10 Oct 2016
Orlando theme parks reopen as city avoids major hurricane damage
BY Tom Anstey
Orlando’s theme parks reopened this weekend after the force of Hurricane Matthew left the majority of Central Florida largely unscathed.
The theme park capital avoided a major hit when the hurricane moved east, hitting the Florida coast with force but leaving Orlando with a “bad storm”, leaving the likes of Disney World and Universal Orlando relatively unscathed.
The hurricane did have some effect on the area, with reports of trees blown over and power lines knocked down, while torrential rains caused some flooding. Airports were affected too, with cancelled flights meaning air travel is still being disrupted in the storm’s wake.
Parks reopened following a cleanup of storm debris on Saturday (8 October), with Universal Orlando and Legoland opening at their scheduled hours, Disney World opening its parks at 8am and SeaWorld at noon.
The Orlando Eye has also reopened, along with its fellow Madame Tussauds and Sea Life Aquarium attractions in the Merlin I-Drive 360 cluster, while Orlando Science Center, Orange County Regional History Center, Bok Tower Gardens, WonderWorks and the Crayola Experience are all business as usual.
The effects of Hurricane Matthew has been felt more widely across the US and the Caribbean, with the deadly storm claiming nearly 1,000 lives and leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power. After tearing through Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, the hurricane has been downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone. On its current path, there is a possibility the storm could hit Orlando for a second time, though its force would be “significantly weakened”.
"There's been a really serious hurricane," said US President, Barack Obama. "People were hit. They weren't hit as directly as we had feared but it has left a lot of destruction in its wake."
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