Hurricane Dorian Preparations in Walt Disney World

(UPDATED 9/1/19): We know that Hurricane Dorian is heading close to Florida and it has the potential to do some serious damage to say the least. Whenever there is a hurricane, Walt Disney World prepares its parks, resorts and other areas on property as best as possible to avoid potential damages.

Even though the latest forecasts look like Dorian might not hit Florida directly, Disney is still doing its due diligence to make sure everyone and everything on property is safe. We were out in the parks and took some picture to show the preparations so far for getting ready for the hurricane.

Let’s take a look…

Magic Kingdom:

Right away when you arrive outside the Magic Kingdom you can see the construction on the Magic Kingdom entrance going on. However usually the fencing surrounding the project is covered up by tarps, now you can see the tarps have been pulled up:

The tarps are up because it helps the air flow better through when a big storm arrives

What results is an interesting view into the project where we can see large portions of the ground completely torn up as they prepare the new entrance:

Let’s go inside the Magic Kingdom. If you turn around and look up at the train station, there are usually pumpkins on top you will see on your way out. Those have been taken down:

Moving up to the side of the castle we can see the moat which is currently drained for the pathway widening project next to Cinderella Castle.

At first it might look like there is anything different, but just days ago this moat had tons of equipment in it for the project. Now the moat has been emptied and the equipment put away:

Over in Fantasyland we see the banners that are usually up at Storybook Circus have been rolled up in preparation for high winds:

Even the banners off to the side have been rolled:

Next looking over at the TRON project can see the green tarp usually on the fence around the project has been removed:

The construction site has also been removed of many smaller equipment, fencing, tools, etc, with only the big stuff left:

Even the show elements which had been installed on the track just last week are now missing:

EPCOT:

Over in Epcot the 2019 Epcot Food and Wine Festival is now underway. However not all of the decorations for the event are up. Usually there are banners on the majority of poles going around World Showcase like this:

However so far there is not a banner to be found and the poles are quite empty:

Disney takes down anything from buildings or structures that is loose and not a permanent fixture of the building. They do this to avoid things blowing away from the strong wind force, which could end up doing even more damage.

Heading over to the China pavilion, we see this again in effect:

There are usually banners along this walkway towards the temple, now they have been taken down in preparation for the storm:

Looks pretty bare doesn’t it?

Over in Future World by The Land pavilion, this pool has been drained of its water:

Some have told me that this was done before the hurricane talk, but a cast member told me it was like this for the hurricane.

In the Germany pavilion the fountain that is usually flowing has also been drained:

Heading to Canada we can see the scrims are down around the Canada pavilion refurbishment revealing the grey stones behind it.

Before the color was brown, but I guess we’re getting a change in color once finished:

Around the back of the France Pavilion there is lots of work going on for the France expansion, and here too the tarps are down from the fencing:

Just outside the park, the Disney Skyliner which usually has gondola cars testing between the stations is now empty. All the gondolas have been brought over to the central station at Caribbean Beach and put away until the storm passes:

Hollywood Studios:

The same is true for the Disney Skyliner station in front of Hollywood Studios. Pulling around from the back we can see not a single gondola is in sight and the station is completely empty:

Walking around the frontal the tarps have been removed here too giving a good view inside the station:

I’m loving the style of the Skyliner sign on the outside, goes really well with the Hollywood Studios theme imo:

It’s the same around the other side of the station with clear views inside and no tarps:

Looking closer, it’s confirmed that there are no Skyliner gondolas inside the station and they have all been put away at the Caribbean Beach station which houses them:

Resorts:

Over at the Coronado Springs Resort, a pool in the back of the resort that runs under a walking bridge has also been drained:

While the latest reports are that Hurricane Dorian might not make landfall in Florida, Disney has still done some preparation for the high winds that are still likely to happen.

It remains to be seen how much more Disney will prepare the resort and to what extent. This depends on how worried they are about the impending storm. Stay tuned as we’ll have more as soon as we have an update!

If your interested in learning what it’s like to ride out a Hurricane in Walt Disney World, then read our experience when we survived through Hurricane Irma in 2017!

Your Thoughts:

I want to know what you think about the preparations for Hurricane Dorian…

• Are you going to be in Disney World for Hurricane Dorian?
• What needs to be protected?

Let us know in the comments section below!

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