Disney World

[Us 2 cajuns]

Have 27 year old daughter with "no sense". Left New Orleans today for Disney to finalize her wedding arrangements for December. She thinks Disney is a safe haven and they never have any problems.
Would like input on how Disney stood up to the recent hurricanes.
Do you think Jeanne will affect that area?

[Cookiely]

My aunt went to Disney during Charley. Her daughter worked their for awhile and she told me some amazing things. They have a generator so she knew that the power to the hotels would stay on and they have their own electric utility company. I forget what she said the hotels were rated for hurricane strength. They went in the bathroom for a couple of hours because the storm was so fierce but their wasn't any damage but some downed tree limbs.

[jlauderdal]

Have 27 year old daughter with "no sense". Left New Orleans today for Disney to finalize her wedding arrangements for December. She thinks Disney is a safe haven and they never have any problems.
Would like input on how Disney stood up to the recent hurricanes.
Do you think Jeanne will affect that area?

i would worry less about the cane and more about her "no sense" and the fact she is getting married. i hope the groom is a quality guy. hopeull she is at least in orlando before the action starts because you dont want her driving around in a cane..i have before and it isnt real safe. i hope it works out.

[WXBUFFJIM]

I think Disney mostly has underground power from what I hear.

Being Disney is inland, better to be there than be near the coast in those barrier islands.

Jim

[golter]

WDW is well equipped to handle storms. I dont think they lost power in Charley and Frances.

[SeaBrz_FL]

I know lots of people that evac from the coast to Disney just because most hotels have generators and great safety procedures. If they must be in Central FL, then they are staying at the best places.

[Talon402]

Disney has their own utility company, (Reedy Creek), fire dept., and all underground lines. The majority of the resorts never even saw power flicker during the worst of Charley & Frances, and the ones that flickered were only out for a few minutes, at most. The structures are very sound.

[tronbunny]

disney provides excellent shelter to all employees and their family members (including pets) who volunteer for the "ride-out"
May encourage guests to more interior rooms if necessary.
They watch the weather more intensely than even WE do!
I would say VERY safe and comfy!
Hmmm, maybe should get hubby to volunteer this time!

[Ladybug]

we went to disney the day after charley, there was VERY minimal damage compared to the rest of orlando....i'd say it's a fortress in the middle of florida

[otowntiger]

Can't say too much about Disney except that they had crews working all night to get things cleaned up. They do a good job of keeping people safe. I do know however that the Animal Kingdom was closed for several days due to all the damage. It had to have been pretty bad there for that to happen. As for the rest of Orlando, well we here in my house, just south of downtown Orlando we were out of power for over 6 days. Orlando was trashed and still is in some places. I mean, as far as roof damage, trees down everywhere, signs, billboards down, it was pretty amazing huddling in the hallway listening to things crash around outside. I lost all my trees, several in the neigborhood across the streets. We had 105 mph gusts at the airport. Charley was compact in size, and the center came right over downtown. Disney was on the "good" side of the storm. The west side of the county had very little damage compared to downtown and points east. (Disney is on the southwest side of the county). The local met here said that Jeanne could be as bad, maybe worse. He predicted hurricane force winds with gusts over 100mph, if current projections verify. But who knows? I don't plan on boarding up, didn't for Charley or Francis, and made out fine.

[tronbunny]

<snip>I mean, as far as roof damage, trees down everywhere, signs, billboards down, it was pretty amazing huddling in the hallway listening to things crash around outside. I lost all my trees, several in the neigborhood across the streets. We had 105 mph gusts at the airport. Charley was compact in size, and the center came right over downtown. <snip>The local met here said that Jeanne could be as bad, maybe worse. He predicted hurricane force winds with gusts over 100mph, if current projections verify. But who knows? I don't plan on boarding up, didn't for Charley or Francis, and made out fine.

Geeze, Charley was enough to convince me to never weather a cat1+ without boards, even though we didn't have major damage.
A tree branch ripping off pieces of my car could just as well come through my large arch front window.

[LakeToho]

Frankly Disney is no safer than any other resort in Orlando. I do not have much respect for a company that forces their employees back to work like they did after Charley. Go to work or risk being terminated. Many of the people who work there are from Osceola County, and since Disney does not pay well (and I am talking low low pay), these poor people had to leave their families and go to work. Osceola County had massive damage. While I understand the need to keep the hotels open for evacuee's, I do not understand the need to open the parks the very next day. You got to figure, how do they clean up right after a hurricane. It aint magic.. Loads of low payed workers.. They should have kept the parks closed.. Tourists (I am not talking about evacuees) have no business being in town during a hurricane. Tourists not only jam up the roads, but they also are competing with locals for food, shelter, ice, and gas. Sorry I had to vent about this.. I welcome tourists any other time..