Hurricane Irma

Walt Disney World
61

Not only that many people at the swan and the dolphin aren’t there to visit the parks. Their stay isn’t going to be ruined by the weather as they are inside either having meetings etc or eating vast majority of the time

Obviously there are guests at swan and dolphin just there for the parks as well - like we were in July

I understand everyone on here not being sure what to do with their upcoming trips however if you are going there for the parks then take a step back and think. I really question why anyone would head to an area about to be impacted by a record breaking hurricane when they have a choice to refund or re-schedule (which most do now). At the very least the weathers going to be awful which itself will ruin days of the holiday at least. At the worst it’s going to be terrifying.

It’s a no brainer for me

Re-schedule if you can.

4 Likes
62

If Itma hits FL this weekend, what do you think conditions would be by last week in Sept? We are scheduled to be there 9/27-10/5 and I was planning on rental a car for ease of driving around and outside of Disney property. We haven’t been too WDW so first trip and had planned for a while. Just wondering how much this would impact the vacation.

63

Now that the track has shifted to look like it’s passing directly over Orlando…and probably as a major category three hurricane Sunday night into Monday, I think I’d pass on going to Orlando until the effects are known.

2 Likes
64

My heart is breaking and I need to vent. My family is suppose to go to Disney world next Friday to celebrate my daughter’s 6th birthday. For her birthday she was going to BBBoutique and dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table. I also hurt my foot and do physical therapy once a week for the past 4 months to be ready for trip. I do it for 2 hours a day by myself from home. We were supposed to stay in the Kilamanjaro club. Did I mention that if it misses Orlando it will has a good chance of smacking into where I live in Eastern North Carolina? Most places were sold out of water today here at noon…and I live in a large city. I am being a little tongue and cheek but really hoping it will do a u turn out into the ocean and we will have even shorter. According to my research this was the very best week of year for short lines. Please cross your fingers for us bc I will be a mess if I have to break my little princesses heart.

65

I want to hit the like button to support you but ‘Like’ isn’t the best use of the word so I’ll refrain!

That’s a really crummy situation to be in especially as a parent of a little one, I completely understand the feeling of not wanting to disappoint them :frowning: Not even taking into consideration the rest! I hope in the end it all works out in the wash and I wish you the best with the recovery!

1 Like
66

We are still planning to drive down on the 15th. We are in Raleigh. I think storm will be passed by then and we just have to see what the aftermath of central florida will look like.

67

That’s my hope too! In all the years it’s been open Disney magic has kept it safe. That’s the same day we are leaving! Wishing u and your family a safe trip!

1 Like
68

Really hard to say at this point. The track is still highly variable.

Orlando is well inland and the storm should weaken considerably once it starts traveling over land, so Orlando should be spared from the worst of the wind. But they’ll get wind and a lot of rain.

We’ll know a lot better how Orlando has fared once we get to Monday, so just hold tight and we’ll see what the outcome ends up being. And further hope no other hurricanes head that way between now and your trip!

1 Like
69

Storms like this are never predictable, but barring something very out of the ordinary, by Friday, I would imagine WDW will be more or less back up to full operations.

70

They cancelled the conference this morning.

1 Like
71

Irma will be the strongest storm to ever hit Florida, and the storm track has it going right over Orlando; it’s forecast to still be a hurricane as it gets to northern Florida.

I don’t think you can assume ANYTHING after Monday.

72

I am optimistic that by the time it gets up here to Orlando it will be in a weakened state. I am sure there will still be damage but not as catastrophic as the southern coast. I have heard hints from cast members. Some seem to think they will close early on Saturday and be closed Sunday and Monday. Of course that is nothing “official”. Also talked to one that said they have their own power supply and don’t rely on the city, not sure how true that is.

My flight out of here was cancelled for sunday. Luckily I extended my room 2 days when I got here just in case because they said there would be no penalty if I cancelled. Was worried about the airport on Monday so booked a flight for Tuesday.

