Why Is Disney So Safe During Hurricanes?
Walt Disney World has survived yet another hurricane, something it has done on countless occasions.
Since 1971, Disney’s Orlando theme parks and resorts have demonstrated remarkable resilience.
Cinderella Castle
Given Disney World’s location, you’re likely wondering how that’s possible.
Why is Walt Disney World so safe during hurricanes? Let’s talk it through.
Disney Had a Plan
Walt Disney World’s second theme park, EPCOT, opened on October 1st, 1982.
I mention this to reinforce how forward-thinking Disney park planners were.
EPCOT
During the early 1960s, Walt Disney decided to build something new.
Several years before his death, Uncle Walt planned the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow.
Photo: Central Press/Getty Images
The visionary would never see his dream come true, as he died in December 1966.
Without knowing it, Disney spent his final years planning a theme park he’d never enter…but he did buy the land.
EPCOT
The entire process took several years, with some of the most trusted city planners in the United States involved in the decision-making.
Disney contemplated several cities like New Orleans and St. Louis before settling on Orlando.
Photo: D23
Even then, Uncle Walt chose Florida before Orlando in particular.
Advisors suggested that a coastal locale would entice more tourists.
Photo: Disney
While they were undoubtedly correct, Disney and his staff recognized the flaw with the idea.
The Sunshine State was susceptible to hurricanes, and the coastal locations were particularly vulnerable to the elements.
Cinderella Castle on a stormy day
Had Disney built his planned community on the Florida coast, it likely would have proven a tragic mistake.
Thankfully, Walt Disney chose Central Florida due to its cheap swampland and inland location.
Storm in Magic Kingdom
He correctly deduced that any hurricanes would largely dwindle by the time they reached Orlando.
Even then, Disney erred on the side of caution. Construction crews followed new guidelines, the EPCOT Building Code of 1970.
Photo: Getty Images
Since EPCOT wouldn’t open for another 12 years, that’s how far ahead of the game Disney was with its thinking.
What’s the EPCOT Building Code?
This building philosophy is so important that you’ll find a section on the official D23 page. Here’s the entry:
“EPCOT Building Code Passed by the Reedy Creek Improvement District in 1970 to enable the construction of Walt Disney World.
Spaceship Earth
“It was written in such a way that it required strict compliance with current building regulations included in the building codes from other governmental bodies, but it also enabled the building of castles and other structures that were not addressed in most building codes.”
When Imagineers constructed Walt Disney World, Florida didn’t have plans in place for castles and the like.
Cinderella Castle in Magic Kingdom
Why would the state need that? Who was going to build a castle in the 1960s?!
So, Disney created its own rules, ones that every construction crew onsite carefully followed.
DVC Tower construction
Reedy Creek’s official site explicitly states that these codes “exceed traditional regulations,” which is understandable.
Planners knew they would build theme park attractions and power a small community on swampland in a state prone to hurricanes.
Cinderella Castle
Disney required “design criteria for installations including thrill rides and amusement attractions and by requiring complete automatic sprinkler and detector systems in all buildings.”
Nobody in the state of Florida had systems in place for any of that. Thus, Disney created its own, the EPCOT Building Code.
How Disney Designs Its Buildings
There’s a vital part of this code, one that has saved millions of lives over the years. It didn’t come until later, though.
In 2000, Disney updated the EPCOT Building Code’s parameters to honor something called the International Building Code.
Spaceship Earth
In the process, Disney perfected its already-stringent system.
Since then, construction crews built Walt Disney World properties under the auspices that they could handle wind forces of Category 3 storms.
Cinderella Castle
Ostensibly, Disney buildings can withstand wind pressure of 110 miles per hour. That’s the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane.
Disney buildings once tested this during Hurricane Charley, which registered at 105 miles per hour on Reedy Creek property in 2004.
Magic Kingdom in the rain
More recently, Disney World has survived intact during a wave of hurricanes, sometimes occurring multiple times in a month.
In each instance, Disney facilities literally weathered the storm, suffering only minimal damage and some flooding.
Magic Kingdom
So, the swampland has proven more problematic than the hurricane weather, a statement that defies reason.
Part of the explanation circles back to 1970. Disney built landmarks like Cinderella Castle and, later, Spaceship Earth to survive worst-case scenarios.
Spaceship Earth closed for refurbishment
Cinderella Castle famously took 18 months to create, and its composition includes cement, concrete, fiberglass, plaster, and steel. It’s made of sterner stuff.
Other Reasons Why Disney World Is Safe
During Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton in 2024, people’s basic needs came into focus.
Faced with a storm of the century scenario, they needed food, shelter, power, and (in a perfect world) internet.
Disney’s Port Orleans — Riverside
Disney World afforded all four, and that’s again due to its clever infrastructure.
MickeyBlog occasionally writes about the solar farms in place in Orlando.
Photo: Bloomburg
Disney brought its first one online in 2016. Then, it added a 270-acre solar farm in 2019.
Nowadays, Disney generates enough electricity to power 40 percent of its Orlando operations.
Photo: Origis Energy
Then, we have the internet side of the conversation. I discussed the introduction of 5G mini-towers all the way back in 2019.
At the time, expectations were high, while the hotel rollout was glacially slow. So, many fans, including me, expressed frustration.
Photo: verdemedia.com
As usual, tech evolved so quickly that it became a non-issue by 2022.
Nowadays, Disney World provides some of the reliable hotel WiFi you’ll find anywhere in the United States.
Photo: Disney
This reality allowed Disney guests during Hurricane Milton to post countless videos about the weather as well as their hotels.
This TikTok shows how ferocious the weather was, yet Disney resorts maintained power and internet the whole time.
@justthemeparks Hurricane Milton is here at Walt Disney World! We’re staying safe in our room at the Art of Animation & hope everyone else in Florida is safe too! We’d also like to say a huge thank you to all the cast members who are working through the hurricane and those who kept the Magic Kingdom open this morning! The small queue’s definitely helped distract us! ❤️😂 Trust us to time our vacation during a hurricane! 🌀 #hurricanemilton #wdw #waltdisneyworld #artofanimation #disneyparks #themeparks
As for the food and shelter, well, it’s Disney property. The theming is immaculate, and the food is better than it has any right to be.
That’s why Disney is so safe during hurricanes. The structures were planned more than 50 years ago to survive hurricane winds.
Cinderella Castle after Hurricane Milton
Then, Disney added power and internet facilities to guarantee happy, healthy, well-fed guests.
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