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Tropical Storms and Hurricanes

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Thu, 07/03/2014 - 11:55
Miss Mikki
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Tropical Storms and Hurricanes

I am a bit of a weather geek, including having a storm tracker on my ipad.

I thought I would update you now the 2014 hurricane season has started.

The first hurricane of the season has formed in the atlantic region - Hurricane Arthur. I have been watching it for several days as it has been a tropical depression and storm, before becoming a hurricane. It has been just off the East coast of Florida but now has moved a bit higher up the coast.

If you are in Florida at the moment have you experienced anything from this weather formation? - stormy/blustery? Or is it too far out to effect the Orlando area?

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Thu, 07/03/2014 - 14:49
BarbaraB
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Hurricanes are always a concern when I plan my vacations. Hubby and I always travel in Sept (for our anniversary), and we usually head south. We've been very lucky so far. We've never been anywhere when a hurricane hit, but we were close a couple times. We left New Orleans the day before a hurricane was schedule to hit (not Katrina, before her). We left Texas a couple days before a hurricane was schedule to come in. We didn't have to cut our trips short; we were scheduled to leave on those days anyway. We did have to cancel one trip to Virginia, but it was only going to be a long weekend trip to Busch Gardens. We lost money on the park tickets since I bought them online before hand and we never re-scheduled the trip.

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Thu, 07/03/2014 - 15:35
ScottFL
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When it was close enough to affect Orlando earlier this week, it wasn't strong enough to conjure anything out of the ordinary. Now it's too far up the coast.

Thu, 07/03/2014 - 19:15
Sally-Ann
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Miss Mikki did you see the footage this week of the Sears Tower being struck 3 times by lightening? It was amazing. You should try Storm Struck at Epcot, I really enjoyed it and found it interesting (especially as we don't really get that bad weather in London)

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Thu, 07/03/2014 - 20:21
jw24
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While I have been fortunate enough to have never experienced a hurricane in Disney, the stories I have heard is that the parks have closed early in the past but nothing very large damage wise so in other words, if you fear Cinderella Castle will be destroyed with its turrets ripped off all over Main Street or Tomorrowland, that won't happen. And apaprently, Disney is "storm ready" by the NOAA so that's re-assuring knowing that they are prepared for hurricane if one were to hit.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2006/s2638.htm

My understanding is that Lake Buena Vista and Orlando is further inland compared to Miami and Tampa, two cities right by the coast. So the level of impact of a hurricane won't be as severe as you go in land because a hurricane gets weaker as it goes over land as its main source of energy from the warm waters and high dewpoints is not prevalent when it makes landfall. They'll be a lot of heavy rain and winds like any hurricane though.

Disney World Hurricane Policy FAQ:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/hurricane-policy/

Honestly, I'd be more concerned being on a Disney Cruise in the Caribbean with the possibility of a hurricane as opposed to Disney World. I know the route will most certainly be re-routed for safety reasons but I would think you'll definitely feel a hurricane's impact on the water and it would not be for the people who are seasick prone.

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Thu, 07/03/2014 - 20:57
ScottFL
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jw24 wrote:
While I have been fortunate enough to have never experienced a hurricane in Disney, the stories I have heard is that the parks have closed early in the past but nothing very large damage wise so in other words, if you fear Cinderella Castle will be destroyed with its turrets ripped off all over Main Street or Tomorrowland, that won't happen. And apaprently, Disney is "storm ready" by the NOAA so that's re-assuring knowing that they are prepared for hurricane if one were to hit.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2006/s2638.htm

My understanding is that Lake Buena Vista and Orlando is further inland compared to Miami and Tampa, two cities right by the coast. So the level of impact of a hurricane won't be as severe as you go in land because a hurricane gets weaker as it goes over land as its main source of energy from the warm waters and high dewpoints is not prevalent when it makes landfall. They'll be a lot of heavy rain and winds like any hurricane though.

Not necessarily true - when Hurricane Charlie hit in '04 (was it '04?), it cut a pretty bad swath up the center of Florida, while the two coasts had minimal impact (with the exception of Punta Gorda, where it made landfall). Each storm is different.

Thu, 07/03/2014 - 21:40
jw24
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ScottFL wrote:
Not necessarily true - when Hurricane Charlie hit in '04 (was it '04?), it cut a pretty bad swath up the center of Florida, while the two coasts had minimal impact (with the exception of Punta Gorda, where it made landfall). Each storm is different.

Touche. I should've known considering how Irene and Sandy affected my hometown very differently. My neck of woods was pretty much fine from Sandy with only a couple of fallen branches and it was the Jersey Shore that really suffered but Irene was a lot worse for my area compared to Sandy. There was a lot of flooding and the train tracks were submerged in water so the mass transit trains couldn't run at all and our basement flooded late at night because our pumping system at the time wasn't particulary strong.

