WDW begins to prepare for Charlie, possible park closures for friday...

[FLcastmember]

WDW activates its Hurricane plan. At the current stage of readiness we are now in, all backstage loss debries will be removed today. The major decision to eather not open the parks on Friday, OR to close early (2pm-3pmish) will be made today or tonight. Disney sets up teams of Cast Members at the begining of the season, and these teams are being put on alert. They may be called in tonight (if we do not open on Friday) or after park close tomorrow (2pm-3pmish) to start securing items in the parks. (1000's of trash cans and park bench's and tables and chairs...ect...ect....

There is definitly a buzz of activitie today in the parks as we prepare. Our Hurricane Plan is very detailed and complete, and is being followed. This is makeing things run very smothly and today anyway, its buisness as usual, and all of the guests have no idea the amount of work going on backstage, and in conference rooms all across property.

THE ONLY THING THAT HAS BEEN OFFICALLY CLOSED OR CANCLED is the following...

Magic Kingdom E-Ride ticket sales HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED for Friday the 13th.
HOWEVER, the event itself has not been canlced yet. Pending, for now...

Look for a possible closure of the Fort Wilderness Resort to come soon, as the campground was closed a few years back for a minor Tropical Storm, and Charlie will be a STRONG CAT 2 Hurricane when it hits the west coast.

Thats all I have for now.

I will update as I here more.

PS not that this is important, but a major Hurricane may DELAY some of the current Projects and Rehabs. How secure could all that metal around Mount Everest be? and think about all the loss items that lie around construction sites.

FLCM

 

[mkt]

If the parks open, count me in at the MK at 9am

 

[orlpassholder]

FLCM you may agree with me on this one and you may not but my feeling is with the storms current path and "possible" strength I have the feeling they may close for the day. News reports put hitting Orlando in the afternoon. I would imagine Operations would not want to risk having to move everyone in such a short time. I could be wrong I dont know for a fact but just my 2 cents

 

[Frees Fan]

Thanks for the updates.

 

[FLcastmember]

FLCM you may agree with me on this one and you may not but my feeling is with the storms current path and "possible" strength I have the feeling they may close for the day. News reports put hitting Orlando in the afternoon. I would imagine Operations would not want to risk having to move everyone in such a short time. I could be wrong I dont know for a fact but just my 2 cents

Yes I agree 100%. IMHO, CLOSE FOR THE DAY.
But, I beleive, from what I have heard, they may be leaning for the early close. (2pm or 3pm)

Orange Countly Officials have asked everyone to be off the roads by 2pm Friday. So why would WDW want to dump 4 theme parks and 2 water parks worth of cars onto the roads? I say close for the day, if its as strong Cat 2 when it it hits, and if the Eye passed near the resort, we may not be ready to reopen on Sat. I guess we will know by the end of the day.

 

[orlpassholder]

I say close for the day even if its a CAT1 hitting Orlando who in their right mind is gonna wanna run through the parks. I mean Im a die hard Disney fan but I have my limits. If all holds well I will be there on Saturday

 

[SpongeScott]

I say close for the day even if its a CAT1 hitting Orlando who in their right mind is gonna wanna run through the parks. I mean Im a die hard Disney fan but I have my limits. If all holds well I will be there on Saturday

See mkt's above post. To me, it would be the thrill of knowing I did a park at WDW in a hurricane. If I was there and it was open, I'd be there. Lines would be low!

 

[DMC-12]

See mkt's above post. To me, it would be the thrill of knowing I did a park at WDW in a hurricane. If I was there and it was open, I'd be there. Lines would be low!

I'd be in EPCOT... Maybe in SE.. Hmmmm maybe the wand will be blown off? :lol:

Should be interesting to see what happens... I hope the parks dont get hit with a lot of damage.

 

[CrackerJack]

In 1999, we were there when Hurricane Fred was supposed to hit Orlando. It was to hit late in the night and they closed the parks early that day (There were very few people there that day) and closed them for the following day as a precaution.

Fred ended up hitting around North Carolina.

Lesson for the Day: NEVER trust a weatherman !!!

As comic book guy would say: Worst WDW Vacation Ever !

 

[HauntedPirate]

I wonder if Test Track would be open.... 65mph in driving rain. Sounds like fun!

I, too, would want to be in the parks, if they were open. You could make up your own T-shirt, take pictures, etc. It would rule! :lol:

Oh, and I think the Epcot wand can withstand winds of 200mph. Could be wrong, but I think that's what I remember reading somewhere.

 

[StevenT]

they closed my school for tomorrow (in Ft. Myers). They are expecting 50-60 mph in-land winds here. This is not going to be a very big storm. They may close Disney, but I doubt that the eye will come near Orlando. People have been freaking out all day, but just remember, RELAX! This is no Andrew, it's just a little guy.

