Hurricane Dorian

[mi*vida*loca]

Thanks for the advice, but it really didn't address my question or situation. I grew up in South Louisiana, I know better than to fly into a hurricane zone. And, I stated in my post that I'm pushing my reservation all the way back to November. My question had to do with timing of cancelling. According to Disney's policy, if I cancel today I am out my deposit (x2 because I have 2 rooms). If there's a hurricane warning then it's a full refund. Just trying to see if anyone has had any luck canceling with a full refund yet.

I have read of a few people that have cancelled with full refunds.

 

[SweetJulia23]

I just decided to cancel or rebook today (two days from check in) and I can't get through. I don't want the whole thing to be non refundable. Will they make an exception for this?

 

[bobbie68]

Thanks for the advice, but it really didn't address my question or situation. I grew up in South Louisiana, I know better than to fly into a hurricane zone. And, I stated in my post that I'm pushing my reservation all the way back to November. My question had to do with timing of cancelling. According to Disney's policy, if I cancel today I am out my deposit (x2 because I have 2 rooms). If there's a hurricane warning then it's a full refund. Just trying to see if anyone has had any luck canceling with a full refund yet.

HI there have been reports on other threads that people are calling Disney today and are able to cancel without a penalty. Just call them and explain your situation. I really think you won't have a problem with a full refund'

 

[Viking7641]

The issue with hurricanes are seldom during the storm. People do underestimate the afterstorm. It hot and humid. Mosquitos increase due to standing water. Power issues, gas lines, flooding in places, it’s not fun. After going through Andrewm The storm itself doesn’t usually scare me, but the after is what I dread.

I did Charley during our one and only park trip as a kid, and they holed us up for a day. Next day parkwise looked like nothing happened, gave a false sense of reality

Then i was in grad school in Jersey during Sandy.....and I have a profoundly different respect for these storms and the aftermath. Please don’t endanger yourselves or others. The parks will still be there next time when you reschedule

 

[Disxuni]

Thanks for the advice, but it really didn't address my question or situation. I grew up in South Louisiana, I know better than to fly into a hurricane zone. And, I stated in my post that I'm pushing my reservation all the way back to November. My question had to do with timing of cancelling. According to Disney's policy, if I cancel today I am out my deposit (x2 because I have 2 rooms). If there's a hurricane warning then it's a full refund. Just trying to see if anyone has had any luck canceling with a full refund yet.

I read / interpreted it incorrectly and thought you meant at the time that you made the reservation was back in November. Yes, someone would have to speak from personal experience in terms of if they were able to cancel prior to that policy. As I know if it was just rooms you can cancel now, but packages are different and what you're speaking of.

 

[bobbie68]

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

This was posted on the Theme parks ...

 

[Alexis56578]

We arrive at MCO next Sunday. This is the last September trip I'll ever plan. Stressing me out

 

[OnceUponATime15]

Latest from Disney.

 

[cwis]

Has anyone been able to get in contact with reservations? Each time I call it will not go through and I need to modify my reservation. Is it possible to go to guest relations in Springs and modify it there with them, or in the lobby of one of the resorts (I am currently at Riverside, but need to modify a stay at Coronado).

Not sure you need this info as you have posted it some time ago, Guest Relations at Disney Springs can do pretty anything, from booking your entire vacation, making an umbrella reservations, helping with tickets or just give general guidance.

 

[wisblue]

Does anyone know if it’s true that Disney allowed people to keep pets in their hotel rooms during Irma?

My daughter lives in the area and is considering getting a Disney hotel (which Dad has offered to pay for) for a couple of days. But her roommate has a small dog that she obviously can’t leave alone, and my daughter doesn’t want to leave her roommate by herself.

I raised this question this morning. Disney has now announced that pet restrictions will be removed for all guests arriving between now and September 3.

 

[Haley R]

I raised this question this morning. Disney has now announced that pet restrictions will be removed for all guests arriving between now and September 3.

