Disney World and other Orlando parks will reopen Friday after Milton

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Theme parks in Florida, including Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld, are scheduled to reopen Friday after assessing the impact 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 all three as a severe storm on Wednesday Parks in Orlando have been closedwhich marred the vacation of tens of thousands of tourists, many of whom settled 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, planned to resume domestic arrivals Thursday evening and departures Friday morning. Commercial operations were suspended early Wednesday.

The airport closure prevented Simon Forster, his wife and their two children from returning to Scotland, so on Thursday they enjoyed two extra days of their two-week vacation on busy International Drive in Orlando's tourist district. Hurricanes seem to follow them since Hurricane Ian stopped them returning to Scotland after another Orlando holiday two years ago.

“It was pretty intense last night,” Forster said. “I watched the palm trees move back and forth in front of my hotel room. How they didn't come down I don't know. Scary stuff.”

There was a party atmosphere at their hotel at the Universal Orlando Resort on Wednesday night before Milton's arrival.

“The bar was a lot of fun,” he said. “Two extra days here, there are the worst places we could be.”

Mini golf was among the few activities available to tourists confined to their hotel rooms and rental apartments. A queue formed at the entrance to Congo River Golf on International Drive.

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.

___

AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton contributed from Los Angeles.

___

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