Well, rather than going through my trip report (how different can it be, really - I'm there every 3 months or so!)...I figured some may be curious about how Disney World LOOKS after Hurricane Irma. We all know they opened quickly, and are really good at cleanup...but if you go often as I do you'll notice not just the places where trees are still down, but where they appear to be missing altogether. The good news - very little physical damage to structures or man-made objects. Beach and Yacht Club had a few tar tiles missing from their roof, some of the picket fence was missing in front, and probably intentionally removed but the tops of the little cupolas on Yacht's roof were removed - it was just empty frame. The fence around the International Gateway construction area where they are building the gondola station was blown down, but propped back up with 2x4. A small chunk of sidewalk was pried up on the path from Boardwalk to DHS from a fallen tree whose root ball pulled it up - it had been replaced but still not quite aligned. Jungle Cruise was still closed. The big tree hanging over Liberty Tree Square had all the lanterns removed from it...which looked a bit odd to regulars, but new visitors probably wouldn't even think anything was missing. The train around MK revealed quite a number of trees chainsawed off the tracks - you drove by lots of sawed stumps leaning in the direction of the train but now clear - I imagine that was a full day of work by itself! There were still a few trees down in conspicuous places, not removed because they weren't in places where people walk. There was a large tree lying across the Swan Boat river and leaning on the side of the Sunshine Tree Terrace building in Magic Kingdom. The Kilimanjaro Safari had numerous trees cut apart but still lying in piles - one tree still down and intact was blocking the view into the majority of the black rhino enclosure. Polynesian, French Quarter, and Old Key West looked notably sunnier and open with a lot of trees either missing or seriously stripped down...those are usually more shady and tree-lined. The boat from Old Key West to Disney Springs was still down when I was there, as some trees had fallen into the boat's canal path...all the other ones seemed to be up and running again - French Quarter, Saratoga, the Friendships at the Epcot resorts, and all MK boats. All in all, they weathered it well. You saw a fair number of tree and branch piles along walkways between resorts, all the forested areas next to resorts and throughout the property when driving around had lots of trees fallen or lying at angles on other trees...but all streets and sidewalks were cleared. And save Jungle Cruise and the OKW/Springs boat route, everything seemed to be back to operation and working as normal.
Here are a few shots of some of the damage that hadn't been removed yet... Looking into the black rhino enclosure, the view is a bit more challenging: Out on the savannah, there were piles of former trees and branches still not picked up: Sunshine Tree terrace, taking it's name a little too literally:
