Hurricane Irma | Pixie Dust Fan

Disney Parks To Open After Irma

Hurricane Irma WDW Before the Storm Theme parks in Walt Disney World are getting ready to open on September 12th, 2017 after Hurricane Irma hit Florida.

After being closed September 10th and 11th, guests are anxious to get in to the parks to see how they held up. There are many trees down around the resorts, and clean up efforts began as soon as it was safe for Cast Members to be outside.

Hours for the parks for September 12th are:

Magic Kingdom

Extra Magic Hours 8AM – 9AM

Park Hours 9AM – 7PM

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party 7PM – 12AM

Epcot

Park Hours 9AM – 9PM

Extra Magic Hours 9PM – 11PM

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Park Hours 9AM – 9PM

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Park Hours 9AM – 9PM

Disney Springs

Hours 10AM – 12AM

Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach Water Parks show as closed on the Disney site, but open on the 13th. Keep checking for more updates.

Irma Preparations At Disney Resorts

With Hurricane Irma approaching Walt Disney World, all Disney parks are closed September 10th and 11th.

Communication has been great from Disney. Updates left in our room and alerts on My Disney Experience has made sure that we all know what to expect as we ride out the storm.

At the Contemporary Resort, you can see one of the Monorails parked inside.

The tug (the thing that pulls the Monorail if it breaks down) is also parked inside.

Disney has many activities for the kids on the second floor all set up. I didn’t take pictures of that because there were children there – but they had bean bag toss, giant Jenga, Connect Four, and a bunch of others. The kids looked like they were having a good time.

They had a make-shift movie theatre – equipped with free popcorn and water machines.

And of course – the characters were out meeting guests. We saw Mickey, Pluto, Goofy and Donald. The Cast Member told us they were having a contest with some of the other resorts – sharing the magic! So they asked us to Hashtag our pics #IrmaContemporaryResort

My Sister (who is celebrating her birthday this trip) was THRILLED that she got to see Donald. He really is #1!

Now we just wait and watch the weather to see what happens next.

The Calm Before Irma At Disney

It was a gorgeous night at Walt Disney World after the showers earlier in the evening. The clouds had gone and the severe humidity had passed, it was very comfortable.

As we were out watching Happily Ever After from our balcony at Bay Lake Tower, 2 notices were delivered to our room about the approaching Hurricane Irma.

The first was the Resort Impacts outlining important details we needed to know. It included advice on dining, snacks and bottled beverages as well as the channel we should be watching for updates. Disney also has offered complimentary Disney films on the in-room TV until further notice.

The second was our room impacts.

This outlined the operating hours of the parks for Saturday September 9th, 2017

Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be closing at 7pm
Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Disney Springs will be closing at 9pm
All nighttime spectaculars have been cancelled
All Theme Parks and Disney Springs will be closed Sunday September 10th and Monday September 11th.

The notice also advised that guests could may be confined to their rooms fro 24 to 48 hours until any curfews are lifted.

Disney is doing everything to ensure the safety of guests and cast members while waiting for Hurricane Irma’s arrival.

Disney Cruise Line Sailings Cancelled

Due to the anticipated path of Hurricane Irma, Disney has issued emails to guests notifying them of the cancellations of their cruise.

In an email sent to guests (see below), Disney Cruise Line has cancelled the September 8th and September 11th, 2017 sailings on the Disney Dream.

Disney is offering guests a 25% discount on a future sailing if the call to rebook between September 18th and October 18th.

While I can imagine that this decision did not come lightly, Disney has made the decision to put safety above all else – and that’s what they do best.

I was scheduled to be sailing on the Dream on September 11th and will be rebooking my cruise for another date.