Castaway Cay and Hurricanes

Castaway Cay and Hurricanes

With Hurricane Irene in the news right now and Disney’s Castaway Cay directly in the path of the Cat 3 storm I figured I’d share a little of what I know of Castaway Cay and storms.

       Because Castaway Cay is located in a storm area it is not unexpected for Hurricanes to hit it. Since Disney purchased the island major storms have hit the island including Hurricane Irene. At the end of 2004 Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne hit the island hard. About 90% of the facilities were destroyed from what I heard. Before every major storm the crew of the island is evacuated to safety so nobody was hurt.

       We were on the cruise in late January and by then 90% of the damage caused by the two storms had been repaired. The one thing we wanted to see but could not was the hidden sunken Mickey ship. According to a Cast Member Mickey was off making Hurricane repairs.

       Due to Frances and Jeanne the entire bay had to be dredged and rebuilt. All of the underwater snorkel trail had to be remade due to the storm surge in the bay. The only major thing not back was the sunken Mickey Ship I mentioned earlier.

       So if you have a cruise in the next few months don’t worry much about Castaway Cay. It may not be at 100% but it will still be fun and the amenities will be fully functional. If anything is left to be fixed it will be small extra touches.

       With Irene hitting the Eastern Seaboard so hard my prayers are with the people of the East Coast, the Bahamas and Caribbean. May the damage be light and repairs quick.