News Major Hurricane Dorian impacts to Walt Disney World 2019

[LAKid53]

I’ll be keeping track of the storm all weekend up until the last minute, including highway closures, mandatory evacuations, etc. My tickets aren’t the issue, it’s my Animal Kingdom Lodge booking. I rented DVC points and didn’t get vacation insurance. All I can do for now is hope for the best.

And you can't get a refund on rented points. Ouch.

 

[deeevo]

Dorian's eye is starting to clear out. It is going to be a big storm.

 

[Horizons '83]

That's an easy thing to say when you aren't in the middle of it actually making the decision.

It’s really not, I lived in FL for 18 years, I know it’s not an easy call but it’s a necessary call, especially when you have several free places to stay out of the storms path (including me)

 

[LAKid53]

Gas stoves these days have electronic igniters. The burners will probably work with a match, but the oven will be problematic without power. They could get an UPS to power the stove, I guess, or a generator big enough to crank the fridge and the stove.

They've got a nice grill, if needed. As do I. I just want a warm shower.

 

[LAKid53]

Dorian's eye is starting to clear out. It is going to be a big storm.

View attachment 403550

Dang.

 

[RustySpork]

It’s really not, I lived in FL for 18 years, I know it’s not an easy call but it’s a necessary call, especially when you have several free places to stay out of the storms path (including me)

You can't just up and leave every time there's a threat of a hurricane or you'd never be home. Many people also have a specific budget for hurricanes and if they spent it every time the wind blew in our direction they'd be broke.

It's not a necessary call until all indications dictate the necessity.

 

[jpeden]

I’ll be keeping track of the storm all weekend up until the last minute, including highway closures, mandatory evacuations, etc. My tickets aren’t the issue, it’s my Animal Kingdom Lodge booking. I rented DVC points and didn’t get vacation insurance. All I can do for now is hope for the best.

And you can't get a refund on rented points. Ouch.

If the DVC cancellation policy is in effect, could the owner not get the points back and get by cancelling the trip and then allow the person to get a refund from the rental agency (assuming you used an agency)?

 

[LAKid53]

Tell her to take a magic marker and write her name, her SSAN, and her next of kin on her abdomen. When she asks why, tell her it's so the recovery crews can identify her remains.

@Larry is correct. Sadly.

 

[LAKid53]

Off topic

Yes, ma'am.

 

[Da Bird is Da Word]

And you can't get a refund on rented points. Ouch.

Yep. Looks like I’m gonna learn my lesson the hard way about booking a non-refundable WDW trip during hurricane season without vacation insurance. LOL. IF it weakens and Monday forecasts predict a tropical storm hitting Orlando (as opposed to hurricane), do you think it might make sense to book it down there on Monday and wait it out? I already have a cheap hotel booked for Tuesday and then the weeklong stay at AKL.

 

[larryz]

You can't just up and leave every time there's a threat of a hurricane or you'd never be home. Many people also have a specific budget for hurricanes and if they spent it every time the wind blew in our direction they'd be broke.

It's not a necessary call until all indications dictate the necessity.

Fortunately, Florida emergency management officials have set up evacuation zones along the coasts. If I lived in Zone A thru E, I'd have left yesterday.

 

[The Mom]

Oh, no, your new fence. ☹

The one that Irma knocked down.

 

[Disstevefan1]

It is obviously important to be prepared but I can promise you Mother Nature doesn’t give a damn that you filled up your gas tank and have 3 days worth of food and water. Hurricane Michael was going to be a strong 2 maybe 3 at landfall, did so as a 5. For weeks, the city operated under dusk to dawn curfews and alcohol bans. Military trucks rolled down the streets and looters were shot on sight. Neighborhoods so torn up that emergency crew couldn’t get into houses to retrieve bodies, they simply marked a red x on the door. My family lived in Florida for years and we were always prepared, even after going over 10 years without a major storm in the area. Being prepared couldn’t help anyone when power was out for weeks, gas stations didn’t refill and those that did had lines literally miles long. I don’t really say this to scare anyone but to show that you can be “prepared” but humans will never fully be prepared for the full wrath of Mother Nature.

