Hurricane Ian came through Florida this week and caused extensive damage.

The storm made its way across the state, initially hitting as a Category 4 hurricane, then went back out into the Atlantic Ocean and is now heading for South Carolina. We’ve seen flooding and damage in areas like Orlando due to the storm, and Disney World was closed for the past 2 days. The parks are now back open, and we’re here to check out what’s going on.

Disney World is currently doing a phased reopening due to the hurricane. Here’s a look at the reopening schedule for today, Friday, September 30th:

Magic Kingdom

• Early Theme Park Entry (for visitors staying at Disney hotels): 8AM
• All guests can enter: 10AM
• Park Close: 6PM
• Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party: 4PM guest entry; 7PM to 12AM party hours

EPCOT

• Early Theme Park Entry (for visitors staying at Disney hotels): 9AM
• All guests can enter: 11AM
• Park close: 9PM

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

• Early Theme Park Entry (for visitors staying at Disney hotels): 10AM
• All guests can enter: 12PM
• Park close: 9PM

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

• Early Theme Park Entry (for visitors staying at Disney hotels): 11AM
• All guests can enter: 1PM
• Park close: 7PM

Disney Springs

• Open 10AM to 11:30PM

Fantasia Fairways Miniature Golf Course

• Open 3PM to 10PM

Now, we’re going to head into the parks to see how things are going. Our reporters noted that making their way to the parks this morning was very stressful. They saw a lot of flooding on roads heading toward Magic Kingdom, as well as downed signs and debris. They also had to be rerouted from their normal route as authorities were blocking roads due to downed trees. Their cell service was also not working well, making navigation difficult — so keep all of this in mind if you’re driving to the parks today.

EPCOT

The first park we’re visiting today is EPCOT. Early Theme Park Entry for guests staying at Disney hotels began at 9AM.

Walking up to the front of the park, we saw part of a tree limb on the ground.

And, some of the 50th Anniversary signs looked like they had suffered some damage due to the winds.

We arrived at the park before 9AM and there were a decent amount of people waiting outside to get in.

The lines at the front entrance were not very long.

But, there was definitely a good amount of people going into the park.

Good Morning from EPCOT #WaltDisneyWorld pic.twitter.com/2pBo23LtJO

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 30, 2022

Once inside, the crowds were very little.

Although, there was a long line waiting to speak to Guest Relations.

Over at Test Track, the canopy that goes across the front entrance to the ride is missing.

All that is up is the structure.

Here’s another look.

We also noticed that the canopy over Test Track in EPCOT is missing this morning! ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/iTKlxcn9ve

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 30, 2022

There are definitely a decent amount of people in the park though, because rides like Frozen Ever After were at a 55 minute wait this morning.

Living with the Land was closed this morning.

They were experiencing technical difficulties.

If you’re in EPCOT today, heads up – Living with the Land is currently CLOSED due to technical difficulties, and doesn’t currently have a reopening time. ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/mSlGcLXhEe

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 30, 2022

…but then it reopened and there were a lot of people in line.

And, the line inside Connections Cafe (AKA Starbucks) was VERY long.

There weren’t a lot of people around the front of World Showcase in the early afternoon.

And, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure was down for a while, but then went back up with only a 30 minute wait.

We’ll let you know what else we see.

Magic Kingdom

In Magic Kingdom, the park opened up to hotel guests at 8AM. We got there closer to 9AM and there were a decent amount of people going inside.

Inside, things weren’t too busy.

Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party is still happening tonight, which will close down Magic Kingdom at 6PM.

The sign at the front of the park says that the event is sold out…

…however, the sign over near City Hall says tickets are available. So, even though you can’t buy tickets online, it looks like you can buy them in Magic Kingdom.

But, by Friday afternoon, the sign said that tickets were sold out.

We also saw that some water was still in the TRON construction zone.

Over in Magic Kingdom, the TRON construction zone 🚧 retained some water from the storm. #DisneyWorld pic.twitter.com/23Qc6G3RHW

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 30, 2022

Here’s another look.

There was also some high water in the area behind Memento Mori near the Haunted Mansion in Liberty Square.

In Adventureland, both Jungle Cruise…

…and Pirates of the Caribbean were closed.

But, Jungle Cruise reopened later and was at a 30 minute wait.

Due to those closures, there weren’t a lot of people in the Adventureland area.

Just look at how short the line is for Aloha Isle.

There was also seating available at Skipper Canteen, which is usually pretty booked up with reservations.

Over in Fantasyland, there were also very low crowds…

…even in the areas that are usually filled with people.

Here’s another look.

Taking a look around Magic Kingdom, and it’s not crowded…at all today. At least over here in Fantasyland! ✨ pic.twitter.com/cvPsGcyVWj

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 30, 2022

Prince Eric’s Village Market was closed.

And, back in Storybook Circus, the banners were still rolled up.

The back of the castle had some people around it…

…but the front was empty.

This is a very rare sight.

Crowds are SO low in Magic Kingdom, that there’s NO ONE in front of Cinderella Castle! 😳😍 #DisneyWorld pic.twitter.com/d0RvuMNYw4

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 30, 2022

The park is looking pretty empty.

Let’s check out Animal Kingdom.

Animal Kingdom

Over in Animal Kingdom, a ton of things were closed.

Expedition Everest was down.

Cast Members said that the ride was impacted by the hurricane and maintenance was working on the ride.

Cast members in Animal Kingdom tell us that Expedition Everest did suffer storm damage and that repairs are currently being made on the mountain. #DisneyWorld pic.twitter.com/r5nDbPlw4F

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 30, 2022

Kali River Rapids was closed…

…as was Kilimanjaro Safaris.

Cast Members did not have info on when it could possibly reopen.

Kilimanjaro Safaris is also down in Animal Kingdom! Cast members there say there’s no information regarding its reopening right now. #DisneyWorld pic.twitter.com/b8AdiPPsB4

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 30, 2022

Rafiki’s Planet Watch was closed, too. Cast Members said that the area has a lot of damage, like trees being down.

Inside the park, we also saw things like snapped tree branches.

We’ll let you know if things end up reopening.

Disney Springs

Disney Springs reopened at 10AM this morning, and when we arrived, it was pretty empty.

There were not a lot of people around at all.

Some of the stores did remain closed unexpectedly, like Amorette’s Patisserie, which was still closed past its opening time of 11AM.

As the morning went on, crowds started to pick up.

There were a decent amount of people out and about.

As the day went on, we saw more and more people in Disney Springs.

World of Disney was pretty busy.

Disney Resorts

We took the Monorail past Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort and noticed that the construction site for the Disney Vacation Club building is flooded.

There is a ton of water in the construction site.

We did not see anyone working over here.

We’ll continue to update this post as we see more in the parks today.

For more on Hurricane Ian, take a look at our recent posts:

• FULL SCHEDULE for Disney World Parks Reopening After Hurricane Ian
• PHASED REOPENING Announced for Disney World Parks After Hurricane Ian
• SeaWorld EXTENDS Park Closures Due to Hurricane Ian
• PHOTOS & VIDEOS: What Orlando and Disney World Look Like Ahead of Hurricane Ian
• Disney World To WAIVE Cancelation Fees Through Next Week

Stay tuned to DFB for more Disney World news and updates.

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