***Riding out the hurricane at a Disney resort? Post your experiences here!***

[pgsle]

I'll say it again. I'm just so happy that all of you had such good experiences! You hear stories about the magic of Disney being on the decline lately. This event has proved to me the magic is alive and well. I'm glad everyone came away from what could've been a nightmare, safely and some even having made great memories.

The Cast Members were great. It will be interesting to see how and how quickly my unused DVC points is resolved, since the two villas for five nights were a combo of current points, borrowed points, and more.

 

[Northern Disney Girl]

Sitting at MCO after a wonderful 8 night stay at POP. (Was delayed 2 nights due to Irma and my flights being cancelled 2x.)

From the time I checked in until I left 3 hrs ago, I experienced nothing but kindness and excellent service.

I have lots to say so am going to try to remember it all...

Did online check in and used an old magic band to check in to DME when I arrived at the check in desk.

As I was sitting on the bus waiting to head to POP I received an email letting me know my room was ready! (As a Canadian, this surprised me! Perhaps it was because I used a magic band?)

I stood in line upon arrival to get my new magic band and to request the gift card instead of mousekeeping. It was quite a long line. It was just about 3pm and this was before the Irma panic started.

I was given $50 for my original 6 night stay. I received an info sheet about the program and was told to let mousekeeping know if I needed anything.

I stopped by bell services to inquire about my grocery order and was informed that it had already been delivered to my room.

Even tho I did not get the room I had requested I decided to just go with it.

If I had wanted to change rooms, the fact that my groceries had already been put in my room might have been problematic.

During the days leading up to and during the hurricane, the CMs at POP were phenomenal!

Particularly one lady who I stopped to chat with a few times. Her name was Barbara.
She was so sweet and kind and was going out her way to encourage people who seemed stressed and upset.

I had to extend my stay twice, one night each time my flights were changed. Getting an extension was no issue at all. The only mildly annoying issue was having to stand in an hour long line to do so.

I was grateful to be in a safe and secure place so I am not going to complain.

I was given the "hurricane rate" for both nights which was $78.98.

We were updated as much as possible and kept posted on all things Irma via tv, phone and signage in the main building.

At no time did I feel worried or afraid.

The fact that people from the surrounding areas were checking INTO the resort gave me a certain confidence that I was indeed in a safe place.

I ate quite a few times at Everything POP and everything I ate was great.

As I was not on a dining plan, I chose to eat mostly kids meals both for the lower cost and the smaller portion sizes.

I was able to stay in my original room all 8 nights and it was a very nice 3.5 minute walk to the main building.

Let me know if anybody has any questions. Happy to answer!

 

[AllThingsMickey4]

We drove down 95 to 4 today and SC/GA were nightmares, mostly for no reason at all! There was a 2 hour jam, ending just before savannah. What should have taken us 9 hours took 14. Literally, once we drove over the FL line, all the traffic was smoothed out through to Disney.

Anyone coming from 95, be aware!! Exits 1-30 in SC were blockaded by police and national guard on both sides of the highway. There was nothing wrong with the roads or power. People were getting gas but they were not allowing anyone off the highway. There was a notice about the water system but I was not able to get confirmation on this. So, if you are going that way, be sure to stop before you get close to get gas and use the restroom because the traffic jams at each exit (motorist hoping to get off the highway) added at least another hour to the already half speed trip.

Anyone driving down, be sure to have a good traffic tracker. We used google maps, which was fine. Also make sure you know detour routes. Looking at the state of FL on the maps throughout the day, Rte 75 was one big traffic jam. I know it is from evacuees and this will dissipate over the next couple of days but it is helpful to know ahead of time.

I live in Upstate SC about 3 hours from the coast and our coastal cities (Charleston, Bluffton, Hilton Head through Savannah) were hit hard by storm surge (not like FL by any means.. but enough that the streets looked like raging rivers).. so I imagine that the national guard might be there to assist with clean up. Plus, our governor lifted the mandatory evacuation for the coastal towns yesterday so I'm sure a lot of residents headed back home.

In the Upstate most of our town has been without power until this afternoon. Many businesses have been closed for days and our schools are just opening back up tomorrow. Once I saw that the track moved west of Atlanta I thought we wouldn't be impacted, but we have huge oak trees uprooted throughout town.. many fell through roofs and our highest wind gust was around 50 mph! I couldn't imagine riding out a hurricane, much less a major hurricane.

