Have you ever been at Disney World for a power outage or other "disaster?"

I worked there during the hurricane that came through - or was supposed to come through - in 1999. Fran, maybe? I can't remember. Anyway, it was supposed to sweep up the coast and bring some nasty weather to Orlando. In anticipation, the parks closed (for one of the few times ever, if not the first time) and they went into disaster mode, with volunteer CMs working around the clock to ensure guests were safe and entertained (volunteer in the sense that the CMs volunteered to work these shifts and be on hand for the disasters. They still got paid.) It came to nothing; as hurricanes often do, it wobbled to the east, and never did much this far south. But it was interesting to watch everything unfold, and to see WDW spring into action like that.

Not sure what happend during Charlie in 2004, which actually did blaze through Orlando. That was just prior to our moving back to Orlando from Atlanta.

The worst we've ever experienced was closing the pool due to lightening and the infamous turnstile malfunction at HS while we were there in December, and they could not let anyone in the park for 20 minutes right at opening.

I still can't believe that happened!

We narrowly missed a couple of hurricanes one year, so the whole place was kind of electrified with worry and wonder about what would happen. That's it for us, though!

We've been there during hurricane scares but no hurricanes. We've also been there when there was a hurricane out in the ocean that was sending tons of rain, but never one that hit Orlando.

We went about 2 weeks after a fairly major hurricane. You could still see the aftermath, broken palm trees, etc. The parks were in good shape though and everything was back up and running. We heard that some things had been down for a few days for minor repairs afterwards though.

It's amazing to me how quickly Disney can get things up and running after something like that. Great story, Lizzy, about how the cast members step in to volunteer to take on extra shifts.

I think I'd go stir crazy if I had to stay in the resort for days on end during a hurricane watch/warning.

Was that Charlie in 2004, Katrina? That one really did some serious damage to the area. It moved fast, thank goodness, but definitely left its mark.

Thanks, Annie! Yes, I think that was the biggest issue - keeping everyone happy and entertained!

I forgot the name, but it was 2004 so that would make sense I guess.

I've been shocked before to hear about how quickly they replace things like the flowers and what not. They run a tight ship over there it seems.

I didn't go but I remember reading all the articles and following the blogs when Charlie hit. I was obsessed with this webcam that All Ears had on their website. I hit refresh about every 30 seconds! I read a lot of first hand reports and it seemed like WDW handled everything very well.

It wasn't anything like a hurricane. But back when I was working at the Studios (Jan/2007), there was some pretty nasty clogging issue at the ABC Comissary's restroom. I don't know the details, but the sewers' content came back up (is that correct? I'm not a native Englisg speaker), part of the backstage became flooded (with more than just water), the afternoon parade was cancelled and the whole place kind of smelled like sh... well, like feces.
That was a pretty bad disaster, in my opinion!

An acquaintance of mine who worked at MK during Jan/2010 said they had to close the park one day: the wheater was so cold that there were only about 400 guests. I had gone shopping that day (mall was crownded), so I don't really know what actually happened there.

I'm almost certain I'd rather have a hurricane.