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ORLANDO, Florida (AP) – The Force is strong with Disney and Star Wars, but Hurricane Dorian may not be up to the mark.
Before landing in Florida early next week, Dorian could not come at a more untimely time for Walt Disney World: he has just opened "Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge", his new major addition the most anticipated since decades.
On Thursday, the opening day of Star Wars, visitors waited hours before boarding the "Millennium Falcon: The smuggler's race" under a blue sky and a bright sun.
But we were expecting the weather to deteriorate every day as Dorian approaches.
On Friday, at 11:00 am EDT, the storm was 1 mile to an hour below the 111 mph (178 km / h) threshold to become a major hurricane. Meteorologists expect it to become a major storm later in the day and continue to grow until it becomes a Category 4 hurricane.
According to the National Hurricane Center, the Dorian is expected to touch southern Florida with winds of about 140 mph. Experts are increasingly discussing the possibility, still improbable, of a Category 5 storm with winds of 155mph or more.
"It's the perfect storm," said Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services Inc., an Ohio-based consulting firm. "Here they look forward to opening this – the attraction has been delayed since the beginning of the season – and they have finally positioned themselves to have it open and they have a hurricane."
In the long run, this might just be a snap for Disney, but the impact of the storm for the week could cost between $ 60 and $ 90 million at Disneyland because the locals remain at it. The gap to prepare for hurricanes and tourists from outside cancel their bookings, said Speigel. .
Disneyland, California, also opened a Star Wars site earlier this summer, which also attracted fewer people than expected.
In a report on results earlier this month, Disney general manager Bob Iger said some people had stayed away from Disneyland, fearing that crowds would multiply in Star Wars territory. This contributed to a 3% drop in US park attendance for the third quarter.
The world of Star Wars was not the only thing to open this week at Disney World.
The station inaugurated its annual annual Epcot International Food and Wine Festival on Thursday, and its Mickey's Not-so-Scary Halloween Halloween Party was getting ready.
Before Hurricane Dorian began to threaten Florida, Jessica Armesto and her 1-year-old daughter, Mila, had planned to go to Halloween and attend a small party. -Dinner with Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy at Disney World. Instead, Armesto now plans to take shelter at his mother's home in Miami, in her mother's hurricane-resistant home, with a kitchen full of non-perishable food in the event of a power outage.
"We felt that prevention was better than cure, so we canceled our plans," said Armesto.
In past hurricanes, Disney World Florida has closed its four parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. The Disney World Hotels remained open, but the parks were closed during Hurricane Irma in 2017 and Hurricane Matthew in 2016.
Every day, Disney World can welcome more than 300,000 visitors.
Disney World's policy states that if a hurricane warning is issued within seven days of a scheduled vacation, the guest may postpone or cancel the reservation. Armesto said that she had no problem with that, although there was a hint of regret with the character's breakfast, as she had remained awake until 2 am from morning one night to try to get a reservation hard to get with the classic characters.
In a statement on Friday, Disney World officials said the weekend's sporting events were canceled and customers who planned to stay next week at the resort's campgrounds and cabins were warned of the weather.
Ben Cline, his wife Jen and their two school-aged children were ending their Florida vacation to return to North Carolina earlier than expected on Saturday because of the cyclone.
"We do not want to be caught traveling," he said.
But the family managed to enter the lands of Star Wars in the early morning hours on Thursday arriving at Disney Studios Hollywood before 3:45. She said the visit was worth it, despite the prospect of being stuck in traffic with people fleeing Florida before the storm.
"It's amazing! The details are out of this world, literally," Cline said. "It's definitely worth going down to."
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