[mickey]

Due to the potential of tropical storm force winds associated with Hurricane Wilma, all four Walt Disney World Theme Parks, Disney's Typhoon Lagoon Water Park, the Downtown Disney area and Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex will not open tomorrow morning, Monday, Oct. 24, 2005.

Weather permitting, the Walt Disney World Resort may reopen one or more Theme Parks after the storm passes on Monday to entertain the tens of thousands of Guests currently staying in our resort hotels.

We have made this decision with an abundance of caution based on information from the National Weather Service, the National Hurricane Center and local emergency preparedness officials, all of whom currently expect the storm to pass more than 100 miles south of the resort.

All resort hotels will remain open, though Guests staying at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground have been relocated to other hotels on property.

The Walt Disney World Resort has an extensive hurricane preparedness plan and is prepared for a realm of possible impacts that this type of weather could have on our property.

As a reminder, a temporary cancellation and "No Show" policy has been adopted for Guests who have booked reservations through Walt Disney World or the Walt Disney Travel Company.

"No Show" penalties will be waived for any Guest arrivals between Friday, Oct. 21, and Monday, Oct. 24, 2005.

The Disney Reservation Center will be open tomorrow (Monday, Oct. 24, 2005).

The standard deposit and cancellation policy will apply to Guests who cancel on or after Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2005.

[jk8]

Do we have an DCers there right now? Last time it was very interesting to get a first hand trip report after.

Hopefully all will be well and they can open up later.

[Dana]

Soundgod is there. I hope all is well. Crossing fingers for a not so bad hurricane for our Florida DCers. Be safe all.

[tinkerbelle24]

I feel so sad that this is about to happen again. Everyone takes so long to prepare for a trip of a lifetime to Disney and this happens to them. I hope that everyone will take care and be safe.

[Dana]

I think bdavis is still there...not sure. I can't remember what day she comes home for some reason.... Hope she gets out in time before they start to cancel flights.

[skwak]

I feel sorry for all that are there including a few friends that we have there right now.

Dana, it seems that you just miss it. If so, great for you!!!

[Dana]

Originally Posted by skwak

I feel sorry for all that are there including a few friends that we have there right now.

Dana, it seems that you just miss it. If so, great for you!!!

Yup, I am just missing it. That's just confirmation that I desperately need a WDW trip. I hope all that is there now is still finding some WDW magic and having a great time.

[gcbdad]

We went to EPCOT on Tuesday and a CM told me that they opened up at 3:00 PM on Monday after all of the weather had passed.

[Amie]

I was there for the storm. I really wasn't that bad...kinda like a really bad thunderstorm, and cold! We headed to WDW not realizing they were closed and ended up at the Contemporary. They had activities set up for the children and many many charaters there doing meet and greets! They reopened the MK around 1:30 and we went straight there...rode every ride at MK by 4:45!! So, overall, it was a little scarey, but not too bad...it didn't ruin our trip!!

[alicefan]

Last year we were in WDW during Hurricane Irene? I think - I can't really remember, there were so many. It was the last week in September...anyway, we arrived Saturday and headed to MK which was slated to be open until 11:00 pm. They closed all parks at 6:00 pm, and we were informed that they would be closed the next day as well. We had to stay in our rooms - we were at CBR. They kept leaving messages on our phone to give us updates. By 6:00 pm the next day we were allowed to walk around our resort and go to the food court area. The night before people were buying cases of cereal, sandwiches, milk, etc. People were acting like we would be stranded in WDW for weeks with no food and water - it was really insane!!! They gave each of us (who asked, I guess) a no-expiration, 1 day hopper to use at a future time - I thought that was really nice. We video taped, out of our hotel room door, a little of the storm. There were a lot of trees down and debris everywhere...by the next day there was no sign of even a wind gust anywhere!

[honeypot]

Just got back yesterday and I was there on Monday. Actually we arrived Monday 8:am at the Poly. We flew into Tampa on sunday to see DH's grandparent's and they had a car service drive us to Orlando at 6:am. It was pretty windy and raining hard on the trip there but when we got there, we were able to check in right away and got a room at Taratonga I think was the name...about 5 steps away from the GCH. We hung out in our room, took some pictures of the outside from our room, went to Kona for breakfast and then took a nap. By noon the rain had stopped and MK, EPCOT and DD opened to resort guests at 1:00. It was actually a pretty cool experience to see. The next few days were freezing cold, windy but sunny. Sweatshirt/pants sales definitely went up and I bought a pair of gloves and DH a winter hat. The next few nights were in the low 40's so everyone was pretty bundled up. Thurs-Sat were gorgeous. And now here I am at home already writing this.

[palmickey]

We just got back and we were there for WILMA too! Disney was just amazing in my opinion. I'm from Indiana and never been through a hurricane but they were ready. It really wasn't that bad - Thank God! I would compare it to a bad thunderstorm with really strong winds. There were threats of tornado's in our county but all went well.

We were at FANTASMIC on Sunday night when the first of the rain bands came through. We were five minutes from it starting when the rain came beating down. Even with our ponchos, by the time we walked to the front of the park, then to the busses, then waited for the busses to come we looked like we went swimming in our clothes.

I was amazed with Disney though, they quickley secured everything outside so nothing was picked up by the winds, we had three messages on our phone when we got to our room telling us what was happening, more messages the next day. They had characters at the hotel, coloring pages and crayons, movies in our rooms, hot food. And by the next day you could not even tell that there was a hurricane.

And as soon as we had the all clear the hotel guests went to MK and EPCOT. The only dissapointing thing was our CRT was cancelled and they could not get us in another time, and we missed most of the Food and Wine Fest as when the parks did open, the F&WF did not. This was the second year in a row we have tried to go and both years it has rained and nothing opens. We did get to sample a few things on an afternoon before but the day we were there, Wilma came to visit.

It was VVVVERY CCCCOLD after. We got jackets and gloves too.

[honeypot]

I agree Palmickey, they really had things organized. The resorts were all up and running for their guests and Ohana's and Kona were open. Surprise Surprise, the shops were open too. We went directly to Epcot because we always eat at Mexico when we arrive but they weren't serving until 4:pm and the F&WF were shut down. They were in the process of bringing the stuff back out around the park that could have flown around with the winds. We talked to a buss driver one day when we were the only ones on the bus and he told us that they have a call in line that they have to keep calling for status on the parks reopening. He said they can't go by what the news on TV says because they only re open for the resort guests and they don't let the general public in.

[palmickey]

We were talking to a CM in one of the Downtown Disney shops that asked where we were from, we told her and she said "OH, so you are really here on vacation?" She told us that every guest that she had waited on that day was there from southern FL to escape the storm. We started listening to other guests and we did hear quite a few guests on the busses and in the parks talking on their cell phones saying that they were going to stay at Disney and enjoy themselves while they waited out the storm.

Other CM's told us that a lot of people go to Disney because Disney was built the way that it should have been, they can withstand the winds with little to no damage, that people are safe there and Disney takes care of their guests. It made us feel a lot safer having never been through a hurricane.

[honeypot]

We heard a lot of people saying they were hurricane refugees. I was surprised by how many people. It never occured to me that anyone other then vacationers would be there. I heard someone saying that their power wouldn't be on until November 15th. Can you imagine.
I agree the hurricane was kind of cool. It wasn't too bad and WDW was prepared for it.