Hurricane Milton strands Disney-goers who came for a sunny Florida vacation
As Hurricane Milton edged closer to Florida, Disney announced it will close its theme parks Wednesday afternoon.
They went to Disney World for theme park rides and photo ops with Mickey Mouse. Now they’re adding an unexpected adventure to their Disney vacations: Hunkering down at the resort to ride out a ferocious hurricane that is headed toward Florida.
In the past few days, Hurricane Milton has morphed from a pesky storm system in the Gulf of Mexico to a historic hurricane that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has warned will be a “monster.” The quick pace at which Milton intensified took forecasters by surprise — and has left numerous Disney enthusiasts who didn’t anticipate airport closures or other weather-related travel interruptions stranded in the Orlando area.
“We came to the realization that we’re stuck here,” said Telissa Carpenter, an Indianapolis resident who is vacationing at Disney with her son for his 30th birthday.
The first time Carpenter heard about any weather concerns was over the weekend, a day after she landed in Florida. A notification popped up on her Disney app informing her that the resort was monitoring a quickly progressing storm.
Guests at the Magic Kingdom in Bay Lake, Fla, on Sept. 26, 2024.Joe Burbank / TNS Getty ImagesHours later, she received another notification, this time from her airline: Her flight home, which was scheduled for Tuesday, had been canceled. Alternate modes of travel, including buses and trains, were either booked or canceled, too, and the few available flights were out of the family’s budget.
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