 

[ahen]

We bought this past summer and our first stay is next month. But I managed to snag a BLT studio for my daughter, her husband and my 85 year old father. They on the whole loved it. Never lost power, ate a chef Mickeys for 10 dollars.They were there Friday till Tuesday morning. As we totally lost power on Saturday night I know my Dad could not have done it. Thankfully his power went back on Tuesday afternoon.I don't regret using the points one minute. It's why we bought them and it kept him safe.They did say some water came in the bottom of the door at the height of the storm, they were on the 12th floor. But I think that for the most part they felt safe. Maybe not the best way to experience BLT for the first time, but I already am saying I will spend my next hurricaine at Disney.

 

[jessbee25]

Hello everyone! We were riding out the storm at WL! Just got home last night and finally had a chance to sit down and read through all of this. Glad to see so many great updates from other resorts! We had a wonderful experience from the moment we checked in on Friday. We were already moving from ASMo to CCV Friday to Sunday but couldn't get a flight until Tuesday. We were able to add two more nights at a ridiculously good rate. The deals at the restaurants were incredible. My mom, DD, and I all ate at the Artist Point buffet for less than one meal costs regularly! The Country Bears were out constantly having fun with everyone and there tons of activities for the kids. The arcade was free from Sunday to Monday, and the Mercantile and Roaring Fork were open 24 hours. We hardly heard any wind, in fact we all slept through the worst of it. There was debris all around the next morning, some small trees down but really nothing major. Some larger trees in the parking lot fell. The Boulder Ridge pool and Geyser Point Bar were open by Monday evening. The main pool was still closed when we left on Tuesday. Some people said they had a little water come into their room in the north building and there was leaking in Artist Point. I'm too tired to upload pictures tonight but I will try and do that tomorrow. We couldn't have asked for a better place to ride out a hurricane! Everything was so calm and still so magical!

 

[JackieO]

Hi all, we have been at POR since Saturday. We were driving from Missouri with our trip scheduled to begin on Sunday. With the timing of the storm I knew that arrival wasn't going to work so I booked Saturday night and we left our house Friday evening and drove through the night.

We had tried to get our original resort but our original room category wasn't available and I was told we'd have to switch rooms after our one night, with this being "extra" and knowing we would make a move anyway, I booked Pop. We arrived Saturday just after noon. At check in the cast member said that was not good enough and called over to POR for us. We were upgraded to POR in our preferred room for our extra night (at the cost of pop!) without me ever having to ask for a thing.

Once we got all checked in at POR I went to the concierge to switch our 3 day passes to annual passes. While the lovely cast member clicked away doing her work we were chatting and I mentioned that we had the dining plan but it wouldn't begin until the next day (coinciding with out original check in date) and how we were sorry we couldn't use those credits that night before the food court closed. She gave me a voucher from her "magic tablet" that gave us 8 of the sack meals to take to our room and get us through the storm. Plus they activated our refillable mugs early. That was so helpful.

At dinner time on Monday (after the storm has passed) I was in line for the microwave and overheard a women talking about having to eat their left over pizza AGAIN, and being glad they were finally getting to fly home the next day. Because Disney had given us those free sandwich bags we had extra microwave soups that I had brought down with us. I offered them to her and she was very glad not to eat the old pizza again. (It really didn't look appetizing!!)

Disney did the best they could with the guests who were in the resort with no parks to enjoy. Goofy, and Chip and Dale all came to the lobby a few times, they had coloring and craft tables set up in the lobby and the arcade was on free play. We found Sunday and even Monday (starting around mid day when things opened back up) to be unique and even fun. We made some good memories. Through the storm we felt very safe. I could hear the wind howling all night but within this solid Disney room I never felt afraid.

My daughter is getting married in less than two months and this trip is our final vacation as just the 5 of us. Thanks to Disney's preparation and pure magic we were able to make it happen. That means the world to this mama's heart!!

I can't say thank you enough to the wonderful cast members. All of them went above and beyond before and after the storm. This is why I LOVE DISNEY!

 

[jessbee25]

So here some of the pictures from before the storm. We got there early on Friday morning to check in and go to MK for the early EMH. Crews were out tying down lights and outdoor furniture.



We went to AK on Saturday and when we got back to our room we had a flashlight and a flyer updating us on the resort operations during the storm. We saw online that O'hana was doing a buffet for $20 a person so we took the boats over to the Poly for pre-hurricane dinner. It was lovely but the wind was really picking up!