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"All my life I wonder how it feels to pass a day, not above them but part of them.

And out there living in the sun, give me one day out there, all I ask is one to hold forever. Out there where they all live unaware, what I'd give, what I'd dare, just to live one day out there."

Fri, 07/04/2014 - 02:03
JMed
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I've been thru quite a few of them.... The biggest Hurricane Hugo 1989 in Charleston SC. I may be a little cray cray but I love hurricanes. They are terrifying but so amazing at the same time.

I've always lived on the east coast and have a SERIOUS respect for the storms. I've never been to the bubble during one.

We had a little tiny bit from Arthur today but nothing to write home about. It's still early in the season and I am sure there is more to come. Every year, I think, this is it, there is going to be a big one.....

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Fri, 07/04/2014 - 08:40
Sid Man
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I've always managed to miss a storm when I've been in Florida. The closest I got was last year in October when the storm that threatened couldn't make its mind up so eventually blew itself out in the Gulf. I remember watching the news and thinking that my holiday was going to be mostly the inside of an apartment, but all I got was a half hour or so of intense rain during my first weekend there where I got soaked coming out of the mall and going to my car! Can't even remember the name of the hurricane that was meant to have hit...Emma, Kate or sommat...

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Fri, 07/04/2014 - 13:01
ScottFL
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Actually, the best day at the park we ever had was when a storm was churning off the Atlantic coast a few years ago. We spent the day at AK. Overcast and cool in July, but only rained 2 or 3 times for about 5 minutes apiece. I don't think we waited more than 5 minutes for any ride the entire day - we ended up closing the park down with a gorgeous sunset. We still talk about what a great day that was.

Fri, 07/04/2014 - 18:13
crazycatperson
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We had a Disney day wiped out by Hurricane Wilma back in 2005. The parks did not open as scheduled, although once the storm had passed they did open much later in the day and stayed open later than scheduled to compensate for the lost time. But we were staying offsite that trip and didn't know the parks ever opened until a day later. We did Downtown Disney once Wilma was gone and still had a nice day.

Fri, 07/04/2014 - 23:12
MrHub
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JMed wrote:
I've been thru quite a few of them.... The biggest Hurricane Hugo 1989 in Charleston SC. I may be a little cray cray but I love hurricanes. They are terrifying but so amazing at the same time.

I've always lived on the east coast and have a SERIOUS respect for the storms. I've never been to the bubble during one.

We had a little tiny bit from Arthur today but nothing to write home about. It's still early in the season and I am sure there is more to come. Every year, I think, this is it, there is going to be a big one.....

We were on the SS Galileo on our first and only cruise coming back from Bermuda during hurricane Hugo as he came up the east coast with 30' seas. She went down ten years later in the Strait of Malacca. That was a ride I never want to do again! We didn't get sick but man that boat was rocking. Never been in WDW though during a hurricane. Just some nasty lightning storms.

Sat, 07/05/2014 - 01:02
JMed
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MrHub wrote:
JMed wrote:
I've been thru quite a few of them.... The biggest Hurricane Hugo 1989 in Charleston SC. I may be a little cray cray but I love hurricanes. They are terrifying but so amazing at the same time.

I've always lived on the east coast and have a SERIOUS respect for the storms. I've never been to the bubble during one.

We had a little tiny bit from Arthur today but nothing to write home about. It's still early in the season and I am sure there is more to come. Every year, I think, this is it, there is going to be a big one.....

We were on the SS Galileo on our first and only cruise coming back from Bermuda during hurricane Hugo as he came up the east coast with 30' seas. She went down ten years later in the Strait of Malacca. That was a ride I never want to do again! We didn't get sick but man that boat was rocking. Never been in WDW though during a hurricane. Just some nasty lightning storms.

I could not even imagine being on a boat during one....

Hugo was quite the experience.

We lived in Florida during Wilma. We had a friend from NY staying with us at the time. She was scared to death. I took her out on the 4 wheeler during the eye and told her the 2nd half was coming and we had to get back. Poor girl didn't know there was the "other side" of the storm...

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"I do not like the cone of shame."

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell."

"It seems to me that we have a lot of story yet to tell."

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Sat, 07/05/2014 - 01:04
JMed
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All of my pics are at my parents house packed away. The one that sticks out in my mind is the one of my daddy standing on the roof of one of his Hardee's in downtown Charleston. That roof was laying in the parking lot...

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"I do not like the cone of shame."

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell."

"It seems to me that we have a lot of story yet to tell."

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Tue, 07/08/2014 - 16:09
EmFord
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jw24 wrote:

Touche. I should've known considering how Irene and Sandy affected my hometown very differently. My neck of woods was pretty much fine from Sandy with only a couple of fallen branches and it was the Jersey Shore that really suffered but Irene was a lot worse for my area compared to Sandy. There was a lot of flooding and the train tracks were submerged in water so the mass transit trains couldn't run at all and our basement flooded late at night because our pumping system at the time wasn't particulary strong.

