Hurricane Dorian / WDW Theme Parks Discussion

[wendy1974]

We’re here now and have Sunday evening flights back. I keep seeing the storm will hit Monday/Tuesday and everyone flying in should change flights. Anyone have any thoughts on Sunday night flights

You may want to check and see if you can change your flight to the first one out Sunday morning. I know the hurricane is moving slowly (which is not good) however tropical storm force winds extend way out from the storm. They will start reaching the Orlando area a full 24 hours before the hurricane gets there. The airport will suspend flights once those winds start gusting too high.

 

[ktlm]

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.

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 would not leave her-- especially in a condo by herself and not at a WDW resort. It is loud and scary for a lengthy period of time. Even though Matthew was not that bad- the winds were really loud. If it is a bad one and trees come down blocking roads and power goes off, she could be stuck on her own for some time. If the roads are blocked with trees, people can't get to her and she can't get out. Also--we live in what they call tornado alley-- and if a lot of damage occurs around you, cell service can go down for a while or it can be hard for you to get calls through so you may not be able to get a hold of her. We live about 3 miles from where a big tornado came though a few years back and it was several hours before we could get calls though to check on friends and family and them to us. I would try to move all of you to a Sunday flight if at all possible- although I'm sure those are booking up. I would definitely do what I could to move her to your flight-- if it gets cancelled at least you are all together.

I did not enjoy agonizing over what the right choices for our family would be ... staying vs going, etc. At the time we left, the forecast for central FL was pretty dire.

I remember doing the same thing. We had been to Hawaii earlier that year and on that trip a tropical storm was heading for us and the predictions were not good, so we left a day early and got out on the last flight- it was crazy trying to get out and the airport was packed. The storm wound up not being as bad as they thought. Couldn't believe we got to WDW, and then it was predicted a hurricane was coming at us! Twice in a year! WDW it was going to mean leaving about 3 or 4 days before we were supposed to come home. I remember going back and forth about whether to just cut the trip short and come home. As the predictions got worse, I called, but they wanted to charge a ridiculous amount of money to change our flight because we weren't flying out until a few days after the storm was predicted to hit, and the only flights they could get us on where so close to it hitting that we were going to pay a lot of money for possibly being stuck anyway.

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.

That is an absolutely wonderful idea!!!! Have a fantastic time!!!! From the pictures I have seen from WDW--- Galaxy's Edge is not much different from DL. We have been and it is fantastic! DLR is very easy to do at the last minute! It is so easy to be flexible there. Get hoppers! Hopping between parks takes 5 minutes -you don't even go through security again. We really like using Maxpass too-- we think it is worth the money.

We’re here now and have Sunday evening flights back. I keep seeing the storm will hit Monday/Tuesday and everyone flying in should change flights. Anyone have any thoughts on Sunday night flights

Nothing but a guess and gut feeling-- but I think you will be okay. The storm has slowed down. I have been stressing out because our best friends are in the area now and their flight out is Sunday morning and they can not leave earlier. As of today's reports, my stress level has gone down, because I don't think they will have any trouble. For Matthew, the airport closed down Thursday evening with the storm supposed to hit early Friday morning. Now-- some flights close to that got cancelled because flights coming into the area were cancelled, so there was no plane to go back out.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I sure hope the EURO happens. The worst part of hurricanes is you really don't know what they will do until the last minute. Makes it so hard to prepare and plan.

 

[jbcole82]

Yes, flying in on Sunday.

We fly to Orlando in a few hours. Hoping for the best! It was just really impossible for us to reschedule. Hoping to get in at least 7 park days if they close for 2.

 

[DVC Jen]

One thing that may not have been mentioned. If you are on the cusp of cancelling but not quite sure - but probably will - do it sooner rather than later. That way a local who needs that room for safety can get it. And you will be safe, warm and dry in your home that is not being threatened.

 

[DVC Jen]

I do find it interesting that a lot of us who are Katrina veterans are recommending and liking posts that are suggesting people consider staying away from Disney during this storm.

Huge storms like this are no joke, even miles inland.

