Some friendly advice from someone who has experienced major hurricanes at home (Andrew) and at WDW (Wilma and Matthew).
If you have a trip planned for this week or next, I'd call and reschedule. All models are showing this thing (a massive storm that is growing) taking aim at FL, with most showing SoFla getting hit and then it riding up the state. Despite what you have heard, no one here has seen a storm of this caliber effect such a wide swath or a storm of this magnitude hitting O-Town and WDW. You do NOT want to be there. No kewl "I was at WDW during ..." crap. The parks will close. The CMs will be overwhelmed. And if it is as bad as it could be, you're actually just adding to the misery by forcing people to work to try and keep you busy and happy in a disaster.
There certainly is no need to panic. But if you think riding it out will be fun, think again, and if you think you can decide what to do on Friday or Saturday, you are very mistaken.
WDW will survive this. But a major hit or even sideswipe will cause issues that could last for days or weeks. This doesn't look like the type of system Matthew was. I am sure Disney will bend over backwards to rebook people ... or issue refunds.
Thanks for reiterating this, Spirit. I don't get the whole "WDW is one of the safest places to be" and " I'd rather be there than anywhere else" arguments. Parks likely will be closed, transportation will be shut down, no pools, no restaurants. You'll be stuck in your room, and depending on the resort, that's probably not going to be much fun and won't have the space to store supplies.
Plus, another thing to consider, the more guests that are on property during a storm, the more CM's that are needed to ensure their safety. I still remember working at UO during Charley. That morning, they called each ee asking if they could come in to help close up units and prepare for the storm. My wife was pregnant at the time and our place wasn't ready, but they enticed me to come in saying it would only be a partial day but would be paid for a full shift + holiday pay. Needed the money with the baby on the way.
When I got to work, I found out the park was actually open for guests and our unit open for service (when it was supposed to be closed so we could move all the tables and outside service items into the kitchen). I couldn't believe it, there was a major hurricane coming and there were all of these guests enjoying the park as if nothing was happening.
While we ended up closing early, we had to put away the food and clean the kitchen before we could start the storm prep that was supposed to be over already.
I still remember walking through Marvel Island (because the shuttle to wardrobe was shut down) and a family was literally running past me and laughing, "Hurry up, we have to get on Spiderman before they shut down the park!" like it was a fun game. To this day, thinking about that family makes my blood boil.
I get trips to WDW are expensive, take a long time to plan and it's disappointing when you have to cancel your plans, but seriously, there are things far more important than your vacation.
