Any Disney Hurricane Stories?

[PumbaNY]

We were stuck last year at the Wilderness lodge for a very extended stay due to Hurricane Charlie!!! :eek: We checked in and when we went to the lobby there was a mass exodus going on. It was like I never seen before many were leaving and the front desk said in a nice way"Welcome Back" :wink: Since you are a long time resort guest we are upgrading your room. Thats when we should have turned around and left, but overall disney handled the storm well & I was stuck there in the lodge for a extra 5 days waiting for Song/Delta to get me a flight home. I have loads of pictures before, during & right after the eye of the storm hit the resort. The park was open the next day and with the exception of a few tree branches broken MK looked ok.

Any one have other stories, Maby on the Disney Cruise line in Hurricane?

We also survived Hurricane Bonnie a few years back on the ss Zenith, we went through the eye 120+ mph winds & 70 ft swells it was tough

[Dilbert]

September, 1999...

We were there when Hurricane Flloyd hit, causing the entire east coast of Florida to be evacuated inland, and made NASA worry as Kennedy Space Centre was in the direct line of the hurricane. Hurricane-proof buildings - but not rated to handle the strength of winds in this hurricane (an F5 if i remember correctly)

We had been to Sea World that day, and were driving back along I4 and wondered why the other side was so busy! Got back to the hotel to find chaos - loads of Florida residents trying to book in because they had evacuated... Hotel windows all taped and boarded up...

We went to Goodings to buy supplies... along with several hundered other people. It looked as if the hurricane had already been in the store - the shelves were virtually empty.

We were stuck in the hotel for 2 days, living of 'cheesy goldfish' and other such things. All the TV channels were running 24 hours weather & disaster coverage. In the end the hurricane made a last minute change in direction, and skimmed up the florida coast instead of coming inland as it had been feared. Unfortunatly the states up coast (carolina? virginia?) got the full force of the hurricane, and it was bad.

Disney closed down (for one of the first times ever, I am told) for 2 days. When it reopened, the parks had escaped with only minor damage.

It certainly made for an interesting experience.

----------

2001 - The next time we went out, we were in Disney when 9/11 struck :(

2003 - The last time we went out, there were no disasters of any kind - which was nice. :)

[Tigger4Me]

We were also there in 1999 during Floyd and were staying at Disney All Stars. The day that the storm was due to hit we were in DisneyQuest and wondered why we were being asked to leave at 4.30pm. When we came out of the exit it was like a ghost town and the only other people around were engineers taking up street furniture and taping windows.

When we got back to the hotel there was a note under the door telling us to get as much food and drink as we would need for 24 hours and then to return to the room, switch on the TV and wait for further updates. We had to pull the heaviest curtains across the window, fill the bath with water for use in an emergency, settle down and wait. I peeped out a couple of times during the night and apart from the heavy rain there wasn't a lot else happening.

The next morning we got a newsflash on TV to say that AK would open at midday just for Disney Resort guests. We took ourselves off there and had a lovely afternoon in the relatively empty park.

We were left feeling a little sad though when we returned to the room and saw that, although the worst of the hurricane had missed Fl, it had hit the Carolinas causing terrible devastation.

Colin

[Mickeymac]

The only hurricane story I have is a picture that one of my Guests sent to me, of him waving through the rain from the pool at Pop Century. The nut.

[Marks friend]

We were in the middle of Hurricane Charlie last year also! We did the land and sea vacation and spent 4 wonderful days at the parks, and as we were checking out on thursday to go to the port everyone in the resort was freaking out about what to do! The cruise was still on so we went on, got borded and had just settled into our room after the ship was launched a little early to get a head start on the storm when the captain came on and said we had a change of plans. We went to Cozumel Mexico instead of the Bahamas. So we knew our cruise was going to be extended by 1 day, it was amazingly calm on board, I have really bad motion sickness and was worried but the only time I felt the boat move was the first night at dinner it got a little rough, but we were trying to outrun the storm. Disney did a great job of trying to accomidate us. Each cabin got a $300 onboard credit which was wonderful. To make a long story short, because of damage to the canals etc. our 3 day cruise turned into a 5 day cruise and we ended up having to dock in S. florida near Miami, and Ft. Lauderdale? I think, it is all a blur! Parts of the cruise were wonderful, and parts were really frustrating, like having to change our travel plans like 5 times with mediocre cell service that kept dropping the calls! All in all however, Disney did a great job with what they had to work w/ they can't control Mother Nature!

[paulf]

We arrived just after Charley, and just aweek later Francis started!
Panic everywhere coz Charley had weakend loads of trees and Francis was a
cat 4, Batteries, flashlights, water sold out everywhere.
Watched it come on the news, and watched the winds pick up slowly and then rode it out!, TBH we was more worried about Tornadoes being spawned afterwards, some of which did happen but not in our area thankfully.
Worst still though there was yet another Tropical storm out at sea!!! and this would soon become a hurricane too and be heading towards Florida!!!!!!! Ivan.
Bad bad bad year for Florida 2004.

