Hurricane Season

[DizneyNutz]

Our first trip to WDW was in September---thankfully, no tropical weather---the last two trips have been in December---not much threat of "tropical weather!" We are going back in Sep. of this year---from NC---Cindy is about to bring us some much needed rain, Dennis is going to do God only knows what---not to mention, any other storms between now and then---so my question is---tell me about your experiences with storms and WDW---we are flying in, renting a car at MCO---returning it to the airport at the end of our stay---non-refundable airline tickets----what happens if you get there and the worst happens? Do we fly on in, enjoy what we can, take a chance on flying out, early if possible or renting a car in necessary----we are concerned----a lot of cash is tied up in this trip already---airline tickets purchased, car ressies made etc., any advice would be helpful.

 

[JimMIA]

Our first trip to WDW was in September---thankfully, no tropical weather---the last two trips have been in December---not much threat of "tropical weather!" We are going back in Sep. of this year---from NC---Cindy is about to bring us some much needed rain, Dennis is going to do God only knows what---not to mention, any other storms between now and then---so my question is---tell me about your experiences with storms and WDW---we are flying in, renting a car at MCO---returning it to the airport at the end of our stay---non-refundable airline tickets----what happens if you get there and the worst happens? Do we fly on in, enjoy what we can, take a chance on flying out, early if possible or renting a car in necessary----we are concerned----a lot of cash is tied up in this trip already---airline tickets purchased, car ressies made etc., any advice would be helpful.

Okay...first of all...take a big, deep breath. Close your eyes...purse your lips...let the breath out s..l..o..w..l..y. Repeat. Repeat again. It's going to be okay!

Incidentally, we have a thread running over on the community board on Hurricane Dennis...which is going to develop into a bad storm, by the way. Here's the link: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=853935 After my hurricane gibberish you will see some actual experiences in the following discussion.

Okay, now...your questions:

we are flying in, renting a car at MCO---returning it to the airport at the end of our stay---non-refundable airline tickets----what happens if you get there and the worst happens?

Don't worry about the airlines unless you are flying one of the super-cheapies, and even then you'll probably be okay. The airlines usually have very liberal rescheduling arrangements and allow you to switch within broad ranges of dates with zero penalty.

renting a car at MCO---returning it to the airport at the end of our stay

I usually rent my cars on Expedia, but that means pre-paying. In your case, I think I would look the cheapest fares up on Expedia (or Travelocity, or Orbitz, or whatever), but then reserve it on the car rental company's website. No deposit, no cancellation worries with most.

Do we fly on in, enjoy what we can, take a chance on flying out, early if possible or renting a car in necessary

Yep, that's pretty much the plan. Rain plan: If it rains, we get wet. Seriously, though, the chances of taking a direct hit in Orlando are so remote we can't calculate them. I am a Florida native and I am FULLY aware that three hurricanes hit or grazed WDW last year, but that won't happen for another 1000 years.

And if a hurricane did hit, how much damage would it do? A couple of last year's storms were pretty strong, but how much actual damage did they do to WDW? Very little. Certainly many of the CM's had major damage to their homes, but the resort itself sufferred very little.

The most likely scenario is a hurricane passing within 100 miles or so of WDW, like off Cocoa Beach or Tampa. In that case, you'd have some rainy, squally weather for a day or two. Then the weather would be beautiful.

I know people are concerned with hurricanes because of last year. But the reality is you are SO unlikely to get caught in one far inland at WDW, and if you did, it would be an experience you would talk about, but not anything to fear.

If you are really concerned, buy travel insurance...and then take a couple more deep breaths and have a wonderful vacation.

 

[AFMom]

Even if you happen to be there, and by some freak of nature another hurricane hit the resort - Disney is the best place to be. They have their own independent power source, wonderful army sized crews of workers to clear roads and fix damage, etc. We went 4 days after Ivan hit last year (were supposed to be there during Ivan and rescheduled! We were driving - no plane tickets) - the place looked beautiful, everything was up and running. There were some trees down in places off the roads and in the resorts, but nothing serious. However - in other places hit by the storms, there was still flooding, no power, trees down all over roads, etc.
I personally wouldn't try to fly out early unless there was a mandatory evacuation (HIGHLY unlikely). Just go, and on the days of the storms - you would stay in and try to enjoy the resort amenitites. If you have to fly out at a later time - the airlines are usually very flexible if it's weather related. You really should read some of the stories from last year - I think you'll feel a lot better. The Disney resorts did a great job taking care of the people staying there, the airlines seemed to really work with people trying to get home, I really don't remember reading many negative posts. Don't stress! It didn't help us last year - and it won't change anything this year!

 

[Sammie]

We have been at WDW for a couple of hurricanes. As stated Disney has never had a direct hit, although last year Charlie did possibly the most damage of any storm lately.

I do not think you will be in danger at Disney, we were impressed by the way the buildings held up to Charlie, especially after seeing the damage to some of the hotels nearby in Lake Buena Vista.

The biggest effect can be inconvenience. The day before or the morning of, depending on when they are perdicting the storm to pass through Orlando, the parks can close early. Since this puts all the guests back at the resort at the same time, this does cause some havoc with such things as food services. You would also need to be prepared to possibly spend some time limited to your room. Also if the airport is damaged as it was with Charlie your trip might be extended at your expense. Also would this extension be ok with your work.

The airlines were very cooperative with us in giving us a refund.

