It's official, and considering that Hurricane Irma is coming as a Force 4 Hurricane, it's about time that they announced it: Walt Disney World will close ALL PARKS during two days for Hurricane Irma, and Universal Orlando too: Due to the projected path of Hurricane Irma directly through central Florida, WDW announced that all theme parks, water parks, and Disney Springs will be closed on Sunday, September 10 and Monday, September 11.
Walt Disney World also announced early closure times for Saturday, September 9. Magic Kingdom will close at 9pm, Epcot at 9pm, Hollywood Studios at 7pm, Animal Kingdom at 7pm, and Disney Springs at 9pm. For more WDW infos related to Hurricane Irma jump HERE.
As for Universal Orlando, they've announced on the website: "Due to Hurricane Irma, our destination will close at 7pm on Saturday, Sept. 9. We will be fully closed on Sunday and Monday and we anticipate normal operating hours on Tuesday, Sept. 12."
On the latest image above from the National Hurricane Center, you can see that after its arrival over Florida as a Force 4 hurricane, Irma will arrive over center Florida as a Force 3 hurricane, still with winds over 120mph ( 200 km/h ) , indeed less strong than if it was a Force 5 but enough to create catatrophic damages all around, and of course including at WDW.
All parks and lands would suffer with these kind of winds but there is one land which is particularly vulnerable, and i'm talking about Pandora - the Land of Avatar. I remember one of you, leaving a comment shortly begore Pandora opening, talking about the lianas and vines attached at Pandora's floating mountains, and saying "I'll be curious to see this after a hurricane". At that time, i thought that he may have a good point, thinking that we may never know if he was right or not as WDW is rarely hit by powerful hurricanes. I was wrong, as less than five months after its opening the moment of truth is arriving for Pandora - the Land of Avatar. And not only for the vines of the floating mountains but for all the magnificent vegetation patiently placed all around the land by WDW Imagineers, the real ones and the fake "bio-luminescent" ones.
Seriously, have a look at the pictures above and just imagine the land going through 200km/h winds, it could be a disaster of cosmic proportions for Pandora, a land where the vegetation IS an attraction in itself. So, let's pray that this "moment of truth" won't be catastrophic for Avatar land, answer tomorrow after the passage of Irma.
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