The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season is upon us! In this post, we’ll walk through the essentials of managing a trip to Disney World during hurricane season. We’ll start with some basic prep—knowing when hurricane season is, how frequently closures occur, and what should be on your radar before your trip. Then we’ll talk about how you might change or modify your trip if bad weather is inbound. Finally, we’ll cover what to expect around the resort when the storm actually strikes.

Update: 2025 Season Gets Its First Hurricane

Hurricane Erin will make its way up the East Coast but is not expected to make landfall in the United States. Walt Disney World operations will be unaffected.

Need To Know Leading Up To Your trip

Peak hurricane season in Florida is typically from August through October, though the Atlantic hurricane season is generally June through November.

The Walt Disney World parks have had to close ten times due to Hurricanes.

Two closures were in August
Six were in September
Two were in October

The closures ranged from less than one day (i.e. an early closure one day) to more than two days (but less than three). Most recently, the parked closed early one day and then for the subsequent full day due to Hurricane Milton in October 2024.

If you’re visiting during this time, there’s little sense in stressing too much too far in advance. If you’re traveling in August, I’d be more stressed about the heat. We regularly book trips to Disney World (and on Disney Cruise Line out of Port Canaveral) during hurricane season. The additional, marginal risk of a trip interruption is just something we accept.

What you really want to do in advance is pay close attention to your cancellation and modification policies for flights, hotels, and tickets. While we’ll talk more about Disney’s policies next, you should make sure you know your options. As discussed below, we especially recommend you (1) book through a travel advisor who can let you know the specifics and (2) consider travel insurance.

Trip Changes and Cancellations

So, there’s bad weather inbound and you’re either already on your Disney World vacation or about to leave. Let’s talk about trip changes and cancellations.

Modification and cancellation policies vary by hotel company and vendor. If you book with a third party or stay at a non-Disney hotel, you’ll be subject to their policies. Similarly, if you have a special Disney World ticket (like a promotional ticket) you might be subject to special rules.

In general, when a hurricane impacts Disney World, Disney is generous when it comes to modifying your travel plans. Here’s their hotel and package policy when it comes to hurricanes:

If a hurricane warning is issued by the National Hurricane Center for the Orlando area—or for your place of residence—within 7 days of your scheduled arrival date, you may reschedule or cancel your Walt Disney Travel Company Disney Resort hotel packages and most room only reservations (booked directly with Disney) without any cancellation or change fees imposed by Disney. Most room-only and vacation packages can be modified, or cancelled online, including changes to travel dates. (Source)

This language specifically references hotel reservations and packages, however, conspicuously leaving out tickets. If you have a ticket that isn’t a part of a package, you’ll have to see what Disney announces for a specific hurricane. Here’s the most recent such announcement:

Partially used multi-day theme park tickets that were impacted by the closure for Hurricane Milton on October 10, 2024, will be automatically extended to allow use of the remaining unused ticket days through October 11, 2025.
Wholly unused tickets that were impacted by Hurricane Milton may be adjusted to a new start date. (Source)

This is less generous than the hotel policy, as it seems to exclude full refunds. I’m not saying there’s no way you’ll get a refund, but depending on the severity of the situation it may require some time working with customer relations, or your efforts may just be futile.

Tickets for special events are handled on a case-by-case basis. FWIW, it’s sort of an open secret that guests have often been able to get holiday party tickets refunded when the weather was just inclement enough to cancel the shows.

And if you booked a hotel and purchased tickets, chance are you booked your flights, too. Flight refunds and cancellation policies are going to be dictated by your specific airline. But this does bring us to our next point…

Two Ways to Position Yourself To Get Those Refunds

There are two things you might do to put yourself in the best position to get refunds for hurricane-impacted travel.

The first is to buy travel insurance. Travel insurance is a complicated product, but a basic policy would cover the cost of any prepaid expenses that you can’t get refunded that are impacted by weather. You’ll want to do some research on this option, keeping in mind to read the fine print about exactly how impacted you’ll need to be in order to support a cancellation / refund. One benefit of travel insurance is that, depending on the policy, it may be able to help you with your lost flight costs, too.

For what it’s worth, I’ve never purchased travel insurance for a domestic trip, and I’ve never wished I had it. My credit cards provide some measure of trip protection (though I’ve never had cause to investigate too deeply), and with Disney I’ve always trusted I’d be able to sort things out as they happened. (I regularly purchase travel insurance for international travel and was able to get $500 for a laptop I left onboard a plane in India once.)

The second tip is to work with a travel advisor. A travel advisor isn’t a magician, but working with one can save you some time having to navigate refund policies and waiting on customer service lines. We had a trip cut short by a hurricane once and were fortunate to have Lauren Quirk be able to handle things for us while we enjoyed our last day in the parks.

Staying at Disney World During a Hurricane

What if you’re already at Disney World, bad weather is inbound, and you’re not going to be modifying your plans to avoid it? Well, it’s mostly simple. During bad weather, things at Disney World basically fall into two categories—open and closed.

If It’s Open, It’s Mostly Business as Usual

The simplest way to think about “changes” during bad weather at Disney World is to recognize that most things don’t change as long as the parks are operational. That is, you’re usually not going to find a huge list of closures while the park is still open. We’ve written more about more typical bad weather at Disney World elsewhere.

