Hurricane Ian expected to impact Florida (updates and related discussions)

[ToTBellHop]

To be fair, the NWS is predicting everything is possible but that doesn’t mean everything will happen.

We can rule out snow. So there’s that.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Absolutely not
Those parks were built hardened against hurricanes

Why “patrol them?”

Defeats the purpose

Remember when SWGE opened and they…forgot…to adjust portions of the Smuggler’s Run queue for Florida? Oops.

 

[John park hopper]

Retention ponds catch water so it will filter back into the ground if the ground is already saturated that water is going to over flow those retention ponds let's hope 20" of rain is an over estimate

 

[LAKid53]

To avoid having your car flooded with water at the resort since a number of parking lots are near retention ponds , I would park in the free parking garage at Disney Springs and take a bus to the resort. Doubt Disney would tow a car in this weather.

Why would buses be running? The parks are closed. They really don't want guests wandering around the property, other than to go to the resort food court, once they check in today. I imagine the Disney Springs parking garages will be closed at some point to prevent people living in the area using it to park their cars.

 

[Vacationeer]

For ticket extension do you think this will be all types of multi-day tickets? My son and wife are out there now and they have the 14 day ultimates which are for UK guests but these only have a 14 day expiry. It looks like they are going to be delayed getting home at least 3 days (should have been Thursday)but wondered if the tickets would be extended so that they can at least go to the parks (the 14 days would be up Thursday). I wasn't sure whether the extension only applied to the US tickets?

Sorry I know thats a bit waffly im a bit stressed as they've been told by wilderness lodge that they cannot stop there past Thursday as there is no room - not sure how they are meant to change hotels at the height of the hurricane!

WDW resorts publicly announced no check-ins after 3pm today, and no check-ins tomorrow on Thurs. So nobody will be checking in to their room tomorrow. They’ll probably be told to stay put today. I can see how that is nerve racking Disney hasn’t been great with messaging but I think they’ll do the right thing for your wife and son. Maybe WL was trying to thin down to only those who had no alternatives? It’s a hard time for all. Sorry.

The tickets shouldn’t be a problem. They extended any unused portions a full year.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Why would buses be running? The parks are closed. They really don't want guests wandering around the property, other than to go to the resort food court, once they check in today. I imagine the Disney Springs parking garages will be closed at some point to prevent people living in the area using it to park their cars.

I was worried alligators would have no where to go until you mentioned the empty Springs garages. Phew.

 

[DCBaker]

To avoid having your car flooded with water at the resort since a number of parking lots are near retention ponds , I would park in the free parking garage at Disney Springs and take a bus to the resort. Doubt Disney would tow a car in this weather.

Walt Disney World Transportation stopped operating last night after the parks and Disney Springs closed.

 

[Slpy3270]

At this point I cannot see a scenario where Disney and Universal reopen on Friday, or the weekend, or the next week or weeks.

 

[LAKid53]

For ticket extension do you think this will be all types of multi-day tickets? My son and wife are out there now and they have the 14 day ultimates which are for UK guests but these only have a 14 day expiry. It looks like they are going to be delayed getting home at least 3 days (should have been Thursday)but wondered if the tickets would be extended so that they can at least go to the parks (the 14 days would be up Thursday). I wasn't sure whether the extension only applied to the US tickets?

Sorry I know thats a bit waffly im a bit stressed as they've been told by wilderness lodge that they cannot stop there past Thursday as there is no room - not sure how they are meant to change hotels at the height of the hurricane!

I doubt WDW will throw them out during the storm. They may have to shelter in the lobby for a bit.

 

[ToTBellHop]

At this point I cannot see a scenario where Disney and Universal reopen on Friday, or the weekend, or the next week or weeks.

That’s a bit extreme. I cannot see a scenario where some parks aren’t back this weekend. Some are better built for this. DAK could be a real mess and even that, they’ll get back quickly.

 

[LAKid53]

At this point I cannot see a scenario where Disney and Universal reopen on Friday, or the weekend, or the next week or weeks.

The state is predicting hurricane/TS effects in Central Florida through Friday. If WDW reopens on Saturday, I'll be surprised. Expect lots of flooding in the area.

 

[DryerLintFan]

After the 2 year old was killed by gators when the kid was playing at the waters edge one night at the Grand Floridian beach in front of his parents, walls were built in by the water edge at the resorts on Bay Lake. If gators can climb, the walls hopefully will protect the guests from encountering FL wildlife.

View attachment 669763

A) they put up little ropes and signs, not fences

2) gators can clinb fences. Rather swiftly, too. There are really shocking videos on YouTube of this.

 

[Gringrinngghost]

 

[DryerLintFan]

WDW resorts publicly announced no check-ins after 3pm today, and no check-ins tomorrow on Thurs. So nobody will be checking in to their room tomorrow. They’ll probably be told to stay put today. I can see how that is nerve racking Disney hasn’t been great with messaging but I think they’ll do the right thing for your wife and son. Maybe WL was trying to thin down to only those who had no alternatives? It’s a hard time for all. Sorry.

The tickets shouldn’t be a problem. They extended any unused portions a full year.

@lisa12000 any chance we can get an update? Worried about your fam.

 

[LAKid53]

A) they put up little ropes and signs, not fences

2) gators can clinb fences. Rather swiftly, too. There are really shocking videos on YouTube of this.

If the water level of both Bay Lake and 7 Seas rises sufficiently from 12+ inches of rain, they'll easily get over those ropes...the ropes may fall over.

 

[DryerLintFan]

Are you saying the snakes will be electrocuted?

This is how we get electric eels!!

 

[DryerLintFan]

If the water level of both Bay Lake and 7 Seas rises sufficiently from 12+ inches of rain, they'll easily get over those ropes...the ropes may fall over.

The ropes were never for the gators. They’re for the humans.

 

[LAKid53]

Retention ponds catch water so it will filter back into the ground if the ground is already saturated that water is going to over flow those retention ponds let's hope 20" of rain is an over estimate

Retention ponds are built to catch runoff to prevent flooding in low lying areas of the state. The added benefit is filtering water to recharge the acquifers

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Remember when SWGE opened and they…forgot…to adjust portions of the Smuggler’s Run queue for Florida? Oops.

I say flood that sucker by choice

If Ian is a Star Wars fan…he can force change

 

[donsullivan]

The state is predicting hurricane/TS effects in Central Florida through Friday. If WDW reopens on Saturday, I'll be surprised. Expect lots of flooding in the area.

Yeah, the latest updates seem to indicate it will be around longer than originally anticipated. All the park operators will have to look at where we are tomorrow and make a decision on opening or opening late on Friday. In the past, Disney has tried to focus on getting one or two parks open so they can concentrate resources on clean-up there. Then with the first park(s) open they can move their attention to the others. The intense landscaping at Animal Kingdom takes a beating in storms like this, especially given how saturated the soil already is so it's usually the last one to reopen.

They'll also have issues getting cast members in who are without power and dealing with damage, and other storm-related issues making to challenging for them to get to work as normal. Nobody should expect or demand business as unusual in the days immediately following this storm.