ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida theme parks including Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld planned to reopen Friday after an assessment of the effects of Hurricane Milton.
Some Halloween special events won’t be offered and they won’t necessarily be fully functioning Friday, but the public is welcome back, the parks said in statements.
As Milton came ashore as a major storm Wednesday, all three Orlando-based parks shut down, putting a damper on the vacations of tens of thousands of tourists, many of whom hunkered down in hotels. Disney World, Universal and SeaWorld were all closed for at least part of Wednesday and all of Thursday.
Orlando International Airport, Florida’s busiest, planned to resume domestic arrivals on Thursday and departures Friday after mostly shutting down Wednesday.
The airport’s closure prevented Simon Forster, his wife and their two children from returning to Scotland, so they enjoyed an extra two days of their two-week vacation on the bustling International Drive in Orlando’s tourism district on Thursday. Hurricanes seem to follow them since two years ago Hurricane Ian kept them from returning to Scotland after another Orlando vacation.
“Last night, it was quite intense, Forster said. “I was watching the palm trees sway back and forth outside my hotel room. How they didn’t come down, I don’t know. Scary stuff.”
Their hotel at Universal Orlando Resort had a party atmosphere Wednesday night ahead of Milton’s arrival.
“The bar was good fun,” he said. “Two extra days here, there are are worst places we could be.”
In Tampa, the animals were safe at popular tourist attractions ZooTampa and The Florida Aquarium, which were aiming to reopen Saturday.
The 1,000 animals at the zoo will remain in their night houses and hurricane shelter locations while habitats are cleared of debris, a spokesperson said. The aquarium also confirmed their animals are “doing well.”