Disney World’s Biggest Adversary To Impact Resort, Entire Park Closures Predicted

Following a record-breaking winter season, Walt Disney World Resort will face more potential closures over the next few months.

Florida isn’t called the Sunshine State for no reason. The tropical climate of the East Coast destination is one of the reasons why Walt Disney decided to expand his humble Disney Parks empire in the very center of it. In 1971, Orlando, Central Florida, became the home of the now sprawling Walt Disney World Resort. After Magic Kingdom opened its doors in the early 1970s, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom followed.

Now, the four theme parks and two water theme parks (Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Park and Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park) are what entice travelers to return to Florida year after year. And despite Disney’s power to draw customers back, there is one adversary the House of Mouse just cannot control. Surprisingly, we’re not talking about Governor Ron DeSantis.

The weather. And no, Disney World doesn’t have a rain switch.

The weather can drastically alter a guest’s vacation experience, and while sun and heat will always have a place in the Sunshine State, hurricanes, storms, heavy rain, and tornadoes are also on the cards. The current winter season, in fact, has been one of the coolest and cloudiest on record. The various potent cold fronts sweeping across Florida have consistently caused parks like Disney’s Blizzard Beach and Universal Orlando Resort’s Volcano Bay Water Theme Park to shut down, sometimes for up to four consecutive days.

Unfortunately, as winter heads towards spring, the cold and rain will not be ceasing anytime soon. Per a meteorology report from Click Orlando, it is said that when meteorological spring begins on March 2, 2024, it will bring above-average rainfall, and while temperatures will be near normal through the season, there will be cooler and cloudier days than usual. But with the continued El Nino event, the report suggests that Florida should brace for severe thunderstorms.

“As temperatures rise through spring, instability–the fuel needed for thunderstorms–also rises,” the report reads. “With a stronger-than-normal subtropical jet stream, there is added wind shear in the atmosphere for storms to work with. Wind shear promotes the development of severe thunderstorms.”

On the flip side to El Nino is La Nina, which the National Weather Service says is:

“…the periodic cooling of ocean surface temperatures in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific. Typically, La Nina events occur every 3 to 5 years or so, but on occasion can occur over successive years. La Nina represents the cool phase of the El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle.”

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The rapid emergence and development of La Nina is likely to “significantly impact” the 2024 hurricane season, says Click Orlando.

Before the 2024 hurricane season gets underway, the above-average rainfall and continued cooler temperatures will more than likely shut down entire theme parks across the Central Florida region. As guests have seen over the last couple of months, Blizzard Beach and Volcano Bay have been shuttered multiple times due to low temperatures or inclement weather.

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When it comes to Disney World, the water parks have not been concurrently open for years. Guests will either get Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon to visit at any one time–a situation that is unlikely to change anytime soon. In mid-March, Blizzard Beach will close down once again, and Typhoon Lagoon will be reopened. The latter closed last November to make way for Blizzard Beach to welcome guests again. Disney performs refurbishment on the parks once they close.

For a broader look at Disney World in bad weather, most times, all outdoor attractions will close if rainfall or storm events are bad enough, but indoor experiences will continue to operate. And if the rain is so bad it causes flooding, Tomorrowland may just turn into the third Disney World water park…

Are you prepared for the cold, wind, and rain at Disney World this winter and spring? 

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