As Hurricane Matthew moves in, Orlando’s much-loved theme parks will be closing for the duration of the storm.
SeaWorld will be closed Friday, Oct. 7. The water park Aquatica will be closed Thursday and Friday.
Universal Orlando Resort closed Wet ‘n Wild at 2 p.m. Thursday and it will remain closed through Friday. Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios, and CityWalk will close at 5 p.m. and remain closed on Friday. Halloween Horror Nights is canceled Thursday and Friday. Universal spokeswoman Alyson Lundell said they plan to resume normal operations Saturday morning.
Disney World announced Thursday morning they would close early Thursday, at 5 p.m., after initially stating they would have normal operations. They won’t be open Friday. No decisions have been made about Saturday operations yet, according to The Orlando Sentinel.
Legoland may close early on Thursday and will be closed Friday.
Busch Gardens Tampa expected to be open as scheduled, but according to Busch Gardens spokeswoman Karen Varga-Sinka, they will continue to monitor the storm and make adjustments if necessary.
While not a theme park, the Spooky Empire horror convention previously scheduled to run from Oct. 7-9 at the Orange County Convention Center has been cancelled altogether, with the event Facebook page citing the fact that plane trips for multiple celebrities and guests had to be canceled due to the weather.
“We cannot put our attendees, guests, staff, and everyone involved in harms way,” they wrote. “We tried our hardest to keep this open even for part of the weekend, but it looks like Matthew wins.”