Hurricane Irma

[21stamps]

Have a question: Why can't Amtrak, Greyhound and the airlines put more planes, buses etc in service for areas like Miami and Lauderdale, West Palm beach, more trains to get people out. Is it logistically impossible?

This was a recent post about Amtrak from one of my friends.

Ready for this? I got on the Amtrak website to buy 5 tickets to Tampa so my family and I could get out ahead of Hurricane Irma (we are all in West Palm Beach). I didn't see an option for a pet ticket when I went to check out so I called them.

They actually said that without a "pet ticket" I wouldn't be able to bring her. I said she's an 8 lb cat in a carrier, Florida has declared a state of emergency, people could lose everything they have, I'm not going to just abandon her here.

And all I got was a cold repeat that without a pet ticket, the cat couldn't get on the train.

I said doesn't Amtrak have emergency protocol? She said no, not at this time.

Just astounding. What a soulless company.

 

[LAKid53]

Local news outlet Wesh 2 is forecasting 90mph sustained winds for the theme park areas Sunday night into Monday morning.

Well, that certainly changes things....

 

[Tony the Tigger]

So here's the deal: I almost posted a few times today, but this thread is moving fast lol.

Shortly after my earlier post, we checked every La Quinta from here to Macon, GA. No availability. Seems pointless, but we can check Red Roof/other pet friendly hotels.

We checked if Best Friends Pet Care could extend our dog's stay - we're on a waiting list.

We can book a less expensive Disney room from Saturday to Tuesday (currently only about 5 show any availability at all (or maybe that's because I'm looking for FL resident discount.) Currently at AKL, moving to GF tomorrow & Friday night. This was a special occasion trip LOL.

If the storm goes up the west coast (not likely) we can go to Melbourne with family. (Father in law stubbornly hunkering down in Melbourne and he is elderly; I'm concerned.)

If it goes up the east coast, we can go to a friend's just south of Tampa. That would be preferable to the east coast, and then drive home via alligator alley assuming we can get gas around Naples.

We have friends in Atlanta, but it's going to keep going north.

 

[JWG]

Local news outlet Wesh 2 is forecasting 90mph sustained winds for the theme park areas Sunday night into Monday morning.

Sounds like invigorating weather for a ride on any of the following:

• Splash Mountain
• Big Thunder Mountain
• Dumbo
• Pontoon rentals

 

[MM311]

So if someone happens to have a car on property during the storm would Disney allow the car to be moved to say the Disney Springs parking lot to be covered?

 

[LAKid53]

So if someone happens to have a car on property during the storm would Disney allow the car to be moved to say the Disney Springs parking lot to be covered?

Don't see why not. Ask for the old resort parking permit to put in your window.

 

[21stamps]

This WDWMagic.
Things should be focused on Walt Disney World.
There's plenty of other places for random chit-chat.

Or try the local Starbucks if you need friends.

Are you even serious right now?

I get that this is a Disney site, and that people have vacations planned. But have you turned on the news or looked beyond this site on a personal electronic device? There's literally 10s of thousands of people who are being forced to evacuate their homes. And millions of other people who could be in the direct path of a Major Hurricane, as in Category 5.

So, I will extend a personal apology to you for being concerned about those people and chatting with others about it.
A poster here gave flight info that was invaluable to me and my loved ones.
People have been giving advice.

I take it you've never been thru a major hurricane. You're lucky. Have a magical vacation

 

[LAKid53]

Are you even serious right now?

I get that this is a Disney site, and that people have vacations planned. But have you turned on the news or looked beyond this site on a personal electronic device? There's literally 10s of thousands of people who are being forced to evacuate their homes. And millions of other people who could be in the direct path of a Major Hurricane, as in Category 5.

So, I will extend a personal apology to you for being concerned about those people and chatting with others about it.
A poster here gave flight info that was invaluable to me and my loved ones.
People have been giving advice.

I take it you've never been thru a major hurricane. You're lucky. Have a magical vacation

You go, girl

 

[21stamps]

So here's the deal: I almost posted a few times today, but this thread is moving fast lol.

Shortly after my earlier post, we checked every La Quinta from here to Macon, GA. No availability. Seems pointless, but we can check Red Roof/other pet friendly hotels.

