Walt Disney World
Getty Images | Joe Raedle

Photos capture the aftermath of Hurricane Irma at Disney World

It’s not often that Disney World closes its doors, but with Hurricane Irma threatening the state of Florida, the resort was forced to shut down for two days.

Once Irma had passed through Orlando, guests who’d been sequestered to the resort areas for safety were able to access the damage, and the photos they’ve posted online prove Disney World sustained minimal damage from the hurricane.

In fact, Disney World and its surrounding parks already had plans to reopen on Tuesday, Sept. 12. Because at a magical place like this, clean up is, well, magically quick.

Walt Disney World

Certain areas of the Park remained closed until further notice, such as the water parks and the Fort Wildnerness Campground.

By the time Irma got to Orlando it had downgraded from a category four storm to a category one. There were power outages in the area and Disney World had trees and light posts blown down, but as far as damage from Hurricane Irma—things could have been much worse.

Disney World has shut down just four other times, making this quite a historic moment. The previous times included closing in 1999 for Hurricane Floyd, 2004 for Hurricane Frances, 2004 for Hurricane Jeanne and last year for Matthew.

Photos from the guests who weathered the storm in the Disney resorts reveal just what kind of damage was sustained after the storm.

In some cases, trees were completely uprooted. Light posts fell and damaged railings in some cases.

Photos from the Caribbean beach showed a flooded swimming pool, overturned chairs and other debris strewn about from the high winds.

All was doom and gloom around the castle, though it was still standing.

There seem to have been a lot of fallen or uprooted trees, like these seen at the Skipper Canteen and Sassagoula Floatworks.

Although, some structures took a beating, too—like this awning that was damaged outside the Swan Resort on the Disney grounds.

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Epcot experienced some flooding.

Other resorts besides the Swan sustained some damage.

 

And in true Disney fashion, some loyal guests helped mousekeeping clean up the damage.

But thankfully, the palms along Hollywood Boulevard stayed intact.

And the Tree of Life is still standing tall!

And even during the storm, closure and all—the park was still able to make magic happen for the guests who were stuck at the resort with nowhere else to go.

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According to the Walt Disney World Twitter account, Disney workers stayed in character to keep kids company throughout Hurricane Irma. Just as actress Kristin Bell did in other parts of Florida during Irma, Disney employees went above and beyond to help provide some joy during a scary, uncertain time.

https://twitter.com/WDWToday/status/906920711767379969

Where’s the best place to be before, after and even during a hurricane? Disney World, apparently!

Thank goodness Disney World wound up with a (mostly) happy ending.