Hurricane Dorian

[Cinderumbrella]

I'm asking this in a most respectful way: Why are folks still planning to come or stay at Disney if they know a hurricane is coming? I was once stranded in a tropical storm/hurricane category 1 and it wasn't fun at all. This hurricane is going to be much stronger than that. Are people not scared??

I’m coming tomorrow. We still don’t even know where it’s going to hit in Florida (or when since it changes with each update). I can’t reschedule easily so we are taking the chance. I may regret it, I may not. But I don’t have enough definitive information at this moment to justify canceling.

 

[lorenae]

We are watching the weather from Michigan, as we have a house in the path. We do have someone to board up the house's windows (I hope!) and we have our fingers crossed.

I would NOT go to WDW this weekend, even if the storm turns a little. There will be east coast people evacuating, stores and gas stations running out of food and fuel, and heavy rain if not worse.

Your safety is important, much more important than a Disney vacation.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

I'm asking this in a most respectful way: Why are folks still planning to come or stay at Disney if they know a hurricane is coming? I was once stranded in a tropical storm/hurricane category 1 and it wasn't fun at all. This hurricane is going to be much stronger than that. Are people not scared??

I'm always scared of hurricanes and have a picture on my wall of the effects of Ivan on P'cola pier to remind me. I prayed for 6 hours that the roof would stay on my house. I'm sitting on the bulls eye ( as it stands right now) for Dorian. We would rather drive an hour away than 8 hrs. and not be able to get gas.

 

[it's kelly]

So all the latest reports within the past hour Dorian at a Cat 3 hitting Florida on Monday! So my guess is all Orlando flights will be canceled? We are scheduled to fly out of Orlando on Monday evening and I am seriously thinking of cancelling the entire trip.
Really can't get stuck in Disney as much as I would love to. High school and college kids need to be back in class. Can't miss days waiting to get out.

I have never been in Florida during a hurricane. From most of the models I just watched this past hour it is almost for sure hitting the east coast of Florida somewhere mid to north range. Will Orlando shut the airport down?

Thinking I may be better off moving our trip dates. Would love to hear from locals and people that have experienced this before.

It’s still rather early to tell where it will hit. The warm waters of the Atlantic and low pressures can change a lot. Dorian can head south leaving Orlando clear. Try to watch local news or the local online paper over the national news.

 

[Searc]

Latest update...

 

[wareagle57]

Assuming it veers away (as it seems they almost never hit exactly where they say this far out), how wide is the storm? Like how far away does it have to go for Orlando not to be impacted at all other than some rain?

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Assuming it veers away (as it seems they almost never hit exactly where they say this far out), how wide is the storm? Like how far away does it have to go for Orlando not to be impacted at all other than some rain?

Currently TS for winds extend out 90 miles and hurricane strength 15 miles. That is subject to change.

 

[wareagle57]

Currently TS for winds extend out 90 miles and hurricane strength 15 miles. That is subject to change.

I assume as it strengthen that gets bigger right?

 

[cakebaker]

I'm asking this in a most respectful way: Why are folks still planning to come or stay at Disney if they know a hurricane is coming? I was once stranded in a tropical storm/hurricane category 1 and it wasn't fun at all. This hurricane is going to be much stronger than that. Are people not scared??

If I had reservations for that time frame, I certainly wouldn't be cancelling now and would only cancel if it just wasn't possible to go either because of driving issues or cancelled flights. WDW is inland, have a pretty good track record of withstanding storms. It takes a lot of time and planning, days off scheduled etc and so just saying cancel is not as easy as it seems. There's sure no reason to panic and absolutely no reason to cancel as of right now.

 

[insureman]

I’m coming tomorrow. We still don’t even know where it’s going to hit in Florida (or when since it changes with each update). I can’t reschedule easily so we are taking the chance. I may regret it, I may not. But I don’t have enough definitive information at this moment to justify canceling.