73

ok now it is official theyt are closing early Saturday then staying closed thru Monday

74

Even in a weakened state this hurricane could do some devastating damage to Florida

In 2005 Hurricane Wilma was a Cat 5 hurricane like this one at one stage but when it reached Florida was down to being a Cat 3. Yet that hurricane caused just under $17Billion of damage to Florida alone:

From wiki:

“Hurricane Wilma caused widespread destruction of critical infrastructure, including power, water and sewer systems. Florida Power and Light, the largest electricity utility in the state, reported more than 3,241,000 customers had lost power,[33] equivalent to approximately 6,000,000 people, with most residents getting power restored in 8–15 days. Running water was restored for most residents within 2 days. Broward and Palm Beach counties were hit particularly hard by the many tornadoes in the western portion of the hurricane.[1] Most notably in downtown Fort Lauderdale, there was significant damage to older buildings, including the Broward County Courthouse, School Board Building and taller area office buildings built before the implementation of stricter building codes after Hurricane Andrew. The glass facades in a number of downtown buildings, notably the Templeton Building, were sheared off by high winds. Damage in Florida totaled $16.8billion (2005 USD).[34]”

75

Front desk CM we talked to said that power outage wouldn’t be an issue because of Disney’s use of generators. She wouldn’t confirm how long it would take for the generators to restore power if/when the power went out.

1 Like
76

Assuming they are using an automatic transfer switch, roughly 20 seconds from detected power failure to restored power. Unless their install was to medical facility standards. then it would be sub 10 seconds IIRC

77

http://wpc.1d0fd.sigmacdn.net/001D0FD/WESH/COUNTY_ORANGE.jpg

Here’s the current forecast for the Orlando area: winds gusting to 110 mph, 7"-13" of rain, with the storm at it’s worst from 10 pm Sunday night to 2 pm Monday afternoon. That’s probably a category 2 or 3 hurricane.

78

Wow 7 to 13 inches of rain predicted to fall!!!

That’s serious rainfall!!

I’ve looked at some rainfall records for Orlando to see how it might cope with the predicted rainfall

To put the forecast into perspective if it only rains the lowest predicted amount (7 inches) then that’s one inch MORE than the average rainfall Orlando sees in the whole MONTH of September (which is classed as part of the wet season)

And you guys know how much rain can fall in a normal September day or month to know how huge that would be

For daytime records I can’t find September records but ive found August records. And the record rainfall before now in a day at Orlando airport for example uptil now occurred in August 2015 when 3.9 inches fell in one day

If it rains 13 inches then that’s pretty hard to even try to imagine the intensity of that?? But even the low prediction of 7 inches would smash records

Bearing in mind in 2015 in August 15.9 inches of rain fell in the entire month and that made August the 3rd wettest month in Orlando since 1892!

So the predicted rainfall is truly incredible really whether it’s at the low end or the high end of the prediction.

So forget about any wind damage I would say the biggest issue for Orlando and the aftermath you guys are going to face is certainly flooding and sandbags are going to be needed everywhere as much as food and drink supplies

If you can park your cars on higher ground anywhere in Orlando then that would make sense as the amount of rainfall predicted will have cars floating away all over the County

I also wouldn’t want to be staying in any ground floor rooms at Hotels as you would be most at risk of your room being flooded of course

Plus be ready to turn all electrical appliances off if flooding was about to happen in your holiday homes etc even if power was working still at the time. And move all your valuable stuff upstairs.

I’m sure fo most of you it’s the potential flooding that’s going to be the biggest issue you guys may face if the weather forecast above is anywhere close to accurate.

And it’s flooding that’s most likely going to cause ongoing issues after the hurricane passes

79

Latest news reports are saying the hurricane has regained strength and is back upto cat 5

80

Glad to see that confirmed. I feel safe here at AKL. The cast members have been great, I see a lot of people asking a lot of questions. I am sure that has to get trying after a while. All that I have talked to say there should not be a problem feeding us but just to be patient, the restaurants are not taking reservations and are taking people on a first come first serve bases. Unfortunately I am down here alone, my wife could not risk getting stuck down here any extra days.