We had the same thing with both Sandy and Irene. Lost power for a couple days and major flooding for Irene.. Sandy came and we were prepared for the worst.. Just a lot of rain and wind. Didn't even lose power. You must be close to me.. where are you located?

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Tue, 07/08/2014 - 19:15
jw24
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EmFord wrote:

We had the same thing with both Sandy and Irene. Lost power for a couple days and major flooding for Irene.. Sandy came and we were prepared for the worst.. Just a lot of rain and wind. Didn't even lose power. You must be close to me.. where are you located?

A small town called West Windsor, NJ. Relatively close to Trenton and Princeton. I consulted the "Where Are You From" map and you're from Wilmington, DE. Not too far, distance wise. About 80 miles seperation.

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"All my life I wonder how it feels to pass a day, not above them but part of them.

And out there living in the sun, give me one day out there, all I ask is one to hold forever. Out there where they all live unaware, what I'd give, what I'd dare, just to live one day out there."

Tue, 07/08/2014 - 19:35
EmFord
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gotcha. yeah i know a lot of the shore got hit bad with Sandy but those of us inland got off easy. awesome

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Tue, 07/08/2014 - 22:53
Eeyore
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I've never been at Disney during a Hurricane, but growing up in Pensacola, I've been through MANY hurricanes. My family def. did not believe in leaving town, so we always batten down the hatch and stayed.

I've heard Disney will just close the parks if a TS or hurricane comes through. If you're staying there, you can still stay at your resort. As most have said, Disney is more inland so the coast takes the brunt of the storm.

Now...this is video footage of the Disney Fantasy in Hurricane Sandy! I would be completely freaked out and probably NEVER cruise again!

http://youtu.be/V2JV3j6AEpc

http://youtu.be/HKAVtVvbnLA

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Tue, 07/08/2014 - 23:00
KenJ
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Eeyore wrote:
I've never been at Disney during a Hurricane, but growing up in Pensacola, I've been through MANY hurricanes. My family def. did not believe in leaving town, so we always batten down the hatch and stayed.

I've heard Disney will just close the parks if a TS or hurricane comes through. If you're staying there, you can still stay at your resort. As most have said, Disney is more inland so the coast takes the brunt of the storm.

Now...this is video footage of the Disney Fantasy in Hurricane Sandy! I would be completely freaked out and probably NEVER cruise again!

http://youtu.be/V2JV3j6AEpc

http://youtu.be/HKAVtVvbnLA

OMG! I'm glad I wasn't on that ship when that was going on! Wow. I guess that's one of the times where you really know you're on a boat. eek

Tue, 07/08/2014 - 23:24
Disnymom
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We were at Epcot several years ago in September when one was churning off the coast. There were a few heavy rain bands but they kept the park open. Most people cleared out but we happily splashed through the rain. There was no lightening or anything so we were pretty confident of our safety.

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Thu, 07/10/2014 - 16:10
alicemouse
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I was terrified of big storms when I was a kid. I'll never forget the first time I heard about hurricane damage at Ocean City, MD. I think it was Hurricane Bob--1988? 89? and it washed out the Boardwalk. I didn't want to go on our family beach trip the next year because I was scared that a hurricane would sweep us away. (I was 8-years-old and such a scary-cat little kid. Is is any wonder that I don't ride roller coasters? LOL) Then I found the weather channel and it became my best friend. I would tune in every night during hurricane season and watch for the storms developing.

Hugo was the first storm that I remember watching unfold on TV. We visited Charleston (on our way to WDW) for the first time about 6 months later and I was amazed at the amount of debris that still remained that long after the storm. I'll never forget that the tour guide on our little trolley tour told us that before Hugo, it had been 104 years since the eye on a hurricane had passed through Charleston.

My mom's aunt & uncle lived in Miami half the year when I was a kid and they were home visiting us when hurricane Andrew hit. They sent pictures after they got home. Their neighbor's house was all but destroyed and the only damage at the aunt & uncle's house was debris in the swimming pool and a 100-year-old tree that was uprooted out of their front yard. They have a picture of the two of them standing inside the trunk of the capsized tree.

My parents were on a cruise during Hurricane Jeanne (I think that's the right one). They sailed out of Baltimore to the Caribbean and just missed Jeanne on the way down the coast. While they were there, Jeanne looped around and took another shot at the Florida coast and they just narrowly missed it on the way back as well!

We've only been at WDW for one tropical event--I can't even remember the storm name now (Ivan maybe?). It was August 2012. We were watching the weather closely the week before and I was afraid we were going to have a washout. We had to delay our arrival at EPCOT one day by about an hour. We got caught in a cloudburst at DHS twice, but it was short-lived. Otherwise, it was no big deal and the impact on our trip was minimal.

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Trip Reports:
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