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With Hurricane Idalia projected to hit the Florida coast near the state capital of Tallahassee at or near major hurricane strength (Category 3 and above), Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort have taken the precautions of closing some attractions and modifying early opening hours, respectively.
“Due to the inclement weather, Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon water park …Winter Summerland Miniature Golf and Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf will be closed on August 30,” reads a statement posted on the WDW weather page late this afternoon.
As for the other major resort in the area, a statement posted to its website reads: “Universal Orlando Resort theme parks including Universal Studios Florida, Universal Islands of Adventure and Universal Volcano Bay are planning to open and operate as normal at 9:00 am on Wednesday, Aug. 30. However, we will not offer our usual Early Park Admission benefit for on-site hotel guests, select Annual Passholders and other select travel trade clients on this day while our teams prepare the parks for opening after the storm.”
Officials at both parks stressed that they plan to be otherwise open as usual Wednesday.
The county in which those parks sit, Orange, is under a tropical storm warning from the National Weather Service. That means that while the Orlando area will not get hit nearly as hard as other areas of the state, portions of Orange County are expected to see tropical storm-force winds from 39-74 mph. Gov. Ron DeSantis also declared a state of emergency for the Orlando region and across 49 counties in the state.
The good news for both parks is that the latest hurricane track seems to take Idalia about 15-20 miles farther westward and away from Orlando.
