Hurricane Dorian / WDW Theme Parks Discussion

[Brett Wyman]

Anyone on the phone now? I've been on now for 1 hr 40 min. We'll be thrilled if we could even be moved to a resort with a room in the same building as the lobby. We are at Pop Century.

I'm getting a busy signal on DVC member services. Never heard that before!!! I can just imagine what the wait times are.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

Does anyone else worry that their hurricane supplies won't last? I bought a TON of food that we never usually have on hand because we usually eat a lot of fresh foods, and we are all like kids in a candy shop. So much yummy non-perishable food, and we are still 3 days away from the storm. This is gonna take serious self control.

 

[Grumpy92]

We are here from the UK and due to fly home from Tampa 6.30pm on Mon. My Mum is also with us but is staying here a few extra days on her own and is flying home on Saturday 7th. We are staying on our own in a condo in Davenport near to WDW.

Such a dilemma for us as British Airways have given us no info other than to say that if we are “due to fly from MCO or Tampa on Monday or tues we can reschedule free of charge our flights to anytime up to the 7th”

So the dilemma is do we reschedule for later assuming our flight will be disrupted and get a slot home in a few days, but take the risk that the forecast is wrong and it comes through later in the week and we are then in the path?

Or do we assume the storm will move through later in the week and keep the flight as it is and potentially end up in a back log of cancelled flights if it moves through on Monday, with no flight booked which takes us longer to get home?

I have to say I’m not overly worried about getting home on time (the kids will miss their 1st few days of the start of school from summer break, but no biggie!) but it is all my husband who’s in a state as he’s self employed and worried about more loss of earnings.

My other MAJOR concern is if we do leave ok on Mon, my 73 year old recently widowed mother will be riding this storm out on her own. Like I said she won’t have the facilities of a WDW resort to look after her, and she gets anxious with a slight UK breeze!! She does have her own rental car but has only really used it to drive to and from the closest Publix here - she’s a tad anxious driving on the other side of the road to us and very anxious not knowing the roads etc

If anyone has any thoughts on this I’d be grateful

I wouldnt let her ride out the storm alone.

 

[yulilin3]

Typically they suspend the rules and allow dogs during an evacuation. I think you can assume yes. Are you local?

yeah, I actually booked this staycation to take advantage of EEMH and was going to board my dog but in a storm I would rather he stays with me. I know they did for Irma so I'm expecting the same thing but still want to make sure just in case

 

[bigjon1805]

If this is moving at 4-5 miles per hour and is 400-500 miles wide, it looks like tropical storm winds could show up Sunday night and not stop until Thursday or Friday. If it continues to head up the spine of Florida that slow, travel is going to be a nightmare.

The map on the news here right now showed Wednesday in the Orlando area. They’ll wait till the very last minute to close airports and open again as quick as they can. No idea yet when or for how long.

 

[lovethattink]

Does anyone else worry that their hurricane supplies won't last? I bought a TON of food that we never usually have on hand because we usually eat a lot of fresh foods, and we are all like kids in a candy shop. So much yummy non-perishable food, and we are still 3 days away from the storm. This is gonna take serious self control.

We've been eating healthy and the only junk food we have is mnsshp candy. No chips, pretzels, crackers, etc. Shelves were bare yesterday. Hoping they get restocked. Otherwise, we have tons of freezedried food in our hurricane kit. We have 15 cases of water.

 

[KStash]

I just moved my flight back a day to Friday instead of Thursday. It doesn’t affect my DVC stay because I had the first day of my trip at Universal. I added an extra day on to the end of my trip and switched my Universal hotel without penalty. Spirit charged me 50 dollars for the change but if it means I might get to go on my vacation, I can’t complain.

 

[robinb]

We are here from the UK and due to fly home from Tampa 6.30pm on Mon. My Mum is also with us but is staying here a few extra days on her own and is flying home on Saturday 7th. We are staying on our own in a condo in Davenport near to WDW.

Such a dilemma for us as British Airways have given us no info other than to say that if we are “due to fly from MCO or Tampa on Monday or tues we can reschedule free of charge our flights to anytime up to the 7th”

So the dilemma is do we reschedule for later assuming our flight will be disrupted and get a slot home in a few days, but take the risk that the forecast is wrong and it comes through later in the week and we are then in the path?

Or do we assume the storm will move through later in the week and keep the flight as it is and potentially end up in a back log of cancelled flights if it moves through on Monday, with no flight booked which takes us longer to get home?

