Current:Home > MarketsDisney World and other Orlando parks to reopen Friday after Hurricane Milton shutdown -Keystone Wealth Vision
Disney World and other Orlando parks to reopen Friday after Hurricane Milton shutdown
View
Date:2025-04-17 10:13:10
Stay up to date: Follow AP’s live coverage of Hurricane Milton and the 2024 hurricane season.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida theme parks including Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld planned to reopen Friday after an assessment of the effects of Hurricane Milton.
Disney World said in a statement that its theme parks, Disney Springs, and possibly other areas will be open. The parks said some Halloween special events won’t be offered and they won’t necessarily be fully functioning Friday, but the public is welcome back.
As Milton came ashore as a major storm Wednesday, all three Orlando-based parks shut down, putting a damper on the vacations of tens of thousands of tourists, many of whom hunkered down in hotels. SeaWorld closed for all of Wednesday, Disney World and Universal for the afternoon. All three were closed all day Thursday.
Orlando International Airport, the nation’s seventh busiest and Florida’s most trafficked, planned to resume domestic arrivals on Thursday night and departures on Friday morning. It had stopped commercial operations early Wednesday.
The airport’s closure prevented Simon Forster, his wife and their two children from returning to Scotland, so they enjoyed an extra two days of their two-week vacation on the bustling International Drive in Orlando’s tourism district on Thursday. Hurricanes seem to follow them since two years ago Hurricane Ian kept them from returning to Scotland after another Orlando vacation.
“Last night, it was quite intense, Forster said. “I was watching the palm trees sway back and forth outside my hotel room. How they didn’t come down, I don’t know. Scary stuff.”
Their hotel at Universal Orlando Resort had a party atmosphere Wednesday night ahead of Milton’s arrival.
“The bar was good fun,” he said. “Two extra days here, there are are worst places we could be.”
Miniature golf was among the few activities available to tourists who had been locked down in their hotel rooms and rental condos. There was a line getting into Congo River Golf on International Drive.
Craig Greig of Glasgow, Scotland, would have been at the Magic Kingdom with his wife and 10-year-old if the theme parks had been open. Instead he was clutching a putter ready to putt golf balls over a man made lagoon filled with baby alligators.
“We just wanted to stretch our legs and get out of the hotel,” he said. “Especially for the little one.” Even though it was his first experience with a hurricane, he was unfazed and slept through the night as it roared through central Florida.
Disney World, Universal and other attractions make Orlando the United States’ most visited destination, drawing 74 million tourists last year alone.
And Halloween-related celebrations have made October one of the busiest and most lucrative times for the parks.
Hurricanes in the Orlando area are uncommon but not unheard of. Three crossed the area in 2004 – Charley, Frances and Jeanne. Hurricane Irma in 2017 tracked just west of metro Orlando, and Hurricane Ian caused some flooding as it plowed through as a downgraded tropical storm in 2022.
___
AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton contributed from Los Angeles.
___
Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform X: @MikeSchneiderAP.
veryGood! (455)
Related
- Sarah J. Maas books explained: How to read 'ACOTAR,' 'Throne of Glass' in order.
- How many students are still missing from American schools? Here’s what the data says
- Minimum wage hikes will take effect in 2024 for 25 U.S. states. Here's who is getting a raise.
- 400,000 homes, businesses without power as storm bears down on Northeast: See power outage maps
- Stamford Road collision sends motorcyclist flying; driver arrested
- Julia Roberts Reveals the Grim Fate of Pretty Woman's Edward
- Jeffrey Wright, shape-shifter supreme, sees some of himself in ‘American Fiction’
- NFL Week 15 winners, losers: Believe in the Browns?
- What were Tom Selleck's juicy final 'Blue Bloods' words in Reagan family
- In a landslide, Kansas picks a new license plate. It recalls sunsets and features the Capitol dome
Ranking
- Why members of two of EPA's influential science advisory committees were let go
- At least 12 killed in mass shooting at Christmas party in Mexico: When they were asked who they were, they started shooting
- Greek anti-terror squad investigates after a bomb was defused near riot police headquarters
- ‘Max Payne’ and ‘Rescue Me’ actor James McCaffrey dies at 65
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- In-N-Out announces Colorado Springs location for 10th Colorado restaurant: Report
- UW-Madison launches program to cover Indigenous students’ full costs, including tuition and housing
- What are your secrets to thriving as you age? We want to hear from you
Recommendation
EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
4 years in prison for Nikola Corp founder for defrauding investors on claims of zero-emission trucks
A volcano in Iceland erupts weeks after thousands were evacuated from a nearby town
Long-delayed Minnesota copper-nickel mining project wins a round in court after several setbacks
Former longtime South Carolina congressman John Spratt dies at 82
Lawsuit says Georgia’s lieutenant governor should be disqualified for acting as Trump elector
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar shares his thoughts after undergoing hip replacement surgery
A group representing TikTok, Meta and X sues Utah over strict new limits on app use for minors