Ahead of the arrival of (forecasted) major Hurricane Milton, Walt Disney World has begun quietly making operational adjustments. When trying to search for hotel rooms this evening, the Walt Disney World website is showing no availability for any dates that include Wednesday, October 9th, or Thursday, October 10th. Other dates are accepting new hotel reservations.
Walt Disney World Restricts New Hotel Reservations
Restricting hotel reservations is typically the first sign that Walt Disney World is preparing for operational impacts due to a storm. Walt Disney World will focus on making sure that guests who already have a reservation are taken care of before dealing with new reservations. Additionally, Walt Disney World will hold back inventory for Cast Members who are part of the “ride-out crew” that staff the hotel during a major weather event. Finally, by restricting new reservations, that will allow Walt Disney World to have inventory for guests who may have to extend their vacation due to the storm.
There are currently no other restrictions in place such as theme park reservations or dining reservations for locations in the theme parks or hotels.
While Walt Disney World has not made any official statements about the storm or issued any alerts to guests yet, its weather team is clearly keeping a close eye on the storm and preparations are underway. We expect that Walt Disney World will issue alerts to guests about the storm either tomorrow or Monday, at the latest.
Tropical Storm Milton is expected to strengthen into a hurricane on Monday, and it is forecast to become a major hurricane by Wednesday before making landfall on the west coast of Florida. Here’s a look at the latest forecast cone, which not only shows a major hurricane for the west coast of Florida, but also that the storm will still be a hurricane by the time it enters the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the state. Critically, this means that while the storm will weaken over the state, it will carry hurricane-force winds and heavy rain as it passes through Central Florida.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!