I have to say I’m not overly worried about getting home on time (the kids will miss their 1st few days of the start of school from summer break, but no biggie!) but it is all my husband who’s in a state as he’s self employed and worried about more loss of earnings.

My other MAJOR concern is if we do leave ok on Mon, my 73 year old recently widowed mother will be riding this storm out on her own. Like I said she won’t have the facilities of a WDW resort to look after her, and she gets anxious with a slight UK breeze!! She does have her own rental car but has only really used it to drive to and from the closest Publix here - she’s a tad anxious driving on the other side of the road to us and very anxious not knowing the roads etc

If anyone has any thoughts on this I’d be grateful

Could she move to a Disney resort for a couple of days so she’s not alone? I rode out Hurricane Charley at Pop Century and felt safe.

 

[ktgotta]

I had a trip booked from Thursday 8/29 to Wednesday 9/4 but unfortunatelty decided to reschedule after some family members got in my head about Dorian.

I called on Thursday night (8/28) and after a ~40m wait the CM was extremely accommodating. I was nervous about the trip possibly becoming non-refundable given our arrival was in less than 24 hours, but the CM got any fees waived by guest services!

Our new dates are 11/7-11/13. Still really bummed but hoping our new dates will be better (and dryer) so we can best use our vacation time and money

Good luck everyone!

 

[dznygrl70]

View attachment 431030

We’re waving the white flag. We have cancelled our Sept trip. And we’ve sworn we will never go to WDW in hurricane season again. You see, in 2016 we rode out Hurricane Matthew at Animal Kingdom Lodge. While we were very impressed with how Disney handled the situation, it certainly wasn’t enjoyable. Then in 2017 we went through this same agonizing process with Irma. Watching it near, trying to shift the trip and eventually deciding it isn’t a good idea to travel into an area that will likely be impacted by a hurricane. This past week we’ve experienced déjà vu as we’ve tracked Dorian.

The silver lining is that we opted to extend our December trip. We will be visiting WDW from Dec 14-26. For those of you currently at WDW please stay safe.

And here I thought I was the hurricane magnet. Hahaha. We caved too. Coming down Thurs. instead of Sat. Honestly, sitting in a hot room while it storms is not worth my money. Also, I feel guilt about taking a room from a local who may need to evacuate. Rather not add to the problem.

 

[Lsdolphin]

Just called Disney to ask if I could bring my dog with me, I check in Monday check out Wed. and I'm getting "all circuits are busy" message

Hi. I’m at Poly right now if it would help I could go ask at front desk for you.

 

[Lsdolphin]

Here now. Moved my flight home from Tuesday to Wednesday at 5:30 now trying to decide whether to leave on Sunday instead I see early Sunday flights are no longer available. I’m worried that if the storm does last several days I could be stuck here paying for extra nights and sitting in room for several days after storm waiting to get a flight out.

 

[J'aime Paris]

Anyone on the phone now? I've been on now for 1 hr 40 min. We'll be thrilled if we could even be moved to a resort with a room in the same building as the lobby. We are at Pop Century.

There are no/zero rooms in the same building as the lobby at Pop Century. All guest rooms have an exterior door. No hallways at all. Maybe see if you can move to a resort that does have rooms with a lobby. That would make riding out the storm more pleasant/comfortable.

 

[vinotinto]

We’re waving the white flag. We have cancelled our Sept trip. And we’ve sworn we will never go to WDW in hurricane season again. You see, in 2016 we rode out Hurricane Matthew at Animal Kingdom Lodge. While we were very impressed with how Disney handled the situation, it certainly wasn’t enjoyable. Then in 2017 we went through this same agonizing process with Irma. Watching it near, trying to shift the trip and eventually deciding it isn’t a good idea to travel into an area that will likely be impacted by a hurricane. This past week we’ve experienced déjà vu as we’ve tracked Dorian.

We also were at AKL during Matthew in October 2016 (Columbus Day weekend), and we we left Orlando in September 2017 (right after Labor Day) as people were evacuating because of Irma. We were stuck in quite the traffic driving from FL to GA. Took us much longer to ge home than normal. We would also have been going this weekend, if it wasn't for the AP previews which made me do a trip in August and so, I never booked Labor Day this year.

