The September 2017 Post Hurricane Trip Report pics added

[tripleb]

Question for those that have talked to a CM and made other arrangements. Does Disney comp your hotel stay or are you responsible for it? What options, if any, did they give you when you talked to them? I really can't cancel this trip so I need to find accommodations come hell or high water.

Sarubo, I have talked to A CM about this exact thing. Yes, if you have reservations at the Fort and they have to relocate you to a resort, the price you have already agreed to takes care of the resort fee. Before I canceled my trip, I tried my best to get the CM to guarantee me a room at the Grand Floridian BTW, they WILL NOT commit to any resort. I guess that decision is made the day of your arrival. Your options are actually 3 fold ... (1)Cancel your reservation. (2) Take whatever resort they give you. (3) Delay your arrive. If you do this, they will credit you with the days that you "don't" show but will not extend your stay the number of days that you didn't show up. That is unless there is vacancy space available.

 

[Sarubo]

Sarubo, I have talked to A CM about this exact thing. Yes, if you have reservations at the Fort and they have to relocate you to a resort, the price you have already agreed to takes care of the resort fee. Before I canceled my trip, I tried my best to get the CM to guarantee me a room at the Grand Floridian BTW, they WILL NOT commit to any resort. I guess that decision is made the day of your arrival. Your options are actually 3 fold ... (1)Cancel your reservation. (2) Take whatever resort they give you. (3) Delay your arrive. If you do this, they will credit you with the days that you "don't" show but will not extend your stay the number of days that you didn't show up. That is unless there is vacancy space available.

Thank you! I don't really mind where they send us if the Fort is still closed when we get there. As long as my kids have a place to sleep, I'm good.

 

[Rxdr2013]

The cm i got was super nice. She put me in coronado in a preferred room bc i told her i was pregnant and going to be with my son alone. She said they didn't have any values left. She had trouble finding a place with our last night the 20th. (It ended up being like 600 more but i didnt have to pay any additional. ) So i told her it was fine to take off the last day. If i decide to stay at disney ill just get a cheap hotel on one of those hotel bidding sites, but since we are now going up tomorrow and not sun. (I booked a separate reservation at pop when i was going to bring my husband along to set up tent) i might be tired enough to go home wed night. Thankfully we dont have to worry about plane tickets since we only live 3 hours away.

Thankfully i was able to wait on hold and get it resolved and know where im staying. She did say rooms are hard to come by bc they are still people there from hurricane etc.

 

[Teamubr]

The email Tripleb posted is the exact one I got on Tuesday.

We made it to Nashville, our planned stop for the night. No call from Disney today. I will probably call them again tomorrow when we hit the road. If I can't make it through to Guest Services I'll show up at the Fort on Saturday and ask what site I'm in.

Either way, I'll be at WDW and I can become a problem in person instead of being put into telephone queue from h***.

j

 

[KornBred]

Been busy since we got back so I forgot to post. We left on the 8th instead of our check out date of the 9th ahead of the Fort closing. Traffic wasn't too bad as I stayed off the interstate and took mostly US 27 back home to SouthWest GA. About an hour delay from traffic and 2 hours delay from two women who have to stop every 50 damn miles. Left my house to stay at Mom's as my area got hit harder by winds than Mom's and I didn't want her to ride out the storm alone. Was told before we left the Fort that they would send me a check with a refund for the missed night but a couple of days after we left I checked the balance on the Disney Gift card I used to pay and they refunded it to that card, so go figure. Had a good time, cept for my Mom freaking out & wanting to leave on Tuesday after our Sunday check in thanks to family calling her telling her basically she would die if she didn't leave immediately. Glad they don't overreact. But we calmed her down and hit AK on the 6th & my Wife & I hit the MNSSHP on the 7th. Had a good time. Waiting for a supposed refund from Tee Time for the one day and the fact my cart's lights didn't work, the battery didn't charge correctly, and when I took him the cart back using their truck & trailer, I picked up another cart for them at the Fort that made mine looked like an unpolished turd. The guy I met said they had been saying they were gonna refund me but we will see. But all in all we had fun, enjoyed our first trip to the Fort, plan to go back, & I am using my leftover Disney GC funds on a few days at the Hilton Head Resort, as my Mom lives 100 miles from there straight down I16 so a quick ride from her place. Oh yeah, that trip will be solo!!!