While nearby lightning can necessitate the closure of many rides, heavy rains and winds are significantly less of a problem for operations. Heavy rain might make outdoor rides (and any other outdoor activities) unpleasant, but most will continue running. The Skyliner closes pretty regularly for bad weather, so expect it to be impacted if a hurricane is nearby (bus transportation will be provided).

It’s entirely possible for the resort to be impacted by a hurricane—impacted, but not directly struck—and operations to basically continue as normal. Torrential rain and winds aren’t uncommon in Florida even outside hurricane season, so the resort is prepared for it.

There is a small middle ground for some small things. For example, small food carts and kiosks may see their operations modified or cut in advance of hurricane impacts. You’ll see Cast Members start tying/locking down different things around the resort as a hurricane is inbound.

The big exception—where things do change—is outdoor entertainment. Parades, outdoor stage shows, and nighttime spectaculars often cannot operate in even mild rain. On the one hand, this might be significant enough to make you feel differently about the day in the park. On the other hand, this is a risk that exists any time you visit Disney World. The parade may be replaced by the Rainy Day Cavalcade, but…that is not the same as a parade.

But Sometimes, Things Close

It’s also possible some things will need to be shut down. When closures of any sort occur, Disney typically announces them one or two days in advance. It’s just part of the challenge of the whole situation that you might have to decide about changing your trip before you know the extent of the impacts to Disney World.

There are some more minor spots that are likely to be impacted first—the water parks, golf courses, miniature golf courses, and certain aspects of Disney Springs may close even if the rest of the resort isn’t impacted.

Then there are park closures. The timing and duration of a park closure just depends on the specifics of the hurricane. There have been hurricanes that only necessitated the parks close early only one day. There have been closures that lasted over two full days. Once a park closure is announced, you should assume reduced operations across all of Walt Disney World for that timeframe.

In terms of hotels, we can look to 2024’s Hurricane Milton and conclude that the accomodations most likely to be impacted are:

Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground (including dining and recreation locations)
Copper Creek Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
Treehouse Villas at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa

Those accommodations all closed for some time during Milton.

Most Disney hotels continue to operate through hurricanes, even if the parks are closed. If the parks are closed, however, you should assume the hotels will basically be in a storm shelter mentality. Amenities—including restaurants—will probably close. Typically this means guests who choose to stay will be confined to the inside parts of the resort and left to eat simple boxed meals.

Disney World hotels, being inland and well-built, are among the safer structures in Florida during hurricane season. This means they can serve as a refuge for people on the coasts. I’ve never heard of there being an actual occupancy problem during a hurricane, but I do think it makes sense for out-of-towners who can leave to do so, leaving rooms for people who may need them.

Conclusions - Our Personal Approach

When it comes to traveling to Disney World during hurricane season, I don’t really have second thoughts. Historically, I think Disney has been flexible enough that I’m comfortable booking my trip at any time of year, so long as I book directly with Disney (via a travel advisor).

All things being equal, I’d try to avoid booking a once-in-a-lifetime or lengthy traveling-from-abroad trip during August through October. A large trip like that might be hard to reorganize in case of an interruption.

Once on the ground, our approach has been not to mess around with Disney World during an actual hurricane. We’ve cut a trip short because of an incoming hurricane. It’s never been about safety with us—I would 100% trust my safety in a Disney hotel. Rather, I just (1) prefer not to deal with the inconveniences and (2) prefer no Cast Members have to spend their time/energy on me during a hurricane.

I don’t fault people for making the other decision, though. It can be tough to reschedule a trip on short notice, and many people would feel more nervous heading to the airport, wondering if their new flight might get changed. The prospect of being rerouted during a hurricane and having to navigate airline customers service agents for a day isn’t exactly appealing. Plus, you could easily argue you’re less of an inconvenience on the world if you just park your bottom in your Disney hotel bed watching the Must Do for a day.

Be prepared and stay safe, everyone!

All Your Other Disney World Planning Questions Answered

Don't be overwhelmed by Disney World planning! Take a second to check out our most important content and you'll not only be an expert, but you'll save big $$$ along the way.

Just starting out? Check out our Walt Disney World planning guide! If you're still picking dates, we've got everything you need to know about Disney World crowd calendars. For picking your hotel, check out our Walt Disney World hotels guide.

When it comes time to book we’ll help you find discount Disney World tickets. Decide whether you need a dining plan in our Complete Guide to Disney World Dining Plans! And don't forget to book those Disney World Advance Dining Reservations!

Don't forget to master your Disney World Lightning Lane Guide and Strategy a few months in advance. We'll keep you out of long lines so you can maximize the magical time in the parks! We've got park-specific guides as well: Magic Kingdom Lightning Lane Strategy, Epcot Lightning Lane Strategy, Animal Kingdom Lightning Lane Strategy, and Hollywood Studios Lightning Lane Strategy.

Know what to ride with our guides to: Magic Kingdom rides, Hollywood Studios rides, Epcot rides, and Animal Kingdom rides! Plus learn about the water parks with our guide to Blizzard Beach and our guide to Typhoon Lagoon! And for some some fun prep, check out our Ranking of Every Ride at Walt Disney World.

Finally, before you head out, be sure to check out our to-the-point packing list, 10 essentials you forget to pack for every Disney trip. And if you're interested in saving, there's no better list than our 53 Ways to Save on your Disney trip from start to finish.