Not sure if you have been in a hurricane but as people have posted it will not be fun and will be dangerous. I've been through a few hurricanes in the Northeast and was deployed with the Red Cross to Louisiana for hurricane Gustav in 2008 so I know what I am talking about. Right now they are calling for a Cat 4 hitting around the south of Port Canaveral and traveling right over Orlando. Just be aware not to depend on any help for at least 48 hours. It's just vacation, its not worth risking your life or the life of a first responder that might have to save you. . Good luck with your decision either way.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I assume as it strengthen that gets bigger right?

probably

 

[ouwxgirl]

Meteorologist here (that's what the "wx" part of my handle means!). Lots of people have said it, but I wanted to post to reinforce it. It's WAY too early to tell exactly where Dorian will make landfall on the SE US coast, and then, where it will go once it makes landfall. That's why the National Hurricane Center (who is the premier authority on tracks, impacts, etc.) shows a track "cone". Basically, the majority of the time, the eventual CENTER of the storm will fall within that cone. It doesn't mean that the impacts will be confined to the cone OR conversely, that the entire area within the cone will see significant impacts. If you want the latest and greatest information on Dorian, follow the National Hurricane Center and the local National Weather Service office. For the Orlando area, that would be the NWS office out of Melbourne.

It's incredibly smart to have a plan on how to take care of yourself and your family if you DO find yourself affected by Dorian. But now is not the time to panic or to absolutely pin point specifically which areas will be hardest hit.

I assume as it strengthen that gets bigger right?

Not necessarily, but usually. It's more that the area affected by and intensity of any impacts (such as higher and greater coverage of storm surge) increases, rather than the physical size of the cloud shield. That's what you need to care about.

 

[PCFriar80]

I assume as it strengthen that gets bigger right?

Not necessarily. Strength and size are mutually exclusive. Strength or intensity is based on the windspeed from the eye out [or across], so as strength increases basically windspeed from the eye increases. Size is based on the outer reach of impactful winds. The best example I can think of is comparing hurricane Andrew to Irma. Andrew was a cat 5, extremely intense storm but was considered a small storm in reach with hurricane impact winds of just 50 miles across. Irma was a cat 5 also and its hurricane impact winds reached over 125 miles across and tropical storm winds were over 300 miles across. So, same intensity but different sizes. Hard to say where Dorian will fit in with relation to this but would assume somewhere in the middle since these two hurricanes were two extremes from a size perspective.

ETA: @ouwxgirl beat me to the punch. I type slow!

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Not sure if you have been in a hurricane but as people have posted it will not be fun and will be dangerous. I've been through a few hurricanes in the Northeast and was deployed with the Red Cross to Louisiana for hurricane Gustav in 2008 so I know what I am talking about. Right now they are calling for a Cat 4 hitting around the south of Port Canaveral and traveling right over Orlando. Just be aware not to depend on any help for at least 48 hours. It's just vacation, its not worth risking your life or the life of a first responder that might have to save you. . Good luck with your decision either way.

With all due respect, we still don’t know that WDW will be in a hurricane. The models keep changing. Will it be wet & windy? Yes. Will the parks need to close at some point: likely but still not known.

So I’m following the advice of the good meteorologist above for now. My flight is in 12 hours.

 

[tanyali26]

I followed the post durring the last hurricane. Different resorts had different experiences if you were at a budget you were confined to the room for a little over 24 hrs some had no food box meals were but alot of people were not awar some resorts had dance parties for the kids does were the ones woth corridors. There was not alot of all round communication people were coming on here for info. Staff was short as well. You have to understand the cast members have homes to protect and prepare and if it is going to be a direct hit will most likely evacuate. They will have back up cast memebers but remember they are not considered emergency personel. It was not that bad but parks were closed for a day and a half. Just some food for thought for those thinking if they should come or not. ...

 

[cakebaker]

Not sure if you have been in a hurricane but as people have posted it will not be fun and will be dangerous. I've been through a few hurricanes in the Northeast and was deployed with the Red Cross to Louisiana for hurricane Gustav in 2008 so I know what I am talking about. Right now they are calling for a Cat 4 hitting around the south of Port Canaveral and traveling right over Orlando. Just be aware not to depend on any help for at least 48 hours. It's just vacation, its not worth risking your life or the life of a first responder that might have to save you. . Good luck with your decision either way.

There has been no forecast anywhere that has pinpointed where this storm will go with that amount of specificity and if you find it, discount anything they say because it's just not possible to know. It could hit Jacksonville, it could hit Miami, it could hit absolutely nothing. There's no need for just a gloom and doom scenario just yet, hopefully never will be.

