Passing the time at Disney during Hurricane Charley
Prior to 2016, the most recent such incident occurred in 2004. Hurricane Charley was the second major hurricane of that year. The first one, Alex, entered the continental United States in the Carolinas, doing most of its $7.5 million in property damage at the Outer Banks. That was the first week of August. Only a few days later, Charley started to head inland. Importantly, this hurricane was at maximum strength when it came inland. For a Category 4 hurricane, that’s a terrifying proposition.
Not coincidentally, the storm with 150 mile per hour winds caused $16.3 billion in property damage. In Florida alone, the damage was $13 billion. At the time, it was the second costliest weather event in American history. Orlando residents were actually caught somewhat off-guard by the situation. That’s because the hurricane turned around, thereby placing the city directly in its path. Once Disney and the surrounding theme parks such as Universal Studios Florida and SeaWorld understood that the hurricane would strike Orlando at full force, they quickly moved to close the parks at 1 p.m. on August 13, 2004. Thanks to the magic of YouTube, you can actually hear the announcement in the video above.
As you might imagine, this decision caused a lot of chaos. Think about the matter from the perspective of a park guest. They’ve planned the trip for months if not years. Suddenly, they’ve unknowingly left the safety of their home to travel to a hurricane when they’d expected mouse ears and a giant turkey leg instead. And that brings us to one of the quirkiest parts of a tourist destination.
Florida natives are extremely familiar with hurricane season. It happens each year, and several different storms bear watching on an annual basis. They know how to handle each weather event since they have the training. On any given day in Orlando, however, a large portion of the population consists of visitors who are unfamiliar with the ways of Florida. Or hurricane season. This dichotomy is extremely dangerous. One group of people, the residents, knows exactly how to behave. The other of people has absolutely no idea.
Waiting out a hurricane at Walt Disney World
Despite the differences between the two parties, everyone has the same basic needs. They require food, water, power, and the lighting that comes with said power. Television and internet access would be nice as well, and that was almost as true in 2004 as it is today. Florida natives know where and how to stock up on these necessities. Guests from out of town are in a different situation.
Thanks to the clever applications of Disney transportation and Magical Express, many visitors don’t need a car to get around the various theme parks. Even in August of 2004, ten months prior to the debut of Magical Express, guests frequently entered the Disney Bubble sans daily transportation. They let Disney handle the situation for them. These trusting loyalists discovered the downside of the premise when Hurricane Charley arrived.
So, what was Disney like for those park guests who traveled to Florida only to discover that they were living Clark Griswold’s Wally World nightmare? What would your thoughts be? The most important one is that you need to feed your family. Disney’s resorts are great about taking of guests during such situations. They prepare Hurricane Meals and other bagged lunches. No, they aren’t free today. Disney charged $12.99 per Hurricane Meal during the Matthew storm, so it cost about the same as a Quick Service meal at a Disney restaurant.
In 2004, the resorts were much more generous with food, something Disney fans grumbled about in 2016. People trapped at Disney back then received four boxes per room, and they were free as a sort of emergency meal plan. Still, as a guest, you spend your time fantasizing about the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater (at least I do). You’re not looking for a hastily prepared ham sandwich and an apple.
In 2004, the food that sustained most Disney resorts travelers consisted of:
- Two peanut butter and jelly Uncrustables
- A 24-ounce bottle of Dasani water
- A bag of chips
- Two boxes of raisins
- Twinkies
Anyone reading this that has food allergies is shuddering in horror right now and rightfully so. Disney’s combat packs aren’t quite as thoughtful as the gluten-free, allergy-conscious meals they’ll happily prepare for you at the restaurant.
The real problem Disney visitors faced during the hurricane – other than the undeniable safety concern – is that they had nothing to do. They left their daily routines behind so that they could come to Disney and have plenty of entertainment options. Instead, when they arrived, they discovered that the staff at the resort recommended that they stay in their room all day. And if they could bring the furniture in from off the deck, that’d be nice, too. Otherwise, it might fly off into Bay Lake. The staff was a bit too busy at the moment to do it themselves. They had more dangerous items to tie down.
