fotofx....Steve

8 hours ago, LONE-STAR said:

We were actually there last year during hurricane Matthew, they moved us from the Fort to POR most cast members I talked to were happy to be there and they choose to be there it was a option. Most of them said they wanted the OT. And a lot of them were single with no family to take care of.

We were scheduled during Matthew. Had to run to the KOA in Tampa and then headed back across to the Fort after it passed. Due to some flooding they were not open yet. Offered us a room but we stayed in the RV in the Magic Kingdom's parking lot. Was kind of neat waking up to the train horn in the AM. After a few hours we were able to get into the Fort but several loops were closed due to flooding and cleanup.

All I know is they better get the place open and cleaned up by Friday... Got my birthday trip from the 15th to the 18th...

Of course if my house is gone I may stay longer...

Declaring a state of emergency also activates the prohibition on price gouging.

That is really the issue, almost everyone except retirees are essential to someone. As far as evacuating the elderly or retired, many of them ARE dependent on someone who would have to evacuate with them. I have several employees with elderly parents that have already had to leave because their parents live in a condo on the beach and can not leave without assistance.

Florida, especially South Florida has a extremely high number of retirees that are not as mobile as many of us fiends.

A big problem also with evacuations as mentioned earlier is that someone has to work at the gas stations, banks, propane filling stations, Home Depot, Publix, etc.

We do not realize how much we rely on others in our day to day lives. If everyone was selfish and just ran for the hills to save themselves, what shape would we really be in?

Hello.... Hello.... 911... Is anybody there?????????

8 hours ago, DinDavie said:

As  fotofx steve can attest, the actual storm will not be the worst part; its the months and years it will take to get things back to normal if that is possible.  Courtesy and compassion will be the best tools you can have in the months ahead.  The lastest hurricane advisory has the size of the hurricane being much wider than the Florida peninsula.  Perhaps we should all be concerned.  

As we have learned in the past and recently with Harvey, calling for evacuations is a dammed if you do and dammed if you don't decision.

Quite honestly, it is a roll of the dice where this thing is going. Most deaths and injuries from a storm come AFTER the storm. If you move a large number of people to another area, there is no guarantee that area will not be affected. You would have to move much farther North.

Many people in South Florida live paycheck to paycheck. Quite honestly they can not afford the gas to go anywhere and I can tell you in the last few days it was nearly impossible to get. If you are not in a coastal area and you are in a building that is well built and shuttered you are better off staying there. Do not get out to survey the damage (Kind of like looping but on a larger scale) until the utility company has been through the area to make the downed lines safe.

After Andrew it was apparent in the Homestead, Florida City area that the wood framed homes did not fare well. Many were CBS block first floor and stick second floor. After the storm the only had a first floor and no roof. There was also an issue with substandard building code which has since been updated to what has become the model code for Florida. Unfortunately with all of the improvements that have been made since Andrew, one thing that is far worse is traffic. For obvious reasons you have to evacuate the Florida Keys. Our roads just can not support everyone leaving at the same time. With that added traffic and no fuel it is already gridlock.

It is a delicate balance deciding who to evacuate and who should shelter in place. At best it is a crap shoot when you have to do it days before you actually know where the storm is going.

26 minutes ago, Travisma said:

Want to relate something I saw yesterday at a Wal-Mart that was either hilarious or very sad.

Store was being stripped of most "survival" items.  There was no water, Gatorade was filling carts.

I was leaving  and in the front of the store by the checkouts was a line of 30 or more people.

All they had in their carts were empty 1 and 5 gallon bottles.  They were in line to fill up from one of those pay for water machines.

Now I'll admit that Tampa's water isn't the greatest, but I would never stand in a line for probably 45 minutes to an hour to fill up water jugs, when I have running water at my home.

People are getting sucked up into the media frenzy and not using common sense.

The newest thing is filling up gallon baggies with water.  Why not use pots, go thru your cupboards looking for empty containers, or hit up a Dollar Tree or thrift store for some plastic containers.

I saw that a brewery in Orlando is telling people to come by and fill up containers from the filtered water vats they use in their brewing process.

Whats funny is most of those machines are just connected to city water. If the volume of use gets too high without a filter change it is probably worse then city water.

48 minutes ago, twiceblessed....nacole said:

Stay safe.  My husband was an officer during Andrew as well.  He said it was amazing to see the extent of damage, caused by  that storm.

 

 Beyond belief, there just is no other way to describe it. Pictures do not do justice. It was dangerous to drive a patrol car at night because wires would get caught on the light bar. It was so dark you just could not see anything. Very surreal.

Have two businesses and my home in Fort Lauderdale area. I was a police officer and worked Homestead during Hurricane Andrew so I have great respect for what these storms can do. Shuttered and supplied and just need to ride it out. Luckily my warehouse is big enough to get the RV inside.

And for most in the area it is far from over. The flooding after the storm is causing more damage, injuries, and deaths then the wind. Some areas may get several more FEET of water before it is over.

Hopefully all of our Texas members are safe and sound. Sending pixie dust to all those affected by the storm.

It may have been discussed before but I recently noticed the building that housed the showers and restrooms is now part of the backyard BBQ.

I used it about a month ago on a one night trip. I had a 6:30pm fast-pass at Magic Kingdom, hopped over to Epcot for dinner, and then off to Animal Kingdom to see Pandora.

Near empty buses, fast, and no security re-screening. Was done with Pandora by 10pm. I would definitely have used it again but it clearly was not making money for them. In addition to the buses and drivers, there had to be several cast members at each stop because they were back stage. There was a cast member that stayed by the bus stop, a cast member inside to scan your magic band before having another cast member escort you out to the bus stop.

Honestly what I really liked was checking out the backstage areas. Not so much at MK because I have done Keys To The Kingdom, but at Epcot and Animal Kingdom.

Sorry, I am always logged in and was able to view.

Sad Day..

https://d23.com/legendary-disney-imagineer-marty-sklar-dies-83/

Sounds like it is working about as well as the online checkin worked previously. Every time I had tried to use it we also never received notification.

Hopefully someone will try it for the Fort and report back. Not having to stop at check in especially on late arrivals will be really nice.

I did not see this posted anywhere here yet.

What about my emotional support rock.

I use my gas (street legal) cart there all the time with no issues. I was worried I would need to take the license plate off but have never had a problem.

Not that picture, About 3/4 of the way down the linked thread there is a map image with an overlay.

Edit: Lets see if this works..http://forums.wdwmagic.com/attachments/newtheater-jpg.215720/

There is a pretty good image someone created using Google maps and an overlay on another site forum. Can't imagine it fitting anyplace else.

Edit: Here is the link. http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/new-theater-to-be-built-at-the-magic-kingdom.929270/

Quote

(admin edit for picture)

Looks like the theater is going behind Main Street on the Tomorrowland side and the additional walkway they open up to clear the crowds in the evening may become part of the regular show. This makes the most sense.

Can't think of the name of the street that dead ends by where they do the caricatures next to Pandora but that could lead right in front of a new theater.

Will this affect the campground?

Or those of us who are shareholders. The worst part is even if I won the lottery I would never be able to own enough shares to have a say in anything.

I remember back in the 70's there were all kinds of perks for shareholders.. Now... Zilch....