One Universal Orlando attraction was badly damaged by Hurricane Jan.
Hurricane Jan was a strong storm even by modern hurricane standards. Although the Orlando area was not in Ian’s direct path, it was clear from the start that the theme parks in the area would be affected by the weather, and all Disney, Universal and other parks would be closed at least yesterday and today. For the most part, it seems that this area has survived, but at least one attraction on Universal’s Adventure Islands will require significant repairs.
Photos of the Orlando area have appeared on Twitter, which show that one wall of the Jurassic Park River Adventure was apparently torn down by the wind and rain of Hurricane Jan. Take a look at the image below.
From this distance, it’s hard to tell how significant the damage is. It’s a hellish whole, of course, but we can’t tell if that’s all. If only the exterior needs to be repaired, then the trip may be OK. However, if the inside of the attraction receives significant damage due to wind and rain that penetrated after the fall of the wall, River Adventure may fail for a while.
This is especially frustrating, since earlier this year the Jurassic Park attraction was closed for repairs. It is quite possible that the work that was done just a few months ago will now need to be done again in order to return the attraction to working condition.
At the moment, this is probably the most significant damage done to any theme parks at the hands of Hurricane Ian. However, this is the kind of damage that can be seen from a distance. It is possible that there are less noticeable damages that have not actually been detected yet. And if something similar happened at the Universal Orlando Resort, there is a high probability that Walt Disney World experienced similar weather and probably the same damage will be caused.
There will almost certainly be cosmetic damage to all theme parks in the Orlando area. We’ve already seen the wreckage that hurricanes leave at Disneyland. There will probably be fallen trees that will need to be cleared. There will be some flooding, which will mean that the water will need to be drained. One such example is Universal’s “Islands of Adventure”.
At the time of this writing, Universal Orlando, Disney World and other area parks are scheduled to open tomorrow. It seems likely that they will open, but this does not mean that they will offer guests everything that they usually do. Some attractions may have to be closed for repairs, some restaurants may not be available. While parks will certainly move as quickly as possible to install a full service, it may take some time before they can do so.
In the end, both businesses and residents will suffer a lot of damage. We can only hope that the people are all right. The rest will sort itself out.
