Wednesday morning update: The Orlando area is now under a hurricane warning, with the eye of the storm expected to brush the shore near Cape Canaveral sometime Friday morning. Matthew weakened as it passed over eastern Cuba and is now a Category 3 storm, but it is expected to strengthen as it passes through the Bahamas today and tomorrow.
Earlier this year, we posted Everything you need to know about Disney World and hurricanes, with our advice for how to handle being at Disney World, Universal Orlando, or other area attractions when a storm hits — as well as how to get out of your trip, if you'd rather do that. Both Disney and Universal allow visitors to cancel or reschedule their vacations without change fees if there is a hurricane warning issued for the Orlando area, which now is the case.
Visitors should expect high winds — possibly hurricane force — and heavy rain as the storm moves through the theme park area on Friday. We expect airlines soon to begin canceling flights in the southeast on Thursday through the weekend, so if your travel plans include a flight in Florida, Georgia, or the Carolinas over the next four days, check with your airline and be prepared for flight cancellations.
All schools in Central Florida have canceled classes for Thursday and Friday, and colleges are canceling and rescheduling games this weekend — including UCF, which has postponed its scheduled Friday night game in Orlando. We've not yet heard about park closures at Walt Disney World or Universal Orlando but Disney is offering to move guests out of the Fort Wilderness campground, Polynesian bungalows and Saratoga Springs Treehouse villas, which are the most exposed lodging properties at the resort. Reports also have SeaWorld Orlando closing at 2pm Thursday and all day Friday. Legoland Florida will be closed on Friday. (Update: We have a complete list of Hurricane Matthew closures, including Disney and Universal, in our Thursday story.)
If you're stuck in the area, you'll probably want to join the crowds at local supermarkets if you need to stock up on food and water to get you through the weekend. The theme park hotels will do their best to maintain critical operations during the storm — including at least limited food service — but remember that the staff will be a ride-out crew if the storm's too intense for regularly scheduled staff to get to work.
If your personal or rental car is going to be parked outside during the storm, go take photos of it now, as those photos will help in any insurance claim if the storm damages the car.
Theme park fans around the world send their best wishes to everyone in Central Florida right now. We hope that Matthew will keep to the east and that everyone will get to enjoy a safe day in the parks, as unusual and weird as it might turn out to be. We also hope that you'll stay in touch with us throughout this week, as best you can.
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- Brian From Florida
Believe it or not, I am talking to people who are arguing with me that the water parks etc have to be open, they want to go.
*waiting for the flying Mickey's down Buena Vista Drive*
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