http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...aug14,0,3157410.story?coll=orl-home-headlines
(The first article specifically about the parks and tourist areas.)
Parks clear out ahead of storm
By Jerry W. Jackson, Greg Groeller and Chris Cobbs | Sentinel Staff Writers
Posted August 14, 2004
Hurricane Charley powered through Central Florida's tourism corridor late Friday while anxious tourists and coastal residents hunkered down in packed hotels.
Executives at Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld said that if conditions permitt, they plan to reopen the parks on schedule today after closing early Friday.
The scene was the same at hotels throughout Central Florida as the hurricane passed over the region's billion-dollar theme parks. Lobbies, ballrooms and hallways were crowded with people, many of whom were experiencing their first hurricane.
At the Wellesley Inn on U.S. Highway 192 in Osceola County, some visitors huddled in a hallway, held hands and prayed while in another hallway someone played cards.
At the Peabody Orlando on International Drive, the loudest wind came about 8:30 p.m. and blew through the front door; security sealed if off. During the next hour rain pounded, with water from the leaking ceiling collecting in bins. From a distance there appeared to be no damage to the Orange County Convention Center across International Drive, but the dark and rain prevented a good look.
Several miles away at the Grosvenor Resort at Walt Disney World, hundreds of guests milled about, and employees sent them to the windowless ballroom for safety just before 9 p.m. Lobby windows were leaking.
By 9:40 p.m. winds seemed to subside, but people were still in the ballroom, on cots or spread out on blankets.
At the All Star Resorts at Walt Disney World, winds howled just before 9 p.m., palm trees bent nearly to the ground and rain sheets were nearly horizontal. The pool overflowed. People hunkered down inside rooms.
Before the brunt of the storm hit, tourists tried to make the best of a bad day.
"I wasn't really expecting this to happen," said Joe Centeno of Chicago, who was visiting Universal's Islands of Adventure with his wife, Nelly, and 10-year-old son, Giovanni. "No sooner did we get there than here comes Charley."
Centeno lived in Puerto Rico as a child and said he saw what hurricanes can do. But he said he felt safe in Orlando with his family's plans to ride out the storm in a nearby Wyndham hotel.
At Disney's Magic Kingdom, Main Street was eerily quiet by 1:30 p.m. as some of the last visitors to leave noted the surreal scene as Beauty and the Beast characters sang on the steps of Cinderella Castle.
"You'd never expect this to be happening," said Jorge Preisser, visiting with his family from Mexico. "To be the last one to go out is strange."
Gas lamplights on Main Street were lashed to their poles and refreshment carts were tied down -- some of the few visible signs of storm preparation. Trolley cars were parked beneath the train station at the park's Main Street exit as the crowds dwindled.
SeaWorld moved its animals, including horses and birds, to barns and other indoor locations. Special teams of employees were stationed at all the major parks to keep an eye on property.
Smaller attractions shut down early, too, though some stayed open as long as customers were willing to brave the threatening skies. The first squalls sent people packing.
"There's no one here," said Fun Spot amusement park marketing manager Mark Brisson at 3:30 p.m. as the attraction closed. "We're only closing for lack of business," he said. But the small park planned to reopen at 10 a.m. today, weather permitting.
Many tourists were shoulder to shoulder with evacuees from Florida's west coast. Tim and Kim Cantwell and their 16-year-old son, Garrett, came to Disney's Polynesian Resort on Thursday because their St. Petersburg Beach hotel was evacuated.
The family, from Hudson, Ohio, had been at the Don CeSar Beach Resort, but the hotel was closed in advance of the storm. Kim Cantwell said they had thought about getting in a rental car and trying to outrun the storm northward. But then they realized they would have been sandwiched between Hurricane Charley and Tropical Storm Bonnie, which blew across North Florida on Thursday.
Samantha Dubin and Daniel Kosta, who fled their home half a block from Tampa Bay to stay in Disney's Polynesian, were assured by employees that the 33-year-old hotel was sturdy enough to weather a hurricane, with concrete-and-steel construction, backup generators and water.
"We had expected a real buzz and a sense of pandemonium, but it's real calm here," Dubin said.
Some tourists said they thought Disney and other theme parks could have stayed open longer.
"I didn't think they needed to close so early," said Carol Rorkeof Bricktown, N.J., who had flown in Thursday with her daughter, sister and niece. "It was still sunny when we left."
The last time the three major parks closed for a storm was in 1999, when Hurricane Floyd threw a scare into the region before veering away from the East Coast at the last moment.
Jack McCabe and 15 family members from Long Island, N.Y., were stuck at the Doubletree Castle on International Drive in south Orlando when Amtrak's Auto Train service was suspended.
They lounged in the lobby and played cards. Near the front desk is a jeweled statue called "The Castle Creature, a Friend and Protector." Guests hoped that its protection would work -- on a Friday the 13th, no less.
The Doubletree's cafe and bar stayed open late into the evening. The cafe printed a Hurricane Charley menu complete with Hail Mary Caesar Salad, Eye of the Storm Chicken, and a Category 2 Ham and Cheese that could have been upgraded to a Category 4.
Linda Shrieves, Aline Mendelsohn and Willoughby Mariano of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Jerry W. Jackson can be reached at jwjackson@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5721. Greg Groeller can be reached at ggroeller@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5471. Chris Cobbs can be reached at ccobbs@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5447.