You didn’t say this to scare anyone but for the record, this is for sure a scary post for someone in the direct path. A very scary post indeed. It makes the reader feel hopeless.

 

[Horizons '83]

You can't just up and leave every time there's a threat of a hurricane or you'd never be home. Many people also have a specific budget for hurricanes and if they spent it every time the wind blew in our direction they'd be broke.

It's not a necessary call until all indications dictate the necessity.

Then it’s too late... Gas is already scarce by her, by the time you commit you are stuck.

 

[The Mom]

Fortunately, Florida emergency management officials have set up evacuation zones along the coasts. If I lived in Zone A thru E, I'd have left yesterday.

According to that map I'm in zone D. But 3 houses up is a no evacuation zone. I think they just took a nearby creek and measured a certain distance from it, without taking topography into account - we are up hill. The people on the other side of the creek have and will be flooded.

 

[LAKid53]

If the DVC cancellation policy is in effect, could the owner not get the points back and get by cancelling the trip and then allow the person to get a refund from the rental agency (assuming you used an agency)?

Not sure about that. They, in essence, "sold" their points to the rental agency. The rental agency would want repayment, before they'd refund you. And this close to a check-in day, those points would go into a holding account, if DVC hadn't waived their cancellation policy for members due to the storm.

I'd call the company you rented through.

 

[The Mom]

You didn’t say this to scare anyone but for the record, this is for sure a scary post for someone in the direct path. A very scary post indeed. It makes the reader feel hopeless.

This is when it's important to have both a family plan, and a neighborhood plan.

 

[LAKid53]

Yep. Looks like I’m gonna learn my lesson the hard way about booking a non-refundable WDW trip during hurricane season without vacation insurance. LOL. IF it weakens and Monday forecasts predict a tropical storm hitting Orlando (as opposed to hurricane), do you think it might make sense to book it down there on Monday and wait it out? I already have a cheap hotel booked for Tuesday and then the weeklong stay at AKL.

I wouldn't want to drive to Orlando while a tropical storm was passing through, frankly. It will be raining heavily, making roads hazardous and 50-60 mph sustained winds can blow you off the road.

 

[rickdrat]

Staying or leaving is a very difficult judgement call to make. The problem with just leaving is that there is still too much uncertainty. What if you leave and the hurricane turns out to sea, turns further south, or comes onshore far enough away that you're minimally impacted? You would have wasted a bunch of time and money. Once you know it's time to leave, everyone else is also making the decision to leave so you may be stuck on the highway when it hits. That scenario actually happened to someone I know during Irma.

As a New Orleans resident I have made that choice multiple times. I agree it is never easy. You look over all your worldly possessions and have to chose the few things you can carry and just live with the fact that you might never see the rest of it again. Yes, there's always the nagging idea of what if it weakens, or misses us entirely, but when you live in a bowl 6 feet below sea level you realize that there really isn't a choice.

Despite the risks and hardship, I'll always opt to get out of harms way when appropriate. I don't ever want to be in a position where I'm "hunkered down" with my family and suddenly struck with the realization that I made the wrong choice and it's too late to leave.

Frankly, I can't understand why anyone would want to head into central Florida next week for vacation. There's just gonna be too much need outside the Disney bubble to place additional burdens on the systems. Hell, we waited 6 months after Katrina before having a toned down Mardi Gras.

Just my two cents.

 

[Voxel]

I wouldn't want to drive to Orlando while a tropical storm was passing through, frankly. It will be raining heavily, making roads hazardous and 50-60 mph sustained winds can blow you off the road.

Having driven in a Tropical Storm as a stupid High Schooler I 100% agree with this. It's not fun.