Hurricane Matthew Theme Park Closure Updates

Hurricane Matthew — currently a Category 4 storm — is barreling toward the eastern Florida coast and is expected to travel up the East Coast later this week and this weekend.

Oct. 6 Hurricane Matthew projected path and intensity © The Weather Channel

As many regional parks are only operating weekends now, expect additional announcements to be made as the weekend approaches.

Florida theme parks:

Walt Disney World: All parks will close at 5:00pm Thursday, and will remain closed on Friday.

Walt Disney World parks to close Oct 6 at 5pm. Will not open Oct 7.

— TouringPlans (@TouringPlans) October 6, 2016

Guests at Disney’s Ft. Wilderness Campgrounds are being asked to evacuate by 11:00am Thursday, and are being accommodated at other Disney properties.

Universal Orlando Resort: Parks will close at 5:00pm on Thursday, and remain closed Friday. Halloween Horror Nights for Thursday night and Friday night is cancelled.

For your safety, please be aware of the following operational changes. Stay tuned here for more updates. pic.twitter.com/5CXYvNxYk9

— Universal Orlando Resort (@UniversalORL) October 6, 2016

SeaWorld Orlando: modified hours on Thursday, closed on Friday, according to an alert on the park’s website:

We are closely monitoring Hurricane Matthew. For the safety of our guests and ambassadors, SeaWorld and Discovery Cove will be open from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 6 and CLOSED on Friday, October 7. The park will be open from 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 8, with normal Spooktacular activities from noon – 7:00 p.m. Thank you.

Legoland Florida: May Close Early Thursday, Closed Friday (via park’s website)

LEGOLAND Florida Resort will operate as scheduled Thursday, Oct. 6, but may close early due to the approach of Hurricane Matthew. For the safety of all guests and employees, LEGOLAND Florida Theme Park will remain closed Friday, Oct. 7, but LEGOLAND Hotel will be open to admit arriving guests.

We expect to operate as scheduled Saturday, Oct. 8, but will continue to monitor the storm’s projected path and will make adjustments as necessary.

Fun Spot America: park closed Thursday, Oct. 6 and Friday, Oct. 7, will reopen Saturday, Oct. 8

Old Town: Thursday night Events Cancelled, Park closed Friday.

Attention, folks! Please note our irregular hours and cancelled events due to #HurricaneMatthew developments. Stay safe! pic.twitter.com/78CC0BhozI

— My Old Town USA (@MyOldTownUSA) October 5, 2016

Holy Land Experience: Closing at Noon Thursday, and will be closed Friday.

https://twitter.com/HolyLandExp/status/784034256259518464

Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex: Closed Thursday and Friday.

The Orlando Eye: Closed until conditions improve.

Due to severe weather brought on by Hurricane Matthew, we will be closed until conditions improve & it is safe to begin operations again.

— ICON Park (@iconparkorlando) October 6, 2016

Gatorland: Plans to be open Thursday and Friday.

Busch Gardens Tampa: Monitoring conditions, plan to operate as scheduled.

We are monitoring the path of #HurricaneMatthew & at this time we are expected to be open as scheduled. #EvilEncore https://t.co/AdfH1uYyUy pic.twitter.com/DjdrwGpov9

— Howl-O-Scream (@howloscream) October 6, 2016

Georgia theme parks:

Six Flags over Georgia: normal operating hours (no announcement yet)

Wild Adventures: no closings anticipated, still monitoring conditions

South Carolina theme parks:

Family Kingdom Amusement Park: closed for the 2016 season (last operating day was Oct. 1)

North Carolina theme parks:

Carowinds: closed Friday night, Oct. 7:

For the safety of our guest & associates, we will not be opening tonight for SCarowinds due to inclement weather. pic.twitter.com/gsPtdCoTnR

— Carowinds (@Carowinds) October 7, 2016

Hurricane paths are known to change, so the states (and parks) to be affected could change as the storm progresses.

Again, stay tuned to this page — we’ll update it frequently as more parks make announcements. But if you have specific plans to visit a park within the next few days, we recommend checking the park’s website or social media accounts to verify our information.

I’ve already bought tickets. What do I do?

If you’ve already purchased tickets to a park that will be closed, many parks offer refunds or rain checks. See below for individual park and resort policies: