Personally I would go early, not after the storm. Flight delays will be crazy after the storm trying to reschedule people. I’d try to leave Friday or Saturday if you can.
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We are considering that but the only non-stop flight on Saturday is at 5:45am and the airport is 1.5 hours from our house. We would obviously stay at a hotel close to the airport, but that is still a crazy early morning for our 3 kids. We are actually flying into and out of Tampa because we are going to the beach for a couple of days after Disney.
Shouldn’t we be concerned about the heavy rain and winds and park closure if coming before the storm? This is our kids first trip and probably the last for a while. 
The 5:45 am flight will be painful, but at least you will be there! Otherwise no guarantee you get a flight at all.
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So if we book a flight on Wednesday to Tampa it might be cancelled?
I’m worried about being stuck in our hotel room for couple of days. That’s a huge waste of time and money…
I’d say Wednesday to be safer. I only have experience with one hurricane (Irma) so not sure how typical it is. But that one hit overnight, in the wee hours of the morning. Weather wise it was actually pretty nice by about noon that day. But all the parks and the airport were completely closed due to damage - trees down, etc… The next day the airport was only partially operational - some flights getting in and out but not a full schedule. So it was at least two days after the hurricane hit before you could count on your flight getting in/out.
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Maybe. Just depends on where the storm hits and how many flights are rerouted.
Oh wow, crazy! This is such a tough decision! If we go early we might be stuck in our hotel room for a couple of days and if we go late we might not get there?
I guess I am thinking you could get park days in Saturday and Sunday. Maybe Monday is a wash out so you have to stay at the hotel (did you book a deluxe resort, then you will have access to food and entertainment thanks to the interior halls). Then Tuesday the sun is back out and it is business as usual. Or the storm takes a different path and there isn’t much effect on Orlando at all. Then you got an extra day of vacation. There is just no way to know what will happen this far out. It’s a risk either way, you just have to decide what you are comfortable with. Then you will know what to choose! For me, we would go early. But for you, that might be the wrong choice.
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We are staying at Wilderness Lodge Boulder Ridge Villas and check-in on Sunday. We could try and move it to Saturday. So the winds won’t be high and there won’t be power outages at Disney?
We were stuck in our room for about 24 hours - the day before it hit was actually worse than the day of with rain/wind etc. It hit overnight Sunday into Monday. The parks were all closed those two days (both Sunday and Monday) and some operating on a different schedule Saturday night (closing early, changes to the nighttime entertainment etc.). We got out and walked around the resort on Sunday morning, but it was already pretty rainy/windy. While we were totally fine and didn’t have any problems, it was just adults - not sure I’d want to deal with all of that with kids.
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Disney has generators. It will be windy and very rainy. There are Disney movies on the TV and an arcade at your hotel. However, if it is a significant storm that causes power outages in the Orlando area, that could impact getting flights out.
When are you scheduled to head home, if I missed it? Is it the following weekend?
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Currently we are scheduled to arrive on Sunday 9/1 and fly home on Monday 9/9 but if we were to move our trip and arrive on Wednesday 9/4 we would return home on Thursday 9/12 instead.
They do have generators. Disney has taken great care of their guests during hurricanes, at least for the last 6 years or so I have been on Chat and this Forum. They will have character meets and all sorts of stuff going on. I wouldn’t typically plan a trip to WDW during hurricane season (it’s just something my Mom always told me as a kid, do not go anywhere tropical during hurricane season), BUT if I did plan a trip then, it would definitely be to a deluxe resort at WDW with interior corridors. There have been so many reports on chat over the years of how staying deluxe was the best choice during an actual hurricane (at values and mods except the new tower at CSR, the exterior corridors means you are stuck in your room, that would not be a great option during a storm). Even if you cannot get into WL on Saturday, you could stay offsite for Saturday night and then move to WDW first thing Sunday morning before the storm hits.
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Thanks! I guess what I’m struggling with is wondering do I want to pay that much money to be stuck in a resort. We are doing free dining, but of course there is no such thing as a free lunch lol. I’m leaning towards moving our trip to Wednesday and if it turns out that we can’t fly in that day then we will just figure it is not meant to be and cancel our trip. We have trip insurance and upon booking our flight we knew that a hurricane was always a risk.
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It is a hard decision! Good luck!
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Thank you!
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Anyone had insight into calling Disney to add a day to an existing and not paying the current rate? Driving down Saturday now and we wont be getting into till possibly midnight. I’m leaning towards just getting a one night outside the world then checking in normally on sunday. Playing the wait and see game sucks.
I’ve found the forecasts are pretty darn accurate at track and intensity compared to even 10 yrs ago, BUT they are saying with this storm they won’t have a good handle on intensity until Thursday and track until Friday, due to unusual interferences and uncertainty. I’ve lived on the gulf coast my whole life. It’s hard to wait and wonder …
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