We are suppose to leave in the morning for Siesta Key. This tropical storm Isaac is looking like it will be a cat 1 hurricane by Tuesday and, right now, our vacation spot is right in the way. We have travel insurance but it doesn't help us unless the airline cancels our flight (which they won't because we still have 2 days until it hits Florida.) So we can go, and hope that the storm redirects, or stay and lose a lot of money.
I hate to not go and then Siesta Key only have a day or two of rain BUT I also hate to go and be holed up with a 3 year old all week unable to play on the beach. So here are my questions.... if the storm does pass Florida any ideas on how much rain SK might still get? Will the ocean be much rougher than usual even if the storm doesn't hit us? How quickly would it all be over? Any other advice?
I can't answer "should you go" -- no one can. But let's be honest -- even without a hurricane, there is always in late summer a lot of chance of lots of rain. Surely you were aware of that when you booked for this week? So is it really that much difference now that they are talking about a category 1 hurricane possibly going by?
NeoPatrick, Yes, I knew the risk of rain this time of year but I was thinking it would be more like a hour a day or so... not all day everyday. Do you think the Gulf (thanks for the tip) will be calmer holiday inn international drive orlando the following week?
I've only been here (in Tampa) for 2.5 years. During that time, there have been storms like NeoPatrick mentions, that were predicted but never really happened. Then again, Debby was impressive this spring. Well, not really "impressive". We never had that huge, amazed feeling at the power of nature or anything like that. It just rained and rained and rained holiday inn international drive orlando and rained. Started on Friday, I think, holiday inn international drive orlando and there was one sunny, windy afternoon when we could go out and take pictures of all the flooding. Then we were back inside for a couple days and I was GLAD for my kid's yoga class on Tues. After it was all over, kiddo went out and picked up fallen limbs for neighbors for cash. We've had one other memorable storm. That one did happen pretty much all in one day, with lots of thunder holiday inn international drive orlando and seemed scarier.
The category I that they're talking about is unlikely, from what I can tell, to damage the kinds of structures holiday inn international drive orlando tourists stay in. If you want to come and see what's happening and have a sense of adventure, and your 3-yr-old is flexible, then I'd say come on down. I remember a childhood vacation that had a hurricane in the middle of it. Surf was too big to swim in afterwards, but we had fun walking the beach, and part of an old wooden boat was uncovered. We loved it! On the safer side of a hurricane vaca, Tampa is an hour from Sarasota and has a great children's museum (Glazer's); a trip there and to a downtown restaurant could easily be one day for you all (after the GOP leaves). Tampa and Sarasota have good aquariums. I'm sure you could find similar fun stuff to do with your kiddo closer to where you're staying.
I would wait to see if it really will blow through quickly and if not reschedule holiday inn international drive orlando for that following holiday inn international drive orlando week. We were scheduled to be on vacation for a week in Flordia when Debby hit this year. Luckily for us we drove and after 2 days of rain decided to abandon that vacation and head north to a dry vacation spot. It turned out our whole week would have been lost to the bad weather. I too had only anticipated a daily rain shower when I planned my trip. Good luck I hope it works out for you!
I'm unclear about the several posts about waiting to see what happens. You do realize that the plane is leaving holiday inn international drive orlando in less than 24 hours? There may be a little better idea by then of what will happen, but not much.
we either go in the morning and lose no money or leave a week later and lose our airfare.... as of now it looks like we are going to try to go. I really am hoping for a least a couple days of sunny beach time. There are lots of things to do in the area so that will help.
The annual budget for the National Weather Service holiday inn international drive orlando is over $700 million. They are giving this hurricane lots of attention. You can get their predictions at Weather.com and Accuweather.com . I suggest holiday inn international drive orlando you put in Sarasota. They are predicting rain and thunderstorms both before and after the nominal date for the hurricane.
Will you really lose the airline ticket money if you cancel? Last summer we bought non refundable tickets on AA and couldn't go, but we still had the tickets and were able to use them the following fall for an entirely different holiday inn international drive orlando itinerary on the same airline. Of course we had to pay a penalty for the rebooking.
The last time I tried to change an American airline ticket which I had paid $ 127 for (one way), the cost to change it was $150. And that was only if I stuck to the same itinerary, but just changed dates! Cheaper to throw it away and buy a new one!
OceanBreaze1, we called a couple days and that's when they said it would be over 500 bucks to change it (with our insurance)... just called again and they quoted me 1500 bucks to change it(increase due to the increase in ticket price from what we paid)... gerrrr... so frusterating.
I'm not surprised, laceelite. One of the problems with those discounted "no change" tickets holiday inn international drive orlando is that you simply can't change them. The fees to do so make them just what they tell you when you book them -- they cannot be changed. I'm not sure why some people are so surprised by that. It's like those special "non cancellable and non refundable" hotel rates that upset people when they have a change of plans and can't get their money back.
Hello again everyone, just wanted to send you an update. We were all packed and ready to leave this morning when we decided we would cancel. We were able to re-book the condo for next may and on the 3rd try the airlines did give us full credit. What a relief. Since we are all packed and ready to go we started looking for a last minute vaca... so on Tuesday we are off to Kauai. Thanks for all the advice. Maybe Isaac won't anywhere near Siesta Key but I just want to be sure by little boy has a sunny beach to play on.
lol! I know right?!! We love Hawaii. It's our favorite place to go... never been Kauai though. We wanted to go earlier this year but didn't know if we wanted to take our 3 year old yet. We will leave Tuesday and have a great attitude and be thankful that we are on vacation at all.... we'll look forward to Siesta Key in May though.
I am a big National Park fan. I don't know if you planned on visiting Biscayne, Dry Tortuga's, or the Everglades, but those are all temp. closed. Might be a few days to reopen, as they allow rangers/personal to get their properties in order(they have a plan in order for hurricanes, based on previous conditions before and after a hurricane). I am sure a lot of places/businesses do this.
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