On Sunday we were pleasantly surprised when we woke up because the pools were open and it was only 8am! It was a little windy and the rain was on and off but we enjoyed the few hours outside before the storm really hit. They closed up everything by the afternoon and we were told to stay inside. They had a lot of stuff going on in the lobby throughout the day. We went down for the Halloween dance party and then had a great dinner at The Whispering Canyon. They had an AYCTE skillet for $15 a person. We were having a great time! When we got back to our room there was a tornado warning that really kind of scared the crap out of me, but we stayed calm as not to worry my DD! We had pillows in the bathroom just in case.


.



Aftermath in next post! It won't let me upload anymore pictures and my DD just woke up from her nap...

 

[goopysolelady]

So here some of the pictures from before the storm. We got there early on Friday morning to check in and go to MK for the early EMH. Crews were out tying down lights and outdoor furniture.
View attachment 269684


We went to AK on Saturday and when we got back to our room we had a flashlight and a flyer updating us on the resort operations during the storm. We saw online that O'hana was doing a buffet for $20 a person so we took the boats over to the Poly for pre-hurricane dinner. It was lovely but the wind was really picking up!
View attachment 269685


On Sunday we were pleasantly surprised when we woke up because the pools were open and it was only 8am! It was a little windy and the rain was on and off but we enjoyed the few hours outside before the storm really hit. They closed up everything by the afternoon and we were told to stay inside. They had a lot of stuff going on in the lobby throughout the day. We went down for the Halloween dance party and then had a great dinner at The Whispering Canyon. They had an AYCTE skillet for $15 a person. We were having a great time! When we got back to our room there was a tornado warning that really kind of scared the crap out of me, but we stayed calm as not to worry my DD! We had pillows in the bathroom just in case.
View attachment 269689

.View attachment 269696
View attachment 269695


Aftermath in next post! It won't let me upload anymore pictures and my DD just woke up from her nap...

Thank you for posting! Looks like your precious little girl found plenty to do! Those tornado warnings are frightening; heard a report today that the weather people said 27 touched down in the Rockport/Port Aransas area when Hurricane Harvey made landfall. Saw very few posts from the WL and, as one of our favorite resorts, we've been wondering how things fared there especially with all the new landscaping. DD and her family use the Villas often, last stayed there a couple of nights in May when they added to their scheduled vacation. It would be my preferred resort if I were to have to be at DW during a hurricane.

 

[WEDWDW]

So many of you had such wonderful things to say about the Cast Members during Irma,I thought I would post the Guest Communications info in case any of you wanted to let Disney know about them so they can receive some well-deserved recognition.

(if you've never done it before,just include the CM's name(if you remember it),the location,date and time and of course a description of the magical service.)

 

[kyleandconnorsmom]

This just made me laugh. When my little brother was smaller Goofy was the only one he wasn't terrified of he screamed and cried at all the others only Goofy could make him laugh he loved his whiskers!!

One of my first, and most vivid, memories of Disney was being 4 years old at Epcot and Goofy sitting down next to me on a bench (in 1986) and accidentally poking me in the eye with one of his whiskers. I know he felt so badly about it, but I still remember how painful it was. At least it didn't taint my opinion of WDW..and I kind of liked the attention I got from him.

 

[DisneyMom93]

One of my first, and most vivid, memories of Disney was being 4 years old at Epcot and Goofy sitting down next to me on a bench (in 1986) and accidentally poking me in the eye with one of his whiskers. I know he felt so badly about it, but I still remember how painful it was. At least it didn't taint my opinion of WDW..and I kind of liked the attention I got from him.

I'm sure it wasn't funny at the time, but I found your memory so funny! Something you wouldn't think of happening. Awww, poor thing. That really had to hurt. Glad your eye was okay, and that you have something memorable from DW! Thanks for sharing.

 

[jo-jo]

Just curious, those who did the meal in a box deal like at Cape May. Was it just a one section box? Reading the menu sounded great. But putting everything from salad to meat to veggies to dessert in one box sounds awful.

 

[FSU Girl]

I love this thread. I went through the storm down in South Florida and read through every page when I lost power and had nothing else to do in my house. I was curious, for the Contemporary, what did they do with the giant holes the monorails go through? Did they put shutters over them?

