As Milton barreled toward Florida’s west coast as a Category 5 hurricane, some of the biggest theme parks in the Orlando area, including Walt Disney World Resort and Universal Orlando Resort, remained open as of Monday.
Disney announced that Walt Disney World, which includes Magic Kingdom, EPCOT and ESPN Wide World of Sports, would continue to operate normally on Tuesday, and that some of the brand’s campgrounds, cabins and tree houses would be closing on Wednesday.
Universal Orlando did not detail a day-by-day outlook, but indicated that “park operations and hours are continuing as normal,” and encouraged people to check the company’s website for updates.
According to the hurricane policies for Disney and Universal, if a hurricane warning — which means that hurricane conditions are expected — is issued by the National Hurricane Center for the Orlando area or your place of residence within seven days of your scheduled arrival date, you may be eligible to reschedule or cancel your vacation package or hotel without fees.
As of Monday, the storm was heading toward the Tampa Bay area, near Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. That park announced that it would be closed on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and urged guests to check the company’s social media channels if the resort would reopen on Friday.
The statement also said that SeaWorld Orlando and Discovery Cove Orlando, attractions under the same parent company as Busch Gardens, would remain open. Aquatica Orlando was closed on Monday but would be open on Tuesday, the statement said.
All of the major theme parks said they were closely monitoring Milton and would be updating their closure plans as needed.
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