The National Weather Service has now issued a tropical storm watch for Hurricane Ian in the counties of Orange and Osceola, which covers all of the Walt Disney World Resort and Universal Orlando Resort.

A Tropical Storm Watch means tropical storm-force winds are possible somewhere within this area within the next 48 hours. The advisory indicates a potential for wind speeds of 58 to 73 mph.

Central Florida remains in the probable path of Hurricane Ian. Florida remains in a State of Emergency as the state prepares for the storm.

Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando are renowned for ensuring guest and Cast Member safety during hurricanes and other extreme weather. At this moment, neither resort has announced any operational changes, but guests can contact them by phone if they would like to make changes to their impacted vacations. Be forewarned that hold times will be much longer than usual due to high call volumes.

For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow WDW News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

The post Tropical Storm Watch Now In Effect for Walt Disney World Resort, Universal Orlando Resort for Hurricane Ian appeared first on WDW News Today.

Earlier today, something caused a good-sized chunk of wall around a doorway to collapse at Keystone Clothiers, a popular store on Hollywood Boulevard near the entrance of Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Now, Buena Vista Construction Co. crews are actively working to repair the broken building.

This side portion of the Keystone Clothiers facade (which replicates the historic Max Factor building in Los Angeles) crumbled right off of its support structure and onto the ground. An entire light fixture from the side of the entrance came down with it. Now they have removed the entire section of facade.

A large portion of Hollywood Boulevard was closed off earlier, but now guests can at least walk down the street.

A black curtain has been quickly erected to obscure view of the work from guests. Typically construction walls would be up for such work, but given that this was unplanned maintenance, a quick solution needed to be found.

Cast Members we spoke to speculated that an electric wheelchair struck the facade and then the large portion fell down, but that is unconfirmed at this time.

Keystone Clothiers, which currently sells Marvel and Star Wars goods, is closed for the time being. Disney World sells the same merchandise in many stores, so there isn’t much for guests to miss out on.

For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow WDW News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

The post UPDATE: Entire Wall Section Removed, Black Curtains Erected As Crews Work on Repairing Collapsed Facade at Disney’s Hollywood Studios appeared first on WDW News Today.

According to an update from the National Hurricane Center on Monday at 11:00 AM, Hurricane Ian is continuing on its path that would likely impact operations at Walt Disney World Resort and Universal Orlando Resort here in Central Florida.

Central Florida remains in the probable path of Hurricane Ian. Florida remains in a State of Emergency as the state prepares for the storm.

Tropical Storm and Hurricane Watches are now in effect for the west coast of the state, but it is expected that they will be announced for Central Florida later today.

Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando are renowned for ensuring guest and Cast Member safety during hurricanes and other extreme weather. At this moment, neither resort has announced any operational changes, but guests can contact them by phone if they would like to make changes to their impacted vacations. Be forewarned that hold times will be much longer than usual due to high call volumes.

For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow WDW News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

The post UPDATE: Probable Path of Hurricane Ian Continues to Threaten Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort appeared first on WDW News Today.

If you’ve been watching the weather reports recently, then you know that there’s a hurricane headed for Florida.

Stormy day in Magic Kingdom!

While Hurricane Ian’s true path remains a bit unpredictable, Floridians are already preparing for heavy storms and flooding in the later part of the week. If the hurricane hits Disney World, there are certain procedures that will be put in place for guest safety, and now it seems as though Disney is already preparing.

What’s going on? Well today we noticed that all hotel availability for Disney World resorts was gone for the rest of this week. It’s possible that everything has been booked for the week and there are just no hotel rooms available, but we’ve seen Disney remove availability from the website in preparation for a storm before.

Grand Floridian Resort

If the parks have to shut down due to the storm, it would make sense that Disney wants to limit the number of guests at the resorts. Discouraging new bookings would make it easier to get hurricane preparations together for the guests who’ve already booked a stay on property.

Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter

We’ll continue to monitor the storm this week and keep you updated on any weather reports or important announcements from Disney. Like we mentioned above, there are special procedures in place in case a hurricane strikes, and guests who are staying on property will be taken care of.

If you’re traveling soon, we advise you to stay tuned to the weather reports. If you decide to stick with your travel plans, make sure to pack appropriate clothes for heavy rain — storms are expected to hit central Florida as a result of the hurricane.

5 Things Disney World is Doing Right Now to Prepare for Hurricane Ian — Click Here!

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Do you have travel plans for later this week? Tell us in the comments!

The post With Hurricane Ian Approaching, Disney World Hotels Are Showing No Available Reservations This Week first appeared on the disney food blog.