My experience at AKL during Matthew was that I appreciated what Disney did to keep everyone safe and comfortable. But, it wasn't the vacation we had wanted to take and I left that year feeling like I needed a vacation "do-over." Matthew was a completely different beast than Dorian. It moved very fast and the original path did not have it going to Central Florida at all - it seemed like it was going to the Yucatan. Then, it made this crazy turn north, squeezing by Cuba. It caught not only travelers by surprise, but I got the feeling it also caught Disney by surprise. The advantage of Matthew arriving quickly was that it also left quickly. It didn't linger in the area dumping water and parks and Disney Springs re-opened after a day and a half.

Park Closings:
Parks closed for about a day and a half. We were at the parks on October 6. The first sign that something was wrong was that the FP system went down. No FPs were suddenly available starting around noonish and the afternoon FPs all disappeared. Then, they announced the park would close early (I think closing at 5 pm?) and they were directing people back to return to their resorts. I think we went back around 3 pm. Two MNSSHP were cancelled (on Oct 6 and 7).

Parks reopened on October 8th. Parks were pretty empty when they reopened. The hurricane had disrupted a lot of travel plans.

Food
There was a curfew in place from the evening of October 6th (7pm?) through October 7th (3 pm?). The curfew came from Orange County. During that time, you could not be outside. We were lucky to be at AKL, so at least we could reach the lobby. Mara closed at 6 pm and reopened the next day in the late afternoon/early evening. The only food option available was the Boma buffet. Jiko closed so that people could sit with their Boma buffet food. We were charged full price for the Boma buffet ($40+ per adult) and that was the only food option. My understanding is that they were better prepared for Irma, with additional reduced cost food options. Disney Springs also closed at around 5 pm on October 6th and stayed closed until I think, 5 or 6 pm on October 7th.

October 7th - Boma buffet was open for breakfast. Again full price, although I think there was an option to fill a box for $15, but that was not advertised.

The next evening (evening of October 7th), Sanaa opened and we were able to walk there. They had a limited menu - 3 basic entrees (a tandoori sandwich and other basic options). Jiko remained closed, only seating for Boma buffet.

October 8th restaurants reopened, although not all menu items were available.

 

[Heelish]

There are no/zero rooms in the same building as the lobby at Pop Century. All guest rooms have an exterior door. No hallways at all. Maybe see if you can move to a resort that does have rooms with a lobby. That would make riding out the storm more pleasant/comfortable.

The difference in price between those 2 types of hotels is like 500. I would assume moderates have priority over budget, if they even would change them.

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

Here now. Moved my flight home from Tuesday to Wednesday at 5:30 now trying to decide whether to leave on Sunday instead I see early Sunday flights are no longer available. I’m worried that if the storm does last several days I could be stuck here paying for extra nights and sitting in room for several days after storm waiting to get a flight out.

I think Monday would have been better than Wednesday. I don’t see anything getting out Wednesday personally. But again this thing changes so much. 2am tonight should give a much better track. Good thing the flight changes will most likely be free anyways

worst case you can move to a much cheaper hotel off property if you have to star extra

 

[KateP85]

My other MAJOR concern is if we do leave ok on Mon, my 73 year old recently widowed mother will be riding this storm out on her own. Like I said she won’t have the facilities of a WDW resort to look after her, and she gets anxious with a slight UK breeze!! She does have her own rental car but has only really used it to drive to and from the closest Publix here - she’s a tad anxious driving on the other side of the road to us and very anxious not knowing the roads etc

If anyone has any thoughts on this I’d be grateful

I definitely wouldn't leave your mom in that situation. With Irma and Matthew, they put curfews in place so no one could drive around, so she'd really have to stock up on supplies beforehand and a lot of places are already running low on things like water, bread etc. If the power goes out she'll be on her own in the dark and the heat, it sounds like she'd find that scary. Is there any way she can fly back with you?

 

[J'aime Paris]

The difference in price between those 2 types of hotels is like 500. I would assume moderates have priority over budget, if they even would change them.

I'm not implying that the move to a resort that has rooms/lobby in the same building would be free.
But if comfort was my priority during a hurricane, I'd pay that difference.

 

[SG131]

Philadelphia

I'm flying out of Philly too and now going to LA instead of Orlando! I can't miss any extra days of work so it seemed like the perfect time to see DL for the first time.

 

[Cluelyss]

I'm getting a busy signal on DVC member services. Never heard that before!!! I can just imagine what the wait times are.

I got that a few times then finally got through. Currently 42 minutes into an estimated 60 minute wait time.
Was on hold about 45 minutes to cancel our fights.
And still have to call about our MNSSHP tickets and dessert party, which I'm sure will be another marathon hold.
Please stay safe everyone that is there now and riding this out!