Dis Show - Hurricanes and Disney Hotel Rooms

[ConeyLighthouse]

I was just curious - are the Disney hotel rooms really as storm-proof as they said on The Dis? What about the windows?

 

[Tiggerette]

Windows can be rated for higher speeds. When I worked at a hospital in NOLA, the windows several stories up had to be rated for certain hurricane force winds. That said, I can't specifically speak to the specific speed rating windows on the lower floor resorts, ie Port Orleans or high floors, ie Bay Lake Towers.

If a storm was actively moving through at Cat 3 or higher, I would be in a room without windows during the storm itself. But it's mainly because of flying debris than it is about window rating. I'm slow, I probably wouldn't move out of the way fast enough if just the right kind of debris happened to hit the window at just the right angle. No fear-mongering; just some practicality at high wind speeds (for me that's Cat 3 or higher). I wouldn't be outdoors at a high Cat 1 for the same reason.

 

[ConeyLighthouse]

Windows can be rated for higher speeds. When I worked at a hospital in NOLA, the windows several stories up had to be rated for certain hurricane force winds. That said, I can't specifically speak to the specific speed rating windows on the lower floor resorts, ie Port Orleans or high floors, ie Bay Lake Towers.

If a storm was actively moving through at Cat 3 or higher, I would be in a room without windows during the storm itself. But it's mainly because of flying debris than it is about window rating. I'm slow, I probably wouldn't move out of the way fast enough if just the right kind of debris happened to hit the window at just the right angle. No fear-mongering; just some practicality at high wind speeds (for me that's Cat 3 or higher). I wouldn't be outdoors at a high Cat 1 for the same reason.

If you are at a Disney resort, would they be likely to shuttle you into a ballroom or something? I would think that with flooding and being on the ground floor, and then possible debris and a window, that they might tell you to go someplace else on property than in your hotel room, but maybe that is just me? I am just curious.

 

[Tiggerette]

Friends who were staying at Port Orleans for Mathew were told to shelter in place, in their rooms. Now getting that message was difficult because everytime my friend tried to retrieve the room phone message the line was busy. I'm not saying that will happen for Irma. Irma is different from Mathew- it's a different track and speed.

If I were at a disney resort, I would feel very comfortable in following what the CMs told me to do. If that's shelter in the underground tunnels, I'd do that. If it's stay in the room, I'd do that and apply a little extra precaution as I felt useful at the time.

 

[ConeyLighthouse]

Friends who were staying at Port Orleans for Mathew were told to shelter in place, in their rooms. Now getting that message was difficult because everytime my friend tried to retrieve the room phone message the line was busy. I'm not saying that will happen for Irma. Irma is different from Mathew- it's a different track and speed.

If I were at a disney resort, I would feel very comfortable in following what the CMs told me to do. If that's shelter in the underground tunnels, I'd do that. If it's stay in the room, I'd do that and apply a little extra precaution as I felt useful at the time.

Agreed, I would probably feel very comfortable following what they told me to do also, but I would probably go hide in the bathtub!

 

[disneyholic family]

Agreed, I would probably feel very comfortable following what they told me to do also, but I would probably go hide in the bathtub!

the bathtub is a good place to be if a tornado pops up........

we were at WDW during a hurricane (i think it was in 1995, but i can't remember)..

the parks were closed...they told guests to stay in our rooms (this was at the all star music)...

they were very good about keeping us updated..

the hurricane hit at night so it was a bit scarier i think because of that..

.

 

[ConeyLighthouse]

the bathtub is a good place to be if a tornado pops up........

we were at WDW during a hurricane (i think it was in 1995, but i can't remember)..

the parks were closed...they told guests to stay in our rooms (this was at the all star music)...

they were very good about keeping us updated..

the hurricane hit at night so it was a bit scarier i think because of that..

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Nice! How did they keep you updated? Did they go door to door or put up notices, or call you, or what? Just curious.

 

[disneyholic family]

Nice! How did they keep you updated? Did they go door to door or put up notices, or call you, or what? Just curious.

DH wasn't with us that year.. (he couldn't get away from work)...
i took the two kids by myself for 3 weeks....
there was a good deal of warning in advance of the hurricane....
in preparation they removed every loose item from the resort...
i'd expected them to tie down the lounge chairs by the pool, but instead they removed them all...

they kept sending messages to the room (when you came into the room, the message light was blinking)...
with recorded messages of what was happening....what we should do to prepare....that we should stay in the room when it hits etc..

but there was a new message all the time in the lead up...

so we felt very comfortable .....we didn't feel alone....my kids were quite young, so all those messages were very helpful to me..

and in addition to all the recorded messages, a CM called to check if we were ok...ready...etc...

that was before the storm hit..

it hit at night.....there were more recorded messages through the night....and at least one call from a CM to make sure we were ok...

but we were fine...

you could definitely hear it....torrential rain and high winds...but i wasn't scared at all...those buildings are built like bomb shelters....

you could hear the storm outside, but the buildings didn't move or creak or anything....solid as a rock...

i grew up in tornado alley..i would have been happy to face down a tornado in one of those buildings....(we were staying at the all star music)...

in the morning, the storm was still going....torrential rain...high winds..

we got a recorded message (or maybe it was a live one? i don't remember), that said that the parks were closed ..

every time there was an update, they would call (recorded message) with the information....

bottom line, we felt very safe and secure....and never had a feeling of being alone....


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[ConeyLighthouse]

That is great - thanks for the info!