Mother staying at Universal Studios Hotel ‘Ready’ for Hurricane Milton

• Allison Gilgenbach checked into a Universal Studios hotel before Hurricane Milton.
• The mother and her daughters, aged 11 and 8, plan to continue their holiday at the resort and feel safe.
• They brought battery lights and got extra food and water by InstaCart for an emergency.

This essay, as stated, is based on a conversation with Allison Gilgenbach, 45, director of training for an IT company in Cleveland. It has been edited for length and clarity.

After checking into our hotel room at Universal Orlando Resort, my daughters, Reagan, 11, and Ryann, 8, and I looked for the nearest exits and steps.

The last time Reagan checked the weather app, Hurricane Milton was forecast to hit central Florida around 5 a.m. Thursday. We wanted to find the fastest way to safety if we had to evacuate the room and the elevators weren’t working.

I packed battery operated lights and candles in my luggage and six battery powered phone chargers for my phone. The hotel seems to have plenty of food available, but I placed an InstaCart order for a case of water and snacks like Lunchables just in case.

We booked our vacation a few months ago between Reagan and Ryann’s birthdays. This is our first time attending Universal. When he heard about the potential hurricane, my travel agent asked if we wanted to cancel or change our dates.

We extended our trip by 2 days

I’m normally a worried wart, but for some reason, this didn’t make me very anxious. The path is unpredictable and I feel that this area and hotel structure is ready for hurricanes. If there’s anywhere to be, it’s probably one of these resorts.

I’ve been monitoring Facebook posts in Disney groups and people have said the same thing. They said this is usually where a lot of people will come from the coast, like Tampa, inland.

I originally booked the trip from Tuesday to Saturday. However, we didn’t want to be stuck in our room for the whole holiday, so after checking that there was still a lot going on at the hotel, we decided to extend until Monday.

We stood in line for two hours to check in. The card machines went down a bit so they had to do everything by hand. People were trying to get out early and at the same time others were showing up looking for a room.

The park was scheduled to close at 2pm on Wednesday, so we made the most of the rides on Tuesday afternoon. We had planned to go to the shops at Universal CityWalk after breakfast, but it was pouring so we turned back.

The staff organized lots of activities such as coloring and crafting for children. They had movies, like the Harry Potter series.

But I was in the arcade most of the day. My children are taking advantage of our situation. “Can we have more ice cream?” they said. I spent about $300 each on the arcade machines.

Our hotel staff put us at ease

I don’t mind the expense because we would have spent money at the park regardless. My parents—who were a little worried about us at first—sent the girls some money through Zelle so they could play a few extra games.

My daughters are not scared. They saw me asking the staff who live nearby if they were nervous. They said no because they have been through this before and will keep everyone informed.

The girls and I have some experience ourselves, though not directly with hurricanes. We’ve had tornado winds, straight line winds and fairly strong thunderstorms in Ohio. We all go to the cellar and hang out.

Still, I pray that Milton is short-lived.

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