Indications are that Fort Wilderness may have escaped the worst wrath of Monster Hurricane Milton. Early reports on social media show fairly minimal results from the overnight winds and rain at nearby WDW Port Orleans and Sarasota Springs.
Except for a bounty of leaves and sticks on the path, Disney’s Port Orleans looks more like it was hit by a major thunderstorm than a hurricane.
Milton damages at Walt Disney World Riverside Resort pic.twitter.com/LrZeDYJ15J
— Kevkev (@sponge_kev) October 10, 2024
And check out this post on X from Disney Dad at Disney’s Saratoga Springs. A mere two miles (by bird) from Fort Wilderness, the electricity never even went out.
Good morning from Saratoga Springs! Lots of small debris on the ground, a few large limbs down, and the alarm at Paddlefish is still going off…. We didn’t lose power that I know of (we slept a good bit) and have internet. We’re all good! pic.twitter.com/ba22CHfPP8
— Disney_Dad (@DisneyDad9) October 10, 2024
And evacuated campers at Fort Wilderness who were moved to more substantial Disney properties found their parked campers unscathed this morning.
In spite of a few loonies convincing our gullible friends that Biden would wipe out Walt Disney World, moody Mother Nature did things her way. Yes, there is damage and suffering in Florida – all the way to the east coast. And it was super duper smart to evacuate if you did.
The hurricane was one of the strongest in history at its peak, with winds of 180 mph. But truly we got luckier than expected as the eye of the hurricane broke up before landfall. Praise be.
When Will Fort Wilderness Reopen?
Assuming you and yours are safe after Milton (and I really hope you are), you may be wondering when Fort Wilderness will reopen. While it hasn’t been announced, we do have a few clues.
The longest Fort Wilderness was closed after a hurricane was in 2017 following Irma. It was about two weeks. That one changed much of the landscape of the campground with the destruction of a great many trees and plants.
Our next clue is Halloween. This is the busiest (and best) time at Fort Wilderness. So we think the Mouse will put all available resources into making sure the campground is ready at least a week before. Because he is such a very good mouse.
And our final clue. This morning the WDW website is allowing for reservations starting on Tuesday, October 15. This is the same as it was yesterday evening. Now that we are six hours past daylight, we’d assume more dates would be blocked if there were serious damage.
Speaking of Halloween
With all of the hurricanes, divisiveness and other vexations going on right now, it’s okay to need an escape.
I have Halloween reservations at Fort Wilderness and can’t wait to get back to my favorite swampland. Of course, it’s very difficult to add a Halloween reservation at Fort Wilderness at this point. But if you are determined to join the greatest Halloween celebration ever, there are always cancellations.
The best way to find them is to put in your dates (example: October 27-November 3) on the WDW reservations site and keep hitting refresh until something comes up. Yeah, this may take about 500 refreshes over two days. You have to be kind of psycho about it and really, really wanna see that golf cart parade.
Cruella at the Fort Wilderness Halloween Golf Cart Parade! pic.twitter.com/6yXG6orMdJ
— Spaceship Alex 🌐 (@Alexandra__M) October 30, 2022
If this doesn’t work, you might consider another campground where you can smell and feel the glory of autumn. Mother Nature can be fierce and nearly unforgiving. But at heart, she remains magnificent and beautiful – even when pissed off. And a campground (with some glampy-princess features) will forever be one of my favorite places to hang out with her.