We checked if Best Friends Pet Care could extend our dog's stay - we're on a waiting list.

We can book a less expensive Disney room from Saturday to Tuesday (currently only about 5 show any availability at all (or maybe that's because I'm looking for FL resident discount.) Currently at AKL, moving to GF tomorrow & Friday night. This was a special occasion trip LOL.

If the storm goes up the west coast (not likely) we can go to Melbourne with family. (Father in law stubbornly hunkering down in Melbourne and he is elderly; I'm concerned.)

If it goes up the east coast, we can go to a friend's just south of Tampa. That would be preferable to the east coast, and then drive home via alligator alley assuming we can get gas around Naples.

We have friends in Atlanta, but it's going to keep going north.

Are you leaning towards any one of the options?

 

[psherman42]

So if someone happens to have a car on property during the storm would Disney allow the car to be moved to say the Disney Springs parking lot to be covered?

I saw somebody ask about this as well. I'd love to park my car there and uber back to my apartment if I could to avoid potential damage. But I'm sure that's not allowed.

 

[LAKid53]

So here's the deal: I almost posted a few times today, but this thread is moving fast lol.

Shortly after my earlier post, we checked every La Quinta from here to Macon, GA. No availability. Seems pointless, but we can check Red Roof/other pet friendly hotels.

We checked if Best Friends Pet Care could extend our dog's stay - we're on a waiting list.

We can book a less expensive Disney room from Saturday to Tuesday (currently only about 5 show any availability at all (or maybe that's because I'm looking for FL resident discount.) Currently at AKL, moving to GF tomorrow & Friday night. This was a special occasion trip LOL.

If the storm goes up the west coast (not likely) we can go to Melbourne with family. (Father in law stubbornly hunkering down in Melbourne and he is elderly; I'm concerned.)

If it goes up the east coast, we can go to a friend's just south of Tampa. That would be preferable to the east coast, and then drive home via alligator alley assuming we can get gas around Naples.

We have friends in Atlanta, but it's going to keep going north.

Tony, Steve just posted that the local TV station indicates winds up to 90 mph at WDW Sunday night into Monday morning. Will your baby be safe at the Disney kennel?

 

[Minthorne]

Am I nuts looks in flight in Friday and a room for the weekend to be in WDW for the hurricane? Not for realz but I have and AP, SW points, flights are cheap, heck there is even DVC availability at SSR in a studio....

 

[cosmicgirl]

Have a question: Why can't Amtrak, Greyhound and the airlines put more planes, buses etc in service for areas like Miami and Lauderdale, West Palm beach, more trains to get people out. Is it logistically impossible?

2. You just can't "add" more flights to a major airport. FAA regulations regarding the number of departures and arrivals per hour must be maintained for safety. Plus, airlines aren't going to be willing to put aircraft costing $10-$15m per in harm's way.

Apart from the capacity of the airports, especially in high-wind conditions there is the added factor that planes can't magically appear, not even in Disney World. Every minute planes are on the ground they lose money, so airline schedules leave very little room for extra flights, or disruptions for that matter. It is simply not financially viable to do so because the aircraft cost anywhere from say $75M for a medium-haul aircraft to over $400M for a long-haul one. They don't just have spare ones sitting around waiting to be needed. Actually, they do have spare aircraft, but they are used to cover scheduled and unscheduled maintenance of other aircraft as well as minimize disruptions, so they are spare but only to cover everyday issues. This is not an everyday issue.

 

[LAKid53]

I saw somebody ask about this as well. I'd love to park my car there and uber back to my apartment if I could to avoid potential damage. But I'm sure that's not allowed.

I've never used any of the DS parking garages, so I don't know if Disney security sweeps them. But perhaps not... Think of all those patrons of the bars in DS who shouldn't drive home...and shouldn't have to worry that if they don't, their car will be towed.

 

[JWG]

Are you even serious right now?

I get that this is a Disney site, and that people have vacations planned. But have you turned on the news or looked beyond this site on a personal electronic device? There's literally 10s of thousands of people who are being forced to evacuate their homes. And millions of other people who could be in the direct path of a Major Hurricane, as in Category 5.