[Dawn]

:overhere:

I was there for Hugo. :eek: It missed though but the build up was scary. Not as scary as Floyd though. Finding notes in your room telling you to put a mattress against the window and fill the bath with water don't tend to ease your mind much. :sigh:

[katie]

Not a hurricae - but the first night of our first ever trip to Florida in February 1998. We arrived Saturday night and went down the Old Town for the evening and watched the drive-by. It was so humid, we were melting but we thought that it must always be as hot as that. We were woken during the early hours by the loudest thunder clap but we just turned over and went to sleep. Next day, we went to the Ponderosa for breakfast before heading over to Kennedy Space Centre. We noticed one of the waitresses crying and someone said that there had been a tordado during the night which had destroyed her home. All she had were the clothes she was wearing. We went off for the day and when we returned, we called our sons in the UK to let them know we'd arrived OK. They were furious, as they'd been trying to get us all day as they knew all about the extent of the tornadoes and had thought we must be among the victims as we were so close to where they'd touched down. We really got called all the irresponsible parents under the sun!!! We switched on the Tv to watch the news only to see that 7 tornadoes had touched down only 2 miles from our hotel!! People had lost their lives and there was widespread destruction. We were very lucky not to have known anything about it. We bought a copy of next days Orlando Sentinal which I still have which shows all the devastated trailer parks and homes which were wrecked.

Katie :)

[Big Al]

Okay, everybody has a story but what's the real scoop? What does Disney do for people if a hurricane hits? We're supposed to be there on Saturday, July 9th at the Beach Club Resort (we're flying in Friday night) leaving on Sunday. Does Disney evacuate? Will they let us hang out Sunday night if necessary until the storm blows over and we can continue on to our next stop? I've never been faced by this type of vacation experience and I have to admit it thrills me alittle but mother nature is not the right partner for a tango at a time like this.

Some detailed information would be extremely welcomed since I have wife and three lovely daughters in tow.

Thanks to all.

[Watchinherskip]

Only hurricane story was quite unusual in the fact that it missed us. Back in 1987 the storm was supposed to be heading for WDW. We were shamefully unaware of that until the last minute. It veered away, leaving cloudy skies and some drizzle. The parks were very uncrowded. You could just walk on rides over and over.

[PumbaNY]

Big AL , I can only tell you what we were offered during charlie

First we had to leave the parks by 1:00 pm on friday charlie was due to hit that evening around I think 10:00pm

If you had day tickets or any park ticket that was not a annual you were given 1 replacement day for fridays early closing

Second we were at the Wilderness lodge and we were requested to go to our rooms by 7:00 pm and stay there.

I called the front desk, and asked if our room was available to extend our stay if We can not fly out, on sunday it was available for 5 more days at the same rate $121 per night, I said I will take it for those nights just in case!!!

My next question was food, we had dinner reservations that were cancled on us, disney closed down all food places by 7:00 you could get a boxed meal from the lobby resturant for I think it was $12.00. We landed up getting junk food from vending machines, and we ate a large lunch in MGM, and we ordered extra food to take back to the room, just in case.

At 8:00pm there was a room check they knocked on every room "security" "we need to know exactly how many guests are in thes room"

concidering we at WDW were to be a direct hit of charlie, I was wondering of if we were going to evacuate, the security said pull the thick drapes across the glass sliders & stay away from the doors, as he handed us a flashlight! Thats it? he said "Thats it" see you in the morning :confused:

We are in the top floor (just Below the Roof) in a direct hit of Hurricane charlie!! It actually hit about 2 to 5 miles away at 110miles per hr, disney was hit with 100mph winds. It was a experiance, we have lloads of before & after pictures.


Big al , most important thind is to make sure you have the food thing figured out, because it is a problem.

What did disney do for us? we got a free flashlight :lol: :rotfl: :lol: :rotfl:

Here is the walkway before the storm

[PumbaNY]

Here are some after the Charlie:

[Franny]

We were at the Boardwalk when Frances hit last year, (yes I got teased something terrible cos of the name - Frances wreaks havoc etc....!) The resort went into 'lockdown' from Saturday lunchtime until Monday morning, we decided to just go along with whatever we were told to do. We got lots of drinks and snacks, packs of cards, games to play etc. We had updates on the phone and notes pushed under the door on a regular basis informing us of the current situation. They provided boxed lunches for $5 which was a sandwich/roll, cake, fruit, can of drink. They had loads going on in reception for the kids, there was balloon volleyball, character visits, free popcorn, painting, games etc. There were extra films on the TV in the rooms. housekeeping came round regularly to see if we needed anything and I can honestly say even though I am frightened of thunderstorms, I was not in the least bit scared. Then we had to go to St. Petersburg, we had booked in for 3 nights and Ivan was on the way! They wouldn't let us cancel so we went anyway, it was fine but in a 360 room hotel there were about 8 rooms occupied, it was weird! but they have given us a 2 night stay in a suite for free next time we go. Hope you managed to get there OK and things stay relatively calm for you!