250 miles upstate in Mississippi and Louisiana were without power, gas, utilities, food for 2 to 3 weeks after Katrina.

Not scare people, but it was a surprising reality.

Bil in the area is evacuating tomorrow.

Our town went through an EF 4 tornado several years ago. It is something I will never forget. Changed me forever and I am a trained storm spotter. Was an active spotter at the time. The devastation I saw was haunting. A tornado last minutes - a hurricane hours, possibly days. Not something I would want to be caught in.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Some MCO news:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1167534285642981378

 

[JonathonW]

Per Twitter, the Orlando airport is stopping commercial flights starting Monday, September 2 at 2am-- Sunday will be your last chance to fly out (or in, but please don't do that):

https://twitter.com/x/status/1167534285642981378

 

[RBZ]

My flight was scheduled to land at 9AM on Monday. Glad I canceled when I did since the airport will be closed at that time. While I'm depressed about canceling my trip, my weekend is stress-free now.

 

[JBRB828]

Orlando airport is closing Monday at 2am

 

[anniebean]

For what it’s worth, we were able to find gas fairly easily this morning just off of World Center Drive (I think that’s the name). No waits either. The Gas Buddy app was a bit unreliable on their info as far as who had gas and who didn’t.

 

[Tonyz]

Wow the new euro track ( the most reliable one ) has it stalling off the coast and going north missing florida completely.

I hope that’s true. Way to early and other maps don’t agree ... yet?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EDPWTEeW4AQC0aR?format=jpg&name=medium

Unfortunately, the Euro model was using slightly outdated data. So any celebrating would be premature.

 

[Corky's Mom]

MCO is cancelling flights starting Monday morning. Just saw the announcement on the news.

 

[JBRB828]

Good luck to everyone with their travel plans. Stay safe!
Even though the winds could be bad, it’s the rain that is the worry. Having lived through hurricanes and superstorm Sandy, the rain was always the worse. I’m not downplaying the winds though, hopefully by the time it hits Orlando, the winds will be down some.

 

[wendy1974]

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

Orlando International Airport just made an announcement that they will close at 2am Monday morning and suspend all flights. If you aren't going to move your flight up to leave earlier than Monday you need to get ready to all ride out the hurricane where you are. You should get a couple of cases of water and non-perishable food as the electricity will most likely be out and it could be for an extended period of time. Also, if you have a rental car fill it up with gas now as gas stations will likely start to run out of gas. I would advise you look up a list of hurricane preparations online and do as much as you can if you will be stuck in Florida.

 

[cakebaker]

Not sure if this is new, but I just saw it so....https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/weather-updates/

 

[Tonyz]

Unfortunately, the Euro model was using slightly outdated data. So any celebrating would be premature.

That being said, the latest NHC is better news.

 

[Southernmiss]

For what it’s worth, we were able to find gas fairly easily this morning just off of World Center Drive (I think that’s the name). No waits either. The Gas Buddy app was a bit unreliable on their info as far as who had gas and who didn’t.

That's understandable. It's hard to keep track of who has had a run on gas and who had a recent truck deliver gas.

The week after Katrina, we waited for over 6 hours in a line on a report that a station was expecting a truck. Heat index in the wait, a miserable 100 plus.

Another thing to think about if driving into /home from Disney.

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

Unfortunately, the Euro model was using slightly outdated data. So any celebrating would be premature.

I’m watching Tampa news at the moment. Action news Tampa bay. You can stream it if not in florida. Great channel.

They have it as a 4 when hits then a 2 up in Jacksonville a day later. They still have the euro offshore. But for now it’s still to early to change to that.

He’s saying there is a legit chance it goes even more east. We can only hope cause that thing is strong even in north florida a day later. Right now it’s a terrible situation for the coast if it stays current

 

[wendlle]

My flight was scheduled to land at 9AM on Monday. Glad I canceled when I did since the airport will be closed at that time. While I'm depressed about canceling my trip, my weekend is stress-free now.

I changed my flight before this as well. I could see it coming. I just hope that it's open by Thursday as that is what I changed my plans to.