 

[Teamubr]

Stopped north of Atlanta for a potty break. Made it through to guest services this morning. (only 2 hour wait) I'll be at CBR until the 20th. They offered me $50/night off if I rescheduled. I said I was half way there.

30 minutes later while she looked for something, she offered CBR. I'm now on hold (over 20 minutes) while she changes the reservation. Waiting on the new confirmation number.

j

 

[tripleb]

That's a good deal Teamubr ... I asked to be relocated to the Grand Floridian but they couldn't do that So, I canceled my reservations.

 

[ruthies12]

That's a good deal Teamubr ... I asked to be relocated to the Grand Floridian but they couldn't do that So, I canceled my reservations.

now that you've rescheduled for October I think you should call guest services and get that $50 a night off offer that they offered teamubr!

 

[tiggerdad]

Stopped north of Atlanta for a potty break. Made it through to guest services this morning. (only 2 hour wait) I'll be at CBR until the 20th. They offered me $50/night off if I rescheduled. I said I was half way there.

30 minutes later while she looked for something, she offered CBR. I'm now on hold (over 20 minutes) while she changes the reservation. Waiting on the new confirmation number.

j

They putting you and your mobile home...errr...I mean camper up in the parking lot at CBR there Jim? Wasn't sure if they were planning on that or if they had a designated parking area for the campers waiting to get into the Fort.

 

[tripleb]

I don’t have a dog in this hunt anymore since I canceled my reservations due to Irma and the “unknown” during the week of the 17th. However, as a 37-year (retired now) cable TV employee, on the Florida Panhandle coast, I can tell everyone that the destruction from a Hurricane is not a pretty sight to utilities.

Not only are trees down, power can be out, water service can be out, sewer service can be out, telecom service can be out as well. What happens during a hurricane to underground facilities is that the roots of trees that have been uprooted can and will pull up or damage any underground services near the root structure. It’s a real mess and repairs take quite a bit longer than traditional over-head utilities.

Staffing for a natural disaster is counterproductive and costly to any entity since those “additional” staff members would have to be employed year-round. I’m not coming to Disney’s defense, I’m just saying that through times of disaster, “things” are beyond any entities scope and putting people and plans together, with limited resources are terribly difficult. Drawing a “bulls-eye” on a date can be next to impossible.

I do however agree with others that communications to campers, affected by the hurricane, could have been a whole lot smoother. Through the use of Email, the Disney Web Site, and direct contact via telephone could have been more proactive and could have provided more information than was disseminated.

It’s a moot issue to me now … I was lucky enough to score a Full Hook-Up site the 1st week of October and as the wife said “Book it Dano”

 

[Teamubr]

Finally made it south of ATL (2 hours to get through). Lunch stop. GPS says 5:43 to go.

I have a new reservation number for CBR through Wednesday and my original reservation now says 9/20/17 - 9/25/17 at the Fort. We'll see.

j

 

[Rxdr2013]

I just pulled into pop and saw a camper in the parking lot. Sounds like it's hooked up. Sliders are popped out too.

 

[KT0191]

Finally made it south of ATL (2 hours to get through). Lunch stop. GPS says 5:43 to go.

I have a new reservation number for CBR through Wednesday and my original reservation now says 9/20/17 - 9/25/17 at the Fort. We'll see.

j

Did you have to pay the difference to switch to CBR?

 

[PaHunter]

Ok, so after all of the hub a beluw brought on by Irma. We are finishing up packing and getting ready to roll. We will be stopping at the guard shack monday and finding out where we land until they have my site ready. I will be in the Disney bubble, taking pictures and we is gonna have some fun !!!!
I have just finished a long week of mandatory overtime to ship items in to the area affected by the hurricane. Our truck convoy, approx 100 trucks strong was met on 95 at the state line for a State Police escort where they were headed. I am ready for a vacation.
I will hopefully have some pictures to post on Tuesday as that is our first park day and it will be time to have a good ole country bear jamboree.......maybe we can have our own 5th wheel jamboree in the CBR parking lot ?

 

[bama_ed]

I just pulled into pop and saw a camper in the parking lot. Sounds like it's hooked up. Sliders are popped out too.

