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Hurricane Dorian / WDW Theme Parks Discussion

I'm in Disney now and supposed to fly out Monday evening. Might end up stuck here for a few days. I decided to play the wait and see game.
Hoping I don't regret that decision.
 
Anyone on the phone now? I've been on now for 1 hr 40 min. We'll be thrilled if we could even be moved to a resort with a room in the same building as the lobby. We are at Pop Century.
 
And, I will note, the NHC has not yet issued hurricane warnings for Dorian anywhere in the continental US-- those are issued about 36 hours out. That said, Disney's usually pretty flexible about these things, and reports are that reps are generally allowing changes now (despite it technically being too early per Disney's official hurricane policy).

Hurricane track predictions at 4-5 days out are notoriously unreliable-- if you look at the NHC's predicted track, Dorian could be anywhere within the dotted area come Tuesday afternoon. It could travel straight down the center line in that graphic basically straight into Kissimmee; it could shift a smidge further north and pretty directly hit Disney property; it could go well to the north or south and the worst could miss central Florida entirely. It could even still recurve out to sea and not make landfall in Florida at all (there's some model support for this, but not enough for the NHC to substantially change their official track yet).

Basically, be aware that Dorian's forecast is kind of a mess right now; be flexible and be ready to change plans (or go ahead and start making alternative plans) so that you're not right in the path of a massive hurricane if it does come straight through central Florida.

I agree. The trouble with hurricanes is that by the time the forecast track is definite, it's too late to start making contingency plans. People need to be making those plans now. And the unfortunate side is that many will decide to cancel and stay away from WDW this coming weekend and week (I would - I've had plenty of personal experience with hurricanes), and then Dorian might turn and stay far away and they'll be kicking themselves (unfairly) for cancelling.
 
I agree. The trouble with hurricanes is that by the time the forecast track is definite, it's too late to start making contingency plans. People need to be making those plans now. And the unfortunate side is that many will decide to cancel and stay away from WDW this coming weekend and week (I would - I've had plenty of personal experience with hurricanes), and then Dorian might turn and stay far away and they'll be kicking themselves (unfairly) for cancelling.


Yes it’s a tough call to make.
 


When we had to cancel due to Irma a few years back, member services put our points back in our account, and there was NOTHING available for us to rebook for anytime in the next several months. So we used them to book a "makeup" trip in May the following year.
I cancelled and rebooked for March. I'm actually happier about this because I am already staying at CCV in January, and I rebooked for AKV Savannah view. I also booked for 5 nights instead of the 4 I had planned for this weekend.
 


Could you tell me why my posts are being deleted? I just wanted to convey to take Hurricanes seriously. As someone who went through Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath. I will say this again. Lives are more important than WDW. I'm not trying to scare anyone.
 
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.
 
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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.


People don’t want to hear it. I get being upset. I was scared it would happen to us last year. If someone asks questions I will be honest, whether they like it or not.
 
So far we are planning to make the best of it and continue with our plans to fly in Saturday morning.

What last minute items would you add to your packing list to prepare for the impending weather?

I assume we'll have rainy & windy weather before and after the storm hits. So we'll pack some extra rain gear.

Should I throw some snacks in our luggage in case we are stuck in our rooms at some point? If the parks close, what closes in the resorts?
Take flashlights and batteries.
 
They are deleting my posts. I live in New Orleans. And went through Katrina and the aftermath. This could be a massive Cat. 5 like Katrina. And yes they go miles inland with tornadoes and flooding.

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.
 
Comes with the territory of booking a vacation to Florida during hurricane season, though. If you can't deal with the uncertainty, stick to winter or spring trips when the weather's more stable. Or try Disneyland, SoCal doesn't have weather ;)


Yep. I will never travel during the summer again. Both times we had storms heading to our house while we were away. I remembered why I always say no to summer travel!
 
Orlando local here. I'm leaving around 7am tomorrow and driving to see family in the FL Panhandle. Not taking the chance. Just hope I beat the traffic out and 75 won't be a parking lot
Can’t imagine any other way to handle it. Safe travels! Always baffles me when locals are heading out of the area but tourists are heading in for vacation. If you (vacationers) can reschedule, do it.
 
Anyone know how late Disney customer service stays up? Think I'll wait a bit before I call about changing my tickets for next week.

Also, update on the Amtrak front (if you remember my posts from many pages back): all Florida service has been cancelled from Saturday to Tuesday. Except the Auto Train, which is cancelled Sunday to Tuesday.

Thankfully our daughter and her family will just make it onto the Auto Train. I told her to get to the gas station this morning. We are driving, and when we left Shades of Green resort this morning, it was like a ghost town. We are staying in Savannah tonight, and our hotel is very quite here as well; the locals are glued to the Weather Channel.
 
This thread is located on the Theme Parks Attractions & Strategies Board. Discussion of the storm’s impact on the theme parks, tickets, WDW trip planning, how/if you are modifying your plans, options Disney is providing to folks, how to handle modifying plans, etc, are all welcome. This is information that is useful to folks as they determine what is best in their own individual circumstances.

There are other Dorian threads around other parts of the DIS better suited for broad hurricane and storm discussion, strength speculation, etc.

As stated on Post #1, off topic posts may removed be at the discretion of the moderators.

Thank you.
 

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