ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) 鈥� Orlando鈥檚 tourism machine began grinding to a halt Tuesday with at least three major theme parks and the main airport announcing closures ahead of 鈥檚 expected hit as a .
Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld will close their theme parks and respective entertainment facilities on Wednesday, with the latter two also closed on Thursday and Disney likely to remain closed.
also canceled Halloween Horror Nights scheduled for both days.
The theme parks join Orlando International Airport, which said it would cease operations Wednesday morning. The airport is the nation鈥檚 seventh busiest and Florida鈥檚 most trafficked.
Disney World had said earlier in the day that it was open and planned only to close its campgrounds and rental cabins ahead of the storm.
The only indication at Disney Springs that a hurricane was coming had been the closure of a hot air balloon ride. 鈥淐losed due to hurricane,鈥� an electronic sign read. 鈥淪tay safe.鈥�
All the other stores and restaurants in the outdoor shopping, dining and entertainment complex inside the resort were open and doing brisk business.
Milton, which is expected to come ashore Wednesday, threatened to ruin the vacations of tens of thousands of tourists at Disney World.
Nicole and Zeb Downs arrived on Monday after a 21-hour drive from Arkansas, expecting a 12-day Florida vacation with their three young sons. By Tuesday afternoon, they were contemplating packing up their car and heading back.
鈥淲e are disappointed but it鈥檚 kind of out of our hands at this point,鈥� said Zeb Downs as he strolled with his family along a still-bustling Disney Springs shopping and restaurant district at the park resort.
Neither of them had experienced a hurricane before and weren鈥檛 sure they wanted to try it.
The Orlando area is the most visited destination in the United States due to Disney World, Universal Orlando Resort and other theme parks, attracting 74 million tourists last year alone.
October is also among the busier times for theme parks because of Halloween-related celebrations, which have become major money generators over the past couple decades. Universal Orlando hosts 鈥淗alloween Horror Nights,鈥� with ghoulish haunted houses based on slasher films and other pop culture horror, and Disney has its tamer 鈥淢ickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.鈥�
While Disney rarely shuts its doors 鈥� save for dangerous hurricanes in recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks 鈥� its hotels are often havens for coastal residents fleeing impending storms. A check of Disney World鈥檚 online reservation system on Tuesday morning showed no vacancies.
Those lucky enough to get a hotel reservation have gotten unexpected treats during past storms. During Hurricane Irma in 2017, guests at a hotel on Disney property found themselves stranded with who voiced the role of Anna in the beloved Disney film 鈥淔rozen.鈥� While in Orlando, the actor found time to sing songs for evacuees at a nearby hurricane shelter.
Once a hurricane passes, the theme parks try to return operations to normal as quickly as possible. After Hurricane Charley charted a devastating path through Orlando in 2004, Disney World had utility vehicles picking up downed tree limbs and clearing roads on its property within an hour in the pitch-dark night.
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Mike Schneider, The Associated Press
