Good thing I leave the day she gets there. That means I should be good.
Everyone who lives down there or is going next week should keep an eye on Irma. Path should be narrowed down by Tues afternoon or Wednesday.
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The 5PM EDT update was posted, and the 5-day forecast is now showing a slight turn northward. Beyond that itās anywhere from the Peninsula to TX.
There are a few of us who were onsite for Hurricane Matthew last year. Should WDW be affected, Disney will probably apply similar protocols to ensure guest safety.
- onsite guests will be told there will be a mandatory lockdown until an all-clear is sent. Guests in resorts with room doors that open to interior hallways should still be able to move throughout the resort. Guests with room doors that open immediately to the exterior will be asked to remain in their rooms.
- CMs told guests last year to plan ahead and have enough food in their rooms for at least 24 hours. Should there be a park closure, guests should NOT make the most of park time and leave when the parks close and instead return to the resort. We left around 2pm; parks closed at 5pm. By doing so, we were able to plan ahead for food while food court lines were manageable.
- Box lunches were provided to guests. We were at ASMo, and the lunches were a trifle better than what other people posted. The other popular option was pizza. People can and will go crazyā¦ buying more box lunches than they need or even buying more pizzas than necessary. Planning ahead with a grocery delivery will help.
- Plan ahead and pack flashlights, power packs to charge phones, small first aid-kit, a few giant zip-locks in the event clothes/food need to stay dry.
That said, I never felt like we were unsafe. I felt like Disney CMs did a great job communicating updates and sending alerts out though the room phones like that the food court was open on a limited menu, making the arcade free for the day, or even sending out the ride-out team with CMs in character costumes for entertainment.
(As an asideā¦Our flight to MCO was cancelled with AA due to the storm. Because of my constant website refreshing, I was able to call AA as soon as they published online that flights were grounded. Plan ahead and look at alternate routes. We were able to get a flight on Wednesday instead of Thursday (Hurricane Matthew was closest to Orlando around midnight on Friday/Saturday) by virtue of calling AA as soon as the alert was published. The rep on the phone with me said I was lucky I called when I did because there was a long phone queue when we hung up. )
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hoping for the best, we arrive on the 11th
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Hereās a link to a discussion forum regarding Irma. LOTS of experience on this forum - but also remember, itās mostly opinionā¦
Iām watching the Weather Channel. Irma is a 5, predicted to be a 4 when it hits Florida. Tropical storm force winds begin Friday. Even if Orlando does not get a direct hit, it will get wind and rain. The Weather Channel shows all predictions hitting Florida. worst of all, the prediction is to come in over south Florida then take a turn north, going right over the peninsula. Things could change. But this is a life-threatening hurricane. I would not go to Florida this week.
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Forgot to add that Tropical Storm Jose is heading along the same track as Irma. Need to watch out for that too.
Agreed. I hopped over here after seeing a model taking Irma right up the center of Florida, dumping huge amounts of rain at a minimum in the Orlando area. Itās too soon to say, but Iād be bowing out of a trip to Florida in the next week.
Iād be bowing out of a trip to Florida in the next week.
Perhaps not a very easy decision if one has been planning a trip there for the past year.
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It goes without saying but if you are there be safe!
Hoping things change, right now doesnāt look very promising for our flight on monday
Nor for our flight Sundayā¦ weāre looking at switching to Saturday if my sister can find a sitter for the kids that night. Hotwire has plenty of availability for around $100 or less the in the WDW area for Saturday, in case anyone else here is looking at the same situation.
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DCL has announced their weekend cruises from Port Canaveral will be cancelled and the ones due in on Sat and Fri will be coming in on Thurs. I know their situation is different from the parks, but if that side of the business is taking it seriously, then Iām sure WDW is also watching very closely. Stay safe, if you decide to go.
As far as personal safety is concerned I would not be the slightest bit worried about being at WDW when a hurricane comes through. The major downside would be the lost touring days on a vacation.
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I saw that American Airlines is waiving change fees. Others likely will follow.
I donāt know, Brian. I would worry about being stuck there for days without power.
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In 2004 when Hurricane Jeanne passed directly over us the power never even flickered. This will likely be a stronger storm, but lengthy power outages at WDW are the least of my worries. At the moment Iām more concerned with the fact that we will likely be confined to our villa for the duration of what looks to be a 2-day storm with no food. Since we were only planning a 3-day trip we didnāt order groceries, not that any are likely to be delivered on Sunday anyway. If weāre arriving on Saturday then perhaps weāll make a stop that afternoon just to get some basics, although I guess we can bring some non-perishables in our free checked bag.
You might not find any basics in the stores. People are saying that even now, shelves are being emptied. Take with you what you can, if you must go.
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Yeah, once the idea of packing snacks occurred to me grocery delivery seemed a bit less necessary, though Iād like to have some pop and/or lunch meat and maybe some bananas. Iāve seen that shelves are being emptied, but that many stores have ordered extra stock to arrive tomorrow and Thursday, so Iām still hoping