So, I will extend a personal apology to you for being concerned about those people and chatting with others about it.
A poster here gave flight info that was invaluable to me and my loved ones.
People have been giving advice.

I take it you've never been thru a major hurricane. You're lucky. Have a magical vacation

It was not meant to be serious, I'm sorry it offended you. In my work role I am currently working with many who are impacted in Houston, Puerto Rico, and am planning to determine how we'll manage our employees based in Florida. So, I'm very actively engaged in planning around supporting. I have family members who have canceled their planned trip for this and next week and are currently diverting themselves elsewhere. My comment on this site is not at all related to my opinion of the severity of the situation or my lack of concern for those involved.

 

[LAKid53]

Am I nuts looks in flight in Friday and a room for the weekend to be in WDW for the hurricane? Not for realz but I have and AP, SW points, flights are cheap, heck there is even DVC availability at SSR in a studio....

Maybe....

 

[flynnibus]

Have a question: Why can't Amtrak, Greyhound and the airlines put more planes, buses etc in service for areas like Miami and Lauderdale, West Palm beach, more trains to get people out. Is it logistically impossible?

1) These companies don't tend to have 'excess' capacity just sitting around. If it's not being used, it's bleeding the company out, so that kind of slack is usually eliminated. Such shifts require moving capacity from one spot to another
2) These types of services don't operate independently of infrastructure. So your infrastructure (which is generally fixed) is not elastic to the surge in demand. If the airport only serves 50 flights a day... you really can't just will it to surge to 200. Same with roads, etc
3) Unlike your car... the heavier transport doesn't just show up, fill up, and leave. There are huge amounts of logistics that must support the operations too that have to scale up too.

The way you do it if you were really motivated is you go into a martial law type scenario where all capacity is centrally managed and taken over for the single purpose... regardless of prior regulation, limits, commercial interests, etc. You basically seize all assets and prioritize them as needed for the mission on hand.

This is what the government did in WWII. The country has not had the stomach to commit to that level of alignment since.

 

[psherman42]

I've never used any of the DS parking garages, so I don't know if Disney security sweeps them. But perhaps not... Think of all those patrons of the bars in DS who shouldn't drive home...and shouldn't have to worry that if they don't, their car will be towed.

You'd think. One of my roommates said she was allowed to park at Epcot overnight because she was too drunk to drive home. You'd think if weather is bad they wouldn't be out sweeping the garages and towing cars..but I guess you never know. I also don't know how they monitor them and if it'd be suspicious if it was there for so long. Then again, paying to get a car back might be cheaper than damages caused by wind damage..
I honestly might consider it depending on how the storm looks this weekend.

 

[Horizons '83]

So here's the deal: I almost posted a few times today, but this thread is moving fast lol.

Shortly after my earlier post, we checked every La Quinta from here to Macon, GA. No availability. Seems pointless, but we can check Red Roof/other pet friendly hotels.

We checked if Best Friends Pet Care could extend our dog's stay - we're on a waiting list.

We can book a less expensive Disney room from Saturday to Tuesday (currently only about 5 show any availability at all (or maybe that's because I'm looking for FL resident discount.) Currently at AKL, moving to GF tomorrow & Friday night. This was a special occasion trip LOL.

If the storm goes up the west coast (not likely) we can go to Melbourne with family. (Father in law stubbornly hunkering down in Melbourne and he is elderly; I'm concerned.)

If it goes up the east coast, we can go to a friend's just south of Tampa. That would be preferable to the east coast, and then drive home via alligator alley assuming we can get gas around Naples.

We have friends in Atlanta, but it's going to keep going north.

I live in Atlanta and not one soul is concerned about it here, mainly because we never really get anything but some rain and small gusts of wind. I would like we are in a safe area even if it does make its way up Florida and to Georgia.

 

[invader]

Am I nuts looks in flight in Friday and a room for the weekend to be in WDW for the hurricane? Not for realz but I have and AP, SW points, flights are cheap, heck there is even DVC availability at SSR in a studio....

Absolutely yes. PLEASE stay where you are. Let people who potentially NEED those rooms get them.