 

[cakebaker]

I followed the post durring the last hurricane. Different resorts had different experiences if you were at a budget you were confined to the room for a little over 24 hrs some had no food box meals were but alot of people were not awar some resorts had dance parties for the kids does were the ones woth corridors. There was not alot of all round communication people were coming on here for info. Staff was short as well. You have to understand the cast members have homes to protect and prepare and if it is going to be a direct hit will most likely evacuate. They will have back up cast memebers but remember they are not considered emergency personel. It was not that bad but parks were closed for a day and a half. Just some food for thought for those thinking if they should come or not. ...

I will say, if I were going during a possible hurricane, I would not want to be in a resort whose rooms open to the outdoors or a room not connected to the main lobby.

 

[Disxuni]

Yes, there is no telling where the areas are going to hit the hardest, but unless Dorian magically decides to barely brush Miami and suddenly it's tracked to keep going all the way left on the map, or suddenly go upwards into the Atlantic, the parks are definitely going to close at some point, especially if it's on track to going through the state and on track to being a potential cat 4 as predicted. No matter where it lands, if that is the scenerio, it's more than likely going to close, it's just unknown for how long, or when. For examples of hurricanes closed due to Disney and their tracks reference Floyd, Frances, Jeanne, and Matthew.

I do not mean to burst all your bubbles, but just saying, as I may have not been tracking this post on the forum, but this page alone looks to be a lot of non-Floridian's, maybe a couple of Floridians, and just giving a reality check.

To me, Disney seems the perfect place to be. Last time it closed, it seemed they did a lot of activities for children in order to make up for not being in the parks and more than likely they were able to well maintain their power compared to other areas. However, while it's nice for someone like me, it might be different for those who stay at value resorts, or paid hundreds to thousands of dollars for a vacation where they're not going to get the bang for their buck if the parks close.

 

[Beachmom0317]

Yes, there is no telling where the areas are going to hit the hardest, but unless Dorian magically decides to barely brush Miami and suddenly it's tracked to keep going all the way left on the map, or suddenly go upwards into the Atlantic, the parks are definitely going to close at some point, especially if it's on track to going through the state and on track to being a potential cat 4 as predicted. No matter where it lands, if that is the scenerio, it's more than likely going to close, it's just unknown for how long, or when. For examples of hurricanes closed due to Disney and their tracks reference Floyd, Frances, Jeanne, and Matthew.

I do not mean to burst all your bubbles, but just saying, as I may have not been tracking this post on the forum, but this page alone looks to be a lot of non-Floridian's, maybe a couple of Floridians, and just giving a reality check.

To me, Disney seems the perfect place to be. Last time it closed, it seemed they did a lot of activities for children in order to make up for not being in the parks and more than likely they were able to well maintain their power compared to other areas. However, while it's nice for someone like me, it might be different for those who stay at value resorts, or paid hundreds to thousands of dollars for a vacation where they're not going to get the bang for their buck if the parks close.

I agree. We live in New England and only make it down once a year or so and I’d totally be cancelling if my one trip a year was going to be just hanging out at resort without doing parks since we save for a long time and try to get lots of experiences in our one trip!

 

[FSU Girl]

There has been no forecast anywhere that has pinpointed where this storm will go with that amount of specificity and if you find it, discount anything they say because it's just not possible to know. It could hit Jacksonville, it could hit Miami, it could hit absolutley nothing. There's no need for just a gloom and doom scenario just yet, hopefully never will be.

I think they are just trying to make a point that a hurricane should be taken seriously. Floridians know how bad these storms can be and that they are no joke. I’ve lived my whole life in south Florida and gone through them all. I’m watching this storm closely and it’s definitely not certain where this is going yet and it keeps slowing down. But I would never tell someone to come here for a vacation with a hurricane approaching if it’s possible for them to change their plans. If this storm hits as a cat 4 it’s going to be bad. Disney probably is going to be the nicest place to be after the storm, but it might be possible the airports will be closed for days or weeks after due to damage. It can be dangerous to travel after and there will be gas shortages.

I also think if you’re going to go and brave it try and stay at a resort with indoor hallways and a lobby, being confined to your room for a day or more is not fun.