[diamondprincess]

My fiance and I were there for Jeanne. The storm that circled around in the ocean and came back to Florida last year. I tried to call first and work something out, but I was put on hold forever. It was so unpredictable we went down anyway. We got down there the day before it hit. I didn't think it was going to be that big a deal. But all the warning notes from the hotel staff made me want to kick myself for carrying on the vacation. We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and I think they put all the animals up in a barn or something for the storm. That night we had dinner at Boma with rude service and under par food. We just went to the gift store and bought trail mix, 2 liters of water and soda, and other junk. (I love Disney’s rice crispy treats and after the storm, we returned what we didn't eat and got a refund. :whistle: )



The next morning we woke up with the storm passing overhead. It really wasn't that strong of a storm inland, so nothing terrifying happened. I was more scared that a stray tornado would touch down than anything else. We just stayed in bed all day, watched disney movies, drank a nice bottle of champagne I brought and ordered pizza. I'm so happy the power didn't go off. That night restaurants opened, but we were not allowed to leave the building. We had a really delicious dinner at Jiko with very friendly service.



We went to the Magic Kingdom the next morning and Splash Mountain broke down while we were on the ride and we had to walk off backstage. Frontier land shooting arcade was closed as well as Jungle Cruise. There was a lot of tree damage already from the other storms that year, but the grounds looked really clean with no fallen debris.



My fiance was really happy that we got to spend a full day lying around together during the storm. He really needed the rest. But I am a park fanatic, so I made another trip in December to make up for the lost time.



Severe summer storms happen all the time in Florida so even if it’s not a hurricane your summer vacation could have nasty weather. All the hurricanes that hit Florida last year traveled straight up to where we live and caused major flooding. Biltmore Village was under water and many businesses were closed for months because it flooded twice.

We're (I'm :wink: ) wanting to be married at Disney World. I think I'm going to aim for a sparkling ice, snowflake princess, and winter theme. Wish us luck!!!

[jds]

Last year we were staying at the Wilderness lodge for three week when Francis struck in the middle of our holiday. I have to say I am sure nobody does a hurricane like Disney. Whilst my wife and I were nervous Disney provided lots of information. During the time the parks were closed (about 1 ½ days) they brought the park cast members into the resorts to help entertain the guest, and all I can say it they were brilliant. Our kids enjoyed themselves so much, playing board games and various other activities with the cast members, not to mention the visit (and quality time they spent) with Mickey, Minnie etc. the did not want to visit the park the next day. The few days after the storm the parks were so quite, we did not have to queue for any ride.

[Disney Nut]

We arrived at AKL the day before hurricane Charley. On the morning of the hurricane my daughter was poorly and needed to see a doctor. we contacted reception and my mom my daughter and myself were taken on transport to the doctors surgery (central Medicare) whilst at the surgery we heard that all traffic had to be off the roads by 1O'Clock to allow access for emergency vehicles and also you could not use a mobile phone after 1 O'Clock. By this time we were still waiting in the surgery. the rain started and we were so frightened. The doctors tried to radio transport for us back to AKL but the transport was stuck the other side of a tornado on the I4. we tried to get a taxi but no one would drive in this weather. I tried to pay an American man to drive us back to the hotel but he refused. In the end a young nurse from the surgery offered to drive us against the advice of her superiors. We were so grateful to her she was an angel. As we were driving back to AKL we did not know what to expect, maybe a tornado coming down the road.We arrived back safely to find the other members of our party very distraught as they didn't know where we were and how we were going to get back.I think the most frightening thing was fear of the unknown you didn't know what to expect.

[DanC]

I've got pictures of when Hurricane Jeanne hit Orlando a few hours after we arrived! :afraid:

[CTDisneyFan]

We were also there in 1999 during Floyd and were staying at Disney All Stars.

I was there during Floyd too, staying at All Stars Movies. I have to say, for the most part, Disney was very good about coping with having so many people in one place at one time. However, the one exception was food! We went to the cafeteria to get something for that evening, and it was a madhouse. Lines to the registers were horrific, and there was no food anywhere. Chaos reigned.

The grills/entries were closed down, and the only food being passed out were sandwiches, which were being brought out 6-7 at a time. Unfortunately, whoever was in the front of the line took ALL the sandwiches for that trip. Faced with an hour's wait (based on the number of people in front of us, we opted for a sickly container of hummus, and some breakfast cereal just to get out of there.

Fortunately, the AK did open the next day, and life went pretty much back to normal. :tigbounce