Disney World Closes All Parks as Hurricane Milton Barrels Toward Orlando

Walt Disney World will close amid Hurricane Milton.

In a statement shared Tuesday afternoon, Disney announced that “on Wednesday, October 9, our theme parks and Disney Springs will be closed in phases beginning at 1:00 PM.”

Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom will close at 1 p.m. and Magic Kingdom park, EPCOT and Disney Springs will close at 2 p.m.

“It is likely the theme parks will remain closed on Thursday, October 10. We will consider opening Disney Springs on Thursday in the late afternoon, with limited offerings,” the statement continued.

The closure also means the cancellation of the park’s popular Halloween event Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party on Thursday. Event tickets will be refunded.

Disney had previously announced on Monday, Oct. 7, that its more rustic accommodations would be closing as of 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 9. That includes Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground (including dining and recreation locations), the Copper Creek Cabins at Wilderness Lodge, and the Treehouse Villas at its Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa.

The updated added that Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground and the Treehouse Villas at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa will likely stay closed until Sunday, Oct. 13, and that the Copper Creek Cabins at Wilderness Lodge are likely to reopen on Friday, Oct. 11.

Universal Orlando said Tuesday morning that park operations and hours were “continuing as normal,” adding, “We are closely monitoring the weather. Please check back for updates.”

Other attractions have already made the call to close due to Milton.

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay announced Monday that it would close on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and instructed visitors to check the company’s social media pages for further updates. SeaWorld Orlando and Aquatica Orlando, which share the same parent company, remain open as of Tuesday morning.

Hurricane Milton was downgraded to a Category 4 hurricane early Tuesday after strengthening into a Category 5 storm on Monday. Shortly before 12 p.m. ET on Monday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said that it had maximum sustained winds of 160 mph.

The NHC predicted that Milton would come ashore as a major hurricane (Category 3 or higher) in the Tampa Bay area on Florida’s Gulf Coast late Wednesday.

On Sunday, Oct. 6, Disney World paused new hotel reservations for Wednesday and Thursday in anticipation of the hurricane making landfall.

However, as of Monday morning, a representative for Disney told PEOPLE the Orlando resort was still operating “under normal conditions.” 

“We are closely monitoring the path of the projected storm as we continue to prioritize the safety of our Guests and Cast Members,” the statement added.

If the parks do close, it would only be the 12th time in Disney World’s 53-year history.

Nine of the past 11 closures were due to hurricanes: Floyd (September 1999), Charley (August 2004), Frances (September 2004), Jeanne (September 2004), Matthew (October 2016), Irma (September 2017), Dorian (September 2019), Ian (September 2022) and Nicole (November 2022).

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The parks also closed following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 and amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which marked its longest closure ever. The park closed in March 2020 and reopened in phases starting in July 2020.

Milton is the second major hurricane to hit Florida’s Gulf Coast in the past two weeks.

Hurricane Helene struck the state’s Big Bend region on Sept. 26 as a Category 4, and caused devastation throughout the southeast, also impacting Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.