The family experienced Hurricane Milton at a Disney hotel and was impressed

• Sandra Guadarrama-Baumunk and her family took shelter at a Disney resort hotel during Hurricane Milton.
• Guests were told to stay in their rooms from 8:30 p.m. before the storm made landfall in Florida.
• Mom said the only drama was a fire alarm, but Disney handled everything without a hitch.

This essay, as stated, is based on a conversation with Sandra Guadarrama-Baumunk, 53, co-owner of an advertising agency in Phoenix. It has been edited for length and clarity.

We were already in our pajamas when the fire alarm at our Disney Resort hotel went off at 9:30pm on Wednesday.

Hurricane Milton was forecast to hit in the early hours of the morning and guests were instructed to be in their rooms by 8:30pm for safety reasons.

But when the alarm sounded, everyone evacuated to the hall and gathered in groups. It was calm and well organized. The only cries were from the little ones waking up from sleep.

The Disney staff said the fire station had already arrived, which was reassuring. After barely 10 minutes they said it was some kind of short circuit and we were safely back in our rooms.

I felt that a Disney resort was one of the safest places to be

It was the only drama we had all night other than the wind and rain hitting our windows. I know other parts of Florida were badly damaged, but for us it was fine.

My family and I are huge Disney fans and this was our fourth visit to Disney World. We saw that Hurricane Helene had passed and we thought, “Oh, thank God. I missed it by a week.”

Then suddenly I heard Milton coming. I positively thought we were going to be missed. I also felt that a resort was one of the safest places to be in a hurricane because they had been through it before and knew what to expect.

We chose not to cancel and arrived on Saturday. Disney has been very good about keeping us updated through their app.

They were monitoring the situation and giving updates. We never felt uninformed.

The only change we made was to extend our stay from Friday to Saturday because our flight back to Phoenix was canceled and rescheduled. Disney offered 40% off our two hurricane relief rooms. They would have cost over $1,000 each on a typical Friday night.

The hotel was very welcoming. The park closed at 2pm on Wednesday so we spent the afternoon in the lobby. They had activities for families like crafts and making s’mores.

The cost of the meal was reduced at our hotel

It was a nice bar. We spent time doing puzzles and playing card games like Uno that we had bought at the gift shop. We get along well — I’m here with my husband Brian, 58, daughter Mia and her boyfriend Jeremy, both 25, and our younger daughter Sofia, 21 — but when you with your family in such a place. in a confined space, sometimes you have to dig deep for patience.

Some of the hotel’s restaurants had a limited menu, but prices were reduced accordingly. We paid about $26 per person for a themed barbecue dinner instead of $40 and $14 instead of $26 each for a breakfast pan.

The park is closed on Thursdays. It’s not raining anymore, but it’s cloudy. I’m planning a walk around the hotel.

We are glad we trusted Disney. His employees work hard to keep us safe and ensure we continue to have a great vacation.

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