Hurricane Matthew

[llrain]

they make sure extra cms are available at the holidays and I'm sure, though I have never worked there, that workers can be on call or just a simple call asking if they wouldn't mind coming in..it seems that corporate made no effort to open anything except the easy way out, any job like this I had when I was young involved the possibility of being called in for extra hours at a moments notice, with the option to take it or reject it.
They could have opened with limited attractions or even open the parks for retail operations only and give the guests the ability to escape cabin fever....and open attractions as workers start funneling in themselves...

 

[Goofyernmost]

You folks are unbelievably self centered. Don't know why I should expect anything different from the masses. Sad really.

 

[monothingie]

 

[Polydweller]

This morning people were sending me pictures of lines at hotels for the front desk, and they were LONG.

Think about that for a second...there is a state of emergency, and instead of people being in their rooms (like anyone with common sense would do), they decide to go to the front desk for god knows what. Apparently just because the weather isn't bad that means they ignore the fact that there is a state of emergency and open everything up? There are a lot of idiots in this world.

And you were here to know how things were operating? I am and we were kept will informed of what we could do. If you were in the same building as the front desk you could go there. There was no dangers of walking around your own building,All they said was you should stay in your building.

As the morning went on, and they had done damage checks they reduced the restrictions but still mentioned the Orange County curfew. It was done quite safely. And, finally at 2:00 pm they told us the curfew was lifted. Almost nobody took their chances and almos everybody followed advice. In fact CMs were around telling you to stay in the building when conditions were worst. Don't assume when you don't know what was happening. It was handled very well by Disney.

 

[JohnD]

Found this on Facebook. Had to share. Edited for family friendliness. Coincidentally, it uses "tiers".

As a seasoned Floridian, adept at Hurricane preparedness, there are certain indicators I use to tell if a storm could be serious. For me there are Six Tiers to my level of concern. They are as follows:

First Tier: Grocery stores are out of bread and water. This is a rookie panic move. Not a ton of concern yet.

Second Tier: Schools are closed. Safe move, still not panicked. Work will probably be next.

Third Tier: Work is cancelled. Well, that makes sense since schools were closed. Maybe there's something to the storm. I'm now glad I bought bread and water.

Fourth Tier: Gas shortages. Ok, need to pay close attention. Gas shortages are serious. Glad I don't have to go to work.

Fifth Tier: Mandatory evacuations. This is nothing to joke about now. People need to move inland. Thankfully I'm inland with a tank full of gas, a day off from work, and a bunch of soggy bread.

Sixth Tier: Walt Disney World cancels events, evacuates areas of the parks, and refunds people their money. Sh** just got real. We may actually die.

Now, there is a Seventh Tier. I don't like to mention it though because it usually means the finger of God is about to touch down in our state. You've been warned, here goes...

Seventh Tier: College football games are cancelled. I... I don't even know what to do at this point. It's the end times. Fend for yourself.

 

[xstech25]

they make sure extra cms are available at the holidays and I'm sure, though I have never worked there, that workers can be on call or just a simple call asking if they wouldn't mind coming in..it seems that corporate made no effort to open anything except the easy way out, any job like this I had when I was young involved the possibility of being called in for extra hours at a moments notice, with the option to take it or reject it.
They could have opened with limited attractions or even open the parks for retail operations only and give the guests the ability to escape cabin fever....and open attractions as workers start funneling in themselves...

So you're going to call people in when the mayor has mandated no one leave their houses?

 

[CDavid]

They don't lose admissions, since most people will have length of stay passes, so their strategy is to get those people to spend money at the mall,rather than enjoy themselves at a park.

Source please?

There are still many one-day tickets sold, and many off-site guests for which Walt Disney World is only part of their central Florida vacation. Then there are all the cancelled and/or postponed trips and visitors who can't change plans and stay an extra day.

Opening a park wasn't practical, as noted above, but that hardly reflects a strategic decision by Disney to just shift vacationers over to Disney Springs.

 

[xstech25]

And you were here to know how things were operating? I am and we were kept will informed of what we could do. If you were in the same building as the front desk you could go there. There was no dangers of walking around your own building,All they said was you should stay in your building.