 

[Divamomto3]

I'm hoping JimMIA is right...I'm taking his word for it.
I was in WDW the day after Hurricane Charley last year and everything ran business as usual. It was nail-biting watching CNN while I packed my suitcase the day before, but we made it without even a flight delay the next day. We're going back this summer...August 13-August 24th and hoping for the best. The one thing I'm more worried about is a hurricane hitting my coastal Connecticut town while I'm gone for almost 2 weeks and us not there to batten down the hatches. However, I don't think we've had a hurricane here in 15 years and most of ours hit in September. But there's no way to tell.

 

[JimMIA]

It was nail-biting watching CNN while I packed my suitcase the day before,

Watching CNN when a hurricane is approaching is absolutely the WORST possible thing to do...with the Weather Channel being a close second. They are commercial ventures, and their whole existence depends on selling advertising, so they hype the heck out of everything.

Next time you see one of their breathless, wind-blown reports about the fury of a storm, note where the reporter is and then go look at a map. Unless the reporter was really unlucky, they will be 100-200 miles away from the actual storm. And if the cameraman messes up, don't be surprised to see a wind machine off camera!

Those channels are also both notorious for being 4-6 hours behind the curve. They take the periodic advisories, mix them with file film, and try to make the hype last until the next advisory.

The only place you will ever get current, accurate hurricane info on TV is from a local station in the affected area. Here in Miami, all of our local stations do a great job of reporting the actual hurricane news responsibly, but I wouldn't watch CNN or Weather Channel on a bet.

The best place to get hurricane info - including satellite imagery in real time - is www.nhc.noaa.gov That's the National Hurricane Center and they're not selling anything.

 

[idratherbeinwdw]

We went 4 days after Ivan hit last year (were supposed to be there during Ivan and rescheduled! We were driving - no plane tickets) - the place looked beautiful, everything was up and running. There were some trees down in places off the roads and in the resorts, but nothing serious. However - in other places hit by the storms, there was still flooding, no power, trees down all over roads, etc.

Ivan didn't hit WDW, missed it completely, I was there at the time, it didn't even rain. Ivan went West and hit New Orleans and the FL coast, but not Orlando. You probably were seeing some damage from the previous hurricane that DID hit the area, Frances. That one did some damage and it took a while to clean up the Orlando area. WDW itself was cleaned up fairly quickly, could see roof missing tiles in some areas, but otherwise everything looked fine there.

 

[YesYourMajesty]

Even if you happen to be there, and by some freak of nature another hurricane hit the resort - Disney is the best place to be. They have their own independent power source, wonderful army sized crews of workers to clear roads and fix damage, etc. We went 4 days after Ivan hit last year (were supposed to be there during Ivan and rescheduled! We were driving - no plane tickets) - the place looked beautiful, everything was up and running. There were some trees down in places off the roads and in the resorts, but nothing serious. However - in other places hit by the storms, there was still flooding, no power, trees down all over roads, etc.
I personally wouldn't try to fly out early unless there was a mandatory evacuation (HIGHLY unlikely). Just go, and on the days of the storms - you would stay in and try to enjoy the resort amenitites. If you have to fly out at a later time - the airlines are usually very flexible if it's weather related. You really should read some of the stories from last year - I think you'll feel a lot better. The Disney resorts did a great job taking care of the people staying there, the airlines seemed to really work with people trying to get home, I really don't remember reading many negative posts. Don't stress! It didn't help us last year - and it won't change anything this year!

I agree. We were scheduled to arrive last year on the day that Charley hit, we rescheduled to the next day. Although our airline wasnt flexible and did charge us an additional 275 per ticket, we went anyway. There was damage all over the city, but except for the broken geyser and a few downed trees, you would never know that the Wilderness Lodge had any damage. Thats how quickly Disney cleaned up and how safe they made it for their guests. They were great. We are going in October this year. Even though it falls during hurricane season, we are going to proceed with our vacation plans, and make the best of whatever happens, hurricane or not. I trust Disney will keep us safe.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Ivan didn't hit WDW, missed it completely, I was there at the time, it didn't even rain. Ivan went West and hit New Orleans and the FL coast, but not Orlando. ...

Ivan missed NOLA as well. Hit closer to Pensacola and NOLA is a pretty long way from Pensacola.

 

[idratherbeinwdw]

Ivan missed NOLA as well. Hit closer to Pensacola and NOLA is a pretty long way from Pensacola.

Thanks. I knew it missed Orlando and hit West by the FL panhandle, I don't know why I thought it hit NO too. I appreciate the correction.

 

[johde]

I went to Disney Last year after Francsis. My flight was canceled by SWA because of the storm. I was actually able to reschedule for 2 days later and moved my entire vacation by 2 days. I cost me 1 extra night in a hotel (I had a priceline reservation for Friday night before my departure on Saturday. I extended that to 2 nights and booked a room at OKW for 2 additional nights. On the plus side, I encountered the lightest crowds I had ever seen at WDW. I arrived at MGM one morning at opening. It looked like there were maybe 300 people in the entire park. At the rope drop, they walked us back to RNR and TT. The entire morning rush fit into 1 library at TT.

Would I go back to WDW again during hurricane season? You bet. I am not this year but probably next year. This year I'm going in December and then Next Year in September 2 get 2 trips out of a Universal Annual Pass. Southwest treated my wonderfully changing my reservation with on increase in fare. DVC allowed me to change my reservation without any problems. Had I needed to, Priceline would have allowed me to cancel my reservation without any fees. And as others have said, the risk of having a hurricane cut across Florida like that is small. Last year was an extreme fluke, one that hopefully doesn't happen again for a long time.