Hurricane Milton Tracker: Opening Status for Disney World, Universal Orlando and Florida Theme Parks

08.10.2024 - 18:49 / travelpulse.com / Sunshine State / Ron Desantis / Laurie Baratti

5-day forecast cone for Hurricane Milton. (Photo Credit: National Hurricane Center)

Update: October 8, 2024, at 8:15 a.m. ET

The theme park industry is feeling the pressure from Hurricane Milton as it approaches Florida, with Busch Gardens Tampa Bay announcing it would close on Tuesday.

At Walt Disney World Resort, the Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground, the Copper Creek Cabins and the Treehouse Villas at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa will close Wednesday.

The full Disney World theme park is on high alert and will close to guests if necessary.

As for the Universal Orlando Resort, guests are advised to call ahead to see if the theme park and its signature events will be affected by Hurricane Milton ahead of landfall.

Original Text

Plenty of potential park-goers will be wondering whether Walt Disney World and other major Orlando area theme parks will be open in the coming days as Hurricane Milton prepares to make landfall in Florida this week.   

The imminently disastrous weather system that’s brewing in the Gulf of Mexico and its impending landfall will arrive only two weeks after Hurricane Helene wrought massive destruction on areas of Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. 

As of Sunday, October 6, the National Hurricane Center declared that Tropical Storm Milton had strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane, which is expected to make landfall on Florida’s west coast on Wednesday.  

Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis has already issued a state of emergency on Saturday for 35 Florida counties, including Orange County, where Orlando’s major theme parks, including the Walt Disney World Resort, Universal Orlando Resort, SeaWorld Orlando and LEGOLAND Florida Resort, are located.   

Hurricane Milton is expected to devastatingly impact communities along the Panhandle and Florida’s Gulf Coast and beyond as it moves toward the Sunshine State. “Besides torrential rainfall and flooding concerns, Milton can bring rough surf, dangerous seas and strong winds that cause power outages and even tornadoes,” the experts at AccuWeather tweeted over the weekend. 

According to Florida Today, the hurricane’s effects will be felt hundreds of miles away from the center of the storm because of the outer bands, particularly on the north and east edges. 

As of Monday, October 7, all of Walt Disney World’s theme parks remain open to the public, according to an official announcement released by the resort. However, it has temporarily closed the ability to make park reservations for Tuesday, October 8, and Wednesday, October 9.

“Walt Disney World Resort is currently operating under normal conditions. We are closely monitoring the path of the projected storm as we continue to prioritize the safety of