As the morning went on, and they had done damage checks they reduced the restrictions but still mentioned the Orange County curfew. It was done quite safely. And, finally at 2:00 pm they told us the curfew was lifted. Almost nobody took their chances and almos everybody followed advice. In fact CMs were around telling you to stay in the building when conditions were worst. Don't assume when you don't know what was happening. It was handled very well by Disney.

I wasn't saying it wasn't handled well by Disney, actually the exact opposite. I was saying that there were quite a few customers who are complete idiots and decided to go wait in a huge line to complain instead of staying in their rooms.

 

[llrain]

So you're going to call people in when the mayor has mandated no one leave their houses?

My bad. Thought that was lifted as citizens were leaving their homes today and that only a curfew was mandated for last night. carry on.
Oh, and fwiw, cast member were asked to report to theme parks, and it played out exactly as I mentioned in my first post. they called, if you wanted to go in you did, if not they let you stay home.

 

[xstech25]

To those above, I say "Bull." Look at the number of people who will be needed to staff the stores/restaurants open at DS, and you should easily be able to staff at the very least portions of one of the theme parks. WDW is not interested in providing entertainment for its guests, it's interested in selling items at their new mall. They don't lose admissions, since most people will have length of stay passes, so their strategy is to get those people to spend money at the mall,rather than enjoy themselves at a park.

This is a perfect example of a "tinfoil hat statement." I think it's fairly obvious the reason they opened Disney Springs is because it has a ton of restaurants with no admission price for the facility. I'm sure there are lots of people that were willing to take the bus ride in order to eat something other than cafeteria food/uncrustables.

 

[Polydweller]

I wasn't saying it wasn't handled well by Disney, actually the exact opposite. I was saying that there were quite a few customers who are complete idiots and decided to go wait in a huge line to complain instead of staying in their rooms.

Actually, talking to many that's not what was going on. People were trying to extend stays an extra day, some were trying to find any place to eat because so much was closed (at the Poly they had a special dining line to deal with the Poly's restaurants), trying to get out when things cleared and basically very few complaints. Again, they were allowed to go there when it was safe or if the were staying in a building like GF and Contemporary where you were in your building and didn't leave it.

 

[disney4life2008]

This is a perfect example of a "tinfoil hat statement." I think it's fairly obvious the reason they opened Disney Springs is because it has a ton of restaurants with no admission price for the facility. I'm sure there are lots of people that were willing to take the bus ride in order to eat something other than cafeteria food/uncrustables.

They had to do something. Even I was getting stir crazy and I live in Orlando. Once the curfew was listed at 2pm, I was out. I could only imagine guests being stuck with nothing to do tonight. The weather is absolutely beautiful - actually chilly by Orlando standards but a great evening to be out and about. Disney springs was a easy open answer and they are making lots of money. From what I read, other things along international drive and 192 are open as well. I am surprised city walk didnt open tonight. I decided to get some take out and relax at home. I am going to head to magic kingdom for opening

 

[LAKid53]

Found this on Facebook. Had to share. Edited for family friendliness. Coincidentally, it uses "tiers".

As a seasoned Floridian, adept at Hurricane preparedness, there are certain indicators I use to tell if a storm could be serious. For me there are Six Tiers to my level of concern. They are as follows:

First Tier: Grocery stores are out of bread and water. This is a rookie panic move. Not a ton of concern yet.

Second Tier: Schools are closed. Safe move, still not panicked. Work will probably be next.

Third Tier: Work is cancelled. Well, that makes sense since schools were closed. Maybe there's something to the storm. I'm now glad I bought bread and water.

Fourth Tier: Gas shortages. Ok, need to pay close attention. Gas shortages are serious. Glad I don't have to go to work.

Fifth Tier: Mandatory evacuations. This is nothing to joke about now. People need to move inland. Thankfully I'm inland with a tank full of gas, a day off from work, and a bunch of soggy bread.

Sixth Tier: Walt Disney World cancels events, evacuates areas of the parks, and refunds people their money. Sh** just got real. We may actually die.

