Hurricane Dennis!?!! What the...
 

What's with the weather, man?

I've been planning this crazy Orlando trip for two months staring at the computer and checking prices and bidding on Priceline and reading Disney boards... and now hurricane Dennis! How bad is a category 3? Is it like forget the dog and get in the dang car right now bad, or quietly play cards in your hotel room bad? Any suggestions on fun things to do in the Orlando area if it hits while we are there? Any fun indoor places to go to? We don't got no kids so entertaining stuff for five young adults. You think Papa John's will still deliver?

Thanks boss,

IamDan

TORONTO 2016!!

BigDan,
If I had an answer for your 'what's w/the weather' question, I'd be pulling in some serious jack and putting those Weather Channel guys out of business...

Cat 3 could mess up your plans if that's where the storm goes through. The parks won't be running rides in high winds or lightening no matter what kind storm we're talking but Papa John's might just come through for ya. On the otherhand, these storms have a way of veering off track and when we're lucky loose some steam...ya just never know...Keep watching the weather. I hope your Orlando trip doesn't get rained out but bring a deck of cards just in case ;)

umm, that would be lose some steam

A Category 3 is serious. As OneWanderingJew mentioned, watch the weather very closely. It is very hard to predict where these devastating storms will hit even 3-4 days out. You do not want to be stuck in a hotel with no electricity which means NO AIR CONDITIONING OR ELEVATORS!

Category 3 is "grab the dog and jump in the car" bad. The reason that you have time to grab the dog is that it's very difficult to predict the paths of these storms more than a few hours ahead of time -- but you do get those few hours' notice. Usually.

Disney and Universal hotels have their own generators and the lines are underground. That is the reason why Fla residents leave their homes and check into these hotels....they are safe and they never lose power, so you will always have places to eat and have fun. The parks are up and running the next day. Hurricane dennis is not predicted to go thru Orlando, so do not worry, it is going up the panhandle. I am from NY and was in a Orlando last year during a hurricane...nothing to worry about...AND you will still have a great time. It does not appear as though this storm will affect your vacation.

check out hurricane.weathercenter.com and you will see the track of the storm

Otherwise, July August and September are usually very hot humid and sticky in Fla. There are usually late afternoon T-storms. Sometimes they have to close down some rides ...coasters, water rides, etc..due to lightning. Also for future vacation planning Hurricane season is June1 to Nov 30 with the most active being Sept.

Early July is unusual for a hurricane of Dennis's potential. The track at this point shouldn't be a problem for Orlando other than rain and a little wind if it tracks more easterly. It just needs to be watched closely.

Annabel is right about the hotels.

It takes a lot for Disney to shut down and many of their attractions are in air conditioned buildings.

I'm not too concerned about Dennis and SW Florida where I live, but after living through Charley, I've made arrangements to spend the weekend in Palm Beach at the Breakers....it will be hot and muggy but hopefully the air pattern will keep it a little less so. I need some beachy R&R.

Last year I stayed at the JW Marriott while evacuating my home thinking Ivan might come. The hotel was fully operational and even allowed our pets.

I'm not concerned about my little pets this weekend, I have a close friend keeping them. LMF

Right now I am playing the waiting game. My vacation plans are for Tampa area 7/09-7/17. I have until this Saturday noon (7/09)to cancell w/o substantial monitary loss, as this is a prepaid hotel. I've been watching TWChannel. Any helpful advice. We so want to go...or plan "B"

I live in Orlando and have been watching Dennis very closely. The way the current track is, most of florida will be OK, might get some minor outer bands on the west coast. It looks bad for the panhandle area (I feel your pain up there and am praying for you). I am actually driving to Tennessee on Saturday and am more concerned about where he will go after he makes landfall. As is stands right now Orlando is not expecting anything except maybe a little rain.

I was channel surfing this morning and ran into someone who said it could be the worst since the 1930's. I gasped and then thought he must be mis-speaking. That would make it worse than Andrew. Did anyone else hear this guy?

