Hurricane Matthew Closes WDW - Reopens Saturday, October 8th

[dburg30]

11 pm update: pressure dropped all day, but just bumped up a bit, indicating weakening - was down to 934 mbar and is now 939 mbar; winds still listed as 130 mph (Norcross on TWC, who is superb, thought they'd come down a little). He said the energy of the storm has spread out some, with a bit weaker winds, but over a larger area (so the same sum of total kinetic energy).

However, the storm's center is looking to be staying a bit further off the coast right now than originally thought - and I just saw the cone and the center is now expected to stay off the coast perhaps for the entire ride up the coast, i.e., maybe no landfall. That would be huge in reducing the winds and rain and storm surge at least somewhat. NHC site is down - I'm getting the info from TWC, who does have it directly from the NHC. It might cause people to not heed the next warning, though, but it's still great news for public safety.

NHC should be responding again. At 130, that is the line between cat 3 and 4... So I like to look at it as high 3, not low 4

 

[Viu Manent]

As of now, the pool furniture is still out. The umbrellas are tied down but that's it

When we arrived at our room, the balcony furniture had been moved inside.

 

[DLM1980]

Took a romp around the top floor of my building....kids still out in the quiet pool. Wind starting to pick up more like a back home "summer storm" breeze

 

[gja360]

NHC should be responding again. At 130, that is the line between cat 3 and 4... So I like to look at it as high 3, not low 4

NHC is back up

Since I am flying down to WDW monday I have been following this storm very closely. Good to see the track move slightly east.

 

[HopperFan]

I think the people complaining about the long lines for food should understand that they were designed to handle a small portion of people with the knowledge that most people would be at the parks.
With everyone being at the resort, their normal set up just doesn't handle the obvious crush.
Hopefully Disney pays attention and alters their emergency preparedness plan to cover this for future events.
Stay safe folks.

I can tell you why this is 100% Disney's fault. POOR POOR communication - to everyone!

Until 1:30 today this is what showed on the website. Business as usual, all is good, we aren't closing. Folks are in the parks and having fun, they aren't hunkered over CNN and the Weather Channel. They depend on Disney in this situation.

But hey then they changed it .... but who at Disney is opening up the full website? I think most are using MDE. I didn't hear one person reporting receiving a text or email to notify them of the change. Please correct me if I am wrong. But you know what is interesting .... it didn't change until lots of folks were tweeting tagging Disney asking why the early close has leaked but they aren't telling anyone. Only if you tweeted and questioned them did they send a reply to the notice, which no one sees. I know I responded that you are handling this poorly, I'm not the only one. How about direct tweet the change, put it on facebook, send a text or email to your guests .............

IF guests had received a notification at 1:30 that parks close at 5 and all day tomorrow and they want you in your rooms ............ I guarantee you most would have eaten in the parks, shopped for snacks and drinks, gone on a quick run to grocery if they had a car, stopped by the food court at hotel immediately. BUT no they got virtually no notification, I bet some didn't even know until they were told at the park it is closing soon - and there comes the mad rush for food because now they may be trapped in their rooms for 24 hours.

There wouldn't be these lines if this weren't their ONLY option for food for possibly the next 24 hours. There was no valid reason to withhold this information so folks had the opportunity to prepare for themselves and their family. None.

 

[Melissa_E]

NHC is back up

Since I am flying down to WDW monday I have been following this storm very closely. Good to see the track move slightly east.

I agree, for everyone involved. We're supposed to be flying in on Tuesday.

 

[andyman8]

I'm from Ohio and pretty much would have done anything I could have to get supplies a couple / few days ago once they started shifting the path towards the coast.. And funny you mention snowstorm, that's exactly the reason I would have started reacting a few days ago, because I know what snowstorms can do.. So unless you are from some part of the country that just doesnt have natural disasters, you should have carefully considered if you should take some action a few days ago. Even if it was buying WDW priced chips, water, bread, peanut butter etc etc..

You use the word "would," which I'm assuming means you're not there. In that case, I can only tell you that being in the middle of this is a very different situation than being far away. Just "a few days ago" this was supposed to not be a big deal for WDW at all. The track kept shifting westward. Most people I know in Central and South Florida didn't even consider evacuating until last night. Hurricanes are very easy to Monday morning quarterback, but it's hard to make judgements when you don't know what's going to happen, especially if you've never thought much of a hurricane. Maybe you would've been more prepared, and that's great, but Disney can't hold everyone to those standards. You can't expect people to poor over the news and weather sites when the official word from Disney is "it's all good". Plus, you have a mix of people from all around the world, some of whom might not even know what the word "hurricane" means. Disney needed to have a better plan and focus more on logistics and less on profit in this particular case.