Disney resorts always offer entertainment options in the lobby, and that was true during the weather event. As you might imagine, these interactive games were overcrowded and less than fun than usual due to the tension in the air. In crisis situations, some guests are wonderful enough to try to make the best out of a bad situation. Others…well, you know. They blame everyone in sight and throw tantrums, lashing out at anyone in a cast member uniform. They also specifically choose not to befriend their fellow travelers.
The situation was an odd juxtaposition of guests enjoying a once in a lifetime experience, thereby turning a negative into a positive, and disgruntled vacationers making no attempt to disguise their dissatisfaction. Anecdotally, some of the Disney visitors trapped indoors during this period have claimed that they made lifelong friends during their stay since it was a shared memory between Disney fans. That’s something the disgruntled can’t claim, although I can hardly blame them for feeling sour throughout the storm. Spending lots of money to visit Walt Disney World only to wind up trapped in your hotel room and fear for your safety isn’t the optimal way to spend the day.
The perils of restlessness
As far as the dangers everyone faced, they came in odd forms. Have you ever considered a Slippery When Wet sign’s placement at a set of stairs? When you see one, you should turn around and find an elevator. Otherwise, you could trip and fall and break your neck, thereby proving the veracity of that infamous parental warning. During a hurricane, nobody puts up the sign, but the potential for disaster still exists. Anyone coming in from outside tracks water everywhere, and it’s got no place to go.
Leaving the hotel is also a pain. First of all, you’re explicitly warned by cast members not to do it. Still, some stubborn guests ignore conventional wisdom and head off on their own. What they discover is transportation is precarious. Hurricanes always lead to gas shortages in the impacted regions. Anyone willing to drive you around could choose to ignore Florida law, which precludes price gauging during hurricanes. They take their chances that you won’t report them since they know they’re doing you a favor by solving your cabin fever.
Disney visitors who left the property during Hurricane Charley quickly discovered that the city of Orlando effectively shut down after dark. The governor’s office and mayor’s office collectively agreed that a curfew was best for all affected towns. So, even if you could find someone willing to drive you away from your hotel, you had nothing to do. Staying inside and eating an Uncrustable while playing Disney games is what passed for entertainment. There’s nothing about the situation that screams, “Vacationing at the Most Magical Place on Earth!”
Comments
I was there during 9/11. My partner and I had flown down on the 8th for a short vacation for his birthday. We had gone to Epcot that morning, rode Test Track, and was headed towards the Living Seas when we were stopped by cast members telling us to head towards the exit, the park was closed. Someone asked why, and they said the twin towers in NY had been attacked and were no more. We didn't believe it, and walked to our car in the parking lot. We sat there and flipped on the radio, and sure enough it was true. Driving out, the traffic was jammed up getting around, and we finally made it back to Port Orleans French Quarter where we were staying . We turned on the tv and of course it was all over the news, it was so emotional. I called my mom at that point, as I had not told her I was going out of town, and we both started crying, it could have been my plane, you never know. We went to the pool, and it was absolutely packed, not a space not taken. Disney was on 'extreme lockdown', so you weren't allowed into any other resorts or anywhere else on Disney property, so we camped out by the pool for awhile with everyone else in stunned unity. We were supposed to fly home on the 12th, and we quickly learned that no flights would be going out anytime soon, so we went to the front desk and they offered us a free night on Wednesday, that was so great. The next morning, it was so surreal... what do you do? Do we go to the park and try to enjoy it amidst such a huge tragedy? We decided to go, and Disney already had the security check points in place. We didn't know when we wold get home, so we ended up staying until the weekend, hoping to be able to fly home at anytime. We went to the Magic Kingdom on Friday, which was during a tropical storm, but they had a moment of silence for the victims of 9/11 at the flagpole, it was so silent and sad, I will never forget that moment. We decided to drive our rental car home, which was a Chrysler convertible, not the best vehicle for such a long trip, as we were driving back to Connecticut, but had to go to the airport in Rhode Island first, as that's where we had flown out of and left our car. We had no choice, since air travel was still grounded and we had to get home. Driving past NY, we actually could still see smoke rising from where the towers had been. That is one trip I will never ever forget.