That's so cool.

Did you have to pay the difference to switch to CBR?

No.

Bama Ed

 

[tiggerdad]

Ok, so after all of the hub a beluw brought on by Irma. We are finishing up packing and getting ready to roll. We will be stopping at the guard shack monday and finding out where we land until they have my site ready. I will be in the Disney bubble, taking pictures and we is gonna have some fun !!!!
I have just finished a long week of mandatory overtime to ship items in to the area affected by the hurricane. Our truck convoy, approx 100 trucks strong was met on 95 at the state line for a State Police escort where they were headed. I am ready for a vacation.
I will hopefully have some pictures to post on Tuesday as that is our first park day and it will be time to have a good ole country bear jamboree.......maybe we can have our own 5th wheel jamboree in the CBR parking lot ?

Looking forward to it. Be safe.

 

[FtW Mike]

Stopped north of Atlanta for a potty break. Made it through to guest services this morning. (only 2 hour wait) I'll be at CBR until the 20th. They offered me $50/night off if I rescheduled. I said I was half way there.

30 minutes later while she looked for something, she offered CBR. I'm now on hold (over 20 minutes) while she changes the reservation. Waiting on the new confirmation number.

j

Jim did you get a PIRATE SHIP BED room? You'll have to let us know.

 

[FtW Mike]

Ok, so after all of the hub a beluw brought on by Irma. We are finishing up packing and getting ready to roll. We will be stopping at the guard shack monday and finding out where we land until they have my site ready. I will be in the Disney bubble, taking pictures and we is gonna have some fun !!!!
I have just finished a long week of mandatory overtime to ship items in to the area affected by the hurricane. Our truck convoy, approx 100 trucks strong was met on 95 at the state line for a State Police escort where they were headed. I am ready for a vacation.
I will hopefully have some pictures to post on Tuesday as that is our first park day and it will be time to have a good ole country bear jamboree.......maybe we can have our own 5th wheel jamboree in the CBR parking lot ?

Ditto what Tiggerdad said. Love your outlook on the who deal and here's hoping you and Teamubr meet up early in your overlap Have a great trip

 

[Teamubr]

We arrived safe and sound to Kissimmee KOA. Very nice park. Drove down 429 and came through WDW from Western Way. You should have heard my niece when I drove under the entrance bridge. Fun stuff.

A few observations from the drive. First, I was surprised how little hurricane damage we saw. A few small trees down in southern GA. As we got closer to the FL line the number of billboards with the canvas wraps shredded increased. Mostly on the southbound side. Northbound signs fared pretty well.

Second. I think I guessed right on evacuees returning this weekend. North of Atlanta, half the cars on I-75 had FL plates. Once we go past Macon, 3/4ths of the cars were from FL. Some with fuel jugs on the roof or receiver racks.
Good to see people trying to get home.

A nice treat was all the toll plazas were wide open with "Tolls Suspended" signs up. Even on 429. Further north on the toll pike, it was obvious they didn't have power restored yet. The plaza had power but none of the signs on the highway were lit. As you got closer to I-4, you started to see more things lit up.

It was dark by the time we pulled onto WDW property so we couldn't see much, but the roads past Typhoon Lagoon and on Osceola Pkw looked fine. No evidence of trees or debris, but it was dark.

Chris,
The girl from guest services said the Fort won't open until Wednesday the 20th. I like your plan. If you are there in person, it is harder for them to say they can't find a place for you.

Did you have to pay the difference to switch to CBR?

No extra money required. We will be in a family room with Lagoon View. DW look it up and I think it is $250-300/night.

Jim did you get a PIRATE SHIP BED room? You'll have to let us know.

I'll let you know Mike. All they said was a "family" room, big enough for 5 and a Lagoon View. Ive only been to CBR once and it was a single night before we flew home from the Rolex 24 hour race. The room was pretty basic.

J

 

[Teamubr]

They putting you and your mobile home...errr...I mean camper up in the parking lot at CBR there Jim? Wasn't sure if they were planning on that or if they had a designated parking area for the campers waiting to get into the Fort.

Michael,
I'm going to drive over to CBR mid-morning with the trailer and see what the CM at the gate says. I figure it will fit in any old space. How much more damage can I do that a Cat 2 hurricane didn't?

J