So you have a Disney World trip booked during a hurricane. Now what?
Dark clouds over Tower of Terror
Well, first off — don’t panic! Disney World has stayed open throughout many rough hurricane seasons, and they have protocols in place for the most severe weather. So, here is what you should do if you’re going to Disney World during a hurricane.
There are several things you should do while preparing to visit the resort during a severe storm. The main thing you should do is pack for the weather! We encourage bringing Ziploc bags for your important items. If the rain picks up, your bag won’t be a safe, dry place for those items. You’ll want to pack your electronics, wallet, cash, and important documents in closed plastic bags. This also makes them easier to find in an emergency.
We Need More Splash Mountain Ziploc Bags
Pack your poncho! You’ll regret not bringing one, and it may be difficult to find one to purchase when everyone else is grabbing them too. Also, ponchos allow you to stay out in the rain while other people are hiding out in dry areas…which means short lines!
Bring those ponchos!
You’ll want to consider bringing extra shoes and socks with you into the parks. Your feet will absolutely get wet, and there’s nothing worse than wet feet. You can pack them in large Ziploc bags and keep them in your park bag, or you can store them in a locker. Either way, this is a huge key to a successful Disney trip in a tropical storm!
Of course, you could always buy a new pair…
Bringing food for your hotel room is also a must! If the parks close (and they have in the past for hurricanes), you’ll be riding out the storm in your hotel, and food options and locations will be limited. You’ll might want to keep your hotel room full of food, just in case. But do not worry if that is not an option, Disney will take care of you, they just might not have your most favorite goodies on hand.
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
Keep an eye on the weather forecast as you get closer to your trip! Storm predictions can change by the hour, so you’ll want to monitor the weather. Sometimes the storm will decrease in severity before it actually hits the area. Other times, the storm will increase in strength, which may cause you to choose to cancel the trip. The storm has been shifting east and west and a lot can change in the days leading up to this storm.
Dark clouds over Cinderella Castle
Know where you can shelter from the storm! There are plenty of areas around Disney World that are great for riding out a storm — stores, restaurants, hotels, etc. Make sure you keep an eye on what’s around you, just in case you need to hide out from the storm.
Tatooine Traders during a rainstorm
You also may want to consider changing hotels. Some hotels are better for tropical storms and hurricanes — they’re completely enclosed, have in-room kitchens, and have other great features for storms.
Here’s our list of the best hotels for a hurricane or major storm.
And lastly, you need to be aware of Disney’s cancelation policy. Here’s what Disney says:
If a hurricane warning is issued by the National Hurricane Center for the Orlando area—or for your place of residence—within 7 days of your scheduled arrival date, you may call in advance to reschedule or cancel your Walt Disney Travel Company Disney Resort hotel packages and most room only reservations (booked directly with Disney) without any cancellation or change fees imposed by Disney.
If you have products and services provided by third-party suppliers included in your vacation—such as airlines, hotels, car rental agencies or travel insurance companies—you will continue to be responsible for any non-refundable payments, as well as cancellation or change fees assessed by those suppliers. The policy does not apply to certain special events or dining experiences.
Disney’s cancelation rules are pretty stringent, but they allow for rescheduling and canceling (without any fees imposed by Disney), in the case that the National Hurricane Center issues a hurricane warning for Orlando (or your place of residence) within 7 days of your arrival date. We’ll let you know if such a warning is issued.
Hurricane Skies in Disney World’s Epcot
Also, the Orlando Airports can sometimes close ahead of hurricanes, so be sure to check on your flight’s status before you head out for your trip.
Orlando International Airport
So there you have it — what to do if you’re visiting Disney World during a hurricane.
Here are a few more hurricane resources if you are interested:
- 5 Things Disney World Is Doing Right Now to Prepare For Hurricane Ian
- 6 Tips for Planning a Disney World Trip During Hurricane Season
- The Best Hurricane Ready Hotels During Hurricane Season
- 8 Tips for Riding Out a Hurricane in Disney World
To learn about the most recent hurricane that impacted Disney World, see these updates on Hurricane Ian:
- The Latest News About Hurricane Ian
- How You Can Help Those Impacted by Hurricane Ian
- See Inside Disney World After Hurricane Ian
- Phased Reopening Announced for Disney World Parks After Hurricane Ian
And we’ll continue to bring you the latest regarding this storm, so stay tuned to DFB.
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Do you have a trip planned during Florida’s hurricane season? Let us know in the comments.
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I’ve been to WDW for minor tropical storms where the parks stayed open and a lot of these tips were valid. As a local though? Barring an actual miracle, this isn’t going to be that kind of storm.
Closed down ride outs can be okay too. We’ve absolutely done this as well – WDW can be one of the safest places in the area. They’re built to very high hurricane safety standards, the hotels have strong generators, and if there was a power issue, the fact that they handle their own power generation means it’s likely to be dealt with much more promptly than the rest of the area, so odds are good over the long run for access to AC and hot meals.