 

[CAS239]

Def not going to be a Cat 5 anymore

Local news I just watched shows it likely being a category 3 by the time it's off the coast around the Orlando area. Showed winds in Orlando so far being around 40 mph.

For you guys at Disney, if the storm stays off the coast of Florida and still decreases, then you guys likely will just keep seeing what you're seeing now. Around 40-50mph winds. So hopefully for you guys it's about as worse as it's going to get

 

[gja360]

I agree, for everyone involved. We're supposed to be flying in on Tuesday.

Have a great trip!

 

[cristen72]

Hmm I haven't seen any here but maybe my short walk from Martinique to OPR hasn't given me the same views

We are in Jamaica 43. We saw the wrapped fixtures last night around 11pm on our walk back to our room from the outside bar.

 

[gja360]

Local news I just watched shows it likely being a category 3 by the time it's off the coast around the Orlando area. Showed winds in Orlando so far being around 40 mph.

For you guys at Disney, if the storm stays off the coast of Florida and still decreases, then you guys likely will just keep seeing what you're seeing now. Around 40-50mph winds. So hopefully for you guys it's about as worse as it's going to get

That is good and bad..

Good cause obviously it won't be nearly as bad as it could have been.

Bad cause the next time a storm is forecast like this one people might not be so concerned and not evacuate and if it turns out to be bad they would be in trouble.

 

[twinklinglights]

I can tell you why this is 100% Disney's fault. POOR POOR communication - to everyone!

Until 1:30 today this is what showed on the website. Business as usual, all is good, we aren't closing. Folks are in the parks and having fun, they aren't hunkered over CNN and the Weather Channel. They depend on Disney in this situation.

But hey then they changed it .... but who at Disney is opening up the full website? I think most are using MDE. I didn't hear one person reporting receiving a text or email to notify them of the change. Please correct me if I am wrong. But you know what is interesting .... it didn't change until lots of folks were tweeting tagging Disney asking why the early close has leaked but they aren't telling anyone. Only if you tweeted and questioned them did they send a reply to the notice. I know I the responded that you are handling this poorly, I'm not the only one. How about direct tweet the change, put it on facebook, send a text or email to your guests .............

IF guests had received a notification at 1:30 that parks close at 5 and all day tomorrow and they want you in your rooms ............ I guarantee you most would have eaten in the parks, shopped for snacks and drinks, gone on a quick run to grocery if they had a car, stopped by the food court at hotel immediately. BUT no they got virtually no notification, I bet some didn't even know until they were told at the park it is closing soon - and there comes the mad rush for food because now they may be trapped in their rooms for 24 hours.

There wouldn't be these lines if this weren't their ONLY option for food for possibly the next 24 hours. There was no valid reason to withhold this information so folks had the opportunity to prepare for themselves and their family. None.

I disagree....HELLO everyone in the US has been talking for 2-3 days about this coming ashore up towards Orlando and the coast. Just because they left the park open doesn't mean they weren't going to close it when the storm is close at hand. You are adults come on use common sense.

 

[disneykelly]

I can tell you why this is 100% Disney's fault. POOR POOR communication - to everyone!

Until 1:30 today this is what showed on the website. Business as usual, all is good, we aren't closing. Folks are in the parks and having fun, they aren't hunkered over CNN and the Weather Channel. They depend on Disney in this situation.

But hey then they changed it .... but who at Disney is opening up the full website? I think most are using MDE. I didn't hear one person reporting receiving a text or email to notify them of the change. Please correct me if I am wrong. But you know what is interesting .... it didn't change until lots of folks were tweeting tagging Disney asking why the early close has leaked but they aren't telling anyone. Only if you tweeted and questioned them did they send a reply to the notice. I know I the responded that you are handling this poorly, I'm not the only one. How about direct tweet the change, put it on facebook, send a text or email to your guests .............

IF guests had received a notification at 1:30 that parks close at 5 and all day tomorrow and they want you in your rooms ............ I guarantee you most would have eaten in the parks, shopped for snacks and drinks, gone on a quick run to grocery if they had a car, stopped by the food court at hotel immediately. BUT no they got virtually no notification, I bet some didn't even know until they were told at the park it is closing soon - and there comes the mad rush for food because now they may be trapped in their rooms for 24 hours.

There wouldn't be these lines if this weren't their ONLY option for food for possibly the next 24 hours. There was no valid reason to withhold this information so folks had the opportunity to prepare for themselves and their family. None.

I agree that communication was quite poor today. It feels like they were waiting for the last possible moment to make things official. Maybe hoping that they would receive a report that the storm would track further away and not impact them.
It also kinda reminds me of the movie 2012. A big part of the movie was keeping the condition quiet so as to not cause a panic. Maybe they were worried that people would have been going to all of the shops that sold food stuffs and cleaned them out early on.
Regardless, another item that Disney needs to reflect on and improve in the future.