I lived through Ivan and I don't see how it could be worse than that. I live in Austin now if that's any indication.

Charlie, ivan and Jeanne were all cat. 3 it's not supposed to come across Florida and hit Orlando but they said that about Charlie last year.
You just have to keep watching updates.
A good site is NOAA click on the tropics and these is lot of information.

Hey gang,

Thanks for all the reassurance. Hopefully, not just for the sake of me and ibob's vacations but for all you Floridians (don't it sound like some kind of New Age comet cult?), I hope Dennis just chills out and tries to enjoy some sun and fun like the rest of us poor working saps who save up all year for a moments peace. Can't we all just get along? Maybe God no longer is trying to grab out attention with a whisper, but with the roar of the storm.

Great name "OneWanderingJew". Have you heard of N.T. Wright? He is a British theologian who re-read the Gospels in light of twentieth century archaeological discoveries dating to the first century such as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Basically, he sheds light on an underemphasized or ignored aspect of Jesus' mission, which was to declare the end of the Exile and the Return of Yahweh to Israel. Interesting stuff... I hope your wanderings will soon come to an end, unless you enjoy them.

We're going to pack up some rain gear, cards, and a lot of books. It's going to be me and Norman Geisler. If you don't hear a trip report from me in two or three weeks, I'll tell you about it when I see you in heaven. I'll be the happy dude drinking Rickard's Red (a great Canadian beer) and eating pork ribs with my hands by the BBQ. ;)

IamDan

If the storm is heading toward Orlando the airlines will cancel all flights in and out, so keep an eye to the weather channel and online.

The concern I just heard is that the storm is expected to get stronger, a level 3 or even worse stronger than that because the water temps in the area are above 90 degrees which is how a storm gains strength.

Right now it is heading to the Pan Handle, but these storms can be very unpredictable, and go where they want.

The Florida Keys I just read are being evacuated and residents on the coast are being warned to brace for the storm.

Good luck and hope all is well with your trip.

Just thought you might like to check out this site:
http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/
It has excellent up to date information on tropical storms. Shows all the computer models so you can get some sort of idea of what's going on.
July is fairly early for a storm like this in the gulf but after last year I guess we need to expect just about anything. It would be easy to blame this on global warming but our govt. tells us that there isn't any such thing and of course, they'd never stretch the truth. Good luck.

Annabel's message is dangerous and should be ignored!
She stated:

< Hurricane dennis is not predicted to go thru Orlando, so do not worry, it is going up the panhandle. I am from NY and was in a Orlando last year during a hurricane...nothing to worry about... >

A hurricane IS something to be concerned with. Predictions about hurricanes can be terribly wrong and just because you surivived one hurricane does NOT mean you will survive the next. Each storm is different, one can produce a lot of rain but no wind. Another can have a lot of wind but little or no rain. Sitting around in a hotel for one storm last year does NOT make one a hurricane expert.

That said BigDan, I'd continue with my trip as planned until they evacuate Orlando, have fun!

irishdame-17 yr Clearwater Fl. resident and still not a hurricane expert!

Yikes - didn't realize another big storm was heading FL way. Better see if Mom will have to evacuate again!

BigDan--
Interesting story but that's not how I picked my nick...For me, it has multiple meanings: I love my travel/wandering, I'm proud of my Jewish heritage and when I first went away to college (as a NYer in FL) my mother gave me a plant called a Wandering Jew.

If anything, my case of the travel bug has only gotten worse over the years :)

Hope your trip is everything you guys want it to be. Enjoy those ribs and beers--might want to embibe AFTER you go on rides. :&

they just ordered all visitors to evacuate the keys
from cnn
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/...her/index.html

For continuous updates, try this too.
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/

OneWanderingJew, you'll get a kick out of this. Years ago I had a couple of friends -- one name Bob Fish and the other named Mark Lieberman. One year for a birthday party Mark gave Bob a goldfish in a bowl with a nametag on it -- of course, the fish's name was Bob. At Mark's birthday, Bob retaliated with presenting Mark a hanging plant (a wandering jew) named, of course, Mark. (Mark traveled a lot for his business, by the way).

