Milton Is Going to Disney World

Tampa has been top of mind and media as hurricane Milton once agains gains strength over the Gulf of Mexico, and understandably so. The city is still in the storm’s direct path, and a storm surge potentially above ten feet will be catastrophic. The projected path, though, continues on across Florida toward Orlando, and at around 7 am on Thursday morning, Milton will pay a visit to Disney World.

“Based on the latest projection, we are making additional operational adjustments,” read a Disney statement on Tuesday afternoon, announcing that when Milton gets there, he won’t have company. Starting on Wednesday afternoon, the various Disney parks will shut down entirely, and will stay closed through Thursday — sadly canceling Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, apparently.

This is more an indication of Milton’s potential even after heading inland than anything else. Though it will weaken as soon as it hits land, the storm is projected to maintain hurricane strength all the way across the peninsula and back out into the Atlantic before dropping to tropical storm status on Friday. Projected rainfall totals have increased at the latest National Hurricane Center update, with Orlando and the surrounding areas getting eight inches, and in some places up to 12.

Obviously, closing down a theme park for a couple of days is not the biggest impact this hurricane will have, but it’s just another demonstration of how hard it is to hide from the disasters humans have juiced up — even at the happiest place on Earth.