 

[DisneyMom93]

I love this thread. I went through the storm down in South Florida and read through every page when I lost power and had nothing else to do in my house. I was curious, for the Contemporary, what did they do with the giant holes the monorails go through? Did they put shutters over them?

Good question. That would become a wind tunnel! Literally!

 

[FSU Girl]

Good question. That would become a wind tunnel! Literally!

LOL that's exactly what I was thinking. I know for normal homes if a window goes your roof can pop from the pressure so I'm assuming they had to be covered up somehow?

 

[mandy200587]

I love this thread. I went through the storm down in South Florida and read through every page when I lost power and had nothing else to do in my house. I was curious, for the Contemporary, what did they do with the giant holes the monorails go through? Did they put shutters over them?

The doors close and there were two monorails plus I believe the tugs housed in the hotel. I've got a photo somewhere in my phone of it

 

[FSU Girl]

The doors close and there were two monorails plus I believe the tugs housed in the hotel. I've got a photo somewhere in my phone of it

Thanks!

 

[jessbee25]

Hello again, here is the second part of our Irma experience!


When we woke up Monday morning we peeked out the balcony and found what appeared to be little damage! There was a debris, a few trees bent and
a towel kiosk tipped over but everything else looked to be in place. The wind was still pretty strong and no one was out walking around yet. We went downstairs after breakfast and the country bears were still out having fun. My DD wouldn't let us go near them until now so we finally snapped some pics of them goofing around.




People were starting to head out to the parking lot so we decided to take a quick walk and check on our rental van. We saw a few broken light fixtures and trees. There was one unlucky van (not ours!) and we could hear chainsaws by the bus area. It was still very windy so we headed back inside for a bit.



Sometime in the afternoon we were starting to see people walking around, so we ventured down to the water to see how bad things were. CM were already out with leaf blowers clearing the paths. The lake (by some sort of magic, I presume) looked like it hadn't risen an inch! The boat crews were already out putting things back on the docks. Besides a few broken trees and lots of brush, most of the landscaping looked untouched! The lifeguards were already out cleaning the pools and said that Boulder Ridge pool would probably open that day but the main pool would remain closed.



By late afternoon we saw a lot of people walking by with their bathing suits on and knew the pool had been opened! We went for a (cold!) swim before the sun went down. There was a rainbow over the lake (no pics, didn't have my phone...) and they were serving alcohol at Geyser Point. They had the fire going for s'mores and everything was getting back to normal. We finished our night with the buffet at Artist Point. We agreed we should've just eaten there every night! It was AMAZING. The next day we headed to MK for a few hours before we had to leave for our flight and it looked just as it had a few days before. They had special EMH hours for resort guests. Seriously, those CM must've worked their butts off to have it looking so great the next day. Everything looked pretty unscathed but Jungle Cruise and the Railroad were closed. Besides some extra water here and there it was clean and wonderful, as always! It was sad to say goodbye but I think we were all ready to get home after that adventure.

I forgot to mention it in the first post but I do want to say that every cast member we encountered from ASMo to WL and everywhere in between was out of this world. We were a little panicked when we realized we couldn't fly out until Tuesday and couldn't find any available rooms for two nights that wouldn't cost us a fortune. We were assured by ASMo concierge that we would be taken care of and from the moment we got to WL, we definitely were. We were surprised to hear from many of the guests that they evacuated to Disney. We figured if this is where the locals go, we must be in the right place! Everyone was friendly, very calm and seemed to be in good spirits. It truly made us feel like we were in this magical little bubble! We stocked up on food and water of course, just in case. We prepared for the worst and we felt like we received nothing but the best! So this is just a HUGE thank you to every cast member and guest that kept the magic alive and made us feel incredibly safe and welcome!

 

[Thelma Liske]

We were visiting Orlando from Canada when the hurricane came through. It was stressful trying to find a place to stay when our flights were cancelled. But we met some wonderful people from South Africa and then were able to enjoy a great day at Animal Kingdom on the Tuesday. But we won't visit Florida in September again, I don't think. lol.

 

[Hopefully]

We were visiting Orlando from Canada when the hurricane came through. It was stressful trying to find a place to stay when our flights were cancelled. But we met some wonderful people from South Africa and then were able to enjoy a great day at Animal Kingdom on the Tuesday. But we won't visit Florida in September again, I don't think. lol.

Why are you resurrecting a months old weather specific topic that is out of date, now?