Florida theme parks and tourist attractions: What’s open and closed
CNN
By Forrest Brown, CNN
As Hurricane Ian approached the South Carolina coastline midday Friday, theme parks and other sites of interest to tourists are assessing their situations in hard-hit Florida.
Walt Disney World and a few other places reopened on Friday, and other spots aim to reopen this weekend. Here’s a status report of the latest plans of various theme parks, other tourist attractions and what’s going on with various cruises:
Walt Disney World (Orlando)
Walt Disney World announced that its four big theme parks are reopening Friday on the following schedule:
• Magic Kingdom Park: 10 a.m.
• EPCOT: 11 a.m.
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios: noon
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park: 1 p.m.
Disney Resort hotel guests and guests staying at other select hotels will be allowed to enter two hours earlier than times posted above.
Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf will also reopen at 3 p.m. Friday. ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex will be open from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Typhoon Lagoon water park has a planned reopening of Sunday. (Blizzard Beach is closed for the season.)
Walt Disney World Transportation will begin operating as normal on Friday but is subject to weather protocols, the park said.
Disney Springs, the entertainment, dining and shopping complex, reopened at 10 a.m. Friday.
Click here for more details about the reopenings, including information on hotels and camping sites.
Busch Gardens (Tampa)
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay said on its website that it would be closed through Friday.
That also holds true for other Florida parks held by the SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment company:
• Adventure Island (Tampa)
• SeaWorld Orlando
• Aquatica Orlando
• Discovery Cove (Orlando)
As of 11 a.m. Friday, the company said all of the parks are expected to reopen Saturday.
The company also said Discovery Cove will reschedule or refund reservations booked online or from the call center with no cancellation or change fees. For additional information, call 407-513-4600.
People with a reservation booked through a third-party reseller can rebook visit dates with the specific park, but people wanting a refund will need to contact their reseller partner.
Click here for additional details.
Universal Resort (Orlando)
Universal Orlando Resort, including CityWalk, has a “phased reopen” Friday for hotel guests only, the resort said in an email to CNN Travel on Thursday evening.
“We continue to conduct assessment and recovery efforts across our entire destination with the safety of our guests and team members being our top priority,” Universal said. “We will update our website and social channels with information on park hours as conditions allow.”
Click here for more information and FAQs from Universal.
LEGOLAND (Winter Haven)
LEGOLAND Florida Resort and associated parks will be closed on Friday, according to the resort’s website.
“LEGOLAND Hotel and Pirate Island Hotel will remain open to guests with existing reservations,” the park said.
As of 11 a.m. Friday, the park did not have information for when it would reopen.
Park tickets for Wednesday, September 28, through Sunday, October 2, will be automatically extended through December 31, 2022, LEGOLAND said previously.
People can rebook stays without penalty once the park’s call center reopens on Friday. That number is 888-690-5346. Guests with questions about the resort’s hurricane policy can click here.
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (Cape Canaveral)
NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on Merritt Island remains closed on Friday, but the facility plans to reopen from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, according to the center’s website.
Icon Park (Orlando)
All Icon Park attractions are still closed, according to the attraction’s website.
“When it becomes safe to do so, select restaurants will open to serve locals who have lost power or guests staying at nearby hotels,” the entertainment destination said.
Crayola Experience (Orlando)
The popular attraction for children was set to reopen at noon Friday, according to Crayola’s website.
Cruise ships
Florida ports have very active cruise schedules. Here’s the status of some of those ships’ routes:
Norwegian Cruise Line: The company canceled its 10-day sailing of the Norwegian Getaway, which was scheduled to depart Thursday from Port Canaveral.
The company also changed ports on the eight-day sailing of Norwegian Sky.
MSC: The company rerouted the MSC Seashore, which was originally scheduled to be in the Western Caribbean, to ports in the Eastern Caribbean.
The MSC Seashore is still set to depart from the Port of Miami on Saturday, according to the MSC customer call center.
Carnival Cruise Line: The company has announced changes to its schedule. With the ports of Tampa Bay, Canaveral and Jacksonville affected by Ian, the following sailings have been canceled:
• Carnival Paradise: Four-day cruise from Tampa on Thursday.
• Carnival Elation: Four-day cruise from Jacksonville on Thursday.
• Carnival Liberty: Three-day cruise from Port Canaveral on Friday.
Guests will receive a full refund and a 25% future cruise credit, Carnival said.
The following ships have had changes in their schedules and ports of calls: Carnival Liberty, Carnival Horizon, Carnival Sunrise, Carnival Paradise, Carnival Elation, Carnival Ecstasy and Carnival Glory.
Click here to see the specific changes in itinerary for each ship.
National and state parks
As of 11:30 a.m. Friday, Everglades National Park in South Florida was partially reopened, including its Shark Valley and Homestead entrances. Flamingo, Gulf Coast and some park areas remain closed.
Dry Tortugas National Park, on the western end of the Florida Keys in the Gulf of Mexico, remained closed on Friday.
As of late Friday morning, around 100 Florida state parks were closed, including Amelia Island State Park  (Nassau County), Don Pedro Island State Park  (Charlotte County), Lake Manatee State Park (Manatee County) and Rainbow Springs State Park (Marian County).
Check here for a full list of closed state parks as well as camping and cabin closures information.
Zoos
Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens: The Sanford, Florida, complex is closed through Friday, the zoo’s website said late Friday morning.
ZooTampa at Lowry Park: The attraction resumed regular hours on Friday, the zoo said on its website.
Brevard Zoo: The zoo in Melbourne reopened on Friday, according to its website. Last entry is 3:30 p.m.
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Top image: The Magic Kingdom’s iconic Cinderella’s Castle. (John Raoux/AP) CNN’s Jamiel Lynch, Frank Pallotta, Amanda Musa and Aya Elamroussi contributed to this report
