I'm sure we all remember where we were on 9/11 ten years ago but I'd love to hear stories from people who were in WDW on that day. Being as it is one of only a few (two?) times the parks have been closed coupled with the shock of the actual events that ensued I'm sure it was a unique experience. I'd love to hear your stories! Thanks.
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Were you in WDW on 9/11/01?
- Thread starter CaptainShortty
- Start date
BigRedDad
Well-Known Member
I was not there, but backing up my manager who was. He called me from the MK asking me to look up why it was closing because they were not saying anything at the park. CMs were only informing them that the parks had to close and entertainment will be at the resorts.
It spread like wildfire when I told him that the second tower was hit. The first one, at the time, was simply thought to have been a plane crash.
Unfortunately, that is all I can offer on this subject from 2nd hand experience.
It spread like wildfire when I told him that the second tower was hit. The first one, at the time, was simply thought to have been a plane crash.
Unfortunately, that is all I can offer on this subject from 2nd hand experience.
Spike-in-Berlin
Well-Known Member
On 9/11 WDW was a FAR memory. My last trip there was already 10 years! ago and it would take another 6 years before I finally got back "home".
I was a student and working as a tour guide in Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin on that day and after friends called me via cellphone I told US-tourists waiting in the cueueing area that the US are under attack by terrorists because they didn't know anything yet (it was afternoon in Germany when the attacks came)
I was a student and working as a tour guide in Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin on that day and after friends called me via cellphone I told US-tourists waiting in the cueueing area that the US are under attack by terrorists because they didn't know anything yet (it was afternoon in Germany when the attacks came)
BrittanyRose428
Well-Known Member
I wasn't in Disney but I was supposed to leave to go the week after 9/11 but we ended up canceling the airfare and didn't have enough time to drive so we couldn't go. But when it happened I was in 4th grade at school, and I was told nothing about it until my dad picked me up at the end of the day, the teachers weren't even acting weird or anything.
ddrongowski
Well-Known Member
I was in Animal Kingdom with my wife and son. They had gone to the restroom and I was standing at the t-rex bones outside of the dinosaur ride. A cast member came up to me and told me that there had been an incident, and that they are asking all the guests to head to the front of the park. While walking out, I overheard someone saying that a militia group had blown up a building in New York, and that is why we had to leave the park. Once we got to our rental car and turned on the radio, we heard what was happening. This occurred around noon time. When we pulled up to our resort, we could no longer use our key to the world, to open the gate and had to show a drivers license to get in.
I found this interesting because they did not compare my id to anything, they just looked at it, looked at me, and opened the gate. So I called the front desk and asked why the check was being done. They said well there was an attack and they needed to check id's. I said that was fine, but explained that looking at my drivers license, and comparing it to nothing, and then opening the gate, was false security. After all the terrorists had to have shown id to get on the planes that day. The cast member said oh that makes sense, please hold on and I will get the manager. I spoke with the manager for a little while and she admitted to me that they were not sure what to do. I guess if you "make someone feel safe" it is as good as real safety.
The pool at the resort was packed that day, and the clorine level was high enough that your eyes would burn when you got ~10 feet near it.
The next day they had temporary security checks at the gates of all the parks to look into bags, etc... Security at Disney is still a joke to this day, but whatever. As long as people "feel" safe, that's what matters.
I found this interesting because they did not compare my id to anything, they just looked at it, looked at me, and opened the gate. So I called the front desk and asked why the check was being done. They said well there was an attack and they needed to check id's. I said that was fine, but explained that looking at my drivers license, and comparing it to nothing, and then opening the gate, was false security. After all the terrorists had to have shown id to get on the planes that day. The cast member said oh that makes sense, please hold on and I will get the manager. I spoke with the manager for a little while and she admitted to me that they were not sure what to do. I guess if you "make someone feel safe" it is as good as real safety.
The pool at the resort was packed that day, and the clorine level was high enough that your eyes would burn when you got ~10 feet near it.
The next day they had temporary security checks at the gates of all the parks to look into bags, etc... Security at Disney is still a joke to this day, but whatever. As long as people "feel" safe, that's what matters.
BigRedDad
Well-Known Member
You have to realize that the only other time this has happened was on December 7, 1941. Most organizations and governments do not have plans in place to manage such an action. These people were thrust into a situation that they had to manage on the fly and execute as best as possible with no manual. The good news is that this has all changed for many places.
Tomi-Rocket
Well-Known Member
Do you know I've never even thought about the bag checks as "safety"? We go thru it and I never really give it a second thought but I can tell you it doesn't actually make me feel safer in anyway. I didn't even think about that until I read your post.
GOT2SAMMIES
Member
While I was not in WDW, I was working a normal day.. My mom was flying back from Orlando to Norfolk that day after visiting her mom and dad (she has moved there with her mom since)... I was in a panic! No one from the airlline knew anything! She finally called me to tell me she was in Atlanta (with her cousin) and didn;t know when she could leave. My butt drove to Atlanta that night and went to pick her up. I wanted to make sure she was safe! I prayed for all those not so lucky....
graphite1326
Well-Known Member
I was not there on 9/11. However, we had a trip scheduled in October. I had some second thoughts about flying. The security hadn't changed much by October of that year. However, everything went well.
ddrongowski
Well-Known Member
Security/safety is something that I had to learn. I learned it by working with nuclear weapons.
What would have made more sense, and I did mention it to the manager, is to compare my id to a list. What is interesting is when we first arrived at the resort (4 days earlier), they actually did compare my id to a list. That list said I was supposed to be there.
