.

[CaptainJessicaSparrow]

Orlando isn't being bothered now by Fay. I'm sitting here going "Man where's the rain?!"

[TheAdventurer]

I have to admit I wish a hurricane would hit WDW sometime when I’m there. It’d be an interesting experience.

[Bethanymouse]

My cousins are down there so I really hope that they can enjoy the rest of their vacation as I do the other people vacationing. But I must say, if I was going to be stuck in a hurricane, disney is where I would want to be!

[PlutoPlanet]

We rode out Hurricane Frances in 2004 at BWV. We never lost power or TV. We had plenty of food. Going through that experience made us feel even more confident that we bought at DVC.

[sgdisney]

I just got off the phone with one of my best friends and she was at the AK and said the sun was out. Hopefully the worst of the storm will bypass WDW.

[gauvin4]

I have to admit I wish a hurricane would hit WDW sometime when I’m there. It’d be an interesting experience.

Be careful what you wish for!!! ;)

[RedHead]

Orlando isn't being bothered now by Fay. I'm sitting here going "Man where's the rain?!"

The rain's all in SOUTH Florida - upwards to 10 inches here. It looks as of O-town and WDW will be spared the brunt of Fay - depending on the reverse swing that's projected to bring it back across the top part of the state later this week! :mickey:

[mrte62]

I have to admit I wish a hurricane would hit WDW sometime when I’m there. It’d be an interesting experience.


My family survived Huricane Charlie while on vacation at WDW. It was not cool and it was not funny.

We survived, made the best of the afternoon and evening and was there the next morning for the EPCOT rope drop.

Don't wish a hurricane on anyone.

[kakn7294]

I heard from Kristen (dolphinmickey9170) around 1:30pm today and she said that it's cloudy but no rain. Not sure what park they were headed to today.

We were there a few years ago when Hurricane Ophelia was stalled off the Atlantic coast between Daytona and Jacksonville. Fortunately, she wasn't a bad storm as we drove right through her. She brought intermittent rain and winds to WDW for a couple of days but after day 2, we had beautiful weather for about 4 days. I hope the same holds true for my friends there now!

[Jasper]

I agree that you should never wish to be caught in a hurricane even if it is at WDW. We were caught in Jacksonville at my sister's house about 25 years ago when a hurricane was suppose to make a direct hit on Jacksonville. Fortunately it did basically what this one did and never developed into a full blown hurricane. However, it still made a pretty good mess with trees and signs down and a lot of flooding rains. If that is what a tropical storm is like I never want to go through a full blown hurricane regardless of where I may have to wait it!

[special k]

My wife and I will be arriving on August 28th. How long do these tropical storms/hurricanes last? :fan:Should we expect problems and delays? :scared:

[FlaTinkRAMESAM]

My wife and I will be arriving on August 28th. How long do these tropical storms/hurricanes last? :fan:Should we expect problems and delays? :scared:

unless the wave that is out in the atlantic right now decides to turn into a hurricane and head this way, you will not be affected by a tropical storm or hurricane on the 28th...

these storms come in, bring nasty weather one day and then by the next day it is sunny skies...

we live in tampa and it has been overcast and very windy all day, but it is JUST starting to look kinda nasty outside cloud wise...

[scoot241]

Orlando isn't being bothered now by Fay. I'm sitting here going "Man where's the rain?!"

Sounds like what I was saying last week when Eduard passed through Houston.

[DisneyGiant]

It was very windy today at the MK - but very little rain compared to the forecast.

Disney did a great job of accommodating everyone - by having the parade earlier "just in case" to having poncho sales available right at the bus stops. I was very impressed with the cast members attitudes and their willingness to give out as much information as they could.

Around 4ish - it started pouring, and hasn't let up. Some of the Boardwalk street performers are in the hotel doing their thing.......

We're hoping our day tomorrow at Epcot is alot drier - especially as we haven't gotten on Test Track yet!!! :)

[Vito]

It was very windy today at the MK - but very little rain compared to the forecast.

Disney did a great job of accommodating everyone - by having the parade earlier "just in case" to having poncho sales available right at the bus stops. I was very impressed with the cast members attitudes and their willingness to give out as much information as they could.

Around 4ish - it started pouring, and hasn't let up. Some of the Boardwalk street performers are in the hotel doing their thing.......

We're hoping our day tomorrow at Epcot is alot drier - especially as we haven't gotten on Test Track yet!!! :)Tomorrow is probably going to be rainy, but you might sneak in some time where it's clear enough to do Test Track.

The projected path looks to be sort of cutting back westward, but just enough north and east of Orlando to avoid the center of the storm. The weather will likely be a bit better by Thursday into Friday, but might not "clear up" until into the weekend. Thankfully with the storm being on the East and North side of the Orlando area as it moves north to northwest, the winds will be lower than on the other side of the storm.