Does this include cats? Or just dogs? We live on the east coast and I’d like to drive over tomorrow if possible

 

[meghanb133]

Does this include cats? Or just dogs? We live on the east coast and I’d like to drive over tomorrow if possible

I stayed at Port Orleans FQ during Irma with my cat. We evacuated from the Tampa Bay Area.

 

[Haley R]

I stayed at Port Orleans FQ during Irma with my cat. We evacuated from the Tampa Bay Area.

I just realized if we leave and lose power we won’t be able to keep our fridge running. Our generator require gas and no one would be here to run it.

 

[Suz333]

I just realized if we leave and lose power we won’t be able to keep our fridge running. Our generator require gas and no one would be here to run it.

(What I would do)
If you will be (or feel) safer at Disney, go. Disney bell services has fridges and freezers at every resort. Triage the food in your fridge and freezer, find your coolers and insulated shopping bags, and pack up the most expensive/ your favorite/ hardest to get again food.

With the reduced staffing during the storm and aftermath, you won’t have easy access to the food, so pack stuff for your room separately. Pack freezer stuff from fridge stuff separately. Label stuff with your name before you leave your house and maybe take pics on your cell phone. From all of the threads about past storms at Disney, CMs might be working new-to-them roles, so make it easy for them to find your stuff later.

I don’t know if they have a limit to what they’ll store for you, but we’ve dropped off multiple items on previous trips, including some frozen shrimp that we left with bell services for 5 days. If you have a full chest freezer and packed to the top fridge, I don’t know if they could store all of it. We’ve lost an entire chest of food before, but for me, I’d rather salvage some and hunker down in a safer location than hang out to protect my food. (Food is supposed to protect my body, not the other way around!)

Sorry, not trying to tell you what to do, just sharing a potential option you might not have considered. I hope you stay safe, don’t have damage, and quickly recover from all of the stress caused by all of the uncertainty inherent with these storms.

 

[Haley R]

(What I would do)
If you will be (or feel) safer at Disney, go. Disney bell services has fridges and freezers at every resort. Triage the food in your fridge and freezer, find your coolers and insulated shopping bags, and pack up the most expensive/ your favorite/ hardest to get again food.

With the reduced staffing during the storm and aftermath, you won’t have easy access to the food, so pack stuff for your room separately. Pack freezer stuff from fridge stuff separately. Label stuff with your name before you leave your house and maybe take pics on your cell phone. From all of the threads about past storms at Disney, CMs might be working new-to-them roles, so make it easy for them to find your stuff later.

I don’t know if they have a limit to what they’ll store for you, but we’ve dropped off multiple items on previous trips, including some frozen shrimp that we left with bell services for 5 days. If you have a full chest freezer and packed to the top fridge, I don’t know if they could store all of it. We’ve lost an entire chest of food before, but for me, I’d rather salvage some and hunker down in a safer location than hang out to protect my food. (Food is supposed to protect my body, not the other way around!)

Sorry, not trying to tell you what to do, just sharing a potential option you might not have considered. I hope you stay safe, don’t have damage, and quickly recover from all of the stress caused by all of the uncertainty inherent with these storms.

Don't be sorry. That's great information! I had no idea they could store stuff for us. Luckily, we just have a little bit of frozen stuff, but not a ton. I called Disney and the CM I spoke with was great. I didn't book anything, but will make the decision tomorrow. Dh is asleep and I don't want to wake him up right now. They provide a Dorian rate, but the AP rates for 9/1-on are cheaper (which is pretty silly IMO). They will wave all pet fees, including cats, and parking fees. I just couldn't book a room without knowing how Dh feels. If we do go, we most likely will be staying at AKL because it's the cheapest with the AP rate from 9/1-9/4. I'm not sure if staying until Wednesday is long enough, but I don't think I would want to stay much past that.

