Theme parks in Florida, including Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, and SeaWorld, are set to reopen on Friday after temporarily closing due to Hurricane Milton.
While the parks will welcome visitors back, some Halloween events may be canceled, and not all attractions will be fully operational immediately. This announcement comes after Hurricane Milton made landfall as a significant storm on Wednesday, leading to the shutdown of these popular destinations, affecting countless vacationers who took shelter in hotels. The closures began on Wednesday and extended through Thursday.
Orlando International Airport, Florida’s busiest, is expected to restart domestic arrivals on Thursday and departures on Friday after halting operations on Wednesday.
One family from Scotland, Simon Forster and his wife, experienced an unexpected two-day extension of their vacation in Orlando due to the airport’s closure. Forster described the storm’s intensity while watching palm trees sway from their hotel. Fortunately, their hotel maintained a lively atmosphere during the hurricane’s approach, making the best of their situation.
In Tampa, local attractions such as ZooTampa and The Florida Aquarium confirmed that their animals are safe and plan to reopen on Saturday. The zoo’s animals are currently sheltered as cleanup efforts commence due to some wind damage and power outages.
With the theme parks closed, limited activities were available for tourists, such as miniature golf. Visitors lined up at Congo River Golf, eager to escape their hotel confinement. One tourist, Craig Greig, expressed his desire to get outside with his family, revealing it was his first experience with a hurricane.
Orlando is renowned as the most popular tourist destination in the United States, attracting 74 million visitors last year, with October being a peak month for Halloween festivities. While hurricanes are relatively rare in the region, they have occurred in the past, including three storms in 2004 and Hurricane Ian in 2022.