Clever friends, Patrick! I grew up w/a Mark Leiberman...any chance he was from a place in NY called Suffern??

I don't know. That was in Dayton, Ohio in the early 70's. But he was from the east somewhere. He'd be about 60 now. . .

Red tides, shark attacks, now early season hurricanes! Whatever did the Gulf Coast of Florida do to pi** off Mother Nature so much??!! Did everyone switch to Chiffon margerine?

Anyway, good luck to all of you with travel plans that way. I flew to Orlando during Hurricane Ivan last year--had to spend one night at a Newark airport hotel, but was amazed at how quickly things were back up and working the next day (at my mother's house, we had no power for 3 days, but we did have running water and telephone, so we muddled through without too many problems).

irishdame...

I am not a meterologist, but I think coastal regions/low lying areas are first evacuated during hurricanes and everyone goes inland to places like ORLANDO.

The Hotels in Orlando are built to withstand cat 5 hurricanes. These complexes are their own little city. People evacuate their homes and check into Orlando hotels because they know they will be safe and will not lose electric. So if you are living in a trailer home, or a coastal region this is the place to go. These hotels also offer special rates for these people.

So, when was the last time Orlando was Evacuated? Doesn't the contra-flow evacuation plan end just north of Orlando?

Just in case anyone's reading here and not checking more authoritative sources, Dennis is currently a category 4. And anybody who remembers last year knows that the path can change pretty radically at any time.

Dennis is Cat4 now? I haven't watched the news since yesterday sometime. Omigosh!

Patrick--The Mark L. you knew couldn't have been the same one I knew though he could be his dad ;-) Wouldn't that have been a crazy coincidence though, don't ya think?

BigDan: It is <b>never</b> &quot;forget the dog&quot; and please don't forget that!!

We had to cancel Nassau last Labor Day(2004) due to the hurricane...disappointing, but Nassau was still there when we finally went this past Memorial Day...am sure things will work out.

As of 8:30 am on Friday, it appears the hurricane will not be impacting Orlando, other than with extra rain and some non-dangerous winds. As a former jet pilot, I have gained somewhat of an insight into weather patterns, and my best projection is that the center of Dennis will strike in the &quot;crook&quot; of Florida's coast, where the coastline bends from north-south to become a more or less east-west orientation. I'm expecting, though, that here in St Pete Beach we will be asked to evacuate--probably voluntarily, but I'll be one of those who leaves. Big hurricanes like this, when you live right on the coast, are nothing to mess around with.

Rooms available at Woods Hole Inn B&amp;B in Folsom, LA. Call 985-796-9077

Nineteen members of my family were scheduled to leave this morning for a six-bedroom beach house at Santa Rosa Beach. We were able to cancel yesterday and get all our money back because of the notice to evacuate. We are pretty bummed but celebrated a birthday, a retirement, and a new baby due next week at my daughter's house this afternoon.

Hot and very dry in KY. We hope for lots of rain from Dennis but are really sorry if it makes landfall and does damage in FL.

Well, we back! Hurricane Dennis was a no-show in Orlando. It was a bit cloudy each day and rained most afternoons for a brief time but other than that had a great trip. Ran into a nasty thunderstorm coming up from Florida to Myrtle Beach, but nothing out of control. Thanks for all the advice everyone. Next year, maybe we'll try an all-inclusive in Cuba.

Epcot was okay. Universal Studios was okay. Our favourite part of the trip was probably walking along the beach late at night with the moon watching above and early in the morning when it was just us and a handful of like-minded souls.

Food in Orlando was cheap and good. $4 breakfast buffets were great. Ate $10 steaks at Black Angus.

BigDan,
Whatcha been drinking, pal? What beach did you go to...Orlando is central FL, not coastal ;)


Glad you had fun and the weather was mostly cooperative!