ORLANDO, Fla. — Tourism in Orlando came to a rapid halt Wednesday, with the main airport and at least three theme parks and other businesses returning to activity to blockcausing Florida residents and visitors to flee Hurricane Milton to settle in hotels in the area.
Milton, which is expected to make landfall late Wednesday or Thursday like a heavy stormthreatened to ruin the vacations of tens of thousands of tourists who came to Orlando to visit Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld, or take part in October festivities such as Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights. Disney and Universal were scheduled to close Wednesday afternoon, while SeaWorld did not open at all. Everything is expected to remain closed on Thursday.
Orlando International Airport, the nation’s seventh busiest and Florida’s most heavily trafficked, shut down operations Wednesday morning.
The closures dampened the expectations of some tourists, while the approaching storm caused some concern for others.
Linda and Bob Shaffer of northeastern Pennsylvania said they stocked up on pizza, peanut butter, drinks, flashlights and a deck of cards in their rental apartment. They decided to take a walk around the resort’s entertainment in the hours before they planned to take shelter during the hurricane.
“We’re just killing time until we have to stare at each other for the next 24 hours,” Linda Shaffer said.
Meanwhile, the soggy weather didn’t faze Serena Hedrick and her 16-year-old son, Corey, as they entered Universal Studios on Wednesday. Corey had worried about what might happen during their first hurricane, but was comforted by their hotel’s promise of non-stop movies, children’s activities and food.
“It is what it is,” Serena Hedrick said.
The Osborne family traveled from Memphis two days early so they could spend almost two days at the theme parks before Milton struck. Alexander Osborne said other family members decided not to participate because of the storm, but he wasn’t worried about his first hurricane.
“It is not dangerous to be here now, and I want to spend time and enjoy what we can because we will be in our hotel rooms for the next few days,” he said.
As theme park goers continued to work for a few more hours Wednesday, workers in a Universal Orlando parking garage hugged goodbye and wished each other good luck in the hours before Milton made landfall.
The Orlando area is the most visited destination in the United States thanks to Disney World, Universal and other attractions, attracting 74 million tourists last year alone.
Halloween-related celebrations have also made October one of the busiest and most lucrative times for theme parks.
Although Disney rarely closes its doors, its hotels are often havens for coastal residents fleeing storms. A check of Disney World’s online reservation system on Tuesday showed there were no vacancies.
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