Ever been to WDW in a hurricane?

[AKLRULZ]

I have a good friend who is with her family right now at Disney World and this tropical storm is pouring on them! Have another very good friend from NY who was there for the Charlie a couple years ago. Fortuntely we've never had to face something like that - but I'm curious if anyone here has ever been at WDW during a major storm, say when they actually had to close the parks and what your experience was like during.

[SimonTemplar]

I was there in 1995 when Hurricane Erin came across Central Florida. The parks didn't close, but loads and loads of rain got dumped on WDW. We were stying at the WL, and it was fascinating to watch the staff prepare for the oncoming storm. All lights hanging from lightposts were tied securely, all pool furniture was taken inside, and all rooms were instructed to bring in furniture from the balconies. On the morning after the storm came through, our sliding glass door to the balcony was totally coated in a layer of pine needles and leaves, and there were several small trees down around the WL grounds.

It rained hard almost all day the following day, so we spent the day shopping at Downtown Disney complete with our ponchos. That night after the rain had cleared off, my brother and I were the only ones who wanted to go out to the parks. We headed to the MK and had it largely to ourselves. I guess most people just wanted to stay in, but we kind of had our own E-Ticket night before they had such a thing.

[Dr. Ravenscroft]

Last year in October we had WILMA go over head. Extended our vacation by a day or two. It was cool I got to hangout with alot of the cleanup crews and CM's that were staying in our resort because of the storm. My brother kept waking me up with the TV (kept turning on the weather channel).

The Parks were closed until 11am then when they opened everyone rushed to the parks, AK never opened that day, all of the animals were in a safe place. We were at Coronado Springs and a couple of trees got knocked over but only the ones out at the ends of the parking lots. The Parks were in good condition just leafs everywhere.

After the storm passed it got cold the high on monday was 85 and 100% humidity, Tuesday 68 and like 45% humidity YAY!

[knedeau]

In Sept '04 (September 8-15) we went after Francis and Ivan, right before Jeanne. There were a LOT of trees down. My hubby and I were supposed to stay in Ft. Wilderness, but it was CLOSED, so they put us in Wilderness Lodge instead (not a bad choice). I've never seen the parks so deserted in my life! (not a bad thing either). It rained at least once a day every day we were there... but it only got in the way once when Hubby and I were riding the little boats around Bay lake.

ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

[Mr.ToadWildRider]

We're headed down in *18* days (yay!) and my friend got really concerned today that hurricanes would ruin our trip but I said to hope for the best and that luckily the Orlando/central FL tend to miss the brunt of the force. I'm keeping my fingers crossed though...

[SeasDiver]

I was there for Hurricane Erin in 1995. Also, my dad got to sit through one of the ones late last year.

Disney is very prepared for hurricanes, and has designated hurricane response teams that will sit out the storm on property.

Regards,
Aaron

[spaulo]

We left a day before Andrew hit in 1992. Glad we made it out before that one!

[rdeacon]

I've never been there during a storm, but its probably one of the safer places to be.

Walt Disney World declared "StormReady" by NOAA

The Walt Disney World Resort has been declared to be the first theme park and resort in the nation to achieve "StormReady community" status by the NOAA National Weather Service. A total of more than 1,050 communities throughout the United States have achieved this designation.

The nationwide StormReady program, which began in 1999 with seven communities in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area, uses a grassroots approach to help communities develop plans to handle local severe weather and flooding threats. Program requirements include: establishing a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center; having more than one way to receive severe weather forecasts and warnings and to alert the public; create a system that monitors local weather conditions; promote the importance of public readiness through community seminars; and develop a formal hazardous weather plan, which includes training severe weather spotters and holding emergency exercises.

"We appreciate this acknowledgement of our continuous efforts to ensure the year-round safety of our guests and cast members," said Lee A. Cockerell, executive vice president of operations for Walt Disney World. "Our partnerships with local, state and federal emergency management agencies are part of our overall safety strategy that enables us to provide our guests with the highest level of security and comfort possible."

The StormReady recognition will be in effect for three years while the resort conducts the renewal process.

Rich

[Agosaol Brythwich]

Went to Epcot when Frances passed over in September. It was good to get the mind off the damages to the apartments for a few hours. I was amazed at how empty the park seemed. When you can just walk onto any of the rides at Future World without stopping, you begin asking yourself if everyone knows something you don't...

[bamafan19]

As kkbowen stated, we had a blast having the whole park to ourselves. Matter of fact, when we did the E-ticket two years later I was somewhat disappointed because I was used to NO lines instead of small lines.

[Dr. Ravenscroft]

I've never been there during a storm, but its probably one of the safer places to be.

Yeah and I got to talk to a bunch of them too. They were well prepared, and got free drinks at the bar too, I want to be on the teams.

[rdeacon]

I've never been there during a storm, but its probably one of the safer places to be.

Yeah and I got to talk to a bunch of them too. They were well prepared, and got free drinks at the bar too, I want to be on the teams.

FREE DRINKS......

Time to get my NOAA hurricane plot o' matic out!!

Rich

[ericpabear]

We just got back. Tropical storm Alberto,(I think it was called,) was theatening to become a hurricane. No one told us anything ! I watch the weather every morning to plan our day, and was very supprised by it's developement. It stormed for 2 days, then on and off for the rest of the week. Some kid and his mom got hurt at EPCOT. One of those large unbrellas broke free and hit them, sending the kid to the hospital. I did not witness this, I was told about the event.

[Dr. Ravenscroft]

They didn't tell us much when we were down there, except that if the parks closed bus service would run for an extra half hour so everyone could get back to their resorts. Also that if anyone had to extend their stay alls they had to do was call the front desk to extend it. They didn't say anything about where to go if something bad did happen.

The worst that did happen was the walkway around the back of the main building (this is at Coronado Springs) was under about 2-3ft. of water and it was indanger of creeping or seeping through the back doors.

[js3901]

if your stay had to be extended due to the hurricanes, would (did) you have to pay extra for it? it wasn;t really your fault you were stuck there, so I hope they'd overlook that fact and not charge...