- The Washington Times - Wednesday, October 9, 2024

The threat of Hurricane Milton has prompted multiple Florida theme parks in its path to close early Wednesday and stay closed Thursday.

Walt Disney World, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom will close at 1 p.m. Wednesday, and the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT parks will close at 2 p.m., along with the Disney Springs shopping and entertainment district. The Typhoon Lagoon water park and a pair of mini-golf courses are closed both Wednesday and Thursday.

After 2 p.m. Wednesday, Walt Disney World Transportation will also shut down with the exception of limited taxi service for resort guests. Prepaid booked experiences, including tickets for a Halloween event at the Magic Kingdom Thursday, will be refunded, according to the Walt Disney World website.

Disney expects the parks to remain closed through Thursday as well. There are widespread evacuation orders for communities in west-central Florida along the Gulf Coast.

As of 8 a.m. Wednesday, Milton was a Category 4 storm with a sustained wind speed of 155 mph, just below the 157 mph threshold for Category 5. It was about 250 miles southwest of Tampa Bay, moving northeast at 16 mph, according to an advisory from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The most recent NOAA maps show the storm making landfall on Florida’s Gulf coast by 1 a.m. Thursday.

At Universal Orlando Resort, the Universal Volcano Bay water park is closed both Wednesday and Thursday, per the resort’s website. The Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure theme parks, along with the Universal CityWalk Orlando shopping and entertainment district, close at 2 p.m. Wednesday and will remain closed Thursday.

United Parks & Resorts has parks in both Tampa Bay and Orlando.

Busch Gardens Tampa is closed Wednesday and Thursday, while the Adventure Island water park in Tampa is on a seasonal schedule and would not have been open either day regardless of the weather.

All three of the company’s Orlando facilities, the SeaWorld Orlando and Discovery Cove theme parks and the Aquatica Orlando water park, are closed both Wednesday and Thursday.

In addition to all the parks, Orlando International Airport shut down ahead of Hurricane Milton at 8 a.m. Wednesday, the airport posted on social media. Tampa International Airport shut down at 9 a.m. Tuesday, per its own post on social media.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.

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