 

[venooch333]

Are any of the Disney buildings in any direct danger?? Roofs blowing of or such like :veryconfu :king:

 

[mkt]

lol.. I'm the guy that goes to the beach to surf the hurricane waves. If it were hitting the Atlantic, I'd be all over that. But it's not. And it's too far to drive to the gulf.

 

[DisneyWood]

Hurricane forcing closures?

I noticed that you mentioned that Fort Wilderness will be closing in the near future, if the Hurricane hits WDW area. First of all, if the Hurricane is anywhere close to the area, the parks should be closed. Why gamble on the safety of the guests, workers, etc.. Machinery, gifts, etc. can be replaced; a life cannot. It isn't worth the risk to me. I know that I wouldn't be anywhere near the parks with my family.

We have reservations in October to stay at the cabins. What happens if it is closed for the duration? Will we be able to change our reservations easily? Will someone contact us to let us know that we need to change? Or would it be done automatically? I have never encountered something like this in the 25 years of visiting Disney World.

Any information would be most helpful. Thanks and everyone be careful and take extra precautions. I don't have any useful or helpful hurricane safety tips, since we don't see many Hurricanes in Oklahoma. We do see many tornadoes each year.

 

[Mission: SPACE]

they closed my school for tomorrow (in Ft. Myers). They are expecting 50-60 mph in-land winds here. This is not going to be a very big storm. They may close Disney, but I doubt that the eye will come near Orlando. People have been freaking out all day, but just remember, RELAX! This is no Andrew, it's just a little guy.

Not to be rude, but this is not just a 'little' storm. This storm, when it hits somewhere on the west coast, could have a wind speed of 110 mph. That's just below a category 3 storm, half way to Andrew. I think we all realize this won't be another Andrew, a catastrophic event, but it most certainly cause plenty of damage.

Tropical Storm Gabrielle barely scraped along Sarasota in 2001, and it caused nine MILLION dollars in damage in Sarasota County alone. And that wasn't even a direct hit of a minor tropical storm...

This is no Andrew, but if it's significant for Disney to consider closing, it's a pretty powerful puppy.

 

[WDWScottieBoy]

I have always wanted to be in a hurricane, just to say that I have. I was in a tropical depression in 2001 (I believe) during a week's trip to Key West. Now, the ultimate in being in a hurricane would be to experience the hurricane in WDW. That way I could be having the time of my life AND in a hurricane at the same time. That would rule, I'd have tons of video and pictures from that.

MKT, or anyone else planning on going tomorrow or Saturday, please take lots of pictures and post them.

 

[mkt]

a tornado and a hurricane are not the same thing. The closest comparison I can think of is a Tornado is like the Eye of the Hurricane. I am not too scared of hurricanes since I grew up in the caribbean. Getting hit 3-4 times in one year wasn't uncommon. But I am scared of the Eye of the Hurricane. VERY scared. Just like a Tornado. I am much more scared of a Tornado than a Hurricane.

 

[csm7030]

DisneyWood, Don't spend too much time worrying! They would only temporarily close because the campers and Rv's pose a risk in a heavy winds. We used to live in Key West and would hit Disney everytime we had to evacuate. Even if it hits Disney, things will be fine in a day or two. Disney is to far inland to have serious damage. Minor wind damage and debris is probably all they would see.

 

[FLcastmember]

I noticed that you mentioned that Fort Wilderness will be closing in the near future, if the Hurricane hits WDW area. First of all, if the Hurricane is anywhere close to the area, the parks should be closed. Why gamble on the safety of the guests, workers, etc.. Machinery, gifts, etc. can be replaced; a life cannot. It isn't worth the risk to me. I know that I wouldn't be anywhere near the parks with my family.

We have reservations in October to stay at the cabins. What happens if it is closed for the duration? Will we be able to change our reservations easily? Will someone contact us to let us know that we need to change? Or would it be done automatically? I have never encountered something like this in the 25 years of visiting Disney World.

Any information would be most helpful. Thanks and everyone be careful and take extra precautions. I don't have any useful or helpful hurricane safety tips, since we don't see many Hurricanes in Oklahoma. We do see many tornadoes each year.

You have nothing to be scared of. If there is any Company that can get things up and running again in a few days its Disney. EVEN IF WORSE CASE hits, CAT 2, WDW resort will be up and running by the weekend, so for an OCT vacation, you may see some missing trees, at the worst.

And yes they would call you.

Hope this helps rest your mind.

 

[ThumpersThought]

Florida building code specifies that all structures must be rated to resist 120 MPH winds. From what I've been told by those I've spoken with (so I don't speak with much authority here!) Disney tends to build quite a bit beyond that rating. However, simply leaving a door open can take your house's rating from 120 to 50.

I've always loved being in the parks before a hurricane... the weather has always seemed so peaceful. Never actually been there during one (or, more accurately, when one has come ashore), but the parks closed two days after I flew home once.