After pointing that out, I thru this monkey wrench into the mix for the manager. The terrorists that took over the aircraft that day had to show their id to the check-in person. The check-in person compared it to a list, that said yes they (aka unknown terrorist) was to go on a plane. Those check-in procedures where supposed to stop high jackings, but it did not.
Now I will throw this one out. What do terrorists want to do? Answer, kill large groups of people and thus cause chaos. So what did the U.S. government do? They made TSA checkpoints in airports that stack up large groups of people. All a terrorist needs to do now is have an incendiary (aka gasoline) bomb in there carryon luggage. When they get into the middle of this large stacked up group of people, they detonate it. Many people will be burned and dead. This will cause the U.S. government to shut down and evacuate every airport in the U.S.
What did Disney do? They also made these stack groups. All a terrorist has to do is cause destruction and death at the checkpoint.
These stack areas are sometimes refered to as kill zones, like stairwells are sometimes refered to as funnels of death.
I know, most have never thought of this, but please be aware of your surroundings, as only you can really keep you safe.
It is strange that they didn't compare your list to the list of everyone staying at the resort. I know they have it as well as a list of everyone with dining reservations because it is used when the resort is on something called a "hard close" which is usually when the resorts are excessively busy. It doesn't seem like it would be that far outside the realm of reasonable thinking even when forced with a situation they have never been privy to.
As far as the security today, it is in my opinion more about the illusion of safety and crowd control than actual safety. It generally only prevents people accidentally bringing in "forbidden" items that are normally not thought of as "forbidden"...skateboards, excessive sized coolers, glass bottles. Stuff like that. The fact of the matter is that if someone wanted to do harm to the property or the people inside it there are a zillion ways for it to be done which would be met with minimal opposition.
Mrs. Jobson
Active Member
I wasn't working there at the time on that day but some months after I was driving a Safari truck in the savannah one day and saw 2 F-16's fly over Disney property and us. Let's just say that we all were scared. It took a little while for us to find out why and it was said that after 9/11 they were doing fly overs just to be safe.
Sue and I were in our motel room at the Extended Stay America just off 528 and International Drive. Sue called me to the TV to watch the live coverage. I am not sure but I think that we were watching before the second plane hit the tower. We watched the coverage for awhile and then headed off to make our final selection of the new home that we were buying. We signed the contract on 9/15. A very intersting combination of good and bad memories for us indeed.
GrumpySue
Member
I have a friend who was there, she has not gone back since and told me it ruined the magic for her. Her daughter worked in NYC and she could not get in touch with her for a long time, it was just frightening.
After ten years they have just booked their first trip back the end of this month, they used to go every year and miss it. I hope they can enjoy it and not think about the last trip, that would be sad.
We also had a two week trip booked in October 2001 and having been in NYC during these attacks I did not want to leave home and go anywhere, but my brother and his family who were traveling with us insisted we do not change our plans for anything, so we went. It was really empty but being there let me forget all that was going on in my city, and I really needed that. Disney is definately a healing place.
After ten years they have just booked their first trip back the end of this month, they used to go every year and miss it. I hope they can enjoy it and not think about the last trip, that would be sad.
We also had a two week trip booked in October 2001 and having been in NYC during these attacks I did not want to leave home and go anywhere, but my brother and his family who were traveling with us insisted we do not change our plans for anything, so we went. It was really empty but being there let me forget all that was going on in my city, and I really needed that. Disney is definately a healing place.
PeoplemoverTTA
Well-Known Member
I agree with this, wholeheartedly. We werent there on 9/11, but we spent Christmas week 2001 there (including Christmas Day) and the parks were totally empty.
We ate lunch at the Electric Umbrella on Christmas Eve at noon, and we were literally the only family in there...it was weird. Often, we were the only guests on busses, too. But the CMs went out of their way to provide extra magic, and there were a ton of characters out - a wonderful trip.
My brother was studying in Mexico on 9/11, and for the whole semester, and it was a scary time...our trip to WDW really helped us heal and come together, and appreciate each other as a family.
spectrodanny
Active Member
I was not there although i've heard rumors that right after the announcement was made that MK was closing early, the first song heard on Main St right after happened to be "Now Is The Time" can anyone confirm that?
nemofinder22
Well-Known Member
Some stories from cast members and guests that day from WDW, DLR, DLRP, and TDR.
http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_c...-walt-disney-world-first-person-accounts.aspx
http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_c...6/03/10/the-disney-9-11-stories-continue.aspx
http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_c...-walt-disney-world-first-person-accounts.aspx
http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_c...6/03/10/the-disney-9-11-stories-continue.aspx
Chip&Dale
New Member
My wife and I were in Orlando that day but it was our off park day so we were driving to the big orange in Kissimmee when we heard it on the radio. We decided to go back to the hotel and see what was going on. It was so shocking we watched for a while then decided we needed lunch so we went to the Hard Rock Cafe at Universal. We got seated and ordered then our server came back and said we would be able to eat but that they were closing everything. There was a UK couple sitting in the booth behind us and you could hear them crying not being able to fly back home. After lunch we went back to the hotel and watched the coverage all day. That night we had reservations for a mystery show. We called to cancel our reservations and found out it had been cancelled anyway. My wife was so upset she just wanted to go home. It was extremely hard to find a place for dinner that night most places in Orlando were closed. It was the last day of our trip so we drove home the next day but that one day overshadowed the whole trip. It was just surreal.