 

[TorchWood]

Katrina didn't break the levees in NOLA. The levees were not maintained and the flooding broke the levees a few days after Katrina hit. Katrina made landfall at Waveland MS. Katrina was bad in NOLA because of the failure of NOLA politicians. Katrina made landfall early on Aug 29 and the levees broke on Aug 31. When your city is below sea level and the badly maintained levees fail, flooding is going to happen. Heading towards southern Florida, Katrina was more southerly than Dorian. Dorian looks to be further out in the Atlantic and further north than Katrina. Most of the spaghetti models have it going up through Florida and then back to the Atlantic coast.

As for Dorian, it appears to be headed right between Tampa and Orlando with Orlando being closer on the dirty side of the storm through Osceola County. It could still be a Category 1 storm at that time. If you are planning on having either a grocery run or paying a service to get you groceries to your resort location, forget it. Stores have already run out of most of the supplies you will need. Bring your own food and supplies if you are still planning on being at WDW during the hurricane. And don't come planning to tent camp or RV camp. Ft Wilderness will be close most likely. If you are staying at a resort made up of multiple buildings and/or outside corridors, you will be confined to your resort during the worst of the storm.

Remember that all those entertainers having fun with your kids might have their own families at home worrying about this storm. They are at work away from their families. Unless they are College Program kids and they are probably safer in the resorts.

Edited to add: The course of the hurricane has changed to being east of Orlando with Lake Buena Vista and WDW on the clean side of the storm now. Still a hurricane passing through Orange County though. Landfall has also shifted north to north of Jupiter

I am responding to your false hoods about Hurricane Katrina. When Katrina hit it was August 29th 2005. I was at a Hospital on a street in New Orleans called Canal St. The levees did break as we watched the water pouring in down Canal. There wasn’t ANY flooding until the levees broke. And that started on 8/29/05 not 3 days later!!!!!! Read history. I was there! We’re you?? We had over 20ft of water surrounding our Hospital. Nothing could have stopped what happened. Katrina was so powerful it pushed the Mississippi River backwards and put barges on top of the riverbanks all the way to Baton Rouge. There were over 50 levee failures. Corps of Engineers screwed up. And we paid for it. On Monday 8/29/05 at 0900 the big breach happened at the 17th St Canal. At that time 75% of the city was under water. After more then 20 breach’s before 17th St. broke.

 

[wisblue]

Does this include cats? Or just dogs? We live on the east coast and I’d like to drive over tomorrow if possible

I was told in an online chat that cats are included.

 

[Haley R]

I was told in an online chat that cats are included.

Yep, I called and they did confirm cats are allowed.

 

[smmco]

I am responding to your false hoods about Hurricane Katrina. When Katrina hit it was August 29th 2005. I was at a Hospital on a street in New Orleans called Canal St. The levees did break as we watched the water pouring in down Canal. There wasn’t ANY flooding until the levees broke. And that started on 8/29/05 not 3 days later!!!!!! Read history. I was there! We’re you?? We had over 20ft of water surrounding our Hospital. Nothing could have stopped what happened. Katrina was so powerful it pushed the Mississippi River backwards and put barges on top of the riverbanks all the way to Baton Rouge. There were over 50 levee failures. Corps of Engineers screwed up. And we paid for it. On Monday 8/29/05 at 0900 the big breach happened at the 17th St Canal. At that time 75% of the city was under water. After more then 20 breach’s before 17th St. broke.

I wasn't there, but I remember watching it on Fox News. The hurricane hit in the middle of the night and the levees were reported breaking that morning. At that time I was spending my days at home with a 2-year-old and 10 month old. I had the coverage on 24/7.

 

[huskyla27]

LOL, sorry. It never occurred to me that I needed to make the distinction between Los Angeles (famous for traffic jams) and the postal abbreviation for Louisiana...although I am sure I-10 can get a bit hairy at times...

L.A. and LA is a big difference. Punctuation does matter.