 

[Elsaalltheway]

Not sure where seen but this is a detailed account of what I read (take it for what it's worth):
- There was enough space at Best Friends for every dog at Ft. Wilderness
- Guests who were not checking out were told to take their pet there
- All RVs were to go to MK parking lot, NOTHING left in campground
- Guests would be given resort room
- Guests would be reimbursed for cost of the kennel



We thought it was completely appropriate! Our team name was "Florida is Closed". We didn't feel it was in bad taste since we have a house that may be under water by the weekend.



I am not a wing person. I don't like to work hard for little meat ... wings, ribs etc. I do love their burgers but tonight tried one of their new items, finally real chicken fingers. Good.

- Should the boxes be free - no.
- These guests have no choice at the moment, not in cost, not in what is in the box so let's no also overprice it.
- Now that I have seen more photos it looks like some are getting a really nice sandwich and some are getting two pieces of white bread with paper thin turkey - yet both paying the same price. Not cool!
- Guests are paying for overpriced hotel rooms that they can't even use the hotel amenities, not getting housekeeping, etc.
- We all get that this is mother nature and not Disney's fault, but this is not the time to line your pockets simply because these folks have no alternative.
- I think a fair price would have been $7-8 for the box.

Based on what guests are experiencing, what Disney didn't do communication wise and from what I've heard of their communicating to CMs .... I'm not so sure Disney is working as a well oiled machine when things go off course. The most important thing you can do is communicate, especially in emergency.



[TOO MANY TO QUOTE]

I think there has been some confusion regarding the "ride out" CMs at the parks. I don't think that any of us meant that the parks were completely empty and void of humans. I think we all knew there would be some crew there and they could make the morning walk through.

I think what some of us were saying is that if the curfew is not lifted and still in place Saturday morning, there would not be the full team there with all those necessary to open, test and go through check list of every attraction at every park. Let alone the transportation folks. With AK and MK both set to open at 8 am - it may be hard pressed to meet that. I know there can be work permits but this is not a common thing and a curfew is rarely engaged so there may be no protocol at the moment. Big unknown.

I think some of us are being realistic that even if bulk of storm is passed, the parks could possibly face delayed opening depending on the curfew in place. It is an unknown right now and I'd rather be prepared. Like I would switch FP+ to the afternoon if it were me.



AND FINALLY, took around 80 pages but I see "pot stirrers" have arrived. Don't feed in to it, ignore it. We need to stay focused on sharing info on parks, hotels, food, transportation etc that helps all through the process. It doesn't help respond to these posts.

Just my two cents. I think they should have sold the sandwiches at the front desk. They probably could have gotten more people through quicker since most people would have already checked in. They could have charged for the meals and had general cash for change. Just maybe a thought for next time.

 

[NanaDisney]

"Yes but by 4pm, plenty of local places were closed. Our local grocery stores, restaurants, etc were all closed. Thousands of people were trying to drive west towards Tampa, it would not have been an hour long drive.

I drove from Orlando to Tampa today as we were advised by the sheriff to evacuate our community or give them the name & number of our next of kin (he was serious). It took us 4 1/2 hours to get from the WDW exit to Tampa due to all the evacuees leaving. This would have normally been less than an hour's drive

 

[Boopuff]

I think no matter what Disney did in response it would've angered someone. So if they had made the announcement of the park closing at 5 first thing - someone would be mad, Disney errs on the side of caution, keeping park open. They watch the weather and decide to do a hard close at 5- someone will be mad. As another poster pointed out, this storm has been building for days. Many people traveling should've been aware of it!

 

[gja360]

I think no matter what Disney did in response it would've angered someone. So if they had made the announcement of the park closing at 5 first thing - someone would be mad, Disney errs on the side of caution, keeping park open. They watch the weather and decide to do a hard close at 5- someone will be mad. As another poster pointed out, this storm has been building for days. Many people traveling should've been aware of it!

That's how it always is. No matter what they did they were going to anger someone.

Now watch if this storm isn't as bad and the parks are fine people will complain that they never should have announced they were closing tomorrow.

 

[HopperFan]

Adam Harland‏@adamharland
Sealing up the monorail at Disney's Contemporary Resort @spann @WBRCweather @weatherchannel @jpdice_Fox6 @48FirstAlertWx

 

[otten]

I do agree on the communication. The governor had made the announcement about sheltering in place by 5. By the time we were leaving for the parks at 10:30 I figured we were looking at a close between 4 and 5. A cm at the front of AK told me it would be closing at 5 and staying closed Friday but everyone else said 8:30. The early closure was a given long before guests were told and that definitely could have been handled a lot better.

 

[HopperFan]

The Mickey Wiki ‏@TheMickeyWiki 6m6 minutes ago
This was the line for food earlier at the Caribbean Beach Resort #MatthewWDW