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Disney World and other Orlando parks will reopen Friday after being closed by Hurricane Milton

Disney World and other Orlando parks will reopen Friday after being closed by Hurricane Milton

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ORLANDO, Fla. – Amusement parks in Florida, including Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld, were scheduled to reopen Friday following an assessment of the impact of Hurricane Milton.

Disney World said in a statement that its theme parks, Disney Springs and possibly other areas will be open. The parks said some Halloween special events will not be offered and they won't necessarily be fully operational on Friday, but the public is welcome again.

As Milton came ashore as a severe storm on Wednesday, all three Orlando-based parks were closed, marring the vacations of tens of thousands of tourists, many of whom hunkered down in hotels. SeaWorld is closed all day Wednesday, Disney World and Universal are closed in the afternoon. All three were closed all day on Thursday.

Orlando International Airport, the nation's seventh-busiest airport and Florida's busiest airport, suspended commercial operations Wednesday morning and had not yet announced a reopening date as officials assessed the damage Thursday.

With parks closed, mini-golf was among the few activities offered to tourists trapped in their hotel rooms and rental apartments during the storm. There was a line on International Drive, a major tourist strip, leading to the Congo River Gulf.

Craig Greig of Glasgow, Scotland, would have been at the Magic Kingdom with his wife and 10-year-old if the theme parks had been open. Instead, he was holding a putter and ready to hit golf balls across a man-made lagoon full of baby alligators.

“We just wanted to stretch our legs and get out of the hotel,” he said. “Especially for the little one.” Although it was his first experience with a hurricane, he was unfazed and slept all night as the hurricane raged through central Florida.

Disney World, Universal and other attractions make Orlando the most visited destination in the United States, attracting 74 million tourists last year alone.

And Halloween-related celebrations have made October one of the busiest and most lucrative times for the parks.

Hurricanes in the Orlando area are uncommon, but not unheard of. Three passed through the area in 2004 – Charley, Frances and Jeanne. Hurricane Irma passed west of the Orlando metropolitan area in 2017, and Hurricane Ian caused some flooding when it passed through as a downgraded tropical storm in 2022.

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AP Entertainment Writer contributed from Los Angeles.

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Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform X: @MikeSchneiderAP.

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