Disney World and Universal closures halt Orlando tourism as Milton approaches

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Tourism in Orlando rapidly came to a standstill Wednesday with the main airport and at least three theme parks and other businesses set to shut down, leaving Florida residents and visitors fleeing Hurricane Milton to hunker down in area hotels.

Milton, which is expected to come ashore late Wednesday as a major storm, threatened to ruin the vacations of tens of thousands of tourists who came to Orlando to visit the likes of Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld, or partake in October festivities like Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights. Disney and Universal were due to close Wednesday afternoon while SeaWorld did not open at all. All are expected to remain closed on Thursday.

Orlando International Airport, the nation’s seventh busiest and Florida’s most trafficked, ceased operations Wednesday morning.

The closures tempered expectations for some tourists while the impending storm raised some anxiety in others.

Linda and Bob Shaffer from northeast Pennsylvania said they had stocked up on pizza, peanut butter, drinks, flashlights and a deck of cards at their rental condo. They decided to walk around the resort’s entertainment hours before they planned to hole up during the hurricane.

“We’re just killing time until we have to stare at each other for the next 24 hours,” Linda Shaffer said.

Meanwhile, the soggy weather didn’t faze Serena Hedrick or her 16-year-old son, Corey, as they headed into Universal Studios on Wednesday. Corey had been worried about what could happen during their first hurricane but was comforted by the promise from their hotel of nonstop movies, kids’ activities and food.

“It is what it is,” Serena Hedrick said.

The Osborne family traveled from Memphis two days early so they could have almost two days at the theme parks before Milton hit. Alexander Osborne said other relatives decided not to join because of the storm, but he wasn’t worried about experiencing his first hurricane.

“It’s not dangerous to be here now, and I want to spend time and enjoy what we can because we are going to be in our hotel rooms for the next few days, he said.

Fifteen-year-old Nicholas Gutowski said he was putting his faith in Disney’s infrastructure at the hotel where he and his sister were staying.

“It’s definitely scary but Disney has backup power,” he said.

Originally from Texas but currently living in Tennessee, Gutowski and his sister, Joy Blackburn, 26, crammed two Disney theme park visits into one day, knowing time was ticking down before the theme parks closed.

While theme park visitors squeezed in a few more hours Wednesday, workers in a parking garage at Universal Orlando hugged each other goodbye and wished each other good luck in the hours before Milton was supposed to make landfall.

The Orlando area is the most visited destination in the United States due to Disney World, Universal and other attractions, drawing 74 million tourists last year alone.

Halloween-related celebrations have also made October one of the busiest and most lucrative times for theme parks.

While Disney rarely shuts its doors, its hotels are often havens for coastal residents fleeing storms. A check of Disney World’s online reservation system on Tuesday showed no vacancies.

Hurricanes in the Orlando area are not unheard of. There were three that crossed the Orlando area in 2004 – Charley, Frances and Jeanne. Hurricane Irma in 2017 tracked just west of metro Orlando, and Hurricane Ian plowed through the area as a downgraded tropical storm in 2022, causing flooding in some spots.

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