***Riding out the hurricane at a Disney resort? Post your experiences here!***

[mswhittaker]

With seeing those POFQ photos I'm really interested to see how Fort Wilderness is looking.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

*See other post below*

 

[BigAlsGal]

I bet Disney has that mess cleaned up in no time!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Looks like "stay in your room" directive has been lifted here (assuming at least some other places as well that have exterior doors--looks like POFQ may have gotten quite a bit of tree debris though):

View attachment 268793


Dining and merchandise is available at noon but they request if you leave your room to be aware of your surroundings. My husband did go out not too long ago to check the rental car (which appears to have no damage) and looks like Disney crew is very fast at work getting trees cleaned up as well as hallways and whatnot.

 

[xiphoid76]

Poly update 12:15 - curfew lifted for walking around the resort. Great ceremonial hall open. Captain cooks has full menu and is fully operational. Staff cleaning up a lot of debris. Activities for kids going on in the ceremonial hall. We walked over to Floridian and they have some trees down as well, some shingles blown off. Saw Goofy entering the lobby to entertain. 1900 park fair open for buffet and quick service open.

 

[figment81]

Looks like boardwalk people and yacht beach club are walking the boardwalk loop for a change of scenery. Anyone at the beach club know what is open for dinner tonight? Cape may cafe and yachtsman are open here

 

[Tonyz]

AKL has all paths outside open now. Plenty of people outside near the savanna and going to the Mara. African drum circle just ended and now Disney quotes trivia going on in the lobby.

 

[Disnerd86]

Anyone know how fort wilderness campground faired? Supposed to stay in the cabins on the 24th.

 

[cem0620]

Anyone know how fort wilderness campground faired? Supposed to stay in the cabins on the 24th.

I'm curious to know as well ... we have a dinner reservation Wednesday night at the Hoop Dee Doo Revue. I wonder if it'll be up and running by then.

 

[Tom Cottone]

Interesting piece on Disney preparedness.


The expected northwest track of Irma occurred much later than expected and brought the eye straight through central Florida including a direct hit on Disney World by the eastern half of the eye wall. Reports from around Orange County (the county that Disney World is in) are that damage from Irma exceeds that of Hurricane Charley, which caused widespread devastation. We live north of Disney World and received the same part of the storm shortly after it moved through Disney. We can tell you the wind and rain was unlike anything we’ve ever seen. There were dozens of tornado warnings with some confirmed tornados moving through the area.

We had the opportunity this morning to speak with Lee Cockerell, former Executive Vice President of Disney World and resident of Central Florida. According to Mr. Cockerell, there are no reports out of Disney World of any significant damage. This isn’t a surprise, according to Cockerell. “We are very well prepared for these types of events. We run drills several times a year so everyone knows exactly what to do.”

The preparation for a hurricane begins in May when grounds crews focus on removing any branches or other items that could cause damage during a hurricane. Prior to storm arrival cast members know exactly what needs to be tied down or brought inside. The real magic happens during and right after the hurricane passes.

During a hurricane such as Irma, approximately 5,000 cast members will stay on property. In addition to hotel staff, cast members on stand by for clean-up spend the night in the parks. Cots are set up in the Magic Kingdom tunnels and other buildings around property, and board games and the like are on hand while cast members wait for the storm to pass. As soon as is safe, those cast members descend upon the parks to clean up and get set for the reopening the following day. If we haven’t said it recently, THANK YOU amazing cast members. Your commitment to excellence is inspiring and we love you.

Disney World was hit by the worst part of the storm and received over 9 inches of rainfall. Amazingly, Disney World never lost power. This is largely because all power lines on property are below ground and Disney World generates roughly 30% of their own power. While not yet official, folks we spoke to early this morning said there is no reason to believe Disney World won’t be back to normal operations Tuesday, September 12.

There are many reports out of Disney World that the resorts were a great place to be for the duration of the storm. Restaurants were open and most if not all services were available. For example, Boma at Animal Kingdom lodge was open and serving guests at a reduced rate of $20 per person. Disney World is very well prepared to host guests during a hurricane and the Disney Resort became the world’s most awesome shelter for many Florida residents fleeing mandatory evacuation zones. Mr. Cockerell commented, “The building requirements for us were so strict, there probably isn’t a safer place to be during a hurricane than Disney World.”

 

[SL6827]

Wow! Pics of POFQ on WDWmagic look bad!

 

[sherlockmiles]

POFQ AND POR dining and merchandise open at noon

 

[Amy Ewell]

We are at Saratoga Springs in a 2 bedroom villa. We were evacuated here from Give Kids The World village due to power and safety concerns. The staff here are great and even had fun games and raffles for the kids yesterday and Saturday in the community hall. They opened up the arcade for everyone to play for free and kept the Artists Palette open as late as possible yesterday night. We never lost power and our water is safe to drink. Mostly just landscape damage. So grateful we were sent here.

 

[taylor91]

POFQ building 1 as just had the fire alarm set off as the tree has moved and looks like it's gonna go through the roof :/ we've been told to go to the lobby and wait instruction.

 

[Christiaan]

can I ask you a question? my flight is scheduled for Wednesday from boston called jet blue yesterday and today and they said the flight is still on (crossing fingers) my flight is at 11am and I know a few people who are supposed to fly out the same day at 8am and their flights have gotten cancelled yesterday, jet blue told me if its not cancelled by now then theres a good chance it wont be, still wont be happy til im sitting in the plane with my wife and 2 kids, but just curious why they would only cancel certain flights and no others? maybe you would know?
plus im glad everyone is safe there!!

Couple of things.
1. The airline could have been told by the airport to expect normal ops will resume at noon (just an example), so they canceled any flights scheduled to arrive prior to that opening.

2. Aircraft have had to be moved from Florida for protection, and they might not be able to get the aircraft and crew back into position for a Wednesday AM departure.

With a weather event like this it's a wait and see scenario until the airports actually open, your flight may delay cancel etc still but hopefully not, still have 48 hours to get things cleaned up and functioning.

 

[Irish_Mike]

From WDWToday

"We are currently taking measures to resume our Resort hotel operation and appreciate your patience. Please see the following update"

 

[snowangl317]

Couple of things.
1. The airline could have been told by the airport to expect normal ops will resume at noon (just an example), so they canceled any flights scheduled to arrive prior to that opening.

2. Aircraft have had to be moved from Florida for protection, and they might not be able to get the aircraft and crew back into position for a Wednesday AM departure.

With a weather event like this it's a wait and see scenario until the airports actually open, your flight may delay cancel etc still but hopefully not, still have 48 hours to get things cleaned up and functioning.

We are scheduled for 5:20pm tomorrow evening. Fingers crossed we can take off as scheduled!!

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

Wow. Just wow.

A ginormous high five to the Cast Members who worked their tail off both on stage and off. The planning and prep by WDW Resort was nothing short of amazing.

I'm just so impressed with how well the CMs handled the guests and how well the guests kept their sanity about them.

This entire thread has been an emotional roller coaster felt all the way up here in Ontario.

All I can say is well done to all involved.

Stay safe gang and I hope you all get your vacations back on track shortly.

 

[taylor91]

In response to my earlier post about the evacuation of building 1 at POFQ... the fire brigade are here and the tree is coming down! Should be business as usual real soon! Big thankyou to the CMs and the emergency services throughout the last few days events!

 

[Irish_Mike]

Tree down on some rooms over at AKL