There just wasn't much information to relay. Orlando is not an evacuation zone. You were safe. You have a phone, access to the Internet, and televisions.
If you make the choice to book a vacation during hurricane season, then it's probably wise to know the weather in that area... And If you do know that there is a hurricane that could potentially head towards your area, then it would be even more wise to check updates regarding it's path.
I guess I just don't understand what more people wanted Disney to do.
Especially when there was not even a hurricane in Orlando today. At what point are our travel plans our own responsibility?
I think there may be some misunderstanding as to my point here. In no way am I suggesting that people should not stay informed themselves. You are absolutely right that you have multiple avenues to obtain information on the storm, be it phone, tv, or internet. And I frankly think it's stupid for anyone to travel during hurricane season and not check for the possibility of, y'know, hurricanes.
What I mean in terms of information is that once it became clear the resorts would be impacted, resort guests should have been kept up to speed regarding operational procedures. Not backstage things, per se, but things directly pertinent to them.
I know that we are supposed to shelter in place until the afternoon tomorrow - because I explicitly asked a cast member last night, and because it was mentioned in one of the forum threads. At no point did I receive any official notice from Disney regarding this. Or that we should be on the lookout for the room phone's message icon lighting up with possible information. Someone else at my own resort spoke about notices being handed out door to door - we've been here since before 4pm, and no one has stopped here. Dining is closing early tonight at Pop, but the only phone message I had was warning me not to try to eat at outside Disney resorts because reservations wouldn't be honored and touting the 12.99 bagged meal. No mention of the shortened hours.
All my information has been sussed out by my own searching. It takes very little to send those types of updates, be it notes under hotel doors, in person by staff, email, and it is something that I have received at other hotels during natural disasters. And especially in light of the extensivness of MDE, it's something that could be accomplished easily. It would have alleviated the confusion of many hotel guests, especially those who have no experience with hurricanes.
I'm hardly blaming Disney for not being a duplicate of the Weather Channel. I'm certainly not blaming them for the hurricane. All I'm saying is that there could have been a more direct and consistent way to keep resort guests appraised.
