Disney Shuts Water Park, Cancels Events as Hurricane Nears

(Bloomberg) -- Walt Disney Co. said it’s closing its Blizzard Beach Water Park on Sunday and canceling some events over the weekend in Orlando, Florida, as Hurricane Dorian intensifies.

Hurricane Dorian took a slight turn as it continues its slow progress toward the Sunshine State, with the storm’s center at about 595 miles (960 kilometers) east of West Palm Beach, Florida, as of 5 p.m. New York time, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Dorian’s wind speed is expected to increase before it reaches the coast.

“We are closely monitoring the path of the projected weather, as nothing is more important than the safety of our guests and cast members,” the company said in a statement, adding that the Walt Disney World Resort is operating under “normal conditions.”

Disney has been contacting guests at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground, Copper Creek Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, Treehouse Villas at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa and the Bungalows at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, as well as those with reservations, to plan for the impact from the storm.

Disney’s website states that guests can cancel stays at the company’s hotels without any penalties if a hurricane warning is issued seven days before their arrival date. Rival theme-park operators Universal Studios and SeaWorld Entertainment have not yet announced closings due to Dorian.

Tourism Hub

Orlando, in the central part of the state, is one of the world’s largest tourism destinations, attracting some 75 million guests last year, almost twice that of Las Vegas. Disney’s Magic Kingdom resort is the world’s largest theme park with attendance of 20.9 million in 2018. The city’s airport said Friday it plans to stop commercial flight operations at 2 a.m. Monday.

While shutting down resorts of those size is rare, it’s not unheard of. Several closed for days in September 2017 due to Hurricane Irma. While damage to the parks was limited, Disney’s domestic resort profit fell in that quarter.

The company takes extensive precautions as storms near. Ziggy Oskwarek, a theme-park blogger, documented his stay at Disney World during Irma in a 2017 post. It showed the company wrapping lampposts in plastic to prevent shattered glass from flying and taking steps to entertain guests stuck in hotels.

Cruise lines, another major Florida tourism business, also scrambled to make adjustments due to Dorian. Carnival Corp., the world’s largest, said it’s delaying the return of some cruises while canceling others in anticipation of port closures along the coast of South and Central Florida.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. said it would keep its ship, the Norwegian Breakaway, in Cozumel, Mexico, an extra day.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Palmeri in Los Angeles at cpalmeri1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Linus Chua, Virginia Van Natta

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