Disney World To Close Due To Hurricane Matthew

As Hurricane Matthew approaches, Walt Disney World has decided to close its doors at 5 p.m. Thursday and will not open on Friday.

The closure will include the theme parks, water parks, Disney Springs, miniature golf courses, and the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

For Thursday night and Friday night, Mickey’s Not-So-Scary halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom Theme Park has also been canceled.

The Disney goers at Fort Wilderness camground have already been evacuated. For the guests staying at the Polynesian Village bungalows and the Saratoga Springs treehouse villas, other lodging arrangements have been made.

Of the major theme parks in the area, Disney was the last to announce that it would be closing down on Friday. Yesterday, SeaWorld announced that its three water and theme parks would be shut down early on Thursday and remain closed on Friday. On Thursday morning, Universal Orlando announced that the CityWalk entertainment complex and the theme parks would be closing at 5 p.m. Thursday and stay closed Friday.

The Florida attractions that are changing their hours of operation due to the inclement weather are: SeaWorld Orlando, LEGOLAND Florida Resort, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Universal Orlando, and Wet N’ Wild. To see the hours of operation for each of these locations, go here.

In regards to the Saturday operations, no decisions have been made at this time.

For the people in the area, several hotels are offering lower distress rates with prices ranging from $55 to $105 for hurricane evacuees and any other state resident displaced by the storm.

This is not the first time a storm has forced disney to close down its theme parks. In 2004, the parks were closed for Hurricane Charley and then for Floyd in 1999.

Do you think it was a smart decision for Disney to close its doors on Friday?

[H/T Orlando Sentinel]