Special Report: Hurricane Irma at Walt Disney World
Read MoreNo crowds at Epcot
Two days before Irma hit, and already the crowds are noticably low.
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Epcot storm prep
This was the first storm prep we saw at the parks.
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No admittance
These park entry touchpoints were all wrapped up when we left Epcot for the night.
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Lots of utility vehicles
Literally hundreds of power utility vehicles were staged in the Epcot parking lot.
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Early closure
Animal Kingdom closed early the day before Irma hit. Magic Kingdom was open for another hour or two, so we transferred there midday.
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Hurricane prep markers
We're not sure what these tags were for, but they were all over Animal Kingdom.
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All wrapped up
More storm prep happening at Animal Kingdom
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No facade
24 hours previous, this had a facade wrap on it to hide the construction work.
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No wait for Peter Pan!
A wait time of 20 minutes at the Peter Pan ride at 5PM? Unheard of, unless there's a hurricane coming.
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No crowds at Magic Kingdom
Less than 24 hours before the outskirts of Irma hit Orlando. Skys are darkening, but no rain, and very few people.
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All tied up
Making sure the horseless hearse carriage doesn't fly off in the winds.
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DAK Lodge Activities Day 1
Day 1 of Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge (DAKL) activities to keep us guests entertained.
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Resort update
We were, if nothing else, well cared for.
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Sandbags
At Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge (DAKL)
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More sandbags
At Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge (DAKL)
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Big raindrops
The view from our room's lanai. Notice the streaks of very large raindrops.
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Empty hottub
Hottub is drained (it drained while we were in it), and the door ziptied shut.
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Visiting with Rafiki
Disney characters were out to keep guests entertained during the storm.
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DAK Lodge Common Area
Lots of activities happening here to keep the guests (kids, mostly) entertained.
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For your safety, please do not open these doors
It was, perhaps unsurprisingly, rather windy.
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Zebra Domes!
Boma had a full supply of these lovely desserts, so I knew we weren't incredibly bad off.
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Cheap meals!
Since we were captive audiences, Disney discounted meals at the on-site buffet ("Boma") by about 50%. Stuck in the hotel, sure, but at least we got great food at a fairly cheap rate! Also note that on top of the 50%, we still got our AP discount, too.
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Aftermath outside our room
This is what we woke up to the morning after. Still plenty windy at 7:30AM, but the worst of it was over -- the eye hit us directly somewhere around 1-2AM as a category 1 storm.
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Debris
Not exactly Disney spotless in the morning...
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Take a hint
I'm guessing we're not supposed to go outside yet...
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DAK Lodge Activities Day 1
The hurricane has passed, but we're still stuck in the hotel, so we had another day of in-hotel activities.
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Curfew
Legally, we weren't allowed to leave the hotel until 6PM due to county-wide curfew, but many people were -- they looked mostly like southern Florida locals who wanted to get back home as soon as possible to survey the damage.
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Savanna view
With that tree out of the way, we now have a savanna view room.
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Downed bamboo
There was bamboo down all over the place.
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Uprooted tree
Found in front of the hotel.
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Savanna damage
Trees were down on the savanna as well.
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Tree down
This tree was near the pool. Unsurprisingly, those rooms were evacuated.
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Surveying the damage
Lots of branches and trees down in this view.
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