Now, there is a Seventh Tier. I don't like to mention it though because it usually means the finger of God is about to touch down in our state. You've been warned, here goes...

Seventh Tier: College football games are cancelled. I... I don't even know what to do at this point. It's the end times. Fend for yourself.

"My house is destroyed, a tree fell on my F150, I have no food or water, the toilet doesn't flush, I just drank my last warm beer. But now I'm gonna die, they cancelled the game!"

 

[NearTheEars]

To those above, I say "Bull." Look at the number of people who will be needed to staff the stores/restaurants open at DS, and you should easily be able to staff at the very least portions of one of the theme parks. WDW is not interested in providing entertainment for its guests, it's interested in selling items at their new mall. They don't lose admissions, since most people will have length of stay passes, so their strategy is to get those people to spend money at the mall,rather than enjoy themselves at a park.



No they don't, and I never said that they needed to. I just pointed out that what they did do was directed towards selling merchandise rather than providing enhanced guest experiences.





Again, if you can staff all of these areas, don't you think you could at least staff part of one park. I'm thinking of the 5 attractions at DHS (excluding shows) that shouldn't need these many folks.

Just my opinion, your mileage may vary.

I dunno, if I had paid full price for a ticket, not sure I'd want to go to a partially staffed part of a park.

 

[beertiki]

This morning people were sending me pictures of lines at hotels for the front desk, and they were LONG.

Think about that for a second...there is a state of emergency, and instead of people being in their rooms (like anyone with common sense would do), they decide to go to the front desk for god knows what. Apparently just because the weather isn't bad that means they ignore the fact that there is a state of emergency and open everything up? There are a lot of idiots in this world.

I was in that line, and I am not an idiot or a sheep. We woke up, it was not bad out. Winds less than 30, less rain than the average Florida thunder storm. Now, I just might know a lot more about these storms than the average person. Checked radar from Melbourne, and wind reports from SW Orlando locations and Ft Pierce. Knowing that the storm was past us and moving away, we were also in the SW corner of the storm, the weakest part, I made a decision to drive south back to Key West. It was an uneventful drive, easier and less traffic than usual. I made an informed decision, based on good information from several sources and many years of experience in coastal storms. Idiot? I don't think so, and I also believe that many of the other people in those lines also used the radar to make a decision. A state of emergency does not exist for me when there is no emergency. Timing is everything, get gas before the sheep, get on the road before the sheep. You want to be safe, use your head, stay calm, and stay ahead of the crowds.

 

[Kylo Ken]

It's interesting how an event that could have been catastrophic and should have helped bring people together instead divides based on personal theory and opinions.

It's upsetting how high the level of condescension is in this thread.

 

[RSD Part Deux]

It looks like the DHS got hit the worse. The Backlot Tour, Catrosphe Canyon, The Streets of America, & The Earful Tower were destroyed. Pizza Planet is all boarded up. There aren't many attractions here and things look bad. I even heard that they may have to change the name of the park. Very sad.

 

[toolsnspools]

It looks like the DHS got hit the worse. The Backlot Tour, Catrosphe Canyon, The Streets of America, & The Earful Tower were destroyed. Pizza Planet is all boarded up. There aren't many attractions here and things look bad. I even heard that they may have to change the name of the park. Very sad.

It is going to take a looooong time to rebuild.

 

[JennSmith]

It's interesting how an event that could have been catastrophic and should have helped bring people together instead divides based on personal theory and opinions.

It's upsetting how high the level of condescension is in this thread.

I feel at the resorts it did bring people together. Everyone seemed even friendlier and more cordial than usual. We waited in line for 2 hours for food Thursday and I didn't witness one nasty guest. It was not a miserable experience. It's my opinion that it's just some people on these boards are being that way.

 

[monothingie]

It looks like the DHS got hit the worse. The Backlot Tour, Catrosphe Canyon, The Streets of America, & The Earful Tower were destroyed. Pizza Planet is all boarded up. There aren't many attractions here and things look bad. I even heard that they may have to change the name of the park. Very sad.

Nicely done!