Here's the latest Tropical storm / Hurricaine warning: (weather.com)


A HURRICANE WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE OFFSHORE MARINE WATERS FROM SEBASTIAN INLET TO FLAGLER BEACH...FROM 20 TO 60 NAUTICAL MILES.

RESIDENTS OF EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA... AND ALL MARINE INTERESTS IN THE AREA... ARE STRONGLY ADVISED TO REMAIN INFORMED OF THE LATEST FORECAST WITH TROPICAL STORM FAY. GIVEN THE INHERENT UNCERTAINTIES IN THE FORECAST... ADDITIONAL HURRICANE WATCHES MAY BE NEEDED OVERNIGHT OR IN THE MORNING.

TROPICAL STORM FAY IS MOVING SLOWLY AND SOMEWHAT ERRATICALLY AS IT HEADS TOWARD THE EAST COAST OF SOUTH BREVARD AND INDIAN RIVER COUNTY. IT IS FORECAST TO MOVE OFFSHORE DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS.

FAY IS FORECAST TO GRADUALLY STRENGTHEN AS IT MOVES OFFSHORE... LATER APPROACHING MINIMAL HURRICANE STRENGTH. ONCE OFFSHORE...THE CONFIDENCE IN FAYS FORECAST TRACK AND INTENSITY IS LOW. AS A RESULT...A HURRICANE WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED...ON TOP OF THE CURRENT TROPICAL STORM WARNING...FOR THE OFFSHORE WATERS FROM SEBASTIAN INLET TO FLAGLER BEACH... FROM 20 TO 60 NAUTICAL MILES FROM THE COAST.

ELSEWHERE...TROPICAL STORM WARNINGS CONTINUE FOR ALL OF EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA INLAND COUNTIES...COASTAL COUNTIES...AND MARINE AREAS.

If you are planning to leave Orlando and travel North in the next few days, I would recommend watching the forecast and updates closely to see whether or not travel is recommended. They say the track of the storm isn't easy to project at this stage, but it's likely to go offshore to the east, then cut back across Central Florida (north of Orlando area).

[WDWfanatic742]

What I thought was pretty interesting is that the way that the track is now right, it could have 4 landfalls, just in Florida alone. First in Key West, then the West Coast, turn back around and hit the East Coast, then can hit the Panhandle. We barely had any rain and schools are open for the first time this year tomorrow.

[diz_girl]

We were there a few years ago when Hurricane Ophelia was stalled off the Atlantic coast between Daytona and Jacksonville. Fortunately, she wasn't a bad storm as we drove right through her. She brought intermittent rain and winds to WDW for a couple of days but after day 2, we had beautiful weather for about 4 days. I hope the same holds true for my friends there now!

We were there that week too! It made for a mild week, which was nice, especially during the first week of September. From what I understand, the storm just caused a lot of beach erosion in the Daytona area. That being said, I would never have known that a hurricane was nearby, if not for the news. It actually followed us back to New Jersey.

But it was an odd week, with Katrina hitting New Orleans less than a week before. It was all over the news and I felt guilty that I was enjoying myself in WDW, when the residents of New Orleans, Louisiana and Mississippi were suffering. So I made sure that I enjoyed myself, as I knew that there was literally nothing that I could do for them at the time and that they most likely would rather be in WDW enjoying themselves too.

[Sylvia]

I was in WDW, staying at Shades of Green, when Hurricane Charlie hit. I decided to go to the MK, since it was close, and I knew that I could get to the Poly if I couldn't get back to SoG. Disney announced that the parks would close at 1 PM. It was an eerie site leaving the MK. It was strange walking along Main Street; everything was closed. I was very impressed by the CMs and by my fellow guests as we all waited patiently for transportation back to our respective resorts.

I did get back to SoG after a short wait and later that night when Charlie hit WDW, I was amazed at the force of the winds and rain. I also felt very safe. The winds were so strong the rain was not falling straight down, but sideways.

I remember the next day the sun was shining, 3 of the parks opened (AK delayed opening for a while) and there were some remmants of the storm, such as several of the signs along the roads were flat on the ground. The force of the winds was so strong that the metal poles were bent. At the Studios, half of the mermaid statue was gone and the trees that used to be behind the Sorcerer Mickey topiary near the Brown Derby were uprooted.

What I remember most, though, are the constant news reports and the stories of many of the locals. I actually felt guilty because I was on vacation and supposed to be having fun, while many people lost much if not all of their possessions.

Experiencing a Florida hurricane first-hand is something I won't forget and I hope it never happens again.