What is good information for this kind of situation is stuff like this:
– If your hotel has separate buildings from the main lobby, your much more likely to be stuck in your room during the worst of the storm. Outside isn’t your friend here, and the pause for the eye of the storm isn’t the time to take your kids to the pool. Horrifyingly, we’ve witnessed this. It puts families and cast members at risk. Don’t do it.
– Find out as early as you can (and this would be excellent info if WDWFB can do some checking) what the food situation will be. Again, it will be tougher if you’re cut off from the lobby, so consider having some items in your room, especially in that case. If delivery is needed, I’d say no later than Tuesday/Wednesday as they’ll stop when the winds pick up. We’ve seen Disney be both good at bad at ride out food options, so getting information and being prepared are key. In the best – and I mean pretty great – circumstances we had restaurants that had very off menu specials for a couple days, so also be ready to be flexible.
– it the past several years Disney World has waved pet policy for evacuating guests. This is absolutely critical information I’d like to see sites like this tracking down. Never leave a pet home alone during a storm. If you’re able to bring them, remember to have food, dishes, toys, and other supplies with you. We had to bring our kitties one year during a storm, and found it best to place a litter box in the bathroom for easier clean up. Try to have someone in the room with pets most of the time. If you just can’t, because of need of food etc., be sure to leave a do not disturb on the door, and remind the desk you have a pet and no one should enter. Saves the possibilities of them bolting out in a strange place.
– General information will be on your WDW information channel on the TV, but you may get hotel specific information pushed to your room phone. Sometimes these are silent, so check your messages alert regularly.
– Storm information and tracks/speed are always changing, so be mindful if you may need to extend your reservation. I’ve never seen someone refused amid an active emergency, but be sure to be on top of this as early as you can.
– Remember all information can change rapidly in an emergency, so consider these as guidelines based on past experience only.
We have a WDW trip scheduled during Ian beginning on September 29. We are driving down from our home in NC, leaving on September 28, staying overnight in Ocala, continuing on to WDW Thursday morning. We have reservations at the Ft. Wilderness Cabins with reservations for golf cart. Since North Carolinians are accustomed to the unpredictability of hurricanes, where can we get the most accurate weather information and any other helpful suggestions?
Scheduled to fly in on October 1st. I’m hoping everything is over and done with by then.
The advise for stocking up on food in your hotel room is spot on!
The most likely result of a hurricane is all parks stay closed from the previous day and resort guests being restricted to their room with the exception of going to the on site food services.
My wife and I were staying at Art Of Animation for a week starting October 6th, 2016. The airport closed just after our flight landed on the 6th. When we got to the resort, all the pools were closed and all of the loungers were stacked up and tied down as well as anything else that could be a hazard blowing around.
Hurricane Matthew was close enough that the entire city of Orlando was shut down. Only emergency personnel were allowed on the streets (nurses reporting for work, etc.).
Everything was closed- grocery stores, convenience stores, restaurants, fast food- everything!
The result was every guest of AoA was in the Landscape of Flavors (Quick Service restaurant on site) lined up for food at the same time!
I jokingly refer to it as a food riot. If not for the fact that true Disney fans are great people, it may have been a riot. But it wasn’t.
But, dispite will humored guests lighting the mood with fun, it was crazy!
Understandably, everyone wanted to stock up on what they could get in case things got bad. This was suggested by management.
Menu was restricted to burgers and chicken nuggets and cheese or pepperoni pizza. Period.
All the normal food service stations were closed except for those two.
There were no organized lines so the entire building was stuffed full of people waiting to get what they could. And it was not free. And you can’t fit much in the little fridge in your room. Anxiety was high.
Most things were back to normal on the afternoon of Saturday the 8th. Many trees were blown down but that was the extent of the damage that we saw.
The authorities are abundantly cautious about everything so if there is even a slight chance of a hurricane coming close, they will shut things down way in advance. I can’t imagine needing to be evacuated from the parks without notice. Which is why they would not let that happen- they would prefer to just not open if there is any chance of a storm hitting hard during that business day.
It’s a good idea to have at least one or two days of non-perishable food on hand so you can avoid the food riots.
I did miss out on a couple of days in the parks (a day and a half actually) but, in hind sight, I am glad for the experience. I learned a lot and even though it was scary at times, it was exciting and I have a story to tell!
We have flights plans in place for arriving on Oct 1st? The time table for knowing if flights will be cancelled is so unknown- what do we do about our reservation for the Wilderness Lodge( we worked with a Disney travel agent) We are flying from Nashville arriving late Saturday afternoon.
Hi Pamela. You will need to reach out to your travel agent to find out what their policy is on cancellations.
We are to fly out on the 30th.
Right now our plane is not canceled. We have tickets for Micky’s no so scary halloween party. This was a speical gift for my austic daughter. Should we hold on to see that happens?
I called Disney- I had to cancel a trip a week ago that was supposed to start today and I had tickets to MNSSHP.
They told me that there were no refunds but there value of the tickets would be held on my account for future purchases.
I’m not sure if that will be for only special events in Disney World or if I can use it in Disneyland or for rooms in the future?